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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题. N6 I$ z. R* W9 t/ d
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
- m" F; U' @# V: @- aWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
: X8 w4 b. N0 c- U& a7 `8 hoperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that- ^. A4 M" d: D, w- ^
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
. A+ S9 ?( g$ `0 N( Ysolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
5 D$ i/ k2 x8 N"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential( j" I8 X% H* u. X9 o/ R8 e
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.' {/ X9 P& i4 |1 E7 |& N
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected/ c" h* q5 r* m- D
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
+ |! m/ D# k2 G! U3 B& G& ktrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
' {. z$ ~& X: [" zmats and sticking accelerator pedals.
- V9 ^# P# `' v) ?8 {1 m V3 ~He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
7 F8 ]% ?+ o# \8 uand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
, w) p- {3 s7 f, F5 Q. Ncriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be- p! h+ d5 S5 m8 B4 Z
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could$ O5 y2 t; i4 U7 X2 X
not stop her runaway Lexus.
' |$ r$ \% s" ?% U& j# F! B& A1 s"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,1 w: o E( v) p0 y2 s
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
/ R- o% _0 U; p3 B& Z; ]"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
3 t7 E' ?) ~2 b! J% JTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues$ _2 [" j$ p# z' {' U
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
) j9 ]$ n7 ^7 r4 O) P7 k"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
+ w$ y) u9 W. ^( W) xdone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
( {5 j, [) N6 @through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's/ J O2 Q7 x( r2 y
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham.") @ B* K; N# L2 f/ l
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
* a4 ]3 z5 K" I7 N7 p* v$ W. v) kelectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
, e: m: l7 l _1 ^8 Ythe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a! Y: m4 Y- {7 Y
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
' y/ U' P* I7 m% ]+ r4 |said.6 O+ q5 q! d% W
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what1 [4 o5 V' X$ I4 k) J
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe' Y% V3 d7 E( O$ H J- c1 h3 t
about driving our products," Lentz said.
j$ `: O2 Y% Z$ j3 E% IThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's! y6 u4 }) @* L4 C/ Y: v! o! Y
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has3 k2 c5 [0 U2 J e$ H
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
3 R8 P I& u8 Nmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of
, ~: E" r- [7 ^7 Vunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking; Q" N0 P2 F! @% U
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
" t9 M5 ?$ B8 y9 Wconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of# f$ y: X8 B$ | p# b
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
% K) N' p' N. m w- t) ddown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has% S3 ~/ P& ^: g& U1 w. s
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
% q7 S) u* s b+ _# pof Toyota vehicles since 2000.
9 `2 T( F3 g1 l7 d6 bLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own7 W# b, R0 r/ Z. h
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he& M/ u! g+ j% [
understood the pain.! \- {1 m7 j$ y3 O6 I+ Q
"I know what those families go through," he said.
% ^. f/ F4 B2 ^& M6 S2 d% c1 eLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
% n5 ?0 X- J6 }& C8 d" [fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.% w' h& ]) X3 }, S. }5 i
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman2 i: @+ S) @) E+ J% F9 C
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put& B& O7 _" p9 O: K& U* F6 D
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
+ c4 N0 h( f4 W2 h; X% FLentz replied: "Not totally."
* J# {* C! T+ @. G$ Z5 G" I% fStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were* X3 W- w& C4 y% f+ g) ?+ A3 q4 o
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said. j- w3 z' ^0 m1 ~1 O& ?
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
+ W1 D6 [: L6 Z) f# W7 n$ xpedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its, R8 m- F: E% w" d- J( L+ [" B
vehicles already on the road.' H0 D( m( T1 K5 c( O1 w
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
" G# h& C# n1 o+ j: `8 `" ybefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full3 O9 ~/ q0 a+ H+ `
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
, }, p6 ?1 T. r: y3 O! }0 G" @offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were2 D) L* A+ d7 J8 D+ C' E
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
. t0 e, v: h0 y, t( r1 p"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
7 @0 D: d; O7 N W' Etragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
8 t% p/ a& v5 o( C. {7 f! Wfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight; z1 A1 ?% p" b4 j, g! r2 Y, F
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
* N" g( G4 [3 P6 L0 u6 p; Qcommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
7 t3 s. S7 u) srestore the trust of our customers."9 Q: k+ a/ \" {7 j
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
7 ?# ^1 r' k+ h0 u+ NSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
3 [6 a _& \& d3 e2 lzoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --6 V) E9 B7 B! I3 G$ B7 V' a4 Q; }, f- c
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and. L1 _1 v: V0 O) F
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough" U" L2 J' w2 B
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
; C6 c5 J2 ]$ H$ A- ~, g3 `/ zturn off the engine.
8 l( i% P4 k# v! H6 ~6 DFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
7 F- I! _5 s3 a. a: e5 kOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."* p' {; y6 D1 \% [' u7 T' c: v
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
$ ]. Z, {! Z. N) |- k% y1 hsaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
; U4 Q* g- Z# E, ?to her complaints.6 G4 q* q( M5 s& z4 e5 i
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers) q9 _2 ~# P1 _% E$ W2 {- H
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic; o0 r. y/ C" {( k
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.1 q [3 T) O+ e; @1 l
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
2 D Z w# A% H0 B6 O, wthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited6 z4 {3 \0 k3 w) p
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
& u9 P# p" @5 Ioff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
5 o V6 [0 V2 W7 w0 V( [8 U) V% l7 rTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
# e" U/ c! o. Sprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
! C: e5 A" q0 N. r( d Z( @being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls( b' B$ D" D. m, ?
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer+ U3 ]) D+ {9 I& _1 o, T: ^/ A2 l
every question."
' P$ ^" A6 N; UToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether$ y |% j8 O5 ~2 D, K3 G: l
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The* Y# q& v1 k% _' h1 G% _
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
3 n+ {" c1 T& K9 X% A4 jcommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small
& Y/ i2 F ]2 }8 j: H4 Lnumber of vehicles
7 Z* k5 q8 R I7 Z+ rTracking down an electrical problem can be far more7 W# N& a$ ~( [4 d
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
, l$ R; D, C. a9 L4 M4 O: |mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one5 q) U( X# {9 V( e2 z7 h* Z
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.6 j, N; M4 h! r+ J1 r7 A S
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,. Z& j- P( w3 ~6 L7 m' \
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
( S5 p% R9 g# B3 ^5 J1 u5 o+ I+ ttrace at all.
! L$ c. o8 ]& yHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call( \* E5 T3 _; N3 U; ` F+ c/ X
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
+ |" b/ @ G2 ?- N& ^) n: P+ \acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the+ X z( |1 y# N" F% u4 Y
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
$ ]( ^" V8 R. H; g0 ^Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
; s4 d1 U# D- {said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and+ i+ M" \2 c# e8 s6 U
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
& d# K- s" r2 Velectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
! j V) y1 x: N* Xcause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
; h5 P0 ^8 h K2 T1 c; j8 vsuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
: w1 |; { z, ~+ _/ f# jby Toyota's lawyers."3 J; r9 B! K5 M/ I
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
7 O8 G8 |" Y M4 {* eproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
, Z9 ?7 `" J0 B5 g* zcustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he2 x/ w, z }% D' v: K+ r1 B& M+ h
said.9 T) U- P( @2 e. A! N
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
7 E; Y. Y+ B( A0 t: Aa rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
, A1 \- l+ r0 G* c j. Wgood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
/ o4 Z6 w) t+ c* Qofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
o% [- I( m1 ^+ g) l% B1 P" hSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying# U; M$ ~7 A9 t4 q8 @+ i2 ^# [
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread! K: m. m. a' O8 E2 o/ U. |8 N
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
* R# _! \4 I8 o3 J+ b" N6 b+ m0 Lautomaker, at least in part because of the government's
9 [& I% l) y) F; c6 P Rinvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
; k9 b4 F p5 X2 r- D: Q& J% fChrysler.8 g- m2 Z- s3 ?6 B
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax: \( I' p# ]3 ^0 Z1 C9 U8 [
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
2 ]- D3 S+ ?4 N8 ~: sHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also/ z* N9 G8 j4 e: G
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
( i0 s% A' j, ~with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty' o$ j. ~% T4 z4 U% Y) A
tough."- e" z6 c/ w+ E" z( c5 D7 y9 R: z
---
, x/ n3 S, m+ p+ W/ S0 G3 m$ z% iAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
4 h. }- k# P. }; m) o7 ^Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
, p$ R* o; X) t0 q) Q$ T8 ~this story.
+ x. ~" R( S* o8 s K1 y% z
+ x4 K# N/ Q+ j% j% D5 r-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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