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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题* C1 ~0 |7 ?5 c' B! k
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS5 g2 x+ {. k5 S. X5 C; y
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.8 a( Q2 V4 U! [% x6 C
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
0 T4 Z- x9 o) b& D0 O3 G1 I$ I: tthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
8 ~& S" B+ o! V8 R9 d6 @solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
9 c1 ~+ N$ k6 f% h6 k \9 p"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
+ v# @. X4 c8 n8 @* c+ e& Pcauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
J7 R; e2 c/ q9 YHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected) @* c1 @* G i- g2 T' s
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and u3 L. x1 Y, b1 f0 V
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
' Q) F: O; l, @+ ^' ]# Z( qmats and sticking accelerator pedals.0 X* V7 K. ^0 e& B
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
* X8 Y5 \ k- z1 o/ Z/ m3 pand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
; |4 K- E( v5 [' {* @! D/ k0 Jcriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be& ^8 S. a/ O6 J9 O: @) d
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
3 x$ {$ P' q+ a" L" f, t! y( z0 g" Ynot stop her runaway Lexus.8 |$ K; O5 q- C# M8 A
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville," K3 T2 e8 j: y _% Q/ j
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
' H( i0 ~+ p: ?2 S3 J"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.# z: ?7 N" b E% b6 ^5 T- L8 \4 X
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
6 @$ f0 y. y" K" n3 Q, I% B6 [: jearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
7 ]' B; d! Z/ E/ |, \. f) w$ J"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has7 `. C1 r% b' r3 P
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway8 n6 B! M+ p; P0 o) V: ~
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
+ H3 p! l; L1 H1 B. J$ T/ [* Winvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."2 I9 \) m. T0 {' `. \
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an! i) P5 } Y$ v+ s5 }6 U
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of: W( ]/ [) t* s0 L/ S
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
5 E! {* y G" dmalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he, | M& q* U; I( ^: w7 I/ D; V
said.8 i4 n b! L: z( \9 S2 e
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what- |1 g) F: ~- ~$ I# X
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
: F2 [9 S% d4 H, } b1 {about driving our products," Lentz said.
. B2 [- L, P j- ]" lThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's' e" P1 U9 |' }
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has7 w+ `; v. M. ?2 c% b$ F1 Z
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
- n1 O9 w! g: ?) B- emillion in the United States -- since last fall because of y4 M4 k O* m. e
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking, v6 S1 @% Y# h4 _. ~
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering i$ U6 m5 {2 H* [' L6 }/ P, F
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
- m( ]& f# s q* Ltheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
3 S" t* l% t3 P, P& ydown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
9 v, h* w4 H+ K) E4 @4 |; j5 Z* nreceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
$ j' M6 `. d" b* _of Toyota vehicles since 2000.
' N" _4 {& q2 D2 S+ R9 cLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own* n; Y6 s# |8 ~3 M
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
$ [- g3 E7 _0 E9 ~2 Munderstood the pain.
- }) @/ {3 i D; r& ^. ^4 K* R"I know what those families go through," he said.; f- i5 P4 U1 F' {
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's& l' p5 k$ D' ^. G
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.7 ]& v$ l# V& p7 z
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman5 F* n- G e! x; J5 J1 k& j
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
: j5 Z! z* l9 t. j6 D$ F. [in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
( O8 l7 ^( v) H6 F0 G: c9 ^Lentz replied: "Not totally."& w1 X) \: w1 Z9 m+ T/ [1 t. a
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
, u* l) [+ |: e+ t0 r# U"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
3 B) ?9 m1 P9 Z# J N/ x7 {Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
% [( S4 l4 U0 ^' U2 e/ e e, c7 Z0 tpedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
! a1 u7 L5 t6 k7 lvehicles already on the road.: e' _- ]5 |, Z* |' L
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
g, P% |$ ^* @5 n* `* wbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full" m+ j, }2 z0 |; B
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
, `6 P2 C7 j" J! U* R( i; ^offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
( y! B: ?8 G( J0 G( X/ o1 J5 {killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.% ]# n2 e7 K. H! ^- K8 J
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
# `# V; p3 z: G$ y: S! Otragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony$ y# K. d# B0 ]+ n5 m+ o
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
0 j9 a9 ~3 `" X5 fCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
, E2 _8 j4 o* g6 k' h" zcommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
2 C e# F; R5 s7 Mrestore the trust of our customers."( f5 ^9 E. P5 T9 u' Z- m
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
' z/ n5 [" r) ]7 B% {4 \2 j" q/ rSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly" U7 c) n. n" n; Z6 D
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --' l z9 u3 i M( k
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and7 n- B8 t( V3 C u, @$ U5 j
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough" Y! Y8 q1 {9 s/ f) T
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and- K$ }8 j4 z4 k6 ^+ H( r: h w/ e
turn off the engine.
. n) t: E# ?# P* V( RFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
+ c, c* _( t T1 TOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
* @! r+ |% \: A4 J1 Z+ o"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
' Q& j2 ~% \8 M. v( f8 G vsaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
" h6 p( H& r4 ?9 L4 _! `% eto her complaints.
6 }& D) A5 X9 ^5 }3 pIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers5 C/ \5 r5 G5 H( ~( I% u
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
3 }1 Y0 G5 {9 ], Omalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
4 i7 v# K& `3 Y$ v"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric9 R6 W9 b: U) `, X. X; v
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
' j' v1 ]8 [5 m9 w9 |8 v"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
; l* N7 q$ Z+ O; H; P" w* `5 _off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."7 d2 m5 t/ B) V6 p! n5 ^( L% C
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in" x/ s* o- v4 P8 q: P
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
9 q$ H! p8 w bbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
. ]( G# l) K* C6 }& S$ N+ Z p5 ywere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
% J- g! n$ s4 w/ F8 Hevery question."
7 F" ~( ]; b. q# YToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
5 L7 B( J6 S5 Y; v+ felectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The G- Q- [- q& b2 n! V v5 |6 b ]
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But; }* j" ~6 v4 K+ H2 Q7 F6 g6 o
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small3 _3 e4 ]6 e" R- v
number of vehicles: P+ W3 i2 [) |3 _: T+ f
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more3 ^8 Q0 Q+ [3 a B& J
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
# G- S/ Z) v( b8 @* vmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one# R' U1 o# H7 y: F P5 `, q
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.& y" L& f0 h3 I1 K
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
% C0 S- L) K' n' fwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
+ L4 Y8 x/ y" p+ Z& V+ ~ S7 Gtrace at all.; I' R1 u4 P. M# |
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call% T2 `0 ?9 k1 d
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden. z3 ^, \" D" Y e, U% h& u3 B
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
3 u% z* }$ p% _. q# K5 x0 S( E+ _recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
0 i% X) o) ]5 S5 `Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,9 ` w& \: Y4 u6 l
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
' W+ i( ~! A0 L }* ], ]' A8 Pother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the& q+ X8 `# P! k1 L: m& G
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible, W5 ~% ^* o, @& d0 x2 p5 J
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
0 ~% J8 a$ w; x+ Qsuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained8 p H4 i$ i% v: V' r4 X
by Toyota's lawyers."7 `" _0 u- \" C W
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of7 q! e" P: ?' A+ z0 c" ~6 D
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
# ~/ s/ q; q- B0 J5 N4 J3 Fcustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he7 i0 Z' E2 L" m' G* V/ l7 a4 i
said.
0 X# M7 K7 N9 |"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
8 t3 v: A) K, d" o. L+ _ s/ ba rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
l8 x, S7 o$ d: X! Bgood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating- {* w" S C& M& N
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
$ q/ x$ J. ^' J: k& YSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying$ ?- U7 x, C; i1 F: u
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
' u* N7 g0 E; ]rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
" k0 x6 V( X! e8 s* lautomaker, at least in part because of the government's3 A" Z% p7 A& C3 q
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
; W# w/ C# a& [+ pChrysler.
2 a. k0 l& x2 z. ^& ?1 c4 O6 a- P4 k"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax& s0 g+ J+ ~0 {% r5 S% L4 N7 u
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a+ o3 x/ [# W# E$ g& \. F5 A
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
8 V9 C) d! }: J+ u% iserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
# h5 |# Z0 `0 P2 G% T' o( H: Zwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty* S+ J9 J4 `; {
tough."
8 V( x" S9 N6 Q3 R& y---
a4 g$ K. r0 j$ {2 YAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
: D% e5 z7 P. ~5 o# SRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to4 w5 x- A5 D( J+ k6 J
this story.
% c0 P' ~; F& M8 p6 \; q/ j& o ]
-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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