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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
* W/ n: y$ c+ t0 O, ?! u& `3 fBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
7 p$ P% L' t1 ^) mWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
; [3 p: |; U" r, e% ioperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
/ z% ^/ b: s5 P! M+ ]5 {the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"5 h# v7 j& i# S% m4 L( A4 j/ N
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
" t( A0 X. h+ ?2 [" ^; m"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
2 y- d: z* [. z: {# _8 ~6 k: qcauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
) P) ]. ], y! C8 G( `; ZHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
% Z1 i Z. A# _7 Macceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
- z+ A2 ]- ]. |6 o/ [; ptrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor+ y! Y& L7 m/ c5 s% d
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.9 R$ H+ F U- p* k, T4 I+ r
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal% X3 u, j. A! D" b o6 E) k. n
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp! A- k% `5 j+ I. o7 D
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be" b. i( R: H1 y+ I9 U/ `+ ?3 X. D
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could7 \3 `! r: ]/ w' J
not stop her runaway Lexus.
4 |8 U/ P' G' M: y: U"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,# k! X3 j9 t7 U
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second7 T: M, K! b5 X
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
: X5 ]/ p: X0 q* B* r( x/ wTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues; [; ?+ P+ J9 Q
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
" N" U7 t. g% O- z2 f* c6 D"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has4 }" R& a9 }' I7 T6 {
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway3 G) h, v) f" e
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
& }( b0 \$ b5 {7 S# uinvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
3 |. x& H/ v* a* N( BLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
. P1 A; s9 P6 ]# E; jelectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
8 f8 _+ m; y8 rthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a- v l5 a$ a4 w( D, F6 {/ d$ `) Y. t
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he5 \' t4 ~2 [9 [- }6 j3 u+ r8 Z
said.
9 A( Q& P; _& _' |As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what+ @+ K: h# y G5 J
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
. ^, a! y7 c h0 M u+ dabout driving our products," Lentz said.. \1 }7 \5 {- g. X
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
2 _4 r8 D5 p& Z( Tproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
, H1 v8 \" m7 |recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6) m' @; l" V3 _* r* ^( a
million in the United States -- since last fall because of( {4 K8 z! D- v
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
, _* f3 [/ g1 n+ _4 e5 yissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering# [ m) G7 @6 ]
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of# F3 H( H! s' Q9 b, @. j* }; x
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow$ z! X! g0 o, P; M) X) V
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
6 j% K0 Q+ K: X+ o7 Lreceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
$ c, g6 B5 k% }& t% h( H! o) Xof Toyota vehicles since 2000.
; _- `) C O" Q3 U/ w, U2 y, kLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own3 a) n/ q- K+ i; G( w
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he1 @ ^' v' j1 |2 n4 l- Q. B. b$ Y
understood the pain.
1 |; Z9 a8 g M8 V1 T: n# Y"I know what those families go through," he said.
8 b) ^! {' D: s8 @* v* ZLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's7 j7 u: i$ X3 c1 o
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
& o9 l/ \. n: i6 c# `But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
w8 `2 u, k4 X$ |Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put+ @$ t' I* u3 o( G- u. ~6 I. ~
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it, q* X L A1 c) O! A6 u/ [+ f
Lentz replied: "Not totally."
4 C/ \8 \$ e% ^# _4 PStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
' D- q$ |/ k2 {7 I# b. W7 B"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said5 d5 T" S. F) \; r" g1 V/ x8 t! ~" w
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
( C, S) T- |; m: Dpedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its7 U( z+ T1 U' g$ _) M+ [% _: x. A
vehicles already on the road.1 ~2 [& U8 f7 K% a2 s- G, z1 C$ Q2 n1 t
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
* G J4 m; z1 ?8 nbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full0 o' r" J" V4 D% M) W
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
, M+ R6 o" O+ [offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were4 Q1 Q( s" M/ [7 \# C
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
7 V+ F- C; c1 Q/ M+ G"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a/ f6 B3 D4 @* A% @3 G4 x) K# [( ~8 M
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
5 z6 z" o" n1 i+ E j4 N) @for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight2 B# T( O5 L! v. }0 H+ E
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
5 [9 l, _+ \3 X- P: m. [6 E- Ucommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
0 y! [, m8 A5 Brestore the trust of our customers."
8 ^3 W3 P7 a1 x3 U- ELawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
& R- E# j& Z7 R0 L FSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly# G: @) k, `$ D' m
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --$ R0 u9 V3 ]- y6 v7 G# p( j
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and5 V) ~" q" X" ~/ [1 A L
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
+ `3 O8 W7 R) _/ W& E) fthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
5 v: r; ?( o* o& @* ?9 mturn off the engine.. Q2 J# z. x2 j
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
$ l& a' Y2 W! c+ y! l; h8 FOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."! m# V" X0 ~4 S: j
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she V7 e: |$ ]5 B( S
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond% ]4 m+ N9 H, f
to her complaints.' O0 Q, h( k+ h% |! r" \
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers/ B# T: \% h2 a, N. ~2 T
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic9 v4 {) r& ]/ {0 G, ^+ G: t
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
8 n3 A+ }* _' p, W! a3 p"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
8 W. D3 q/ f) G/ w3 Q% bthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited& x, y0 ?% e: B) F% H J, |
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut2 x9 ^) b- m1 f" M' v7 m* ]
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
5 r ?2 d) z- x, s0 ~! N3 YTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
w% _- I6 y9 X& I2 E4 o' F1 Mprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
' C) z n& U5 Z3 dbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls0 a2 w3 ^7 |. C) {, F
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer8 N$ y/ a( _( v: s5 Z8 M
every question."0 {6 n+ V7 `. c m u: X9 u0 L
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether# d8 m! I* x4 ^; h
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The: H9 ?9 Y, u! d" o+ q7 |7 C
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
, I! _7 F [9 x. _) k+ W3 ^committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
- W l X/ A1 P; |number of vehicles3 k; l: I: d. c" y& L8 p
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more" S9 |! T- ]: N1 u$ q" {* Y t
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
6 p4 g$ m2 U' s' V0 L& n$ D" d- |mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one+ H- p7 Y* ^; ^. X' o
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
8 A8 X" x9 J" ^# E: h- l. F kMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
( q* c( P9 Q( i Owhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no( T) A1 f0 _# B8 f3 U9 d) R
trace at all.
/ A6 u/ w H: o4 u$ U7 |: bHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call, F: X9 h2 [0 s6 h. ]; u: w' P
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
& a$ L$ [$ @6 g2 dacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the* O8 A0 T- A% f
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.* M) X7 y4 c5 v; K
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
/ N+ a+ p0 D; \9 s- E$ ssaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and# Z+ V6 z2 H! k/ Q, j
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the/ d0 a' ?2 Z' [7 i: n: D9 B# M* ]
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
' _) d$ p2 B2 ] Qcause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only- o7 i" t6 w {$ ^
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained+ A- C# i- D1 z1 F
by Toyota's lawyers."
3 i6 L. @ O3 j9 W l$ l/ Y' v3 }Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of- C0 c2 }6 N% h. E9 W- r# R$ v/ X$ ?
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our: ~$ D0 g5 k8 A) w+ q
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he0 k* K! w4 T/ Z4 h0 V" t' H
said.
! @1 `- Q9 b! b"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with) f0 F! _# f9 r F
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our1 T0 K: D/ G4 C% T; h% ^
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating# a2 ]9 V; F' @: k1 {7 g- e
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
% u* [9 V" H$ Z8 e3 e" WSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
+ O* B# K" p$ u0 D9 ymembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
# s) {+ u, U$ i% ~rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
6 O" b# a5 {+ Mautomaker, at least in part because of the government's
5 v4 `4 D4 p3 C& I; J( y$ Z4 p* _5 Zinvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
/ w- H0 T: A) X' \: o. |Chrysler.
% s3 Z" ~3 M A, l/ I) f"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
0 u) D) j. U# \7 D0 ]( rdollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a) Z$ f0 b5 c- F/ X5 p
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also3 W9 o( M4 C( v! i1 {, `* e4 x
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
b0 o8 ~( s u3 zwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty6 I5 ]) s, J5 q6 \ @
tough."
" }: @% [& U. |: t/ Q* F& p" ]+ a---+ }1 w8 O( s( P! A8 j
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
- Y3 O/ Q0 o1 r% A4 q4 mRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to7 }4 V: t4 j8 p/ V# Z4 Y- _& O) |
this story.9 E( K4 q8 o: H
, X* |) O5 B9 ^ z/ W9 ^) Q6 r# k-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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