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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
1 Y% C1 u6 ]0 o+ t/ Y% R* PBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS& m. `( }- i& q- a& q
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.( A+ E% E `: d! F& a
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that9 Q+ m& i" X4 ^- m* C6 e
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
* M8 q8 E g/ K& L7 _solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
: a; O% I: B6 P9 w& x: O"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
& {" K% A' `* icauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
( Q- Z( y/ }+ YHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected4 `5 Z- z: a- \+ |$ ]6 k! [
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
* i* G/ C7 r [( @3 F: B2 _( ttrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
6 |- |" w+ L& ~/ Q: p5 Y5 @' bmats and sticking accelerator pedals.$ ~2 z& L4 [0 p5 p
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal$ o) u4 s Q6 S
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
) ~/ O2 w% X& p7 Icriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
' S+ Q) O, i( l$ n4 Q4 b& g- hfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could0 `; [8 i& i; E) h; F' J) H) t6 [
not stop her runaway Lexus.
) G+ O+ d9 @+ U) V* N7 b$ }6 ~9 E"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
6 v5 n! D3 q" \+ m: |. [; U3 ^/ rTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second' j" Q5 [! M; E& d+ ?' U1 q
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
' }5 d: o! v6 @Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
# E/ H5 M( W! D! O( Y( n! gearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said" M9 ?+ _5 v& c
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has Z4 A# t7 h6 I
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway8 M" Z! `: N2 ~0 r/ A7 H R$ o/ j
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's; F1 _" R+ D/ R+ U2 _2 N
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
! N1 \* r4 ]5 e+ p: P3 ^Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an( v+ `( ]) o. P7 ~/ x. X6 ]
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of4 v! L0 k l' k2 Q. S
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a0 @& Y! G% q; D& z* W W
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he* \& c) c/ D7 W8 t' ~
said.
" [7 y# L; G' ~4 z1 {/ x# x9 OAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what* t# f4 r1 G2 S9 C# b
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe0 @, l: o; U2 E4 D" v
about driving our products," Lentz said.- D1 b; ]$ N. w: @9 ~# K
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
6 U* p* \7 k( S* r. A0 o8 Mproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has5 m* B' M! Z8 K8 f6 L
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6- n! N* ]1 g( G2 G, K" N' `, h
million in the United States -- since last fall because of
' f" u5 g2 p7 t$ M$ K4 d$ }6 A& ]unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
6 P) z) V1 C, I: Missues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering0 `; M6 P/ X5 O
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
8 A' r- S# X, k; W* u/ X* [( ntheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow1 t& d8 n8 P3 M& x1 b3 ?
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has9 r% { C% K, P0 \" P
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
3 \( F, O% ^ O( ?" cof Toyota vehicles since 2000.: p1 T* b; l+ l0 m4 y" d) |
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own. E3 ?( n" O' b7 [
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
/ Q; J9 U- f2 d0 zunderstood the pain.& K5 Z$ E, }# s
"I know what those families go through," he said.
3 M4 z N5 y* B* gLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
6 K( @( L _7 }& ^: r2 C8 Efixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
/ i! H( e- \3 m5 \$ CBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
- e3 b4 m/ v% M" VHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
M0 s+ ]9 g6 a& c9 F$ Uin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,6 I, M8 E0 g0 ^2 j* q1 _
Lentz replied: "Not totally."
! s/ @" w+ ~6 E( i: r& L! }& sStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were4 O, ]" @ `/ e/ z
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
4 n: N0 z: R) _Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
6 j5 W% b Q Fpedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its* J; _, Q8 p$ ?% L2 Z6 |
vehicles already on the road., E' ~+ f, w3 ~) w8 |5 I5 @
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify% P4 G3 U2 q) j
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full; | Y. ]0 N0 a+ m$ a; V* ]8 w8 [
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
& U+ j2 T! d! w2 |* {: Ioffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were/ f+ b$ C' f- F7 a1 M C+ b
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
% S7 ?1 D4 A8 L& ]. U! N( |+ o"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a; k3 ]2 Q, e# w: ^- _
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
9 Q3 S; F' p6 a4 q7 Ofor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight9 U0 h7 N0 ]# D( v8 c7 |) V% k8 e- a' p
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal. n5 T0 \# b, n5 ^. y) J. a% o9 o
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
* n8 }8 Z2 @1 r, H v' y+ Prestore the trust of our customers."
* z& I: V+ m |3 ^, h+ l- e2 _Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from/ @- c) V. q: n
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
1 b4 j2 c8 Z p) t* V% ]$ Rzoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
( H1 m% |3 ?5 c" K" V# Ashifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and) {/ l# s4 e: ]! Z: W
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough9 d, T: C$ q, z4 Y- q, _' ?
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and* p' m# ~- D& O% F/ b0 m4 r. y+ G9 c I
turn off the engine. \, b% k1 ^! a4 e5 e0 t. T8 n- C8 ]
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of1 b4 u" p+ D3 }! \* J5 Q
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
; X; m. z( I$ E2 l$ \"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
" [+ u* Y. S5 k3 `; esaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
2 A4 m- F' A; c$ w/ }! D9 A" a2 lto her complaints.* u* d, I8 F- v6 a2 u+ L1 r
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers8 N# _7 }9 S6 g! n; v7 Y; T
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic* N8 R! m7 v' o9 P( a8 J8 r& C
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
. K% U4 k3 n- ^2 ] [" H' |"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric; ]3 f5 a8 h& V$ a+ z* V/ Y
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
6 F! \2 X( N" L0 J7 }"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut% q, A7 }, \ W& d. H4 q
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
- P ?7 W0 _0 d# I8 M5 wTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
" M2 q1 F: S7 ]* S7 Q7 Wprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
6 w+ c m* c, e( v" I3 g9 }/ Dbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
?5 s) @$ m& R5 a+ V' Q# D, kwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
5 O, R( L- ? z% |# z( D2 v2 K; D+ levery question."1 G Y9 k; O1 L+ s5 b7 k
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
4 P: n3 J0 z5 X) b! E" c3 B. Felectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The& x3 r7 S+ h9 M' A& E
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
/ N2 V8 l m- M' A+ ?& hcommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small* t( s* Z: l s# c- M7 v
number of vehicles, [' d) d9 A" c- {0 O
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more# h# t+ R$ A% a" N7 Q
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a0 M( d( l& [% ?0 r r5 @
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
' C/ c9 ~' N" e6 S qsource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.2 S Z3 s; Z O
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
* t7 e- t# Z, V$ Y1 }! e' vwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no+ }$ K: q# E5 n0 Z3 ]1 w
trace at all.
: ~: J: a0 U4 t& l8 ZHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call6 U1 } O& a. W! b7 }
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden6 g" h/ D1 y6 F& ]7 E
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the, H- W) {; v3 R1 V
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
0 y. a2 g+ | ^Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
( r! I* d! [. @. N$ ~- wsaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
5 c! n& C7 _+ G) U: V; u0 w. G: \/ uother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
* y, y% y5 O Q* ?! I7 zelectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible1 [. H1 a b& z* i
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
& B& z1 d1 p F s& Zsuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained3 V( b0 I+ N6 m$ n8 A2 C. F- z
by Toyota's lawyers."9 \# j# J8 H( {0 T; G
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
$ u4 P# j2 Y8 E4 Nproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
4 e1 g$ p6 y6 x% acustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
+ j- V: S; Y% b: ~# W, Vsaid.
+ j3 `2 V; ~- f3 @9 J"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with7 r2 i0 j! f6 S
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our3 R8 D6 n) C% R: x7 u
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
0 g" v3 \3 r- e$ Z" o1 @6 g; i8 |officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
; e. w8 t& h8 wSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
1 y2 j3 T, S1 l0 q9 ]+ b, s3 ^& qmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
7 C- V; F9 B- j+ M3 U0 trancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the$ j& z. k, p3 t) P- A
automaker, at least in part because of the government's& n7 V6 K( F! h: C
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
X- l% _5 J$ MChrysler.
1 I* k1 Z6 u9 f, m8 v"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
6 v0 ]5 Y0 ^) r/ k$ adollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
" ?2 f8 u1 V* N9 a9 Y( x, d+ R% xHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
$ I$ y& z3 @# n4 userved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete/ m! m' @% l- q7 k- p
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty5 Q9 I K& a, G
tough.": J) D( _# |6 V
---
! n6 N4 c4 B$ h5 J' Y4 s% TAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom: V2 ^3 j" m o4 d8 `/ _
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
$ J" G E. K% F6 T4 zthis story.1 V$ j, x& \( d: {. Z a. U* w! @
: Z' h8 q& V6 \7 b' n% |5 }-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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