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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题! x7 i# \2 X2 |- ^ P! `
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS: V- T0 x3 \- |/ R8 L- }
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.9 I+ x7 A$ i/ s5 |! {. F5 h
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
/ G" P9 m0 T# y! o9 w7 I2 M) l" jthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
, u# `; a; K. H% X4 {' @2 u$ Ksolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.5 e7 n( D: [2 g( p$ c+ g
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
3 b0 C4 o: s, r& kcauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
9 g6 |9 [/ A0 K( R LHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
2 Y9 @3 k: \) ?1 Macceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
; n4 C( N) T; V3 S8 strucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor c$ \6 O" o. K g4 {
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.& e/ B/ C8 [$ A
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
0 @ `8 U/ z6 L: Vand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
/ S/ s. r ?! Q: k! f" V6 gcriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
) Q8 N. _0 w* ~5 v: ]6 Wfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
2 Z5 C4 ^3 Q( z2 z" f. znot stop her runaway Lexus.
/ i( K$ I0 W# z1 I* F' H"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,/ j0 b0 Z3 w7 W% k( W; f5 J6 Z+ i; e
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
$ @' ~6 k6 D# d"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
, Z0 j* d& I1 K# Z' |Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues/ @, Y7 C' F1 `2 a* {8 {" }. U& I
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said+ a1 h5 p$ x5 @9 A5 |' h+ Q
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has% }6 \3 R# ~' w# j
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
$ O+ l: L1 F) H4 Z3 |6 Q& }$ fthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
! j- |6 R- L' V& T/ ~investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."4 ^* E! g) k; p
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an3 }1 ]+ w8 ?5 b
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of* W9 E+ g2 |6 C! v3 O" o
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
+ u# g+ g* D6 ^1 Ymalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he0 S7 h. L- v8 H4 D y: c# C5 a
said.
. W) M+ _! E% V* k8 e7 e" _! ? E& TAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
0 c3 Q+ W1 m) m9 k2 _/ whappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe# U1 l- b# K G3 {% S1 j. Q
about driving our products," Lentz said.
# I! v1 n* |" U: T2 pThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
1 d+ q6 }! l: i& V! Cproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has0 N5 r, a+ V u/ S, O1 {
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6 M+ F; i/ i# \. T2 q2 g
million in the United States -- since last fall because of7 q) e5 j% n3 O9 X1 d
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
, x9 p4 V0 _4 T2 X( N. S3 Kissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
# H2 I* Q0 Y. }4 @' e% b. ]concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of& E; ^5 Q, s2 t$ ?
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow$ V. D. O( j6 d4 S
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
8 ?: O! x0 b; U0 I' Yreceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
8 d% M# r6 [% N$ i& z9 o1 hof Toyota vehicles since 2000.
0 P$ A1 ^5 L0 |8 H7 PLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own" G8 g$ g9 v# G% h/ N1 k7 |
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he1 m# m/ C e: B3 s& O
understood the pain." ]4 z, E4 G( P9 r4 g" N
"I know what those families go through," he said.7 r+ S0 d+ Q. j; y
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's. Y* v2 m @ K, m% }( _
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
1 D( ^6 }# |( S4 nBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
$ h) L- {, I! L2 _# }. `* I/ vHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put" v9 B6 J! ?5 d, e' f3 O
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,) ^2 X1 H. B' @7 `" g8 h8 X
Lentz replied: "Not totally."* Y3 i9 B+ `) I4 R; h
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were: {& X: I7 z6 j! j# x& T
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said; x [3 k! n( S, J
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
$ I) _# M3 I6 ^' X# P0 k# `/ W/ Hpedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
9 L& s0 m- Q8 s0 _' E- h- H/ S9 _0 d9 svehicles already on the road.9 |. w4 m/ Q5 Y3 e4 \
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
% J z j& H4 z, Vbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
% W* t) t$ W6 q2 y/ presponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
c! ]% u5 Q9 a1 E- ?offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
8 Q r3 v) ]. y& X0 I5 Pkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
S r- s# D6 y: H9 @+ u( V2 O0 B"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a' m) x/ E/ V0 ^* u
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony) P- e9 D8 Q8 G; _$ x# T, [: k6 \
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
2 E' l0 Q C ^& h) oCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal7 J1 L# Z1 m& y7 A: {
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
3 o# P5 @/ D: b0 lrestore the trust of our customers."
* l% w% T: B' }' n" c. jLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
; B4 ^/ o3 d" a# ?8 B1 OSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly) I8 N+ Q: N3 O* O
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
$ a# X7 w" c- [1 P3 ~3 r. ashifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
/ o# ]+ P' x7 K: B9 ~5 r6 @0 Q6 \hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
3 c3 @6 r O+ u$ uthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and( U3 a* E$ F) c, O
turn off the engine.; ^4 w& F" |# }, d8 C/ U5 x/ o: h
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
+ V. R, @* k: COctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
: f# T. ~+ l( O"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she' D/ {$ w, i3 A }
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
+ F( n8 j1 j$ \3 h$ [to her complaints.
2 [% Y, K' }& x' f6 f" aIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers' C! q" h& x, Y6 ]
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic5 G7 X( b# M. f$ b- l+ o
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars./ F4 c$ W# Q1 O
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
( d2 {: a' U/ R- |9 |8 m. cthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
w0 }" Y5 @- m5 k* h/ J! L$ u"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
) D4 a$ C) Z+ d/ Z) Woff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."9 D6 n" h. u; n! c4 I7 q& K
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in" c; @0 y; h; y9 {- f
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were8 T- x8 k6 j# I j" ^5 _! S5 I
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls8 |8 B9 B/ g& W5 n5 \; R6 }
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer; T$ @5 A' J" V- d7 C
every question."9 a1 `7 j0 |' f1 i" A3 v$ V, }: [
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
3 |1 |. L# }' p! `0 c. \9 e) ~electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
' ]3 Z( k5 L: t) N. B" f! ifirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But7 ^) _3 A0 F! y* k. ^8 G6 c6 p
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
+ A. o# V8 D8 q3 f% q" `& Enumber of vehicles
+ f6 ?2 P9 n$ a; \Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more
6 r2 D6 C1 O* d+ G, k2 g+ Udifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
7 _& J" n3 r2 vmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one% A3 c+ O0 r9 ]% R6 M
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
- g: |% H5 F b8 RMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,% z d- ?" ?1 ~: W) B7 z
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no" ?# n& A1 I2 ]8 R# U% D
trace at all.& z+ x }. `5 k* o, D3 @
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call, `! }7 t( p5 W3 D/ o- b9 i3 N: I
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden" R s: c% Q+ ]$ Y
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the5 A1 }; }3 C8 {. z7 h
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
- ]( B+ b* E5 _5 f: r( a/ |3 RRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
9 t1 s0 n$ m1 t+ j4 z- {1 ?7 {said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and: J* i: z/ ^% O$ m* _/ F6 u
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
4 M: c7 C. X y9 O7 M, j+ b* aelectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
5 e: w0 p0 N9 I; x8 r! hcause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
& n( z! {, T v7 F$ {6 O/ tsuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
. l0 `; T" r7 p Cby Toyota's lawyers."
, \6 ]' q: T% Y$ W. U \1 uLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
# u" K+ p2 i9 x' P6 E! t Q. qproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our( j2 Q' ] a" g" x9 w
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he+ `5 k+ ?8 m7 D+ e: g
said.
8 G" r/ j! a, T7 B; V }"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with! f, w3 N. \# ]8 s
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
9 |- ^! B& Y7 i5 _8 v3 kgood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating! ~, a$ m8 }1 P( }; [* V. l( b
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.( D* A% s. A5 i
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying$ D2 b/ S) n4 @7 V" h) k4 ^- F: ^
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
+ X. g- T$ T2 P o7 L' Rrancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the9 f3 P( e0 a" P1 z& G/ T5 @/ K3 ^
automaker, at least in part because of the government's4 t2 n7 M) b8 f
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and) @8 i0 a9 q2 I! F+ l
Chrysler.
" X4 i9 ^ S$ n; _"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
3 F6 U) _) ~9 A& S% p/ wdollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
7 i3 }4 T& e! F8 o+ W8 CHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
9 F; h- c Z3 ?$ s$ Y( ?2 |served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete" }- I! A. A( y5 ~ h
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty! e% @' ~7 ]* o( j. j! K
tough."
% E2 H0 z" x! R--- \' q& G. e5 | E# t
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom2 J; s8 @" }' w3 n# t# r
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to5 h# w# {# f9 _$ A5 v
this story. ~7 u) d4 R4 ]6 p% a5 M" r
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-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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