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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题* y8 F( ]+ S7 ?- S I
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
" N9 G, l/ |% i4 ]# s SWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.8 |4 Q. P8 J: K
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that I4 o0 [2 G* X! S
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"4 `% o) E) L+ l/ |1 L! v
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
* \3 k& z0 J. G"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
1 G* d+ d( b0 y. ccauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
/ `9 h8 T. L4 C2 c/ B* |. GHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected. h2 B7 \+ ?) h% Y
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
! D* K4 g4 `' D& Vtrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor# N" d! u& r0 _" k: U
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.
* [ v6 ~* a: l3 w o# `He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal, b& R }' X' ^5 K4 I+ R
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
* G, f/ Q+ }9 Y7 Mcriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
A! c" {% q, Ufurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
1 _( B. e3 d" c$ }' Pnot stop her runaway Lexus.
, W; T9 I- p5 H, W& ~% t"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,2 m( n" a! x5 ]
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
5 a# {% P8 ]4 k, b. n"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators." A0 @' S5 I- s$ o( C# h' `- I
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues2 h+ v# q/ o/ x# s6 b; ]. r$ ]
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said" l! M# a, x c& b7 x( x
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has3 v/ J3 {( y* U! P) a. B V
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway( C( Q' x1 l8 P. x* T
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
0 w4 O* C) U# {" Ninvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
" c8 V0 t; Q. b& {8 ^Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an( i8 }) S# D' z% ?0 a
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
! {: k7 q8 l+ V, Z$ fthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
2 _; Q. \3 ]; s; k6 r$ Zmalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he$ v5 R i& |) ~. E' K) ^# V2 k
said.2 c% ^' c5 r$ m' W
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
0 W! [2 @& F# Hhappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe; j4 f& H* W/ M& Z6 R+ |
about driving our products," Lentz said. M) ~: k( c! |
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's+ e6 Z |. r, V: Q
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
- k& |2 j7 _* @; Y( vrecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6, c/ }: c' U5 o$ s+ D
million in the United States -- since last fall because of
3 \! X9 ^# i M% @unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
6 P" c" H! A4 |' e/ ?9 [issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering, _1 T. _; p- T+ E6 h, U& l
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of% w2 i/ I) ~8 Y+ q7 `- O6 {& x
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
7 a) u" J# E5 n6 pdown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
% }% D# m1 I% b, Treceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration& w0 M4 S7 W6 U0 s3 \
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.3 D. v) l- p6 |" f2 l' W) H8 L
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own) A H* S2 w/ @# C& Y- {. P, \
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
& h- A$ x1 T5 s% {0 s. n9 S& `understood the pain.
' ~, D4 b3 l/ U"I know what those families go through," he said.+ ?5 @0 R0 k. o
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's( S9 q8 @4 K4 C0 G6 n# f
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
5 o4 T) \" u1 I: w T4 g/ J% pBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
5 n$ A1 a0 `) I% N9 h1 n- |Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put+ S5 s4 l: w7 N2 M6 g" R7 o
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
" l3 Q Y0 B8 d" x3 wLentz replied: "Not totally."
& z% S) X) W% f0 W0 I% G5 UStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were: r$ f5 g% O" K* `; L3 z4 k% w6 v
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
5 ?$ ^6 `* N: b6 cToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
+ j# g2 O% }1 E4 Gpedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
) q j9 D( w% h! d, i' G c Z6 \vehicles already on the road.
( f j6 k( T+ }. D0 \6 KMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify9 q; b; u: j* m6 G# d
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full* N1 |% b1 [) Z2 R
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and& O2 q q! t. O( @+ Z
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were2 b2 I* \4 D Y
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
% h) n, e( O: L W"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a- D3 b% l: I4 I0 P8 [! K- ~8 D
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony% D% ], s* d* z6 ^5 E, T
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight# |" h2 p9 v* L+ |' v) c9 F2 U% \( r
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal. J! v' S# i. z% j# \1 }0 e8 R+ j; [
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to( M- j5 o* T1 {. h9 B2 C) H
restore the trust of our customers."4 o F z; ^/ Z' L' g
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from" g/ v8 \2 y+ W* P1 d
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
1 Y+ B! }4 U3 L) v5 V: p7 F6 Nzoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --1 K" m' m, j. R1 n4 M8 U5 h
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
3 h" o3 U! N: t, M/ h# J: \hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
+ S9 I( H( P: e$ ?that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
8 }+ w; q8 {1 U rturn off the engine.
) Z$ x5 q3 ^( g) |/ h: KFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
m; Z- e' ^4 V. D! C C: P) BOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
$ P! U, P- o2 u: s" l+ J3 g"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
+ n. c h0 v' P* H7 x ksaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
4 Z5 Z& x2 `8 X H4 E% Ato her complaints.
+ Q2 J' |( h* yIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
; X5 z% E, \9 O# B9 X( rreturned again and again to the question of whether electronic
( d; H, s8 d# C4 s$ o2 \$ @8 Omalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.' Z5 a4 b! E7 X0 J) B
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
' @, _# x3 g4 ~' athrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
: h. v3 ]% W$ ]: _7 o" v"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
4 F" X4 {4 r; r* u) N p, Uoff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
; V4 B/ q9 @ ~% m: yTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in. v [$ x; U' q' |, g
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were( I; _. l3 @, Z# J4 B: Y
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
# R7 a% R; M# Y: X4 v7 }were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
; r* w3 z2 S) revery question."8 B- v6 q9 b& C: a
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
. R9 d1 _# w8 i& K& F+ j# H3 ^1 pelectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The: p5 M* c* W" Q3 L: R
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
: x$ j+ v' K1 M1 w6 |0 Wcommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small n" [9 q( g0 _( n
number of vehicles
" v- p/ b2 H2 }2 DTracking down an electrical problem can be far more
o# \; H$ G5 I) u, O `: Bdifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
$ F3 c3 W8 Z' t" u7 Xmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
6 }3 g/ [/ A6 ?* hsource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.+ s0 j+ O! q6 d' V1 ~
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
: r8 h. f. p% r% r! g4 @5 t2 swhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
6 A% J' e( O. _+ }' r# n. Ltrace at all.
" s l7 V* C# M+ M; R7 q* MHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
/ P4 u# Y& i% ldatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden Y m4 X8 P5 V; [" a
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
4 ~8 y; V. i9 `, Y3 H3 r" grecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.9 J1 n* H2 v& Y2 v( H2 C+ |; `% q
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,# j+ u; @3 E2 J, n. ~( H5 P+ d
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and6 b# d: i2 U( a0 f& X! h
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the/ U& N: J$ ]" } A/ Q/ @. p+ {
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
9 p4 o" l+ v/ R! D) [9 T- K/ ycause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only2 b0 k- b6 J" X1 @* ? c, ?
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
1 _) h. U; m8 Y; Rby Toyota's lawyers."% L4 m+ y) J# F6 V
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
+ e* H/ a! t+ k+ V/ kproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our% ]4 b- H6 A; m2 p. I" J
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he" E5 `+ ]& L0 }- v; j! ?
said.9 z& c9 J% i# F' v/ Y' a
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
& k6 x* c4 [8 Z4 F% w7 J4 m/ ia rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
. {. F$ H5 q! u6 `" d- Fgood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating) |' L) _ ]1 v; _
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.# y1 h0 ]( }4 ~3 v1 v6 E' J; h( L$ l
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
. ~4 T% o3 U' g8 |; ~# ^members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread9 h$ I& \. U. s% j" j2 E9 s2 ^
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
: t7 H4 A" H: A5 J) z' _* y% U gautomaker, at least in part because of the government's
# p8 m( u* X. i" Xinvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and0 B/ ]8 ]2 F6 \3 i" }
Chrysler.
( ?( @+ H2 H* I% A"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax+ j5 V N% T: v1 n2 c' v
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a( t# w+ J+ h* `0 C* K- X$ A% `
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
0 c- [: c- i7 [served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
h3 T$ k6 s# ?" r* d) gwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
R: D' r( Q* i/ Jtough."# T: D8 q. U1 Z9 H/ g( P
---
# q7 v0 J" c7 Y1 b% v/ _/ iAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
0 P9 A& L' A& G! v! E- s# IRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
4 V6 |! R/ }3 gthis story.6 {$ ~( P4 ?+ ^9 S4 }$ P
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-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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