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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
8 q0 F' }) z; v6 O" e' QBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
8 X. Y/ U5 k" G& ^( n$ x6 JWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.4 J/ x1 q4 z9 ]
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
% G( i, a7 `, O4 z" e& wthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"2 M+ k& I4 U' d; W# l' g
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
7 t8 u8 ~( j% z! x# n( X"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential1 L% O) Q% f) s q# u1 V1 P" f
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.- k" R S) Z/ v& |8 k+ e
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected* f: Z% k* D& C% f
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and2 y6 U: Y+ Z4 E, J( S& ]
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor* F) r/ P/ t9 n# d/ @
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.
/ a( J% O5 R/ Q! m& EHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal! a" [+ T& a' _8 i
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
( u7 a7 G" K6 u- }0 o. K( ~2 zcriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
- X: M1 N, L, k' q( \: Z# C: ]# K0 Zfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
; o( @4 S/ n! a/ I$ h4 i1 @/ onot stop her runaway Lexus.+ L& g2 K$ n' f5 g& r
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
1 r) ]. Z- a4 X% R& u9 c9 \) b1 h6 oTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
7 d7 w0 j/ Z5 u7 a' |* ?7 H"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.1 E1 r" X; a, Y- }& E; O+ _9 r
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
1 |/ c$ c& h3 ]% N& {. Searly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
" Q- c1 |* }7 r: X3 q9 t"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
8 L& D7 k1 H& u+ r/ T( |done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
: W# |; i# k5 A: w; `through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
1 i+ |$ t! H5 e. tinvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."* L7 ?. h* N. i- X5 o c
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an# B, f! [+ m6 }1 g
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of1 }9 r. V& A" {; J8 j
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
9 r& Y& C8 E3 p) m7 Imalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he6 G0 E) Z2 q$ Z5 C# S4 o
said.$ Z# M( J6 ~2 _+ I9 G- i
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
" z; k( g$ Y0 Lhappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
) N1 U% ?2 {* `2 Dabout driving our products," Lentz said.3 J- D& c6 O0 b/ ] `" @
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
# \' |" h7 e' ~3 A( jproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
# y3 n! h( p$ g9 z' D! Arecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 68 n: C) E! c& ]1 M* ^! c. C* k
million in the United States -- since last fall because of9 v; E1 r/ C: G3 N6 j% `* `
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
; U1 K' U$ ~- [issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering% F* q( F- q0 s. }
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
}9 P$ R5 M+ J9 d: m" Xtheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow' p N$ J' ?- w3 _/ W% U
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
, ]( X; F* g ^/ ?* i4 breceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration9 _$ |3 H! @- Y* ?2 l6 N# `
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.. K9 D# q2 A, `
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own7 K! L8 d& w# W
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
/ B/ A$ u/ [* M M+ x$ |understood the pain.
2 |! f* K( V D3 l0 L6 C% F) T"I know what those families go through," he said.( v/ G! p+ n( a; r$ N. k F
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's+ k) v! p. H9 w
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
( F& |7 m8 \* b* _" }But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
0 `; W8 D, I+ H" w6 C8 Z6 v1 c# pHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
1 z; S8 A( |5 Q Z/ G w- Hin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,7 Z# I, U0 J3 H4 ^
Lentz replied: "Not totally."5 X6 ?- [5 }8 Q; }, u
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were/ a. r1 x: D0 M$ w; ]
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said! R7 \2 Y3 T9 z! {2 \
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas; g) \' f% c9 d
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its- R4 m$ f Z( w! b5 ~
vehicles already on the road.
: N! Q" U; N+ D& ~' N) P1 wMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify1 A) m( U. w; B
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
+ l/ K U3 o; e$ H1 F; yresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
2 g/ Y3 b1 k2 e/ i( ~- Joffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
* `( I3 F9 K9 B1 Z5 @: p' u5 skilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.% B! V4 e; Q, K1 @9 c, ~( f2 P
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
# @2 u+ A. t3 h6 T8 xtragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony% t, ]( P6 y3 L
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight h4 d3 X/ j) m# m) o6 l
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
7 e& y; ~1 l7 G3 \commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to+ f0 @+ ^! D* P
restore the trust of our customers."% ~4 c4 n$ q1 g" B4 f
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from8 X* R) X' q# x; S" O
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
0 j6 R" z: R4 \- M- n5 u- tzoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --- g7 U3 w# [; ~
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and2 k$ M$ r) c* h! n
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
: f3 K: ^$ t6 @( e6 R5 k- Xthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and: h$ u5 l' Q4 `9 b8 X, v1 D
turn off the engine.
3 t) O/ E/ g$ U* n) J/ z AFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of0 {" w7 L7 P0 l( V. s
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."8 g8 _1 U | q% g/ a
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she' J" N( d- w1 C5 J5 C1 H% B6 i
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
4 S( X9 E- J. m) Kto her complaints.
7 n) e* H6 B; xIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
3 E, t: P5 i7 O0 k, \5 N4 Vreturned again and again to the question of whether electronic4 C, k, d) p, J' ]" }, x9 C( O
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.' M& f* Y3 }% V& E
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric# l2 b \# h( Y* ?
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited8 R3 G( L( l% j+ h+ B3 ?; O
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
% m$ A- g, R: S1 h: O4 M' ioff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure.". P3 W" A, j" U( w7 m/ N
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
; B- a* d1 a* \1 {5 l" b8 m( d1 A Fprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
! @9 z0 m3 z$ t2 o% @! wbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls% R3 H H3 P* t( w& v1 Y1 P
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer, @1 E; |* i( I6 U; A; r
every question."% E9 x/ O% T7 @/ a5 o# m& o
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
- T0 A" m' Y/ J' T& O! v/ u0 r1 ?electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
, Y* k( {6 s1 u& u* z- E8 Kfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
: o8 u! w$ f `committee investigators said the testing studied only a small6 @4 G/ g% A! n* I8 i/ t
number of vehicles
' w7 d, l/ m, qTracking down an electrical problem can be far more
( x6 `7 W4 C& ]3 w2 Z1 j6 pdifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a$ T1 s' e# K6 d- c" a( j/ c
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
{5 X, J) s0 esource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
7 G6 f' h# x1 D0 bMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,; {% G" E1 u, c E& [
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
5 e- \" |' q3 Wtrace at all.) c4 r8 _7 }% \* T+ l
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call0 n' g6 G2 r( }
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden( D" `9 C. V0 i/ F& M
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the& X7 O) `1 a1 b
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
' m6 v( V" V# n5 qRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
3 G8 S6 r! f8 `# r2 S" Usaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and8 r* r+ M! `: b
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
. ?8 }9 u& O* uelectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
- M6 N( m' V, Jcause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
; {" D+ w% e' R/ n* csuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained! B" F9 Q$ y, K2 U+ W* a/ ~
by Toyota's lawyers." D9 ?% V# \0 [
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
9 C" A6 m, e& xproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our! z& s7 \! v' p! E
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he& }' k. k2 \0 y# t6 d+ |
said.5 e) j& D4 u2 `! e. D" n
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with. t' V Z g( |* R. Z
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
0 P* n3 E3 ~, V. U6 ^1 S4 hgood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating5 s g8 n8 [% H# P$ [' S4 m
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
. n( E. N5 |' o9 M" U3 RSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying: U4 D6 {4 Q7 @ v) k5 a7 X/ A
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
0 h: o! m3 S7 E" g& X* |rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
; K0 w; L0 C: R# Q1 Aautomaker, at least in part because of the government's
; ^; j& X7 r! _: Z4 |8 winvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
0 [) ^ H! w. [; U- p zChrysler.! m5 B2 v p2 S/ l2 z1 v
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax& `, X5 {8 N5 J3 y1 J/ |/ l E/ w
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
1 i5 o% V- l( B" x3 pHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also" f1 H, f4 d' Z' c
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete8 P% e6 }) E B6 Y2 Q. P
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
+ N5 \# P# a8 }+ ftough.": E7 R$ e" `# |. `+ `+ r4 {/ e. r
---, K( Z7 {$ H5 A. G2 X$ T) n' W; s3 k4 B5 [
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
% r, f4 a( X z! GRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
& @# K& E+ w/ hthis story.
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, Y; J7 b% X+ i' d# s9 A# n8 m-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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