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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
1 z$ V! e1 c1 g( I7 |By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS- j7 e# u2 U2 q# G6 u& h( [: y+ A
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.7 c. U' y9 g: T N0 P/ O
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
6 B) R$ E* ?$ E7 L% W' {5 Ithe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
, v& _" _; g6 q$ y: Csolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
' Q3 o0 }: T7 {6 Q0 U4 y) b"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
7 C8 j3 s) p. h Ecauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.* d5 B0 w0 ~/ Y% T* b
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
5 G, p5 o. P2 T* a) \) ?, L! Lacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and9 Y, J9 z) [: N+ q) M
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
( M7 K: Y. C, A; cmats and sticking accelerator pedals.
4 ~; t* ]% j/ F) L7 q# o$ u4 _, @He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
% b/ @% {2 A) q2 T+ |/ cand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
. Z: ~, |! H+ a4 Y( ?! q9 Hcriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be! ~* G7 X( H$ n* t7 }5 U4 F
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
/ h/ a! I' N4 {% @4 Knot stop her runaway Lexus.; m( n$ a2 ?0 m: K4 M
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,6 \: ]" y* t9 w$ S
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
$ K0 B+ c i! I$ d5 E"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
8 y# `& c: k- zTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues% K \4 V' k- l9 a8 T
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said4 t# a- X- |- E* f. Y
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
( L6 E( P; [1 e. `3 pdone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway9 H* a+ q6 U% x. c) O
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's, B7 f2 O3 g l! l
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
5 v- _, U9 p$ c/ dLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
, o! h' E; O- J. J- t& xelectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of- S( Y% y8 w$ V. q$ _+ A
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
+ R$ |% f% w8 A5 ymalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he, a0 z& v9 n4 l
said.
9 u; `8 P0 C, m9 D8 wAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what, ^, E5 h) N3 t; u9 Y
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
8 S6 o. Q" P& ~& H Yabout driving our products," Lentz said.
' \! [6 m& Y1 A; K0 u% FThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
$ N. k; E2 r) i. q1 q+ ]3 w- iproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has& R4 S. o9 ^! g+ M8 }1 k8 j
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 61 C7 w9 ~/ A6 _/ ` H, f# r
million in the United States -- since last fall because of
% c j8 I( |2 g8 S) H) V- zunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking6 y. R$ f8 x, ], N" L4 g$ ?
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
7 j ~7 Q( }( }& Y; [1 oconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
* r# @* U4 g9 D4 A" Z9 s+ Ytheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow- D2 y1 G k& C4 N: D2 V. m2 \2 C
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has( t7 D/ J7 p( h1 q0 k; m! j3 m
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration1 ]/ A+ l8 |& n# e9 O8 W# D/ l
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.4 L: i1 e4 w. E% I6 J
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
9 U+ W' F0 P# @3 F$ `: }2 I8 r& ]brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he4 @* [% y$ Z) Z# U
understood the pain.
$ o& y n: t7 }"I know what those families go through," he said.
9 e& b, b) ?- \1 W: T o# kLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's: P2 q5 h$ Y$ n6 T2 x! j
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.6 P x. a. R3 G4 _
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman& }9 l6 w6 L2 s% X9 }# B5 h
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put! E b. {5 z. J) ~3 w2 ?' n5 ~# W- k
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,+ _$ \2 b, ^7 K: K
Lentz replied: "Not totally."
# f [! b( T+ J2 U8 Y! B2 g* @. v$ p# xStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were& J1 ?7 G1 C/ P; X4 h) G
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said3 y ^5 e/ u' k
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
2 j6 j) i7 }( A& T0 apedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its/ Q9 h. e+ r( {
vehicles already on the road.# S7 U0 f+ ^5 o: m0 r$ J
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify* C7 X0 v" Y$ p; Q* t
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full+ s( s+ H* k9 i( q% N9 r+ l( q
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
$ |+ V; ` y2 Q2 q3 p0 koffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
, g& }) ^% P" ?3 `2 R6 Akilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
& h" T( e1 h% G" q"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
" ]4 o7 b; [* O2 {: w* Htragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
1 h: Q$ H c8 ?: t+ ~! W# hfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
0 E0 {% C5 N4 p) }Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
) u, O4 u# U% x2 [commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
: l, j4 n7 Q2 p* X/ orestore the trust of our customers."
1 l* B; O/ ~+ P6 y1 v; n1 hLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from9 l' F H: X4 S& ?; L% G0 d
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly7 B5 z2 o# O! o7 F
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --& O/ S/ M5 d1 K1 g/ N; Z; a' p
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
+ _: e( J& M2 g9 Z( Q4 @+ B Jhitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
7 U* Q* C1 Y6 W6 a5 B% ~- {9 |that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and% G9 b$ |" h$ x9 e7 ?
turn off the engine.; Y c; J/ q+ g1 E
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
' F# L( `- Z4 e' U4 IOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
/ p7 {2 [( V) g- L+ X) t( ["After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she8 k6 a+ J @/ n) a6 d
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond/ o- f: @/ Z5 \* D7 ` c
to her complaints.
+ X; z( t; f' Y7 w5 `# lIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers# v! A& p2 G a& z) K# l5 B
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
3 ]: Z( o8 z3 Jmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.: \6 R0 S& }; s2 H; G- T9 D; x
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric/ T: u5 i7 q4 c. f# `! t ]
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited9 g8 x. X6 G! P( U
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
- T( A9 U0 G1 @3 }$ Coff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
- O3 h) s- P6 s. Y; cTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in2 U: B8 [/ z( {$ n1 I8 d
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were% Z' R9 {( @: t J6 t
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
) C5 s5 }; e9 K- p# [$ q- ~) \. Swere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer1 j; @# W' ~9 a( B7 Q/ r
every question."
, S2 H- H7 E, G0 G* p0 \Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
6 F3 _# d R# Melectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The. W% V) N: r9 v% s
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But6 a& f/ U5 j6 p9 e; f- j# k
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small4 H {) O% q4 N8 S
number of vehicles
5 {5 M3 R2 T& s" W5 B4 |5 YTracking down an electrical problem can be far more' c% n' x/ O. S0 T J4 _8 v
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
' K: R( k. |3 x- v/ `1 mmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one! B4 c. K1 k6 T$ `7 E* P
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.& W& }2 z8 t: [/ z( Y$ c5 X+ F
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,$ L: n6 Q1 s9 G7 y
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
/ H2 Q0 e7 d2 B- N" n9 Z9 [$ W7 B. utrace at all.2 y f9 j/ @+ X6 f' \( y* e! f3 O! g
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call6 ^; g, i$ E! t) n, u
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
( h3 e4 y: S( ]: \* v3 E! Tacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the$ _" g/ O$ d& U7 p; I0 g8 q0 f
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
4 K+ [- G: D. P* RRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,& C' W( k/ v, j+ q5 @
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and/ ~' t6 D. X8 {3 D! \! y! @
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
/ O7 B* g) Y, Q4 z- A) }; ^electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible" D; `3 ~6 {* {
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only6 `! X4 Y* L) t. c" n Z
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
5 j0 N6 E& K; r: Cby Toyota's lawyers."
2 b8 {7 Y2 U4 n2 T: u& NLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of9 d' i0 j8 `& v" C; V
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our# f9 `- w9 [* z r/ Q/ V, }4 f1 i
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
4 y/ J; I6 n `5 ?$ Y0 m7 j5 hsaid.
# R" [' e/ A4 y( X2 l"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with- w" G B" W' a
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our6 J' v& S2 [, f4 z2 h! O" _, Z
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
/ ]* c7 W7 M6 [. w+ Mofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.2 n) X9 W# S8 `! x; ]+ e/ T7 c- R
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
- q( S6 H S$ m' ?! z& dmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
5 H# O6 H9 P# Q, s/ ?4 q9 o0 @rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the' U3 v6 I" @& m, ^1 v8 h6 A
automaker, at least in part because of the government's
. S0 @: h% G$ n+ J( w# Sinvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
5 n% a9 Y2 b, g* o! W: x6 }Chrysler.$ f. l1 _" L* T" {$ _) u
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
( X. l% {6 ]% P: v* i9 odollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
2 H0 N I5 O8 P& r7 Y9 y5 DHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also- U# F! x) i' y% y1 ]! e& x
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete' F- u. ?0 h! Z. M2 p
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty; E6 O; q4 p" K1 \" O' j
tough."7 z8 k6 e8 f N1 [/ ]* ^1 ^
---
' W, s+ j7 q, x8 @- \8 @Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom0 J$ h- O2 F Z7 \0 r+ m
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
9 _% O1 r, ^+ Q I6 H; _! |# nthis story.6 X- d& X. ~3 U9 `
+ p2 W* A9 f0 ]' L5 E1 G2 P-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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