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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
7 n. v) R8 j) j0 C/ PBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
+ R0 J4 a! |. oWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.( h2 [/ `6 C8 n1 ]8 z- \
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
5 \2 o& J. }: Z t: @$ Rthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"* R) W3 I! i$ _' G+ b
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
; N% G9 [/ m8 Y1 P% q+ x"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential8 ]' z$ N4 O4 Q7 Z
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
( S. B$ s* I7 z4 W9 DHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
+ q) p, r( U; Zacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and# V3 h/ U* `+ R; W* p% f& Z: H
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
6 R; y3 p H% r" s0 ~3 emats and sticking accelerator pedals.
- {1 a+ a. B. F7 M5 r* [% hHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
j% z3 k$ I; wand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
+ p. Z- F5 x) @3 H+ |7 Y; ~, Gcriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
4 D0 ~ J, Z& Y2 H* Mfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could& r- O5 X" m* o
not stop her runaway Lexus.9 y2 V7 X9 H* Q2 E, `
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,) S1 }( ~0 Y- |: I, `" W
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
% ?) T' S3 j F3 ~4 D4 r"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
" g. L- o7 O U4 f) p# r1 }Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues8 ?9 u0 a1 _. @' Z2 Y1 w) Y
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said$ y; O6 \9 ~' G* ^8 X
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
' S. I* G* V% M$ D$ K0 [done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
, @6 R/ a% t8 `0 N3 k& Ethrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
/ G, H3 o% `1 P8 d5 vinvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
7 w, P# U5 ]: K4 C5 Q2 KLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
$ e5 ~0 U" p- C3 L2 I8 F7 `2 Jelectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of* Z7 \4 G3 X7 f: o
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
6 K. J5 Q4 p( b. P& [: ^, X) rmalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
; @7 `4 J7 @& V) c5 Nsaid.
8 `5 t9 W$ |/ h2 [* s7 S# _+ E/ z& zAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what' `3 z% W+ ^2 R0 [. k1 c
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe* F! t8 _; H, _: i
about driving our products," Lentz said.
) Z/ V" I1 }' L4 {Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's9 V5 B- `7 y# S
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
' s* E6 n2 w; \3 O/ D& l- m% D* Vrecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
) e! q$ l+ B* V" m2 Q) H9 U1 Q* k qmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of
" l, q6 ], w$ |( wunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking( i) j1 A2 a! M- u
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering( U, f0 r5 E$ B/ ^# E
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of" q3 t9 E3 {0 S4 t5 o
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
3 R+ ?2 D, b) I! e6 L9 ^1 ~; G" gdown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
5 o6 N" L- _' ^% qreceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration. ?" X( d9 j2 I
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.! K/ p4 d/ W( R3 W
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
+ o9 O2 ]" q$ N4 Ibrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
: T- ^" {6 T, Z! @, h$ Q; u0 F2 [understood the pain.
+ R: z5 u6 `5 L; m9 {# T"I know what those families go through," he said., @3 N6 z2 M$ w+ @: w) a
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
& h5 a. w3 i% e+ x) J& pfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems./ F/ b' V* }% p: L
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman9 n4 B/ p- R& T' T# p, \
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put& ^: F. ?, S, M. q
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
- p& E6 Z# z/ qLentz replied: "Not totally."' c, p' _% }7 q: L
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were7 {; H" B) t) E$ V* c% N- w
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said2 [0 R: `; i7 g: Q) i1 ~1 T
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas7 N' [9 H+ _. S; E' y% h8 i4 Z& h
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its" Y' c5 N$ T+ [7 Q0 g+ o
vehicles already on the road.
+ K% {' L$ K, w1 V* }3 x u9 F zMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify D8 M( N8 [6 M% P0 P- |# g
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
8 s! J# W- J; C6 Kresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and9 v+ n' @$ ?3 t
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were4 V" f4 t! v( n/ }$ c& _, j5 B
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.0 ~1 m! x n4 k5 ~4 A" d! W
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
1 I: o7 I& |7 Itragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony* p/ }7 Q' `% [# `6 w) g/ Q. V
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight1 i% E f9 L+ A6 i7 @ `/ m4 C
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal) J. ?. `7 s4 p
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
; t2 r' V4 W: M" B, }restore the trust of our customers."5 d$ o! V/ x( L. m
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
- ~) i7 s4 ~/ |Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly9 d2 k* R- l: g
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --6 g. f3 X# c7 h6 {4 T1 q9 v3 Y
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and% u! \1 ^! j: _+ ]. Z0 Y8 U& v
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
2 W4 L7 y: F2 t5 R) dthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
; ]6 B/ e$ B3 U pturn off the engine.' T, y1 w3 w' Q# {2 z# \
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of, k0 m5 j' k3 u! K3 _' R5 z
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."$ [2 S0 f x; \( X3 c1 p7 k& F
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she0 Q( I' f7 L, Z1 u
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
3 B2 h1 j# `' g6 O% d1 w3 b' y$ Xto her complaints.
& {. h/ J" L w- n- AIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
, S# V z6 {+ f" {5 j9 m: D$ X8 Lreturned again and again to the question of whether electronic
" T% R+ |, g. tmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
$ T. m7 R( Y* J+ G' j+ U"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
8 ^" Y! T* o+ v; kthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited$ ]" u4 B2 k! W/ j$ J7 A
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut- G8 p% F+ e% y1 Q0 `0 Q
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure.", D$ [8 i/ S$ @& [
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
3 L3 Z: ` C& c, z0 h! Xprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
_+ Z G+ f: r2 }0 j$ Z( abeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls5 V2 ~: n& |: p# `
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
! A4 ?6 \0 ]. Uevery question."6 e" P# }7 L2 z, v
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether0 }& C% F9 C: p4 u- B
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
1 c# ^! ~& k v5 rfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But& g7 y! U1 A4 a9 Q' @* `# Z
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small# k+ S W1 W+ i; }5 ^5 I' I
number of vehicles
1 P+ m# R: Z" M' w' DTracking down an electrical problem can be far more
, u/ H( g& F! U8 ]4 d3 k H: Udifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a' k& X. A$ g: Z1 ^6 p5 ^1 p
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one- ~, X/ d6 N1 t' L
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.8 p- u. c3 D3 ^( `1 Z+ [! O
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,2 [7 j U3 ?: U1 M3 N/ i& z. a1 C
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no$ d5 D5 a2 p% m" `* j* G
trace at all., ]# Q& Z5 E: u! a" g# u' b
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
$ X, s4 W) ^) O4 ldatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
j6 G9 c/ ]2 b6 y" A. oacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
1 }5 P, ^" z* O: irecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
+ m( z7 n0 l& n6 |Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
; ? F3 F! a9 V" o. G5 {- N1 Ysaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and5 X" ]9 w8 p2 B' b+ E* Z
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
8 U- R9 X# P X: Z0 |& aelectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
6 s# r8 Q5 j- x2 l# c: Hcause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
' r: p! y) |* c. S2 h- Y7 z# |such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained! D- V/ I( ^( I M! q; M2 w
by Toyota's lawyers."$ X6 I% m+ m. B5 n
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
" I. r& f. v! i, pproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our! s- B# Q$ W) i
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
, l! Z# \2 p* _: [said.
2 Q5 B* c0 {" s a& s2 F/ C"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
/ l, B' B: g2 T/ Sa rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our2 D5 H: w4 O1 h5 j5 O' j7 G4 c
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating3 E6 z9 b: z' U/ Q
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
, t. K3 L& W" @, A/ [" b- NSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
) W. X+ K# z' ~. ~members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread ?2 V* B5 l4 Y1 j r2 f
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
/ a* n; T' \- F, n( o6 T# oautomaker, at least in part because of the government's
" q2 w8 W1 {* y, C' D1 J$ m$ Einvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
1 ^$ Y* h* j- S, _+ |2 @$ K" S7 eChrysler.
/ Z& Z2 t5 }, O0 r! O. S! b"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax! X/ {5 i% y$ N; \( X
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a8 O& w! I8 d8 ]0 t
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also, o4 W( V3 E1 U2 l# T7 C
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
. D3 N- a4 Q$ z o: |% L$ D. Ywith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
: P. I+ d U" s1 Q: Q1 htough."
' M9 W# R! S! J: R* l---$ U7 A/ O" M6 W
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
7 X! O; ]4 l. X" O2 ZRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to, w# M+ }$ D8 b. c( [% s* o' F
this story.
8 w1 O9 f. l8 I4 o1 C# u- C2 u4 e! g4 P* _; v+ s8 |# u
-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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