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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
, }3 I! U! w' P& `2 jBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
, p6 m4 p1 @. u, L" }6 C Z, f FWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.( [$ p4 ] `3 q, R- p0 o
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
* m4 y! \+ M0 d. N2 U: [' |* k- dthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"( {( n# W) p( @+ }/ D
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
% W$ e* V. w+ K8 ?* ^: B"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential9 Z1 M1 m+ d+ u
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
! i: S+ U& m" l1 U9 BHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
! ]0 v1 L9 D4 [- D1 [acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and7 B) N" W7 c: V
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
% P& @2 v0 A$ h. O1 ?: c: zmats and sticking accelerator pedals.
1 u! D' Q: g7 [0 D' m6 `6 t+ v6 u) ]He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
* ~5 ]* C i G; Z+ \; C7 {and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
# H, ?1 N8 O9 U# ^ [) Rcriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
6 L. B. M6 Y5 [" g2 {+ f( @further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could) B6 {: O" o6 C: w
not stop her runaway Lexus.
' U9 j/ F& V; M, @/ }$ K) b"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
# r- v' y. h- [1 h0 zTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second9 ^' o' D6 u3 Z! f$ J2 n
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.1 q, U+ R6 J) r5 `7 Z( z' b
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
: n2 S9 q- r& f' v Y- e1 iearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said# e- K E* `# \) J& a. U3 ?. g
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
1 S# E: p: {/ k- i2 Cdone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway& x) o) m0 Z7 }, O& t
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's/ _; Y3 m0 a5 N5 P' y' N
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."6 G" v$ p4 C8 Z5 Z. k3 U# Y9 @ N
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an6 f! p! {* V! A) f
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
3 T, ^" Q+ O4 Z: b+ x) H! Athe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
# j3 y" d3 a' I- l+ Gmalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
& r- V1 `- z* ~5 J2 Rsaid.: c i4 y- S% T) j/ l: v
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
5 ?7 k) U: C2 `9 `happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe+ F' d* z/ p4 O$ N
about driving our products," Lentz said.! Q( k* B7 v6 N. U
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
5 w0 Q3 A" B8 u k% o$ ~problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
5 w# u% J; n7 C# r: arecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
* L, J1 z, J3 D) h' V. S& umillion in the United States -- since last fall because of/ p9 z% U9 V2 I# a( T" |& c) G
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking8 P- r6 E, u# l0 S& q/ @
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
) a K2 E8 Y% d* b. w: hconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of3 C; t0 \9 D: s' n! v$ l; K
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow% e& S V' L) W! G" _
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
1 f, Y& Y" }, sreceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration: ?- m/ ?& I" I3 \& l6 s
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.
- |; Q( `! x, l, ?Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own' Z x% K ^1 L' N
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
& ^; K" A5 E8 M: B0 i9 ~# K0 m7 vunderstood the pain.4 }) y" r W2 O6 H6 ]
"I know what those families go through," he said.
! d. R6 u! m5 |5 }0 N1 f$ oLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
2 ]& i6 L7 N' X" {' S1 V7 Bfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
( i4 y: V$ S6 D! u; n: b! qBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
2 ^1 \" d8 g5 y$ d. o/ j# BHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
; ]7 m, x. R! ?8 m" ]) win place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,: O: g1 t: x; {7 a7 ~
Lentz replied: "Not totally."
( V2 t% b% x" f+ L0 ]Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were, {/ W: N$ y. ?2 B5 c4 g
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
: `8 a+ ]" J: R9 q1 HToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
9 I7 ~+ b' O8 `" I$ a0 Q% U1 Xpedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its# R. G/ p1 @ {" Z
vehicles already on the road.. j9 F8 F9 A" M% a
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify: s. A" Z$ C) u; J9 d# v
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
1 h# g" p$ H. ~. ?9 x+ uresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
# K. [0 W* {( v& ~8 Joffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were$ r1 L6 p: n Y" a# F: i
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.* J) D$ x/ w6 I" S% C
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a6 f' z9 T3 p% ` F" P% ^
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
+ M2 Y" b+ C5 d2 |% j1 Kfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
/ k9 c' L2 @0 ]' ~% P3 FCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
3 b+ f/ }; u8 z% Gcommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
3 s+ c2 E* F2 A0 j$ O H; Rrestore the trust of our customers."& _9 W% U/ H) L" t8 V4 r' E2 Z, B
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from& s3 f; Y! E; j$ \" w: C
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
1 N X0 m/ d# A3 A- o1 i/ B0 n7 y! azoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --- _4 c/ X) j. t! r; Q
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
5 O$ ]+ a3 S' l1 shitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
8 p1 }1 Y) \* J+ J: G! \$ Bthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and5 `# R5 M- p* n1 [: z
turn off the engine.
! @ d7 {8 V" k9 gFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of! n1 {) l4 u# N& ?' T5 K
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience." R3 s1 u5 i+ b# S: m+ g
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
& C9 x& m% J8 m J0 p+ p( {said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond7 \; F3 P# C' [1 R Y4 b4 r& t
to her complaints./ v3 @* A3 ] {) \; b: H
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
, T' Y6 x: \; W- [- r T) Freturned again and again to the question of whether electronic
$ C" c$ B @0 y5 L3 z" Ymalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.# p+ j: }: R1 ~* i, f V
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
0 s- x, P0 g4 z0 A" \throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited: S% a k8 u1 x* i
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
! X8 Y# G. X0 a! Aoff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
4 {/ t8 U. B5 U2 s/ |Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
3 E* i( w' \" Xprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were. P" B( t/ s: S+ @4 J
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls& v' G2 N! F" S* m8 ]
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer6 S; F" i2 p0 w3 D D
every question."' @, ~' l4 q0 f9 e
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
8 K' B0 ]5 `& |2 l% telectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The' V4 ?5 a4 Q9 E# d/ F
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
3 L4 s* g$ T1 t: Z3 P8 |9 gcommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small
6 \: _% B/ j/ ?) W( j3 `number of vehicles
) D: Q$ [1 s( b5 c1 t7 ]Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more
8 C& i* k" g, A3 @, jdifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a% [# X4 t" F8 V" O3 V
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one+ n/ O- h' \5 T, ?
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.3 o$ m' c4 ]8 `# \
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
3 ]/ W1 s0 a- h0 ^2 E! Wwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
% W: H+ K4 S0 A W5 ?. P gtrace at all.
0 p L4 O. H( y- m8 ^2 y' aHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call* H, X* F0 Y" Y
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden: e/ z. A* ^. U% E( r8 C9 S
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
' Q; g" h% t+ yrecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals." C' e9 @) P6 K \
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
* k2 d$ a/ K- O5 u gsaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and8 m- c0 Y' F/ d
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the L }( `5 S0 _7 t- P6 G; p/ D
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible/ l l: \' K6 \! f% y
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
$ _5 d- X# A# B! W2 K r2 g( Dsuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained+ k; [! L5 t- ^' c& `/ N
by Toyota's lawyers."- d3 v; W1 v) M9 g$ |
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of3 Q6 p) D( F! m0 `
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
# H8 B* C: ?, H0 F* _6 Q) N pcustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he2 T) k8 j3 k- K0 G8 ^* A) B4 g* c* Y
said.
) @, R G/ E4 s% n2 @- `"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with" B8 C+ A, v7 D+ J
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our8 O+ e% h+ |. X, J% ]* T
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating! X7 y6 g2 b4 k
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
1 l$ a4 d2 O* R! O: l) H( x: {. ?Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
- a, I, X5 X# X" Y `members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
* b3 e( f1 s2 w$ z0 crancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the5 z8 h0 x; j8 o. r! M8 [$ U
automaker, at least in part because of the government's
5 Z q |0 w% p: O g. b7 h0 e* Pinvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
9 m3 _. P H# D9 AChrysler.
( E: P8 n r6 `3 L, {0 @"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax0 q0 d; J! h, j4 G5 x# `2 E* ~4 _
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a) d' C7 i+ c. F: m: q. G
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
$ k1 P1 h, C y2 Nserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete" E4 t1 G2 P9 @" `7 n% q
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty1 Y& `( @* h+ s4 |: b
tough."; I7 t% c: E$ D' V+ _+ d/ T. A
---
" i0 W/ }9 |* z; FAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom8 F. P' }# q" Q5 i3 M6 j
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to8 v# }# ?5 M, `; }
this story.
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' @9 Z* |2 \" q-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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