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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
+ q, W. A; r, X* q! |By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
% s& Q4 ^. S" A" v8 \7 lWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
; N8 B% X+ m0 H2 g- C( y% x! Soperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
) @7 _1 d1 K9 A, Q4 d& R# E7 z7 Fthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally" f/ M+ C3 e b& i4 @+ b
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.! H. R; m( ]4 l
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential, j4 r$ F/ a1 l* C- a) b; q
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.) U( \; f/ l$ q
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
& b0 o/ g: q' I/ Y2 ] V" \- Macceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and8 Z; g8 C' L! Z8 ~" Z
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
9 c3 I, ]( o/ Mmats and sticking accelerator pedals.
; F+ Y) K4 n* f3 I0 a- BHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
( r4 K. A% t! g/ l+ eand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
" b4 E% w4 F" y& [* u. e; |criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be! e1 S2 Y2 f Q3 j" f8 k. ?+ s
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
+ x( @3 P0 [5 Y0 ]2 |! rnot stop her runaway Lexus.
% Q( d; z8 R; q) g/ A( _- v$ R) |"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
7 v/ \& D" s% Z" r0 E1 ^$ |7 [8 XTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second& k0 N; X1 e" T( z& i
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
1 C" p. K5 D8 p7 ZTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
- [) u/ n7 H& j" @: Y6 Dearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said5 e( \) N& [1 e! C0 N
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has' N. y. o' I9 w5 Q9 L/ P4 t& ~# q
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
8 M/ t" w; ?+ k l9 |through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
8 v- F8 X% i3 i- U" J+ F3 w6 Pinvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
- z- A- g) I; W+ xLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
, ]5 q; l9 O6 o6 z4 n# H$ qelectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of7 A1 U2 H2 _6 J W' P8 ?! i! e/ j
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
6 h7 B1 ?# `4 ~3 i( z1 Jmalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
( E) ~: r: a6 o! V2 q8 esaid.
9 \' P2 j+ s& y! p9 f. F2 hAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
! n% x( M& w! p, qhappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
. G$ Y9 b" a. N1 B* e- T, X1 r/ K- s8 rabout driving our products," Lentz said.. \2 R6 L) r$ |3 @) i+ m! {
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
4 O; n+ k. w% i# Lproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
9 Z: n: q9 O- G$ t/ E- d; }recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6, N% ]+ h- l# o
million in the United States -- since last fall because of U2 I0 m4 Z7 s- a3 y+ p( C
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
4 w! M7 i: V# g. z" V$ tissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering3 F+ u$ v5 F# t
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of& l# c3 Q4 I& h! h# p9 l
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
& R# p4 f1 j; ]down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
3 @& a% I: M0 r$ Ereceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration2 T. h/ H! _; u$ @) v: k: \
of Toyota vehicles since 2000./ s% {7 I9 v' j A, M8 H ?: k) N
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
I: m1 f& G" M% l- {% M" G) ]brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he4 h8 Q$ F9 L* S2 J2 g- E
understood the pain.6 X/ s/ Z' E/ f* w9 L: c. o
"I know what those families go through," he said." @9 D+ ~7 Y) k! A& K/ y; p1 v- K( \
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
) o" z8 B5 s; Z$ mfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.( v& A5 d% Q8 e/ \
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
. p- d3 Y& i+ I) wHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put8 F% c. Q+ ? h5 y. [* m
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
. t; q# y5 J% B* QLentz replied: "Not totally."* I1 V: _3 z! B. @( {' c
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
9 Y6 ?4 k! E3 ]"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said- r1 p! n- E# Q- F# X
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
/ H# Y0 K/ X6 Y0 Z+ }: ^pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its$ ]/ _! i" D6 C. t7 D/ b
vehicles already on the road.
0 z$ A8 f2 a$ g) r8 f5 MMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify( C0 {% ^* G$ j. B0 N6 x3 E9 T' _
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
! C7 {. G: H7 P+ h( Bresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and, M6 H% q6 K4 [; I L- t
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were$ w* [) A% ]3 m5 F/ f, f6 m: l' x
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
z& M/ I) R* F1 @. N+ d; n"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a+ t" y% S8 C' C
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony0 F b" p' [! C* K$ K
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
0 ?) _1 t( v8 eCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
, n0 H/ H( U6 Q; L3 f) Rcommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
& U5 z. R4 U# [) {) R$ frestore the trust of our customers."7 S" p0 q, G" @' s
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
; g3 _7 l, t1 |) X0 u3 vSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
! m) v) T1 i: H5 [4 izoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
9 g. S% ]( {6 kshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
9 k, f5 r8 b! R* f5 K3 Ihitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
7 W, w( z: J5 S( V9 B' M/ ]: C! _that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
5 ~% n0 K# q, I0 I, Uturn off the engine., }+ o% d5 E g! r4 E9 u
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of6 s2 f7 T0 V3 j0 h
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."2 c- \0 Z3 ~9 ~! W' i- P5 b
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
$ y1 E5 y7 @7 y! H/ h2 v5 h5 _said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond, [- e( R: N( @# _
to her complaints.
# `+ t# `: ?! T3 r7 ]+ ^7 T9 kIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers9 h* k/ v: a. v* a* _0 w
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
. o; {( \& d" b$ {1 u) w# w, Ymalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.; f: \- c! N" w. @7 Z
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
" o% X/ l/ v# u2 Ethrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited1 Y; C% G0 D9 L
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut6 C, K1 ~, p4 K6 }$ e( I+ J
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure.". I+ L5 f; I% f# x0 _* j: R, _
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in3 Z: C P9 H. [2 p
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were# Q( g: Y3 k# e. O
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls W9 C* Y {$ s$ P0 n8 _
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer/ x4 K. p; @0 P" _
every question."" O/ d5 h* M9 x5 S% a
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether5 c+ \, L, S, ?) p6 h; X; `
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The1 U% Y. }5 e& c+ h
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But3 P1 x& K5 I% X) p5 b: w' t/ y9 ~
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small B5 ?1 u7 H3 A9 b
number of vehicles% ^# i! f9 f( M& G+ u7 q* c
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more: u8 S/ |% ~2 Z Y1 K0 x
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a+ C- g0 F; O* l- u. p f f! m* Q
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one$ }- |+ P$ a7 P$ {5 W
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
( `9 e) |: z, Y! m' qMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,9 H% R3 [% a/ {. Y# p7 r; F
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no% O6 Z2 s% j/ G8 N; g3 V0 o9 y- E" b
trace at all.
% ?; Y/ u" h8 a# b9 m" r5 c3 E( rHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
9 m' y) A5 E+ h; [9 Pdatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
; s) F! `/ a9 \& O2 {- x8 lacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the: ~" _7 U: `% }: w& `, _
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
- `/ o. M5 j. d$ bRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
" i" {; @1 W0 |+ d9 O- A9 S4 Asaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
' y9 y5 z- _" s1 W" v9 aother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the- ^9 P* o* i; T+ m; M( S
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
7 g' E, v/ i( H( z! gcause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only: D ]. N0 h- u5 r$ K0 u
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
; ?# @% @4 [% w% \1 H. Y$ oby Toyota's lawyers."# _% y( I; \6 k/ N0 a- M# X3 |
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
( @) F) `: U- d k; Fproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our t' ^/ a6 x- X0 k
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
/ [( _: ?, t; Y7 A) esaid.
. [4 Y0 i& R& I3 ["Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with" l% j* w/ v% ]2 y9 y
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
! Z. E8 d; b, S+ r0 g! n9 Q2 Y; L& sgood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating8 \( z; B4 c4 r3 k* o7 X
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
: N! @0 f- w+ ?' H+ y PSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
j* ^7 ^' c/ x! t* Qmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
% v1 _7 z: f6 j9 s9 z3 q8 krancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the9 }1 T# `0 y) j1 ^' h6 S
automaker, at least in part because of the government's; @: ~; q) U0 Z. v$ v$ r: ]
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and# Y5 ?- b" J: r, U: u, ?% _
Chrysler.6 B, a2 J' o5 {! p
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
: |' w, c) X9 e, w& V% a9 c- ldollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a7 s9 a t0 }# V) N6 d
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
6 t( W' G- E( lserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete' r! z7 t. {0 p8 E. @
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty1 d( E+ [6 e0 g4 v; w
tough.". R, p0 D; O5 x% _( {9 \- ` F- n
---
; M/ _( u. E7 R! N, XAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
$ ? V6 z, k: A3 ~1 ]) @Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
) z' L$ H; ~9 V6 q* tthis story.1 x6 a. A9 f0 q( ^0 b, g9 V% Q
3 D3 U2 l6 T& I- B# T-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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