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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
. K& b- J) l2 lBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS. d5 J( | C+ O, C) N
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S. L; H; E" m5 A' J' `9 Q8 R. E0 X
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
9 B( L# F8 x& w4 ithe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
5 B6 O, I$ `5 N: J- I* x2 J) Csolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
' O/ T; _3 p4 b5 C! V% L"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential1 Y5 P: E' t( J* V1 t, l4 W& d5 h" g( w
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel., ^% L, m. ~8 e3 u% ?7 g; Q
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected# N" {. a: B+ {# d* H
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
3 S1 z6 h: q# ~: ftrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor: a9 @& A$ o% Z" t7 ^* ^+ h
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.- M4 ?: F u8 I: @
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
# S5 y2 v, [! g4 rand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp2 b9 Z# ~+ H& X+ ]0 P y% O5 H
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
, H5 c/ e: l1 z6 g! bfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
% a+ l7 d7 j) E1 g, `5 [/ {- wnot stop her runaway Lexus.
7 R' C5 m U8 m; j& s B"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,/ `% v( d. H! ~5 V% X8 C1 N
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
9 G3 c& F) C; V. {3 u"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
& @0 [7 t6 @" _# LTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues6 J ^9 _2 \) K% B h! _! o
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said6 i- f9 f; ~- g! P$ M
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
0 x$ I. V% [3 V2 i& Ldone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
& T5 u" A: R. _# \ o# |+ W# P8 pthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
( p3 i2 F) B' D8 }, k# Rinvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."' \3 o3 p$ f0 a, J: C0 g. B4 C s6 M/ s9 u
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
% H; n7 `3 f+ p2 belectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
- O+ |" M; S: J. n/ ~the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a; [6 E: r) F! a5 e$ Y
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
+ m, S# I8 s2 |said./ O( X# }6 C, I4 a/ v* D
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what7 g& o! z" l; @4 t' ^
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
5 H, c+ n0 u( d Uabout driving our products," Lentz said.
' G- Y& X. J& A. c+ fThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's; i$ V: s8 y( T- Y
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
- z' O0 `1 A$ G" P% _& t8 H* ^/ Srecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6# r# o0 T7 m' k6 ?' O
million in the United States -- since last fall because of# C9 C6 `; t1 C( A% L/ O
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
+ o4 A% d6 t; z1 Kissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering" {, t% [6 P8 Y7 q Z0 v( U+ C
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of$ w. {6 r. c$ F+ U' |, }
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
% L, K1 k X$ E+ @down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
; U8 N+ u) n. l1 Ireceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
8 S$ O. h! ]4 L8 W% H& K- [of Toyota vehicles since 2000.
# H7 s3 t3 s5 p+ H- rLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own5 z! [( O. L4 w$ `* m3 H/ {
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he. v, f) D4 E" o/ w* D. _/ z
understood the pain.- i3 n C9 g* Y: Z; u6 n* n9 M
"I know what those families go through," he said.9 z" r9 r) R6 K7 v8 x
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
4 a. u+ R+ T9 s" ^1 {4 ?fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
: B$ w3 x: I% d) N: eBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
& N8 I) y# H: l M* }Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
# [ y" L4 G; K, `) nin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
$ ^3 z0 Y8 _ C# Z2 F# eLentz replied: "Not totally."! S) I5 O. p" d8 I; k9 Z
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
4 A# Q6 K# d. G9 W9 _: D8 w"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said, m- v/ _& T$ N7 E. X6 c
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas; Z# k" U' b; b; [
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its8 v! c9 a. O; m
vehicles already on the road." k$ z' ^2 i0 c$ |" I
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
( i' |. s9 x0 |; B5 j7 Pbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
2 v" s) u/ I/ R; aresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
8 o& ?& O- A3 c1 \% `offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
% a% w" L& G+ r( Kkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
# L1 l7 P2 S6 a4 U- q"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
- l: G) u* W) X9 T& Htragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
+ x+ K% d. G3 zfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
* w. N+ ^3 F) }7 x7 ]) sCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
/ _- e5 ~' i: Qcommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to8 X6 j; o4 `0 g4 A5 i/ ^9 F* f; D
restore the trust of our customers."' g* G- e6 f1 S0 ], v+ t* _
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
# S0 Y" Q- f3 n" R" SSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
5 @ O ]+ Y0 n$ Qzoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --8 F2 L. L, L& k: f3 F- K
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
* N6 W4 {0 F0 S" G: g6 bhitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
K) r" \* J' @1 Q0 U# Tthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and+ K2 S( n; t' V# l5 [* e
turn off the engine.& e: P% J/ e2 P' |/ W3 w
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
( S2 d4 n" @9 Y, v. L8 _October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
6 F% S, F i7 B& P0 t" Q5 o"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she* u; {* G4 B1 _) H1 g% N: C; j
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond& E3 G+ K8 ~8 x1 w- Y4 l* u
to her complaints.
: T+ Q* Z4 X) t! \: C- S, \ dIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers) a* x( D2 F% O# ?) c3 W! r* ~( t
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic6 B. W k- \& ~. g4 g
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.7 l. X6 A4 w; R" q
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
) ]) E( q% R) A& L( Sthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited/ t( P( H' T3 {4 K, T
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut2 j9 U" N% J+ X
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."5 f6 G/ f" Q0 Q) M0 i
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in* [) V5 i9 C! W. K$ g2 J
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
% C( Q |- J& @/ e* d3 }3 [being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
+ C8 f p# x7 iwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
( ^ k! ^+ t4 oevery question."
# h: s$ x3 r' a1 _, {, @ MToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether. j- o5 G5 I# d* [2 n x
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The% B3 o' p L1 q
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But1 C9 S1 t- h& B9 M. l! [
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small3 j6 S( W/ ]0 x; h
number of vehicles& z3 N2 u, ~& F) q9 T3 s
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more
2 Z4 ~$ v$ V+ l# I& edifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
" C$ D' Z1 S! zmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
7 ~" c6 j. i% q$ s+ Osource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.8 t; @# }+ R% h5 i+ M& S! `$ U3 H! D
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
5 ?# G! D* i- ?0 Zwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no4 @6 P6 Y2 K0 s% p# Q% n7 n8 H9 l& g
trace at all.
6 M5 T& B! c0 mHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
, R6 V; `) S) e& v3 Udatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
' w9 v2 O/ J0 r; [3 w. |acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the) U, ?" }' a$ T0 O
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
4 e& \2 K. t3 }# L9 s! nRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
; O0 h+ x* M% X3 U/ gsaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and/ o, [3 Y9 w' S( O+ q
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the0 S/ O4 N3 y7 R5 k ~
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible8 M1 B8 F4 {/ P. r4 ?
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
" u% o; k( |: L* Q) @such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained/ {* S- n; x# M, ^- {1 H
by Toyota's lawyers."
# K" o' w, p p% f, T1 ?7 N6 y, q% ~Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of9 p; F& o. B# H2 ~& o! B0 h
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
% l8 i! ?$ M" y) S/ U6 Hcustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he. P0 H+ L3 M! g1 ^+ ]
said.
1 d' A3 \) R& ^ d) [7 _" a/ E"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with7 j! Q; S3 s g$ F8 V. v+ u- |3 n: o" d
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
+ i9 H- j8 }. j+ c; f# i% Sgood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating; O F7 i% { Q
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
+ u% C, X8 ~2 e! L1 k6 {# z" ~Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying! W4 H$ w& k& p9 L+ }6 |- J
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
2 v0 [, e, V7 }& x5 ?rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
4 i% q- t1 h/ \: r1 w3 ~automaker, at least in part because of the government's
0 m! h9 I+ P' Cinvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and9 }# N# |3 Y6 B3 Y8 }' S% w) f1 _
Chrysler.
; ~/ N9 x+ c; r0 X R+ P+ R"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax# {6 Y! t$ W, r2 F4 D9 D$ ~
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a" D+ a) j* D. H9 X/ {! R
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also" ?6 y/ J- B* J$ o% T3 d
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete* x2 x& H: ?5 j2 l& P! |; z
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
% q* [1 Y6 [- m# Ytough."% N- ^; M- M' w9 @
---4 ~2 f2 G* C1 P& R9 K0 G7 I
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
8 D+ v8 M& P* W' R# M! @% hRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
7 I9 D* U" V5 Q& e) D9 o# w# ~this story., E4 B" a! ~: k. I& Y
8 X( c8 Z3 ^3 \' f$ b-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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