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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
9 p' A( H( ]: |+ CBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
6 T; Z% M, F) m% F! nWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
% V8 h' v7 R" t ~" i8 D, q- Soperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
- f @1 ^" g% p9 ^% c/ B# @the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
+ P, z% A6 a6 i( ^) l* Q3 Ssolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration." j1 E6 b$ T) ~, }6 ^0 v- Y% \
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
* F0 T" p: K" ]4 G2 hcauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel. h$ I* A. [% ?: N
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected1 j3 H& t# ?; i" N
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and T; [# f" }( ~
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
" T3 |5 {0 B; }# y: k8 g. i) u# Umats and sticking accelerator pedals." ^$ x4 G- k3 f X( h
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
* A$ F$ H' N6 j2 R: T" k, }and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
/ K+ ]+ O6 p: b" V- \& v) Ecriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be0 m/ ]6 v3 a9 V" w. w6 G
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
+ `6 z/ U; O% L0 T. D! Inot stop her runaway Lexus.
: Q6 g' c) ^2 ?8 D# H* O+ V8 ~"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville," g0 @# p4 j/ m4 g
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
. g6 T: V6 q8 N ^8 Y$ D"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators., e5 K/ t5 r* E( W
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
3 ?; d8 a. l& g8 zearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said: f. @+ n/ Z7 h& X* o; P& \
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
# O4 {/ A# Z* M0 ~% zdone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
; l. c2 I- Z4 ^& Z* P4 n* wthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's/ b; w+ L! `7 Z! ?1 x, c
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
$ w s7 F( T# jLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an; _- e, ]- G; [, o& \
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of" Y: g8 x8 x/ u! Z. s& k' D) W
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
& P* @; {1 c2 ~' }0 J3 B! emalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he" P8 f& f; \0 e; V# P0 z6 J+ }) s
said.8 T3 M0 x) r' y- T5 l- t
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what+ ]. e+ G' z; R1 D
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
# t! B# {* H9 Z% \ t4 Mabout driving our products," Lentz said.
" \ N3 O |! rThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's7 U& p% n1 b* A( z! i
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
) ~, |! G9 }0 K1 E* xrecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
' Z6 e! u: H+ K1 ^' @million in the United States -- since last fall because of
' s$ c! t U- dunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
( [: x2 S5 o b, n- k5 ~! \issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering: H/ z& B6 O. \' L8 D, {
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of. @6 p9 ~" w% d0 _4 m
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
7 R% w' ]8 i# p! _+ bdown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has" D0 I6 q/ c. j1 k# T; Q
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration6 q7 o9 h' R% A M' { E
of Toyota vehicles since 2000., c2 `' I9 o! f6 r- E
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own4 u) c( @/ u. ?1 t
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
% i, A# R0 X+ V7 x$ H, f; Junderstood the pain.
: `; B2 V/ a& x- o; D3 O"I know what those families go through," he said.$ }9 N+ U8 N& B U6 L( N
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's! d: }* z& T+ Q( c C. V
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
0 c6 d0 Z8 H4 q. uBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
+ l/ Q* n0 F" Z) ? eHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
1 {/ Q5 b `; i/ L8 T* o! Fin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,. j' A/ q8 j: q# Q& c- x
Lentz replied: "Not totally."' J; N% W# e# ~8 @8 x
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were: Q& K, L7 U: S& T, z; s, y2 o0 U" C- n
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
" E* O* y% T* N- ~Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas, J& Y! D* ^: E2 ?4 M
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
9 B9 I* _$ b! _8 \0 xvehicles already on the road.
& r- M0 Q3 I4 S" N8 w iMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify( T! r6 S3 v1 `* `+ j
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
5 ^9 x6 p. Q3 o7 tresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and" N0 X# O, j/ G9 @! |
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were2 i: b& X6 I9 [! ?7 R0 U
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
: p' j# {, r$ r, x"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
l8 e% w3 _) [8 k) Jtragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
$ F- G% k7 W- N! _6 Y3 U7 ]' H; [% jfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight7 O) L# E! V* t9 l# w5 t# l
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal. f* I3 t$ E2 x" P. b
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to1 L+ n4 @- s0 d- V+ A
restore the trust of our customers."
, P; O, n( Q6 x& z" v+ kLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from1 h5 e0 w" D2 N" V ~* g q9 s( w
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
: u7 B. R1 d# }* e3 t) ?1 Pzoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
; z* P; T0 k# A. J+ e {shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
4 W8 V# d9 ~, G9 H# [hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
4 R) K4 J3 Y v% ?( k( mthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
7 p' I4 b$ z% e6 f- s l/ Iturn off the engine.: b- k$ e& E, x
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of1 {' E3 b5 M6 C& j; B7 ?
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience.". c V1 m" q+ ?. R3 o$ _) b/ M
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
9 z% ~% R2 Q- q, h, d+ _said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
4 Y3 l' V' @+ H& C0 J3 yto her complaints.2 V; A$ ?: @, Z' Z
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers$ c; I& j. `. L4 K8 s& F* ?2 o
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic# M* {" ?0 L; ?
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
7 ]4 ^3 _ q- ~9 G"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
- p. h l) p7 T# k: X- _9 Vthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited, M( H2 E- C$ D, K5 D( [ k/ }$ t
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut" e! q+ J; @5 N
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."9 B) T, j# U9 c* X+ W
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in! Z- x7 b, X6 ]; M- e
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were4 v' N1 t3 Q6 p* j
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
) C5 Q6 y5 L' `8 Jwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
6 Y/ q; U( d h: \every question."
6 {$ {9 x: `" K) q% C' y0 G0 tToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether! C$ ]( K1 O3 \, B8 c
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The4 n& `5 f# Z, s
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But0 x" \( Q4 j3 I; A# R! t* o
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
8 e; D" E% K6 C) M6 T' enumber of vehicles
3 S$ B6 T: k' h3 M0 [Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more
/ p+ x. }% |% Z, x% ~: t1 odifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
* p* v& M; v+ t8 w8 y/ _3 d; \mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one! j2 A3 v9 K/ E8 w- ?
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.' l# H0 v9 Y# p( v& b3 s. ^
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,( f3 y( |' A0 _$ g+ h
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no3 G7 _3 f# ?/ |$ C5 Z5 F) k
trace at all.
: w3 L) P% h+ u& m" u0 U( @House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call- m0 @. B' t( V5 ?
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden6 g9 u3 e2 l1 v' r/ ^
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
. A( e% @# n8 m# ^2 `! Zrecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
: O7 T P% u9 I8 @7 }Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
( s5 s v' w7 q! }said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and/ ?9 {& C* a% h# `5 ^8 w( g
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
4 q% e# \* \4 w; X! Ielectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
& U- v" b( n, ` o5 ucause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
0 a8 `& J7 ^2 T6 j- e* C9 }. Ksuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
: [9 _; W7 Z/ [3 b8 d$ u cby Toyota's lawyers."$ d0 ~7 x+ t, w. v% R; e
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
' ]% a$ X9 W* c( bproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
0 Y! {% i4 h0 `" w) O' T- A1 t. \customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
4 Z& B( [7 r0 F* Msaid.
4 v+ V! C( F% H$ q7 N"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
8 }0 I4 ~) s r+ T2 s" L% Va rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our! |# o! B6 M$ O+ C" x- t
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
3 F2 \: d8 w; z: M! rofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.( D+ A. d: x: [, W) a; o
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
/ j0 L4 {1 b( }' {' w6 b4 |1 k9 Ymembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread/ P" ~2 o0 F; r3 ^( ^" B
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the( U1 m! _- o3 I5 _
automaker, at least in part because of the government's: K5 c+ a' H! u" g: w
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
+ [9 @# t. \$ [. A$ EChrysler.2 g. d) s4 c# `
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
0 b2 o( D& e% p& O% m/ Sdollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a( A: m" C9 F8 s; z
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
7 C; K& N# {) l* w% kserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete0 n+ s+ }6 e& ]" E% \6 P. N% L
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
. d/ z* K/ Y6 x5 S# o! S$ v1 Xtough.": A7 x5 ~6 e" D& [% h6 J/ Z& r: n! ^1 M' t
---
- `& S, n) L% q! C8 {, U2 aAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
+ F5 l3 F7 O& c0 d* r, o1 A, CRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
1 l* M9 e7 }+ [$ [/ d% Nthis story.
& s; U9 q3 E" \+ M0 [% {4 z) N' q- A1 x' k" X, ^
-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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