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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题2 Z5 m* G5 _! J! j5 u4 x3 S
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
1 I9 `* Q. w" K6 k4 ?: t" IWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
( J9 Y; X1 [% Y0 o' Coperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that0 |, R! X6 }' C5 p8 c* e: i5 d8 j ?# j7 J
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"& a2 t$ r# D3 g! y% c
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.* `9 C2 M4 m* [) `$ h. A$ e2 e3 j8 ~* J
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential5 o9 [! D1 E5 V$ L
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
8 _% V2 M, E6 w, b; L+ CHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected) b% O3 @* \% @+ i
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
+ f! A' u' M% u& S6 S( Z# Jtrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
* f) {7 j* W7 C# M- r1 qmats and sticking accelerator pedals.$ J! m1 b' S7 F' J+ A1 z% T( R
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal. @1 q" K0 V, | o! _( q7 `
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
: _6 T8 j% ~ V( @3 V, k" Ucriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be( X- Z# H9 O$ p9 ]7 b. w
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
6 Z! L7 L$ E( ~2 H2 lnot stop her runaway Lexus.
! c: ^0 l: f u* ^9 J; S4 k% |"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,8 |' O! u: ?6 a# c$ _$ v9 d
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
1 m: P* p# P/ v* p' ^"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.( |& @8 \$ L9 d, i! `
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
; B* l/ k. H- j/ `early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said9 y& ~2 _9 |; M% z" @ o
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
Y: T8 q, T0 h% P; j$ X# q9 N$ Kdone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
+ G' Q% R8 m# V0 H hthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's: J' n+ Z1 `- s# {: s l* u
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
3 i1 m4 T6 b' l$ M8 ?6 BLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
9 j I6 x8 e! d- e0 R0 Ielectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of3 B1 ~: Y% a: `9 m" g3 g8 Y' `: w: }
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
) y7 C" t' ^6 Wmalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he$ h% v) J# [/ T2 q( S
said., s! z4 ~& I* T
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
7 ?6 A; |' b2 ]; j5 l9 jhappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe" |/ r# U6 i' S3 Q/ }
about driving our products," Lentz said.
5 k9 f9 S6 ]. L. q4 w) T4 ?Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
- T% h, D- e& a9 Sproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has! T! v+ y! L, h: ]& k. V7 e
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 68 b* g0 ?' v3 x
million in the United States -- since last fall because of, |- o k5 |5 W/ G. X
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
: }( g& |& U: _+ j) @issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
8 I/ s2 ^* K. E( ?& e- N9 g7 c+ `concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
; j* i& l1 m! A) H9 y& @4 i7 a+ ztheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow' `* K+ i' Z- Q
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
' a8 P6 h$ r) @0 a4 e9 r6 ^received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
4 d4 O! W9 E4 Zof Toyota vehicles since 2000.( } m; e6 @: U$ \
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own- x+ K2 A9 Z6 l$ m3 w
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
9 h$ Z; a: t3 z, c- Nunderstood the pain.3 r3 [# a+ e" ^9 t1 i- E
"I know what those families go through," he said.
" @9 O; K! w' xLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's6 F/ C3 h6 \9 y* g. F" {
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
2 @9 T2 `! X7 _0 mBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
, d# A! N' o: y* hHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
7 K6 F q2 X& R$ cin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
; v9 x+ E) ] m. c ] g$ TLentz replied: "Not totally.". j+ N( U) q( H: L& Q: k" Y
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
" P6 D8 R. b, y$ u7 |0 G2 K' f"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
1 T: j! o; _- a2 q% m9 nToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
, G& a0 b0 M; r+ Q+ w* X! gpedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
! b! y* U n; k0 I% u" X8 J1 zvehicles already on the road.
% I/ z f* ~ O6 oMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
: G( J! ? ^ @6 O8 J2 w" Kbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full# u. V7 Q2 F) X( G
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and8 S: G8 x4 u0 G$ j" e
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
8 P' c) l3 d: [killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
4 l7 T: o3 y* i# q"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
, {+ o* |% d( ytragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
) k" L L/ |' o7 Lfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight7 Z6 ]7 q# ^& i4 m$ U
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal# _/ d# P, g$ k
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to9 b4 w7 a% W, s- N. P5 [7 J
restore the trust of our customers."4 _4 {& M! w8 s v; T
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
0 m! F( y0 b5 tSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly4 q2 T1 V5 {3 Y1 D n
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
7 O7 \" C1 ^$ n. ^. N" Q- Hshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
, a4 U. c# T; @. q+ O+ f8 Mhitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough' x+ H4 r% |$ h6 X
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and. W# o. y% h# Q
turn off the engine.
0 t; }1 d H4 v9 EFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of) H8 O% T, d$ \. D/ i0 f
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
; c7 U1 A( m) H0 m"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
3 @6 k; k* Z# D" e- D4 Rsaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
, v$ m0 E+ T4 I Y5 n+ ~' ?to her complaints.
7 |( r- K& K3 T$ e2 HIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers/ c' ^5 ^2 Z7 t1 h$ V' {# H; n
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
5 D6 X5 `( C7 o; @malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.7 d' t* l3 o6 \) f. m5 }$ x% ^/ Z
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric: Q: M* a/ N4 i$ C# ~* e/ h
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
" k* g& ]1 o+ m' B5 W"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut- V: [+ i" u6 e/ q
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
: d# l. {% f2 d/ [& eTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in* X+ L/ O2 d+ [
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
1 [' ^2 k# c8 v0 C$ tbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls2 A4 ^ I, T; {
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
5 G6 @1 D' `7 W% A8 P( e7 wevery question."6 S% Q( E7 X5 i; I+ N, b% x
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether5 }" x" Q) G! F8 Y( V
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
% _* p. e2 ?4 d9 F1 n pfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
# y5 \' M) ^2 n; ^: M/ Icommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small
: M6 e9 x1 [& X: Znumber of vehicles4 k4 y- p) n8 E( l {2 q
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more
8 I" P- y- S1 n7 m# E- Zdifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a- U* G; e0 ^6 F9 z& B$ w* ^' K& a
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
8 ?6 f( g# H8 n" y& C+ U, n% `+ L& Usource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.+ Q. T/ o) l5 s9 k ] S
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,' @- y9 }" t: A+ k' E2 `& U% {+ |
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
0 h0 C. T" D# V$ V9 ytrace at all.2 ~1 t: ^& \! v7 g3 P2 a' S* @
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
: S. S5 C( c( H2 adatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
& d4 W. G! M1 `( Y5 N6 eacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the% ?7 f3 ~! F4 K7 Z, x
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.* `/ N- h& T& x; R9 Q' P" j
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,# h5 a8 K9 V. ~& i/ f+ @. R# O1 K
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
( l6 }5 V5 P$ f0 K0 Z# v8 h( Vother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
) @& g" c! X1 J! S' Gelectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible: N9 k6 y# u/ C; b+ e. Z
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
* @4 v$ n9 l$ e# `/ nsuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
; v0 Z! J/ w: rby Toyota's lawyers."
# H) O+ n$ p3 `' [3 e# P, S' G% HLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of" O- J! q6 q2 V0 m. l4 a# D+ \5 @
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
' m9 w) V8 Z# D( t% H, U; q7 ccustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he, M) b$ W( P3 M
said.
) h) s# D, T* V" L5 f+ ~# `8 N"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with: K3 k5 V6 k8 U' [' h: t
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our/ T( J/ y- ^% o7 U
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
; o4 R& V% h! x' C1 |' w7 k5 g0 a, Iofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.- _8 U; B( _8 c; J! ~" k, C/ P
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
. |# ^/ x' y D7 M; x- zmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread# |: X/ y8 ~) I) ?2 {
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the% I5 i4 e6 N5 d, k: G1 l4 E* _9 p
automaker, at least in part because of the government's
9 O( j& s0 \* jinvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
3 @, I: G7 p& m. i& HChrysler.
& `4 q8 q0 H* J6 F2 _5 F8 @8 X"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax+ _, c. ]/ s- D$ ]: G1 a, g$ n
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a9 w) u4 {. w9 x- d5 G. t
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
7 h8 L' K+ f# Wserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete# Q) p4 Q* |) J
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
( c5 q- i; I9 atough."
/ c0 Y) i( @" C) p: j7 Z. [/ Z& e---
# z3 X3 ]8 L. V" e. JAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom7 C& R4 y2 K; A" U9 M7 I7 \+ Y
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to- w$ }& Q9 F! O. [9 q" H
this story.
7 b _7 ] Z) r; p+ I3 w# i% K9 w( F1 a+ T
-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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