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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题" E6 t) c4 o/ J! @! G4 O
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS1 O5 w. {# x, t# t' t5 ` u+ @4 u
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.6 G! J3 i' z+ e) \
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
- X$ X5 Q! i* o2 {8 x' [* kthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally" C5 O! a/ Y" l) A: S1 K
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
) Y4 z8 T0 ]# n t4 w8 |: [# k8 r"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential- Z9 @* L5 ^6 p& f& L6 l2 u9 O c
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.* ? [' A/ @3 i }
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected+ e4 y! `: S. J$ M
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and. i4 N. \! C5 ~/ V% e
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
9 z. ] w5 W* {2 c# l$ `1 ?mats and sticking accelerator pedals.
, s* u! T3 b9 I# q: JHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal( `3 u0 T3 Z% W% u! \& s |
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
1 L. @: ?' ~6 q( s$ _criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be7 U9 X' x# I2 i/ K/ i
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could- D( P/ @7 S' ?
not stop her runaway Lexus., c" B K( z2 u, A
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
' j9 S' ~7 k+ j! L7 D/ aTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
* f! A1 ~; A+ R"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.8 ^" F v K& c& z
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
) q# ?, O" |" j9 t" f/ E. Uearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
$ K( z/ [1 X! @$ |9 q"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
! z6 h4 t D+ S2 V: Hdone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
' ]# T& p& R* r- Rthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's- [7 _4 r, A( {% g/ ]6 P9 z1 H
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
3 {: ^8 k* l7 l( q* V1 BLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an3 A7 K3 Z( F0 J# x
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of4 w# u$ a8 ~" F; s
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a. x& d# [, F! `6 P1 [
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
/ |3 t0 m1 [- j, b# q* O: L! Fsaid./ m( u R" w; F
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what6 m5 r( B+ [2 U; I, u- e) M: e
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe6 S0 q: L9 ~) r- O
about driving our products," Lentz said. H# e5 \! D0 |: l1 T! Z9 {
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
3 R1 A$ z/ |, t1 aproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has1 |6 c; {7 y6 A% a% c% Q
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6; R8 I7 m4 C$ s) ^2 y
million in the United States -- since last fall because of5 M$ ~6 Y% D* A! a5 u3 k
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking$ T8 E) n1 V! S" E7 V5 Y
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering0 D- J8 Z7 `' ] b
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of7 j) b# {) w9 V
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow7 u$ W! u1 C( n2 g
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
+ Y8 P$ i! A+ i5 o$ Jreceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
3 n4 p- |) k3 c$ G8 Rof Toyota vehicles since 2000.. D( f7 @; l) Q. H6 a$ L m% N+ i
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own- r4 z) X: \! x) E! ?
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
# i {0 y$ V2 }/ x; j2 R4 P6 v8 ]understood the pain.7 `4 u+ l B) v, X# ~$ x' Z" _; z7 T
"I know what those families go through," he said.
+ W: W. c& z4 \+ T2 {! gLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
; W2 ], ?- K/ O4 z: e+ @% k" Gfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.$ Z7 d8 u4 J3 Q2 h$ V
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman1 |5 d7 N1 I, f$ N7 q( U' u
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put, u$ R! q4 u: \
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,8 L1 J: A& R% s" V2 @7 {* e
Lentz replied: "Not totally."
" ~1 ?, b% n. ?0 c. e( K) H- GStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
" n D/ q1 R+ o( e4 Z"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
( ] e& p( [( [$ [( V5 m, @Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas1 G( h0 B; W4 m% n
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its7 [% B9 I& |, \* N, s. z
vehicles already on the road.
9 X9 R- }9 u8 p! ?3 M+ I' PMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify; g2 a) Q; p# @ ?2 e
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full& a5 Q* _7 l- J/ j
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and# Y5 f! L+ g, Q6 Q6 ^/ w
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
4 y9 u* z. {8 q4 R: y% vkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.$ m+ X1 P2 p L, U
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a$ w+ ?( ?& C/ A$ k
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
, z8 C" }( \6 D* U, Dfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
. L0 b6 s( S8 |. m9 b# \Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal+ g6 t- r8 l) ]# V! k% {- i6 V/ z
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
1 p8 s4 i+ V' G& }restore the trust of our customers."
" @- a. {& c- L; b6 tLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
# r; r& s @: Y k; Y3 T$ Z+ {4 G LSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
; \" d6 U# U D2 h g7 t0 y ?zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
9 k/ {) i& t+ ~5 ^% ^! Zshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and* |0 P5 L' G! n6 F1 N
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough4 E) h/ ^- _; W+ I! D3 ?* ]2 M/ c7 Z
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and6 u0 O q/ w, R- s
turn off the engine.- z# S. x+ f5 l- T
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
f6 N5 y- T: R- mOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
0 u$ p0 a. b9 R4 r"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
7 D( n2 r" `- hsaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond, i% {6 k( r$ O& B
to her complaints. R4 m. r8 B4 e; H) s
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
" K; Z9 }2 K, Y4 q* X2 ~7 Oreturned again and again to the question of whether electronic
% V- Z2 w- E" f: n; K* O! ^" K9 omalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.8 D7 j% ~* a# T1 P2 ^
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric" Y1 a$ k2 P" m* w8 w1 n
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited1 b# [" b" _; q( M( {" R
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
- z6 ]$ E0 t# }off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
0 Z: y# C( P' KTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
" `9 r* j5 G+ h+ v, Mprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
' s# ] v- @/ K0 s: Wbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls( t8 x# V& V- O q
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
# D+ q" r" t. m# y6 yevery question."
3 V/ j j+ [1 {- ^' [* CToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether5 [1 K2 D1 Y- B: Y% _3 e: A
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
( p# `! \- P( u- e, n* Cfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
4 Y; V1 |6 H3 \5 p4 \" P6 Ycommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small6 @4 \! D3 a( B) K) G
number of vehicles
( s, q3 D$ i4 k$ Y' E' oTracking down an electrical problem can be far more
4 e: S' s. p4 k# ?5 gdifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
. c% [, g* h4 T) Imechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
2 U- D. \4 q9 u5 Z0 }" `8 E7 O9 o5 |source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
$ T+ ?+ g$ [& Y& x" `# h# nMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
: ] ` ^6 a$ [! E5 F% \2 M, Rwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no: C: x' B' t8 m. ?2 c I) k
trace at all.1 v, v; d3 n$ h! y* z
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
; T' m# L3 X8 C$ ?0 `! F5 q! ~: f+ }! }database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden6 X% }$ H4 [0 p1 U. J( }' ?- ~& k' ]
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
0 V; w6 T, }3 G3 r& Qrecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.. C( \* P, T# h5 e6 j" |
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee, c4 t2 o, \3 @, ?3 x. z. D
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
0 P$ @* u7 k8 D+ Y% | sother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
) c; |% K1 J9 Y8 Q' o% p. I9 Ielectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
! e+ S6 u; D* N3 `cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
( k. S) ~1 b" x0 t6 M$ X; H; W0 Gsuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained+ n( k9 }. @ T! w
by Toyota's lawyers."+ i7 ]8 p2 z$ D9 @6 [* N4 G7 Q9 z6 s4 U
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
7 `* k1 y8 w) g# Vproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our0 v9 X& J1 X2 g+ U' t
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he/ W2 g& g( j7 N: q# O2 f5 H. F
said.+ y5 r) z( X3 `
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with0 `) G8 U* D9 t$ N: S% q% p5 _
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our9 w5 G8 D# r' V7 N7 l) |
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
! F! ]( }6 Q5 g' B$ v* D) x9 Iofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.! Y$ I% ]3 N1 Q4 F i
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
j6 W$ A6 L9 ]5 Fmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
" p0 W- o* A2 s4 T! u4 x5 w ]rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
+ m0 D5 @" O/ F% c6 w; K iautomaker, at least in part because of the government's4 n4 P6 Y1 Z- S* \; |: G. _3 d @% f
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and+ v! p0 R! ~0 y& |
Chrysler.: }+ m: ?. x' {! @0 M% O
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax; h `$ Z$ i( B3 P% T' b/ C5 H! d
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a5 S' z6 S0 N- f4 L
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also R0 R% w0 q5 ]$ i
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
* b& \1 ?) e9 B# q- X$ F( Gwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty- h6 x& f: e" z! V! Z; ^6 ~& ?$ T
tough."9 n' \# ~6 l6 C# V2 b+ v
---9 Q. ]" o) t7 j7 Y$ \+ \5 m. A
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
* h! i: H5 ^0 {9 }2 Q: S! XRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
; z$ s$ J2 G$ J, gthis story." f( ]6 f6 [+ N; o
2 j0 \: r: M, M% u' I, l# _-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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