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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题 u" s3 M3 r9 C0 o( C$ v
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS" x) Q: f- Z$ `0 `
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.8 x& p. f' K* f4 ~# e# r/ B) p
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
& W4 e4 s1 M1 D+ l3 p2 Ythe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"% g' M0 L8 x! ] G
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.3 m. a. b7 G6 Q: A h
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
* p% P2 d' S/ g; |7 kcauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.9 a4 D# H2 S! ~5 [" y
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected0 {2 w) V. I$ ?3 V: u e
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and& t$ _. ]/ ?8 W% T
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor' ?0 ]$ m$ W/ b h0 ~
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.9 P, e% u( D' }% [+ R2 ]6 B
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
0 E8 g6 b$ v2 w; k+ _" S4 pand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
6 K+ F" S( z* J, {8 h- U# |criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
# r* u. | V& L( bfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
8 E0 C, u! V' O; C: S" Gnot stop her runaway Lexus.
1 {6 D0 R' a( N) s"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
" k* Q8 Z4 x5 ]( U9 J3 zTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
; ~) I1 h) c/ B$ K, W"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.# L. D( l) e0 }! I. g! p( W5 M- K
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
8 W: e8 X& x8 r; m; P+ I9 A4 Z% gearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said1 P4 \. A) g, j! |+ M* d; J8 G$ P w
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has! N. A3 w& D9 w
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway$ L3 K! e" s8 C0 K, ~
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
9 r9 y8 e# u" L: C/ D. @0 ainvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
/ G8 g' v, K- l6 |- T& F0 ^) j- WLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an+ N! H! I# K. |+ ^. J
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of; K; x# u5 {! K$ T
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a, ~" ?- \0 T, x
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
+ y+ q; X+ H2 }! fsaid.
y" @$ K4 C$ d \As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what2 v" l+ Z! t7 v0 _# T! C% g* B' ^
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe2 v! R2 ~% t& ?1 N
about driving our products," Lentz said.
6 H& C. s" I8 [% Q% l$ pThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's% B H- U* Y+ v& `9 A" ~+ G+ p+ e
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
: v) {6 s7 X3 e' [/ Y. Yrecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
- Q: _" p* ^8 h1 b/ A" `: K# }million in the United States -- since last fall because of
4 L4 ?- O6 \! A, n/ W% ] Yunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
0 `* K; w$ j: u* ^9 ?issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
; S; p6 [3 s! M+ ~concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
; C) o' Z" V5 g$ k' g5 i- Ftheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow3 h, r& t" o1 v" k9 N- I" c
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has# e# d3 F# N6 L' B/ r4 j4 Q
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration( @( p/ C5 P! H$ o( ^- P5 x0 D
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.
+ X& `0 m# ], Q3 cLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own8 f# J+ b$ W$ K
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
+ Y0 Y0 B1 z; V! A& C8 I4 [( Munderstood the pain.# E3 Z9 n' m u
"I know what those families go through," he said.; B+ b8 v9 m. Z6 M+ ?
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's8 C% X- a- \4 q/ k/ M3 S9 ^( f
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.4 k$ {' b+ R4 V( L6 s2 y# E
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman7 k8 p* V4 e ^1 T( F1 P: D: F
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put- d2 Z$ z6 {7 z0 x* k7 ]$ [: {
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
' @! d) I5 c+ `7 n9 U# PLentz replied: "Not totally."7 V& L9 j6 K& j4 s6 q
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were9 C8 `3 S; Z% o8 N8 P4 L
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said) V8 E+ \$ I" E4 N4 B& ~
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
J& V% z c) a: @+ Qpedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
0 k9 u# C7 N9 R2 K! K4 tvehicles already on the road.
2 E( D! \( f W" Y, s9 {Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify y4 O+ Y% i/ Y; S
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
3 r# D* B$ R0 ~ ]. x5 Iresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and& ~1 i" @, o6 s H# u) J
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
" b! F6 y! ^, m( X2 M% J8 Ukilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
! x- W8 ]) G+ \ S2 m"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
J3 B% `8 d9 ftragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
$ m- N* @( H9 U' Ffor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight [% e# h5 Z7 V& o# b( X
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal( z0 k+ i% t- x2 P
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
5 p% q! z6 M. u, p- |& Brestore the trust of our customers."! {) q8 N8 X6 n
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from+ x6 H* Q, G6 E |# Q3 z
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
) Y6 T5 W% c$ G S0 A8 C6 Ezoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --9 i' @/ }0 t; f- \2 U$ A* C3 u, _
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
4 G* Z$ Q; a4 @& G' y. J) |7 ~: n, uhitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough. N1 g( u* ?9 `9 ?
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
{9 f) `. a) h S4 z. y' \turn off the engine.
& k+ x7 f) a% W4 o0 d1 A- gFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of( t/ v8 j7 e8 W: \# S, B4 |
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."# b9 I$ {, F$ o3 F9 B! L! o' R+ T
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
) f F9 j6 G; E( isaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
9 Y/ S1 p) h; |0 \% zto her complaints.
% d) w. E& W9 nIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
. j5 {, c# l+ S% J2 {returned again and again to the question of whether electronic- z- f( e2 E6 G
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
+ f5 H+ c K- a1 G/ G/ a; {"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
q- x3 U, H) X y/ O' H% i% i3 l. xthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
& x1 A& G4 K% n6 v4 H"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut3 c- M# z7 p3 ?* m/ K8 G# C
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."- x4 j7 F% U ^: ]7 ~2 O, s
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in9 m6 A1 \& J7 ^0 g9 J
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
7 W0 j# l: n# E/ o# M' F1 [being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
: G: I7 z! R+ K v' L Swere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
6 }, x* a, ]1 g2 C* Revery question."
) j# O: y; }: r! v6 d i8 LToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether e: T" b0 b$ ]) R, Y& e
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
o: ~% a3 U8 {4 Bfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But9 Q4 q O& Q# E
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
0 w8 I6 ~, n: m' A' Enumber of vehicles
9 f& i: U, D: ^/ W/ M ?Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more
" ^; r' k7 p8 jdifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a5 \- Q$ P0 s9 J4 t7 O5 V
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one6 R7 z, @. C4 w
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.5 O1 i; }( P( F
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
4 J: s7 h, i. m' u; nwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no: v8 m% b5 c/ e) n
trace at all.5 f: x6 j8 _9 z5 U' ]
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call! w1 U5 E$ p( F( G2 ^/ O* s
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
' a* r S" v% ~9 z) S8 [8 Gacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
5 P0 ^4 i2 X# L6 X3 m- a# h- irecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.+ E' g5 O' v* U( O+ r1 r
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
2 M! o i$ P4 a) Rsaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
5 P2 g/ ^; `9 |8 n5 ]) f6 iother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the) B! q! @' i/ o) z0 j& k5 A; _3 z
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
! e% f" L9 d- p0 X6 U3 w$ W% ^+ Gcause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only1 a$ }! w1 u' M( X q6 C3 A: p. ?
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
) T/ B, T0 b7 i3 s, ^; t. ?% @by Toyota's lawyers."
5 P4 ]* \/ m0 zLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
! p1 ?4 O( p1 N2 F( pproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
3 D# H& Y; J& W3 wcustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
9 v: t1 Y- ^' I' B- H$ Lsaid." c# A1 R7 @2 o' l9 z. l% f f
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with) k: X5 W3 H L& k8 x) T
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our- J3 z! B) l; e7 _. E
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating% [6 L( c1 s# H4 i6 ^
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
2 O2 m0 p# D" C7 K5 j5 M. ]Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
) Z: n# D+ j( s$ ?members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
7 P2 T) w+ t5 Y% F/ trancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
4 U+ s; z, o/ qautomaker, at least in part because of the government's X& r: }: D" u% w+ R- M
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
. V" _& S1 {, w9 q( T4 f: U/ HChrysler.- Z8 h, s- k6 W' y# j) P
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax! m( I; c, r! h, v
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a9 H' m" s% s( w( @! H" O" f6 @
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also. w2 \+ _) W$ W9 S
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
2 u- w7 M8 F) }- e$ @with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
7 d' R% j* j: u# wtough."
B( Y5 p5 v3 }- `! i9 U# N4 b+ m3 }---; T3 N. B1 Y$ Y0 l+ N2 L
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom7 D4 I5 M& P& ]
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to% t( `0 E. H( q5 I5 |
this story.
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, L& }% T# o% L% Z-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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