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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题9 I) o! E$ \, x5 c
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
, o0 Q+ o* i/ Z" S5 PWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.' A( r7 y. m- V3 K8 N
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
N9 \& L2 m& k9 j, s. j. r# ~) Z4 Othe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
% i$ c- N5 y7 Q& r4 x d9 Vsolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
% M9 s3 E8 s, _2 v3 S) @ M2 T"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
# e! c1 L6 F1 H7 p; f& l& xcauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.+ U0 k6 C" d7 G
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected# Z+ V/ ^0 @# B! _; G" S1 k
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
* c0 u7 p c& G. y: Ptrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor& C/ f' v; R# J2 \! k
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.+ \) m4 T; b) o6 u y1 [
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal; c3 z8 {, B7 I
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
3 q% E+ P) s& ?1 Icriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
& U- x. a4 g# ~further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could0 _* M) z! _7 V0 `8 W
not stop her runaway Lexus.
P) u; T w0 |9 T) F"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,! b5 T: Q' o- q
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
6 j2 F: N6 f1 H# q; S, A. y"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
& q( \$ _2 n) C0 ~' R$ A" sTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues* [4 O) [8 Q9 y: D
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
# b# O# |# O6 Y: }"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
3 l/ H% A1 t' w$ S/ m! O( r/ j9 ?; Sdone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
1 X7 q! D/ L9 V+ t1 m+ K9 h, _through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's. M/ M3 [7 x! f; R- t
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
+ f" t) h, U. E7 {$ m2 C( o& pLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
! [- R5 U6 f- q5 P Y9 selectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
- L9 \' `- N. [& c( jthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a% N8 y$ Y6 I8 j Q8 c* ^
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he, I2 Q; e: @" ^3 U8 x5 q0 n
said.# k& x1 K! [2 j2 q$ E' N: I# w+ h. w
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what5 e- \3 e0 z2 A+ h1 J
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
& S$ o# z) f1 c9 k# Aabout driving our products," Lentz said.
+ O6 M. A8 C& J$ oThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's z- b" c% R; R# C0 a
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
( X, `: p+ {' d) O xrecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
0 l! r: L( n# _, bmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of
7 I. |- h3 \+ C, n vunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
; {2 B/ O1 ]: T* pissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering. B- |* Q4 J1 [5 K- Y
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
' s/ t* {5 X2 p4 o. Jtheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow. |, M5 T; S Q" W6 j/ j
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has/ l' M+ `+ _8 I& `% N, I/ e
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
5 d7 H2 A0 x. F2 Uof Toyota vehicles since 2000.
- w, I$ x. X5 H9 R4 VLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own: Z- x4 ]* F5 A, |# a& z
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
& u$ y# |% j2 z/ H' M0 Dunderstood the pain.0 W% S; h0 Q S* R9 V
"I know what those families go through," he said.6 U1 I, R+ g" J& G2 y# n3 D
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's! X9 d1 `' X6 j/ ~( f
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
0 v2 g/ v9 q$ V1 {5 @, P6 _) qBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
$ t8 k$ y5 r; uHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put: y$ k a4 o2 C' `/ p5 H0 I2 f: t/ p
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
5 P5 S0 {/ ~- M( u' J/ \/ WLentz replied: "Not totally."3 A6 K/ h2 r$ w, y+ f6 C
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were& z+ r/ [) ]4 K. B+ t
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said: x( W. J1 t3 f5 Y. U
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas {( Z* y r: q% Y# k: [* w- N
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
9 z1 l( }; |0 Y) P2 L0 J( ~; mvehicles already on the road.6 x v. o3 W' I, N
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
$ ?. F0 C( T5 X1 \before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
2 n& U! U6 v8 n( I$ w5 xresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and+ X. o$ i" ~! o$ v% I6 j
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
& c9 i$ `0 r% z( u7 F6 \killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.9 T( @8 i; q9 B2 j# ~5 \
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
0 G8 j5 j; ?* [4 K% u! _7 D4 Jtragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
( }. D$ }' Q2 mfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight/ `% T+ p: }) g* p1 }
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal$ \. E" x* r, ~, F' y
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
* [7 X% g; P9 k5 Z+ mrestore the trust of our customers."; {0 e6 S9 H x4 s) P* ]6 ?& A
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
) ?+ B5 V' Z+ \' y" rSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
0 K' ~" M1 X' R! _zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
# s4 Y! X n" }' @5 m1 z. L4 Eshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
5 V" }' ~- F! E, i$ D2 }hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
! j5 r2 ?7 g; R2 T# h6 \3 uthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and( U# {8 ~! I) N, N' m& F
turn off the engine." V6 w1 h3 g; @/ O5 [; q
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
/ k. U: q5 C! M" k' [October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."0 I1 F3 Z" c9 O9 c) A, m/ l. `
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
- g1 H2 S! ], Z! _5 zsaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
3 ^' Q) D+ h+ K' T; Q: C% Lto her complaints.
% x) x! K$ K2 ~) l: m. UIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers6 h6 w5 }9 Z# b" }- t# Z) ~$ ]3 F. J
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
/ `9 e% A3 U: O% umalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.. V+ S* R) F' b* Q
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric* D: b4 m0 `# S7 _0 ~4 U
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited* V \/ A; {+ s3 T
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
' O# A9 w- N7 R4 T7 w( m8 noff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure.": l5 C/ F0 m1 l7 d' f6 z( l; u8 _
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in- c" t5 `: N/ r0 ~& m+ v
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
, u, i1 h" ^: Fbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
8 o) C) M' m3 V) d/ Fwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer+ U7 j8 H2 O2 B5 o8 }2 |6 V
every question."9 ]- W" `, f% D7 P/ x4 [& w
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether! M- [+ i& ~% ^0 Y% n7 g
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The1 |$ o( X6 W; W" _1 e
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
8 ]( t! b- T" e5 zcommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small3 d+ v* b2 i: L% M! H
number of vehicles5 W8 S/ J4 L' m4 {% F) g% |3 _2 ]
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more
, y1 D4 s; b7 d8 @difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a" F! e' s2 J9 M l
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one6 K5 s4 J" Y. r
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
6 c' j6 z& o: ^* J) y+ I: WMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,7 n1 R/ S- T5 t2 ]. z" [+ } @
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no5 m" t+ j1 p. {
trace at all.
# t( _6 g% L1 s+ bHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call5 C3 o$ R2 ]' c' S' |1 Y7 U
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden9 ` ]) m1 n2 w9 v7 W, W1 X
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the6 `+ H0 ^( ~. K/ K9 u0 i
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.8 x' g. h$ S- |. B
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,# K/ t; W3 b7 k7 D) y
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and E4 Q1 g$ ~* f" Y- r
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
- L* j7 d$ p4 C3 }5 {* lelectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible0 H a5 S% c- N8 g M0 ?
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only7 u9 [/ w0 K1 l
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
4 Y) q3 T% l: q kby Toyota's lawyers."" Z3 D3 s& V9 C+ P/ W
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
. y+ k. m5 l& o# w& iproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our/ v9 ]! V* i4 g
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
; h. K, U* I9 esaid.
3 K- C- v: O( x/ X"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with( x8 Y u8 t: R' N1 h) p
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our- j3 @7 B( r" ]' T Z5 t: |! V
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
& O5 l4 [7 E% s( a0 ]officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.5 R2 v0 ]. o% l" T2 e0 u9 u6 ]
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
5 L0 c8 t: J, Hmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread9 g# l; t9 w6 c6 v; P6 @9 ]; m3 K* O
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
( d9 `+ c7 c; D% q+ iautomaker, at least in part because of the government's
0 [2 V" F: \+ e; _5 B( Finvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
8 \2 K( [2 f& ?) pChrysler.
* b i0 T/ E! k* m9 o"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax' O, A" i1 t4 ^- R
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
' I2 c& t7 X8 G& R' [Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also. \# s" j8 P* y
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete* ]6 Q3 B2 n# P1 J& x3 \
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
. {9 ?& Y' t: y# o* ttough."
+ b( \0 k% X5 P M0 ~---
1 j' t6 k4 P4 Q' N3 V- t; d% d6 NAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom+ F1 l! t4 T& U% [; m
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to0 e6 f; Q* i, a) j
this story.
) j- Z3 y0 `" E! X5 M9 {* Y0 b. ~5 d. P- N
-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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