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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
7 N# c% p* o* L" ~. RBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS% Q+ k# z1 A+ _" [+ [. O
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
6 ]$ W2 m; N( q7 e$ ^+ goperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that) N7 d: H( Z' H% C6 b p q0 T
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
2 K, {$ V$ x3 O* fsolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
. P+ f) E1 ?0 D \: n1 {, p2 U# Y"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
! P, p6 X% @4 Qcauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.% i4 L5 d. u5 d+ V
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
* T6 q* a$ m2 Dacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
% i# G+ E& U; @( A7 D% r1 a( w0 ctrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
& ~7 I- b7 P$ J% i: X0 \* K, Pmats and sticking accelerator pedals.5 o2 r# O/ V5 W @2 V0 W
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
' t9 L# E4 C6 vand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp3 K% M; ^7 o4 F* K0 W
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be/ K$ c) G# X% ]# N& {
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
) ^9 l. e2 M+ d, v9 S# x; ~# Lnot stop her runaway Lexus.
& d' f8 i; L. j% ]"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
' B4 C6 a$ e4 O' @0 r/ Y$ H1 fTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
+ c$ c1 ?8 i4 H5 _! l7 I% P. P% g) ^"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
& H( H4 P$ F) UTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues6 d9 b( x! h, B* K& c. h i$ B
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
+ g, ?( q, z4 d! C0 d"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has+ S" T$ H- j8 L0 t8 b
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway# }2 b7 Q8 W, c2 n2 U
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's5 y8 k8 ~* H6 e5 V; Z1 Y) Y. O: n
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."6 h! Q9 D7 i2 u( ^$ t
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
$ l, r y# T# n( Zelectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
( X9 i' D& h6 X3 T) kthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a: w( T$ S( D% w, O) [( V4 G
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
6 R* A5 ~% p% `) H! @. ~said.' r0 Y: F1 p0 ]. j z8 s
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
. l; S) `9 Y3 a8 jhappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
% I! u P* y7 P" labout driving our products," Lentz said.1 y9 ~, x) U$ u& {' l5 t$ ~
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's2 E" F( t! ^4 E/ \) X
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
; v! I# s( G* N' Drecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6/ F) E2 y" b! q3 k* Z$ `8 j
million in the United States -- since last fall because of
0 X; ]& h2 ?2 p4 @unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
& w" |+ T. h* Z' b- Dissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering* l7 R2 P1 J& e3 R: b& X
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of' K, s) c6 @2 F5 N1 V! [5 m e
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
# C" m2 s/ {; ndown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has7 V8 v" O6 A. Q c
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
" j0 P& v7 \6 F1 Y! j0 `9 h8 Aof Toyota vehicles since 2000.% a( G2 V7 p- t& y. W
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
1 d0 p0 V9 m. M# Pbrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
' I1 q) K$ v0 [8 R; Z8 ~% ~8 e8 i1 |understood the pain.( {4 F D# D. |/ w+ j$ V
"I know what those families go through," he said.$ y4 _7 |. N/ I! t' p9 G0 p
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
- F5 D- t* N; Wfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
) {7 D I; A, LBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
' k3 ^ O6 v \) ]! vHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put8 X& t$ O$ u: g2 I3 g1 Q
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
* h( Y# u5 ?, i! H( ELentz replied: "Not totally." S9 J( M* M; c* X1 X' g! ~0 [. T' n" J
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were* Q1 r4 S1 u7 O0 |8 ?
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said$ {9 E% Z: X( {0 h Y' Z7 H6 T3 M
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
, _$ R8 R+ L" P; c# ~! P3 o+ vpedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its0 H8 |' v% V2 o6 `# j
vehicles already on the road.! G2 H! R6 j3 D6 @( s
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
, M) Z) p" K0 Z2 n1 q% jbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
* L6 @ u, o8 s: b& _6 Cresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
- w8 S* o- @) uoffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
4 K e w! ^3 G$ l! c* nkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.8 C6 n! g. E+ F9 L S: n
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a+ d# T c" b" q
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony7 q3 t. M# Y( H) a
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
' w r& N8 H3 MCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
* g, q+ b' p' q D+ r! Hcommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
: A9 S j* u, |; a1 y9 T6 Z* K2 Prestore the trust of our customers."$ G& u* A e' r+ J
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from4 U$ B/ V, A/ a% M) d5 {4 A
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly& B7 V: I6 D6 `8 A) Q
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
/ j5 G9 t1 V0 yshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and7 l2 J# ]! o2 K# h+ L: t
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough& A5 }* B7 _( x M3 F- m
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and+ Q3 y# x7 \% x3 K- m' q
turn off the engine.( z$ z# F/ b; r5 Q; f: g: o
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
( j T1 o. y& h, xOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
) B! l( I: U( \; t0 s+ ^& m$ \8 ^"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she- U$ s; M# Y1 S' D8 N
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond( V0 X8 k! U# D O6 n9 O$ J, k9 J
to her complaints.8 y7 d" G" J0 z. t5 B+ |
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers8 H5 ]0 o! t9 y' E4 h5 A
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic/ i b/ K7 H1 r
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
2 D2 o; }, M9 C9 h"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric, o- w- u& L9 v% b$ N" t3 D; K/ u
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited6 n' P% x* ^. z4 S# S$ q. i: H0 q
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut! l' b0 {7 [- } q: z
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
0 |1 C' O" X, F& f2 ?! o$ ITransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
& ?9 a" ?* D: V7 e+ j$ Bprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were. r. D { z/ j0 Z8 Q1 O2 Y2 s
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
% L( R2 C5 q. Jwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
4 z+ Z$ ]4 c4 f( w, L) ~every question."
) w! H% b( Y9 JToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether) Y; k6 g4 j* I, v+ k" s6 i
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
5 K) {2 L$ y0 u! B$ s$ Bfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
# \& n. d+ h# j5 M' @" ~committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
& X- y( t1 G! W1 t" Y( ^number of vehicles. v2 I2 h7 O! _$ m" G: P
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more0 u/ D7 H7 I& m) B3 Z
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
- _* d: a2 H2 x+ Kmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one' [: N- e' v9 X' F, G7 o" C
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
) ]& Q' G( `# H9 u- YMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage," A& P+ {2 m4 ~) \2 Z& F, `
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
; u& l; ^3 k$ U0 F7 L* t$ Htrace at all. b4 `: j: Q+ D) S/ P# a( d$ L& H
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
! |. Y6 |9 G' k( |- Kdatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
" P; w9 i8 }9 B1 ?- g$ t7 Sacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the u- b# z- o2 e
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
4 |6 ?3 k, ~, s- `. v) @2 @Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
7 U1 K5 Z$ f/ Fsaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
J! \4 s( s3 R6 X5 Nother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
, y: f8 |4 W' F+ q, W* i9 jelectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible7 D0 P9 `& o, f7 I8 W% i
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only; T" d3 ~7 q. h$ O$ H; a
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained9 v# Y) j, f& X
by Toyota's lawyers."1 r8 b% Q5 B& a( ~8 y9 P" s
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
' ]' _. P7 \0 D& I% f6 O9 tproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our+ Z, b1 T* J" p! u! X
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he+ {# {( F: ~; @% Y
said.
+ d8 z3 p. a' ~; e"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with; ]+ R8 V4 ]/ n
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
( e+ F, _6 }, f( H! x! y/ _good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
" G; e6 }! I# c5 U" Hofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
8 O9 L/ U' r o3 R4 NSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying# ^+ J* G# `( P3 l! Q( A9 P q
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
& i; f0 K0 t9 d$ N9 t- hrancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the( S O) D5 @1 Y6 {$ G! v8 a
automaker, at least in part because of the government's3 ~2 e+ }9 a. K0 e6 ?2 N
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
% J3 \; W+ d; Z$ V4 i/ a+ OChrysler.
7 M, g1 |; s* C* V' m9 n"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax) |" Y+ B0 q0 P) k8 f: V; v, d
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a0 u& t/ n" d( W& g( }; G: u
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also! z; m, }0 N0 `
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
5 D3 d* F5 o/ M: P, U9 g0 Ywith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
2 `0 T: X& V, o# O* utough."6 H/ m3 q" |& p7 ?. [
---
5 o6 e q8 W1 z3 y9 Y9 \! c5 YAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom. c- J0 `- h3 ?. G' U# ?* d
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
2 B3 Z s* r; a/ f# Mthis story.
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Q8 H9 N5 x6 @. d# k9 A-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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