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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
' f8 Q% E' R7 \By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
1 d+ T. q' g. u; d$ R! t4 kWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
/ V4 {/ i$ F8 S& W2 Z' voperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
- \7 t# P) l% @' I" K/ P& ethe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally", X! w# E- d& ]
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.; K- L% l, {$ ~ R/ K) r
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential; K- F3 B/ X) M# y
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
# ~4 _1 D& y, w1 SHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected& G. k; @ j; u! `4 y
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and* ], d* m$ Y; |9 A% e
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
2 o/ s3 ]. } X. n! x8 ^mats and sticking accelerator pedals.
O Z6 r7 [3 ?' L- H7 wHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal5 z( K$ i8 a; b; T
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
g& {2 U4 J8 @; Vcriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be9 y* X% m. Q$ }
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
. `7 F; d7 }8 k/ N$ q- }not stop her runaway Lexus.2 J: W8 z% z9 P7 B. p) @
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
' C7 n( y* C; l- N2 L7 jTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
3 E3 D- J+ r2 q. [" i+ [2 z"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators./ k3 W8 O* F! \- I
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
$ U2 b" f! Z/ h; C; z0 _# bearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said9 x ?6 f/ G, q9 a" ~* y8 t+ g; g
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
9 v: E9 y: V2 F# Gdone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
5 n; S6 u) |2 L: _through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's3 E3 I% Z1 g0 p7 W
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
; g: E r( U# ]. WLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an4 h( `# l# w5 g2 Y3 v) J. i7 k
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
$ G) B6 X$ b0 k @. [2 }( othe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
9 B2 C4 ]8 R8 z/ \7 J( w7 omalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
4 T/ V, t( X7 I& ]% S0 xsaid.
$ u+ t) M0 Y" m% u+ sAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
6 }) F5 G( X, [2 a6 m2 {happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
8 g# _2 V" g( W/ u& Yabout driving our products," Lentz said.+ z* E5 _+ {) B
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's o; F) R) C: z6 m3 [/ x0 d
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
9 U) X0 m: j- C, d. N, Y8 g8 hrecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
' |# Z/ m V. C% p% Z Q3 {$ j- xmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of
. H2 L( C8 ]! n- m/ ~! |unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking! U; ~: Y" w, b. Z0 G2 A& g
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
1 _. [* J g9 n# n7 e) Jconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
% m" G* ~/ Z" Vtheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow+ i( D9 R) w; x; @8 Y4 ^% y6 `% B
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has1 B. d# N7 b8 i4 ?* _3 t
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration$ E$ a% Z+ K" N7 S
of Toyota vehicles since 2000. J; H' I& P- A( a9 \. w' ]
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
5 p, C) t+ d, \2 F4 Vbrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
' |; P- f' _. v9 B6 qunderstood the pain.
) }: h y0 O( K5 c4 u"I know what those families go through," he said.
* a! \ h( z5 MLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
$ Z! G ]8 ]1 }$ A% Cfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems., u" Z. l4 R. b& `( ]
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
% f& {+ S( f) W. r/ X8 LHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put: d& @# V( m. X( b7 X7 v; I# g
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
9 i" K# f. ^8 j; DLentz replied: "Not totally.". {% \+ m& B! l0 \$ U! ?
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
c- d* y8 w- P0 D) o3 h"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said' p; N4 r/ u/ ^% h* {
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
! m6 v* t( X# Z) T f2 O# H- p' ]pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
1 j \, t! B% Y2 cvehicles already on the road., {( ?/ s* ^5 ^9 d& C3 X
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify# e: u( ~6 A6 P" F4 F5 ~7 X/ w
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
; R8 T4 d; u( P+ e, H# {4 N: eresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
# J( O+ ]: W$ Y3 koffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
7 M# S# c' N/ l/ r2 [: M; M# vkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
/ i6 h/ s v8 ^"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a, ]* _# S( Q9 D) k/ b, w$ g! h
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony8 C4 Z. J B" {% A9 ^8 q Y; m: q
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
! P* r0 g4 m, g( t- L+ r0 ~% HCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal! U1 j: B: ?& [' f( |
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to( s4 ]) S8 W6 M+ ?# n2 r; U
restore the trust of our customers."8 _" H0 j c9 w: V
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from- z4 n% q# j Y$ v9 L
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
. _/ Z6 i5 A; p( [- C% `- [+ Rzoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
9 \) k3 Y" @9 B5 g+ Eshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
2 k& K9 k8 b8 I$ j2 m3 ohitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
( p) L3 ]7 c& d8 ^: s: i" bthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
& z$ z! i' s) L- gturn off the engine.# r' I; ]. m, o9 N/ p/ f, T
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of3 @) ~1 @* {: [6 |! O4 Z
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
$ O8 z+ o6 c9 A, p1 d( h"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
- _! r* J1 i% w Q: ?' A: C5 Asaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond% C: H7 m G4 m
to her complaints.4 h, `, Y; ^2 x* x
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
. ^9 n2 F, d9 M0 @returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
. ^5 [* z, W" }9 Pmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
- K5 R' |' T f2 H0 \( s"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric8 `/ W$ z0 h& N
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
1 W* U$ F" o$ A; e: p& W"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
9 t T3 y& [6 v2 t/ B3 S3 Noff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."/ z/ ?0 Z/ V8 {
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in' r! q0 F6 i' t1 O& v
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were6 r& y0 H4 q7 u, A
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls2 N' E* {' e; ^6 b# W1 P5 r
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
8 A( U, w% B2 k- ^% D% `. Eevery question."2 E$ Y) _4 `1 [2 Y
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether1 E: p* o7 a' _+ _# t. [2 s' y& v
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The! h) ? B( h6 g
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But0 g5 k2 T3 A* A4 l- F- W+ X
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
0 \/ b2 [3 I- k& q" Pnumber of vehicles
1 ?6 U" s- d4 H9 P" @; \* H" p6 J kTracking down an electrical problem can be far more% z- D: B9 I/ z2 c
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
3 c7 |, a, V8 R/ Dmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one1 k8 q. y0 l! `9 [7 m3 o+ u
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
" y. R7 D5 @2 iMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
! _; M* y x8 f7 g5 Z, swhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
' k' i* r- T0 N9 z" o, ]trace at all.
' ?; i' w8 L6 i8 t1 @6 X( i9 bHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call- a3 C- A/ }( {: F
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden) y$ o H0 l- \; `* P
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
- d# v4 s3 i: ]: ~0 y8 J% ~recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
. k- y2 ^" f5 h& ~* |4 zRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
5 q- q3 z' I4 S5 l7 R% E% asaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
9 ^0 z/ o) I& {% eother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the1 @ W2 J+ R( \) H
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible/ F0 t* |7 Y2 O& @( j1 X2 N
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
% l1 ?: u; R- p& L; k- A% u9 ssuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained' N5 X5 D3 U% l) H( b
by Toyota's lawyers."1 C0 [. ?8 W2 y* p) ~6 h
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
, y8 G. b: v8 |* X6 Hproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our- | a/ T, l& H
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he% u+ h5 ^2 C# D0 b4 l
said.
8 C F$ w; A% L% u"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with! c: {1 Y: g" E* n C# R; {
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our0 v( o% J( n k$ [3 `$ Q% p6 @8 o
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating# e% j7 [$ i( ?5 N
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
; g( L" q# V1 j7 G' x2 Z8 TSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying4 Q0 p/ b+ v+ r( r- @# O: P( c
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread1 K, R3 w" W8 y4 w" U+ M
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
; N4 [: m* B8 nautomaker, at least in part because of the government's4 n; O1 m6 x0 o
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and- o: J$ _6 j. e* Q% x( p
Chrysler., d: v6 ?% o) z. T
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
1 _8 A; _" D0 e7 J, r7 r: {6 Y% j2 Edollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
- o! @( k9 l* V! k' q& RHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also- y/ X$ K7 z. ]* _
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete9 Q+ V u1 g" K, [0 S" u3 m' c
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty9 x+ y2 V6 w2 S Y* x! f/ P* w
tough."2 @; O% n! U/ z5 ]6 l
---
0 D$ p, C+ }4 Y {4 _Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
- h, [8 K- S6 qRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
5 u6 F; l. r. \0 a* H/ Zthis story.
0 K3 }% v, [3 }: N0 |% V4 O: A
( o. o: w! D( ]$ d% |) F+ ?-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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