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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
; @" v' x& A& h' c$ fBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS- n% d' O# K. D; _- Y" I/ N7 _
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
: `) t' C- q. o+ P- e, g& [% w; ^operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
- W+ [, b6 h+ ]: H3 F2 f8 B# p2 ?the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"$ a* J+ c# R9 n& Z+ A C7 M4 ?
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.5 F; ~' P) w; w# ^
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
% Y4 u. |4 L/ ^, b/ s; S/ Y$ Acauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.% ^$ \% M r& X, x9 m6 M
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
! k' T! v* w0 y: b' Uacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
' \5 ?$ ^+ h( G; C/ o a* wtrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
, O1 [& R. s! umats and sticking accelerator pedals." |* [& S1 C. ]0 Q0 l. h- ~7 E
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
" q; e% n$ @8 a3 Band fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp `7 Z! G' Y. e2 P+ C1 j
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
1 U" t9 a# O! K( G4 I' D5 Y* J. Wfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could8 s; G$ |1 E' I2 i, `9 a% r
not stop her runaway Lexus.
: a; U w0 m4 I! d5 `- _"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,) S8 ^- v% g) O, l) ]) A
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
7 U8 ]. Y/ r8 ], Y/ P"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
3 G% s' U1 c5 L# @& i, m4 V- uTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
. L7 d, L' x+ N- W. learly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
' Z7 _2 `7 U) V! J. F/ f- D"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
% w6 b5 G5 O0 p+ m+ ~6 c8 `0 Bdone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway% b' ~% a5 M* b; d
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's+ N) o' Q, l* v4 ?. a* f/ y
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."9 w8 V- D0 O; z, a& ^: A( m2 W
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an( v5 d t: [, k6 @5 n* b; P
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
8 T) l) b; P; N; K- g" ~8 Athe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a: d* h( n% ^! X! s3 r4 r& U
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
' q7 I8 ]! e+ H: ~. lsaid.
/ B1 Y; i: e" l- L% i0 RAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what' l) V! J: W! M- ~. g
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
( c3 O9 Z, k: c8 c; |: }4 d1 Qabout driving our products," Lentz said.2 m; S5 ]/ F; O5 I4 {) c
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
" Y' Z" s+ `8 r7 z5 ^. Nproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
7 n; R2 {2 Y' v: I' s4 ]) p0 Lrecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 69 H: A- _. m% M1 F9 d" Q
million in the United States -- since last fall because of! v2 ]) m/ O- |/ g& M: R0 u
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking# Z7 x0 b# D' Q( N# P7 p
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering! C. W/ y& F, H9 ~; d
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of2 ~" n/ z/ a- o U6 K
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow% H- |! d- j+ G
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has6 O2 q; ]1 y" B: F3 @' C" H ^
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration5 u, z) y0 D: g' w; r1 l9 X% h
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.
/ }9 n- c9 v2 vLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
) K5 h: R( Y0 M# p# X3 Pbrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
! q9 L3 A \ E4 K0 Q/ wunderstood the pain.7 J" E$ _( G4 L, x2 z! ?- Y1 Z
"I know what those families go through," he said.+ j2 X& V$ {$ g, f* y, Q
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
# a9 S& U h1 g, f; x* ?3 Kfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.9 N- d* l5 [" [- E9 E" G
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman: ~ M/ A. p6 U4 f4 a) W. f1 r
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
* Q; {+ ^" F5 C! X2 m7 \/ ~8 Din place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,+ h" w; u0 l0 N8 l
Lentz replied: "Not totally."
) |& E1 G7 [/ v8 H. X4 a% C6 |" [& @/ EStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
) C; |9 _! o0 o0 \& ]0 X2 Z"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said# @" Q* T/ j. e" K+ C0 J6 t3 N: s0 `( q
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas% a" O# g0 B! C7 E7 h+ |6 @
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its& z" J; f( b* w
vehicles already on the road.
6 ], x, ^9 o8 w, ]+ vMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify# ~; ^, ^& V% i3 M
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full6 t3 ], y; G# o \& u7 y8 q
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
* V; _* l: e3 e( \% D' Doffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
' I8 a; a u9 l3 \* L/ ^killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
$ b* C6 v. T j- e0 i6 C" G"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
5 W" X, V+ Y& P1 G7 e( Itragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
V7 l& [2 k* G1 `for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
$ z0 A: I1 [" L0 n9 [' `" FCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
5 t6 \5 y4 `6 i: j1 v- q/ Jcommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to/ y1 |# ]4 b5 Z; L% ^, ?7 A
restore the trust of our customers."
7 V ?8 q8 B# P. O8 m6 _Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
5 ^9 ?2 M8 L7 N" l! L- MSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly& B }8 D5 u0 E- ?+ l. n) n
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
; E: \( n) R7 Y9 X3 X! R6 l% ^$ x) Yshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
. X( d' T5 C0 z1 V% nhitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough: v+ ]0 v8 J" V$ p2 C* [
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
7 W5 b, q) m4 gturn off the engine.2 e! h$ i9 ?3 c
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of4 ], W$ U: `9 ^2 r {. m
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
# t L2 Z. f1 }# S" d" E"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she4 \* }+ _. d" W3 o; B
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
8 x3 J4 e( S; m, tto her complaints.
* L6 ]+ }: _$ }2 f C6 ?In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
/ L9 u' o$ M) g3 [' \4 [4 Yreturned again and again to the question of whether electronic
6 M5 N# L( M {malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
" j( i' H$ C, |! p3 d; O+ R2 {- n"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric+ Q, q/ g8 s$ E& V* `( z
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited8 Q4 T4 B, \: Q6 q( C' k; I+ w' c, b
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut) `7 f0 ]/ V# }1 s
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure.") I Q, A u% t* `8 N
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in$ `4 i$ y0 s, H( {3 {; ]
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
9 ]. q, L. [- A x, `; gbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
6 l9 t+ [+ o2 Iwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer0 N8 x% v# G. ~3 Y' a* m) F
every question."
6 Y E; j. C" P& w* T" T- dToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether2 i3 v* N6 {" M2 k! e7 F
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
3 E5 A6 C: _' P' Gfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But, R) X0 K7 B' Y2 m& C, {
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
Y2 ~2 I2 Z8 l9 o1 K9 Lnumber of vehicles) E! u) `! ^& N" f* F
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more
! V& N( L0 R* F" ^( jdifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
- ]( F) x2 C* _5 A' d* Kmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one k. p7 o. u& @* C, Q: s9 r S- ~
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car. m- E: a5 Z2 U7 S/ R( o
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
- d1 M; u: v8 o% e: q1 Xwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
7 q* L5 U) U2 b( K9 H7 [; ^7 \! btrace at all.: ~! I8 [ f. N
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call: R3 t' o6 j# m
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
" v5 y, c1 V% J2 V7 jacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
6 h9 ^8 @+ N! l* [recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
1 W6 X0 N0 P8 b" q o9 hRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
9 m2 h5 F6 [1 ]% [" g7 w: |5 \5 T9 Hsaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and! {, ~1 H& d- o2 R8 l: V
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
- [5 u# J# f, }: ]9 {# M, eelectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
& S8 S. J5 ^0 E% B4 }* H1 Vcause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
( g, t9 t. ?; b3 W1 Q! Y2 jsuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained5 ^% H/ N% T: e6 [
by Toyota's lawyers."2 r2 j3 G. a! }6 R) \7 |9 L' E
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of# ?$ `: i4 [$ q+ f, Q4 I& E6 k
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our- N. x) L, V6 G5 W! T0 C( G# |
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he j1 {' W* m5 O, ~7 x# |
said.5 H9 Z2 W; Z1 W i" _" w
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
& Q i6 t& A) ]) l) C7 b% ea rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
$ Q# T, _! C) b/ W; E- k; Z/ ?good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating% ^- m/ J$ R/ J" P/ _
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
) u/ c- ~* u( x7 r: O; ISeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
( Z3 Z) C# w5 z& | o* \; Cmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread3 {, i( k8 l5 u2 ` ~
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
" ?. h, K- q/ a1 {automaker, at least in part because of the government's
* a& l& A, ?( L! g% Uinvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
7 d; Q$ w) o: P3 k9 P- jChrysler., D- E0 C/ j0 t3 j
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax! Y! h( S* L+ D# [6 N# |
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a( }! p# {7 o+ [
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also1 g/ t$ @3 R t ?
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete* d' X$ d! W. ~! }2 w; Q
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
$ {' x% Q; U/ A3 V- @8 ^tough."6 x8 ]) X2 R E$ u! F1 a* P- S- R$ H
---
4 Z) C6 _/ W1 f# R" u- t$ ]Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom* p/ d& ?; c) L ~
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
' l4 b6 \; f3 P. ythis story.1 z: S' h: }5 ~+ X5 w
6 n8 X3 A* {. P. _# Q+ g( P
-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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