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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题) k* Z& B: d2 c( l
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS4 J: V) J8 T9 j
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.' }5 A/ L- x3 v! a$ ~
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
3 S, T9 d0 K' G W S% R7 F' h @the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"# S! V1 T$ S" T
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration./ R/ {, e T' A6 U
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
* |9 l# h" P; p2 n4 ]+ v4 Zcauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
. J; C: x! E" x' M& m2 OHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
5 M* {6 h+ r" Z% u, i/ J lacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and4 \9 _& T" i" [6 e+ L: H$ J7 O
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor7 l# k5 r% }% j7 [1 g1 ?
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.
- R/ ` _/ c9 R/ JHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
6 p. j2 G# D* H* K2 x7 M; |/ Mand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
& I% q% U3 }* U7 gcriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be2 W5 n& p9 G/ E4 b) `
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could: T! U* E, d; h
not stop her runaway Lexus.
# c5 f3 s- _7 U$ F"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
$ f9 x4 {$ g: e# |) |0 `) eTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
/ y& ^9 ]% o# c9 q" s/ ?& K"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.. \5 H; Y# c1 ]: H5 u" t$ T5 |9 l
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
; o2 R7 t( w$ M* _4 Y, oearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said+ k, {& A! _6 B' a5 h; c
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has9 Y: G7 i+ T4 j m: l
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway9 g' C+ s. C/ p" V
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
" o" w; t y* e: Minvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
2 J9 p# i& J& w9 F, u+ S* e7 dLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an: ~0 z4 Z" C0 D B; {
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
9 X6 i j: {, u, J9 Cthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
% C% l( A6 U" q: m" ^malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he2 P) N$ D7 w& J" K. b, j; c# y Y" Y
said.
. S+ _/ x$ ~2 T& H2 G9 }2 YAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what* F8 w1 p' m! e, }6 P1 t
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe" m1 _2 E" w% Z! ]4 B, w. Z2 m7 G3 c
about driving our products," Lentz said.
+ D8 j6 O. p R' y$ U3 O" ~9 E- _$ XThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
0 G: I6 ?( E3 P/ [5 e8 }problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
2 q. L6 x6 S, k' ^recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6: y6 W- }" m0 n1 D; }
million in the United States -- since last fall because of! e- \& b5 Q3 m( b9 z& [( d3 Z
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
: Z) i. \" V* M: M: Uissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering! c; g* r/ a. A+ F! c
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of" O7 U+ a; I' P( E. q3 E% H. f
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
/ v* F9 D3 f9 l' W; Hdown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
+ ?) n( Y( D% Z) a8 n+ F8 ]% G! Sreceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration+ X. }* v$ o& I4 r
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.
& i6 e7 o/ ?4 I" YLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own8 W- q+ y5 X& ^+ ~
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
# V* S/ S& M z1 k# junderstood the pain.0 x( ~3 T3 q9 n/ V% s
"I know what those families go through," he said.
0 a4 ], F7 w! }6 P8 i' VLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's( g8 R- m6 A/ E* _7 m k& }
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
1 t* g6 x/ V6 KBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
0 C, l0 q8 i6 n* w- JHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
/ o e" T5 o/ I0 ^in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,: K1 L7 t. Y9 }0 ^8 [- d
Lentz replied: "Not totally."
0 J, R. {& H" l2 uStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
- ^5 J% {$ J# p. u* g( N"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said% D) Y- w' k, j4 \3 G
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas3 |: @% c# ^' \" G" z# s) p
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its3 t2 D( s Q' V
vehicles already on the road.
7 q9 i) m: ?0 w u5 LMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify" ^" m5 m4 A. i3 K
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
4 x) ^, F' [4 p8 f7 g7 kresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and$ S7 Q! L3 c( g9 l6 v( ~
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were8 R- y+ R7 V$ x) F( G' u* _
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems. X& d/ E% h, ?4 K9 |
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a7 g: z+ m% _5 L9 q
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony" L, U! X7 r/ ]* Y) l# [% B
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
. P/ d2 Y5 B% g6 ECommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal! L& [3 O$ C2 o; w. `" Q
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
6 W- M O" l/ b! ?6 t' `7 [- j5 D7 @restore the trust of our customers."
2 ]8 Z; u# Z7 K1 s2 ~4 S$ K; _Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
1 [, M1 a! G& o5 x5 p, x1 oSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly# q$ g& p8 W. D z$ B: X$ T3 f+ }
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
. m2 \( P e, l4 Q* A$ Oshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and, }. w* U3 }' J1 n
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough$ `! E6 B* I5 m" y
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and( v. x- `3 V! @. Y
turn off the engine.1 j% P1 U- f* w6 ?5 O
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of& { }1 g) B$ U: t- L4 S) q
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
5 I2 y6 [3 P+ @# E2 T6 K"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she0 Y, B! w/ m0 s
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
U$ }" k! I* r' i/ Yto her complaints.
4 \$ B! [/ c; m5 G9 j f3 V. OIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
: D6 b# t, S& F. i$ E( h$ G- ureturned again and again to the question of whether electronic
: Q* t6 \9 ~) U, K8 Y" k. b7 r Q) Wmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.& a' D6 {* {$ o0 \2 k
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric% z3 ]% e6 ?$ ^4 z
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited) X& U" P$ ^# B; y! u- G
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut, Y9 H H1 F0 k, Y6 w* N
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."3 u& z* d; Z5 B' q+ e Q& {
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
Z' t" L3 k/ l, K7 Y/ c/ zprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were' N1 n) k, P9 |
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls- I# {9 K$ }. b5 c& c* }
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer! Y |4 b4 o" D0 B& I" I
every question."0 m; ^" q% {9 m* @/ y5 V% y
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
2 b* }6 t( b- l' h9 H. Zelectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The# M: W: X$ k. p5 [
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But' j% X/ q& M6 b1 e
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small, |1 i7 a( h2 {1 `4 S+ c
number of vehicles
) X5 y Y# J( jTracking down an electrical problem can be far more
" \- ]: Z" E4 ?difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a4 i2 V7 Y5 h, {# V
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
" O* B0 J$ H$ d' psource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.% {- c8 D, _4 B$ H
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
- u$ A- b" Q# c/ bwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
7 F7 V, E5 V; U; K, R K5 ntrace at all.
# w3 y2 k" \7 ]9 J ?1 FHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call v% U5 R+ T% c U7 i( j$ r1 d
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
2 Q. ?& c+ H9 M0 w7 ]5 k) z9 T6 Zacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
: Z7 R# {, h/ V" ~, Z, ^recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.6 i& l% r( P; l' d
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
7 q! e* [; O5 {. t+ L- V7 [ Y# \said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and8 R, n" Q7 z/ G; w$ a; E
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
; W5 A: C( v* belectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
4 _% ]: @+ m W5 c1 T6 u* V, ncause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only( P- p& N- m) G g% \
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
2 x" n! L( ?( o; s& Cby Toyota's lawyers."6 j* A* x, g9 R1 M5 q: k; O
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of& E! g" C- X6 A' V/ f+ @; S
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
0 B: R% P$ |" l: G, |+ acustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he4 m2 f9 m6 b+ o7 h! r( X
said.( L( [+ V7 [+ C$ k3 ~# I
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
! z1 ]5 h$ s8 t' l4 ~5 _# za rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
# m! ]# t4 [0 y- E& [+ ]% j: ?0 \good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
5 @1 r; Z# ~# a* V6 J3 _officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
7 {4 X! L4 H/ A% Y7 J- gSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
$ v: i4 s& s6 p; Smembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
- @9 m: p3 ]/ { @* m- jrancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the$ s- C, @$ E" n2 j: i
automaker, at least in part because of the government's
: `1 y! T2 M8 e& Jinvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and$ p% }( k" S' [$ ]& g
Chrysler.
& H: Z. @+ i+ j k/ d( K+ M"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
+ n/ `/ D W) ^# p: W; Udollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
0 ~4 h8 P* A$ d: v, ?4 R: THouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also/ Y Q* K3 m2 @" w# ~) S* E
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete# b: a7 ^: y% [; B2 M
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty; T' g) d; M$ i" Y& I2 Y# Z& l
tough."3 E/ E8 ?8 k( J6 s6 L; h$ L
---
( i `5 F0 ?6 O2 j$ aAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom6 i4 n; x1 V) a5 ^: b# L
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to$ C5 T! m2 Z5 E
this story.
7 L9 c3 M. h: I( l8 j! z! ~; v# @" m/ N% B* C' E9 K6 P6 M
-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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