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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
) S+ T8 C5 e4 MBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS2 A. X. D9 q3 S* z
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S. R- U& Y+ q8 e3 v/ s
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
. ^4 l K' X" Y( ]the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"! i. A3 Y. ] `6 r
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
0 \$ t6 N* Z- {- V I8 r" w"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
/ V& O+ y; w3 w g8 Y v4 ^causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
6 |3 `( e: R- G% D% T% cHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
- u6 j) t8 K2 {* A$ sacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and9 Z# x" T1 Q* F8 m, P/ u6 C
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
2 H. g/ g: I( N8 O- Amats and sticking accelerator pedals.* s4 g% E5 ?( H0 K! F Q6 a
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal$ f0 }6 e) H7 a& k ]1 a) F/ z! J: I
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
Q1 j& _; L! p9 S: w0 Pcriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be/ e2 w3 R2 S8 o7 l2 ~1 X
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could- ?0 I0 g9 q5 O- t8 s5 M6 A
not stop her runaway Lexus.
& V O* z: s$ B4 t"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
6 n! Y6 Q1 @/ F1 n$ fTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second6 {6 X6 H0 c1 o. @& G* s
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.9 [( P9 M9 p0 F/ j
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues. P; r9 U# P* g. y* K1 K
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
# |$ |9 N( m( o4 } `0 I/ O: u6 g"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has( I& F& S0 ~* x& Q2 E4 k% ]
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
. l' A+ J. `' Kthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's+ T! a3 j& M% z# {9 Z
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."9 v& A) C: D! C8 N' n# V* u% b) q
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
. ^. [& g4 Z0 r* H/ |7 m1 S' X0 ?electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of5 a$ H! H/ b4 [2 e3 e5 G4 M: t
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
9 N# P. R' }( ~6 Jmalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he6 j X4 R' v1 z9 N) @
said.
9 j9 R* Y, ^( _As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
% u0 c# d+ l3 e! Jhappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
+ N( x3 ^! b' K/ {+ c+ s* L* B2 Xabout driving our products," Lentz said.
# ]# O7 S; ]6 `, gThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's1 ~# f& p5 q; Y9 `
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
6 \' Y8 {/ F0 R2 d, ~4 }% I) b9 Urecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
. N" E. \; c+ u9 {: Tmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of$ W) O! D4 z4 E5 ` E2 L
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking1 D6 I2 [8 S' K7 D+ Z. S! w
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering! v& ]# \0 a. E; z, \
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of% }$ e, `/ r4 A- ~1 V4 C0 {
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow* R6 }0 M! O5 l, D4 K. m1 \
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has& C8 S% Q" U; t4 H
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration& ]4 C+ P6 \( h
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.
: Y$ @' ] y& o. I2 t' ~- [Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
! g# n. W* K1 e G/ v6 x# Cbrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he/ {/ Z% M, A+ ]
understood the pain.
; r; e; T2 M2 z. X"I know what those families go through," he said.
$ a& y" G1 ]8 k7 {8 CLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
! O3 p" \3 Y0 `: E% jfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.0 V1 U1 U F a# V& a, z8 U
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
" ?6 I% C+ U, ?6 T$ vHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
8 P: o% e @9 p: N: e, [- din place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,* y; E$ |1 F& A* @& ^* p& V
Lentz replied: "Not totally."
# z2 v% P8 b0 z7 O" M! \1 B0 YStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
7 M- m0 j3 C/ I) R: _- F"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said- w, l. j4 x" k; h
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas9 O5 ?9 o7 c; f: T
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
~% ]6 z" R9 n# O; wvehicles already on the road.
% ?6 j, v& ^* v+ A( cMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify. N& C2 `0 W( f% v/ ?' r
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
9 w% [2 C8 J' A9 F% ^1 k: t2 Oresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
$ N* {/ x) B2 @- ]5 q$ Qoffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were# n. Y/ X2 w+ d! Y9 ?6 A- I
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
L+ d* `# P8 D"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a) I; {/ K( I4 j( b+ Z" Z8 s
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony7 r* I9 f( r# [ f. E
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
' |0 @0 K6 ~0 lCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
3 b& K6 n: x% x6 Z# f- p$ r) i/ vcommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
0 \& x b$ B* r: m; Nrestore the trust of our customers."
2 N5 o/ D: A M1 O( \Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
3 O' `# H+ `. V7 X7 m7 n* xSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
) z2 c% p0 C, M# `$ V1 r( Ezoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --3 D& \/ j! c5 q# l" K$ }
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
# x2 o$ X; U1 s3 \! n" w( o" _6 Qhitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
) p; G- Z# e( j! N9 [) [1 `& bthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
2 O) r _/ Q. n I7 qturn off the engine.
7 R# T6 o. ?0 w: C+ H) MFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
" F% G( Z& s/ d% \3 |3 yOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience.") j4 G9 R6 _# f p, W
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
: _( v! ~: Q* \7 j# W- b; Zsaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond& ^6 g! R7 T# A% D
to her complaints.9 ^% m3 p. }% |9 z2 ~% z8 x& q
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers1 M9 M/ f* R9 c5 @$ L8 B% X8 \1 g
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
4 \/ P1 M8 Y3 r: c2 V& zmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
) U& |1 H9 D4 {5 s' Z5 H F"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
, n8 R' W. }1 R& |0 N8 `$ bthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
* }8 u: g" U% b' R1 H"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut/ S: l1 E4 ^/ x/ o' Q) \
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."& d! c" h* ~5 E) r+ C
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
1 @8 b y/ u! v8 X Fprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were$ {3 D& P% Y4 O3 m
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls( n; a! h" N7 |' D [
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer- |* h2 F1 M5 K; R+ h$ M v; s. S
every question."
0 \; E6 w: a( o v7 v3 D, qToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
& K* d0 B! W7 Z" C6 [+ Kelectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The/ G, H- ~& r3 \/ }9 v( i
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
: G" F/ c$ T- k5 Dcommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small
0 m. N: F. \" S4 N* m6 N7 gnumber of vehicles
, J3 \) g& T' x+ `' o' y' c1 {Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more
2 Y4 b0 o' |. }8 a" v) Edifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
# `8 G9 X/ P- C2 D9 G+ h/ w7 K+ |mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
! W% E0 |7 ~) u# i3 K& ~, osource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
3 O+ }& |! b% |5 r' K0 VMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,3 ]3 K1 S3 i* V5 Z% A. ?" i
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no; ^; b( ^* Q Q' q6 t/ B/ e
trace at all.% z( w. _* x# x* w6 x
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call: g$ N2 h6 `5 e: p$ N
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden' a& v. @& B" r
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the$ e4 S$ M3 m D y
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals. U. P% N% Z, h1 K# p1 Q9 V/ Y
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,( `0 c0 r% T. M ?+ ^% @$ g
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
9 q5 Q* ?9 A4 B7 s" P/ \other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the ~7 \7 s4 l- q7 u+ ]& X
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible; Z9 O' q, c5 B$ C0 {) l E7 ?
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
& f9 \2 s! ^) ]; u; o5 O' ~: Esuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained }+ o4 \4 ~' d+ O1 e
by Toyota's lawyers."
# [! s* u8 T8 }Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of/ p5 c& [! |) [ O
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our2 v1 R6 y( E, Z! V
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he; U* I2 Y% v7 `( P& _
said.
( n& a0 A+ P0 r"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
4 E4 x0 x7 @6 \a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our/ L1 S0 G" |) k
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
( _) b$ \% b/ E- n, L3 \. t+ Zofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
b; M6 ^( ^9 u7 BSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
1 U$ `/ \0 H' Z: \7 _! |members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
0 B6 P ]2 H P- c1 z3 srancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the8 z* J; }$ v" o" f" g: @
automaker, at least in part because of the government's- @' Q( i8 ?, R4 q; P
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and+ X/ H8 N! g' k3 \
Chrysler.& H. t1 M) j7 q: a" L
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
& J$ T1 S) f( O R; ydollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
. k5 l. p2 P. OHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also; W$ x( B2 T- f m X
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
- p& o( y; o1 G; ]0 Jwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
6 ?& L" ?; R' L( B- \+ btough."4 j+ \2 t$ a% |/ h
---
0 M: Z+ y4 N& Y" VAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom# [5 T2 Q0 h- N4 j3 S
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
; R/ Q4 W7 C. x1 m& q! I# |# Jthis story.
8 U8 g, O0 r/ I" F6 K5 y. F1 u# e9 y* O. w/ E
-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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