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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题. Y @% N* a+ ~! K) [2 g
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
8 _% c6 W) h& @( N3 zWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
, l1 P* {! l0 L% u* E: Ooperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
& g# h( q" {6 E& ~the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"5 S; v& S" ?% g7 x0 L2 ?
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.* Y4 c8 ~4 |1 v% ~3 X
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
" M7 f6 C5 |* T# a& `causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
: a' k U- _: tHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected- [8 b$ B: A5 t" ?7 p& G$ t
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and, u8 C6 Q# w0 H8 n3 x X) i
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor1 ?7 t, f# H' Z# F _- Q" E& v
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.
, M# \; v& p2 `( c2 ZHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
* g$ M; o( R1 Q' W2 rand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
2 u# M# E6 g" }* z$ Ecriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
# d8 b5 Z' }1 d; b0 [" Ffurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could9 l; e, d6 \" J( P4 y
not stop her runaway Lexus.2 u# X2 F* I+ L- m5 i
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,1 ?: a" T& w! w( Y& v4 A8 D
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
* @9 s' g g) V2 \7 W"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
. y5 {# W& D% A; ~8 jTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
. S, H! `! g2 _9 R, rearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
1 I: ` u+ O' A. {"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has/ C2 |9 k, _1 d& I, F
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
( S* ]3 Q2 G% j# @1 Y u9 Mthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
, F' O" u+ r" g V- D$ ainvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
7 m. q f6 a9 BLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an( R& w3 U7 `8 N* {9 |" T
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
0 M9 B, \* w5 s9 {7 k8 {/ R: w7 o6 gthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
; Y# y$ D; M4 Nmalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he7 q/ @. U: d5 y% w, l, E3 F
said.
& @# o$ V5 K. V' n+ t, ~As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
$ P& w( Y' _' e$ A1 S7 w# l8 ?happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
' N7 y* |, G! S+ `* y- wabout driving our products," Lentz said.- p5 b: i% q& m; H5 Y* u/ k/ E
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's+ u# |( J2 k3 T( B3 }" o
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has/ b2 s0 j, O# j, j
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
2 Q: U) a: M. qmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of- _) ~7 d. I2 @9 h: w k" p$ P" i
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
9 X$ y5 g1 e, w& T9 ?issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
4 T% Y4 s! w8 _4 ^6 Jconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
% L# R- x& W7 ~) E" @their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow2 A2 o4 n# _, h G! e+ D& M
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
' H7 f6 h2 S3 Hreceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration9 `$ Q3 t( X7 c" \( |/ E, h
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.& P7 D5 T1 P* c0 y
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own! x( E" D) a1 {+ g4 A# I' E; ~1 g: x. v
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he# \# T6 J5 m* y8 Y2 U
understood the pain. e( p+ W% |+ x7 H: x
"I know what those families go through," he said.& P! C1 X% n2 A
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
2 j- J, S0 l9 d. a$ c) s, M& xfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
1 {+ ^7 S' B1 y; VBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
; f5 y$ ~# B! i) Z+ ?) ?! p! \Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
6 U: t: L$ b' U( L& V5 ~in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
7 {9 u+ V4 S) XLentz replied: "Not totally.". C: `6 G2 i3 t8 ?$ I
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were# @+ G* x5 X" Z( ^0 b4 `1 p) w
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said' D" y; o0 X; j! L6 ?
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas& F1 i3 A& g0 H9 R R2 j; U
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
* |2 i0 Q0 o7 x5 Cvehicles already on the road.3 k* f. k3 C; l. |
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
4 A( U8 @+ C# ]7 m- kbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
- F+ ?8 m4 d: z3 ]8 O+ { gresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and: W* D9 x7 V" s, D
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were: \/ k8 c7 a# |6 ^3 b/ W' f; M
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.5 p0 o8 q3 \ }0 a3 t5 p
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a$ q. t2 E: o6 k5 H8 Q
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
) ^5 q5 ~& T" B# s7 xfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight4 H, l _; _6 k. i
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
8 ^- K$ D9 x* B& H4 H" Icommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to z/ o, |; k% j8 U1 b2 |# {
restore the trust of our customers."- K0 r* d- P! E( ?. C
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from/ {; V7 d- x* R
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
' f- J: ?( c. ] e. ^. v8 Z. Zzoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --" T6 |% y' K8 C# @7 G
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and6 d3 ~ E2 F, t+ d. G
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough" {; i. d2 N8 A$ e0 U
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and: ?3 L& V6 y, S% e& u: T& U" j
turn off the engine.7 j( x, D$ O3 t9 n
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
1 ]9 d9 ]# |4 b7 @* gOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
: m8 i+ s- V& i- p- ]1 Q: ~3 C"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
# w# V7 q ?$ c" ~; ]/ J& V/ ~ ksaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
' S# S" ]! F+ \ ]2 }' s! nto her complaints.
6 x& C% i! b+ p6 k7 R+ [. _In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
B5 P- v6 P+ }: Q2 Oreturned again and again to the question of whether electronic# V7 t: q' \% F; Z: @' H
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
( `; M/ Z! ]) E0 O% Q+ A: ?"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
6 ?5 y& V! ~9 w- g& I- zthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
9 n. T% E( C1 B% x8 h"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut7 a- K' n& k. D/ S* T/ N" m8 r
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
f8 o% D' w" w; pTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in( e7 V& }8 `& W+ L' D
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
- W( e8 S$ z0 }' |being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls2 G: u5 t5 _5 `5 k: P
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
. Q0 z$ y7 ^8 cevery question."
+ H, a1 E) b- x3 }/ FToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
( q6 t/ y, G. D" |, K$ ~ \electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
' X9 r% e( i$ D( o6 `6 s* X+ C' `firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
$ V5 @% ? o' J: A7 zcommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small
" d! ?1 T# b$ c/ Unumber of vehicles- Y4 V. z' u- |% E- A8 ~
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more
, w/ \% z- N7 `. {8 w2 O$ r; Edifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a8 d; Z5 c& k, g: j" t6 v4 j. `
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
) E% U* a6 X/ o( x! tsource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
1 B* D0 r4 s/ B/ l( [% r- MMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,. d6 h3 y5 ^0 J/ F" \, g" A
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
4 y7 z6 ~ p2 T% j! ]5 R5 I) otrace at all.
/ c1 b. E' q! a' pHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call# c$ c& [5 q' I5 C
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
& \: O: Z: w' _& v, A2 _acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
3 n; \ g. l( }4 Z3 u, W8 xrecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.5 F% u) n0 d- s- k$ h# M4 J
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
* v/ X }6 X- G! F: z- S, m# }said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and6 K4 C/ ^! p5 p$ g4 B
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
$ K7 O# T6 `" u/ O& p! Velectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible7 k2 I! n# I; j9 j* n+ z
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only( E& d$ l# G- s& ], B( B
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained" p! I2 }' `7 ]# J
by Toyota's lawyers.". k3 V& D, l, s- ~" X7 |# A% n
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of$ p) @. q1 }$ M% J% O# E
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
/ w. C% Z6 Y; t. H" ^customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he6 M2 r" ^% v$ w; D
said.+ Q$ t, K4 p+ ]7 }7 }3 `2 @2 W7 d
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with' ~, m* G( |+ n- {8 Y
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our+ E* y" j, h+ G
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
' M f: T3 I9 Z( `+ h8 y) Jofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
2 D& V0 i8 n; F q# hSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
/ }& i( a% ~; }1 U1 |% k1 X- dmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
+ [8 n- X% e. E7 @rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
" @# k7 y; S+ H& o3 n. V6 Yautomaker, at least in part because of the government's
. `2 F3 Z' m: C m* pinvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
3 c2 m5 V R7 x1 U, f a, d# hChrysler.
' ^; C9 O+ f' ~"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax; K6 u6 G$ L: h( t) Z
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
! c& S3 c. Y- i5 [9 G! CHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also; V$ f' P8 Y' c+ [1 _
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
( i% E! R' i( y. X9 ?& Y9 E4 k# `: Q6 swith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
4 c- v+ H' ?" Q9 Btough."
' ]5 Q" \' Q1 L% m+ Y---
: u& j# a" q" TAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
& W8 G- R- {' z0 M wRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to, x0 V9 O! z9 b8 v
this story.
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-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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