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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
1 i+ p# ]9 p$ S' {9 n7 G+ A4 {! m8 yBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS% }/ {9 \+ t6 P# w: w* q: A: S
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
( \9 q6 j* Z: G9 w5 {6 ]% Ooperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that b: m4 m& i% b' K+ ^
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"0 ^/ E# _/ W$ F0 R( K, Q8 Q9 T
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
' V' x6 c1 p% s$ O"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
: s) `1 Y: ^2 \causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
( B( n8 u- ]( q" T9 H$ qHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected4 Y R* y0 W" _/ v9 d
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and0 ]& t* X. ^0 s) z: Y& E5 E6 F( R
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
7 Q9 E" f5 I9 Z8 z2 [mats and sticking accelerator pedals., @5 E% K1 k0 L/ p( A1 |
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
0 n. ~; s1 j- F* V1 q; \: ?and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
% t; l! U2 @) Q% _: ccriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be @- _& ~; e2 z' x5 M D5 B
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
8 L0 `& X6 O. M" R; |# Xnot stop her runaway Lexus.
* L0 _4 x+ ~, R9 e- v: v"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
! @0 u5 M' f3 W/ k# qTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second" _7 |; P" @% k, m% \
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators./ j6 `" c: O. h6 C( n7 H5 n
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
" a; L# n2 J' q A: Cearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
4 D. m) v) o+ K8 \6 K* x"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
4 K; V7 a& O, }6 z9 ^) hdone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
4 g. [; [" e- q5 nthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's. O. o7 L0 y) L# a z. U$ v; Y6 l
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."# K! P2 i( A# G2 ]" a
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an. A# {8 O7 y8 v \3 Z# m/ W, t4 G4 b
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of' }! @% B6 i; K: O8 ]/ _
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
9 @+ S" h0 s/ U, \; U9 kmalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
) |& g; l: v" Z- f: Dsaid.
6 F9 y8 T/ C1 @2 p( ~9 ?/ JAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what7 Z4 d3 d5 I; [! h" u& x. T0 ]
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
5 \# b) H! U, qabout driving our products," Lentz said.; P) O! u b6 X% ^1 v- w$ d
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's# W p1 i( [0 @# Y
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has) d' Q7 d8 O, ^/ `9 m% x
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6: }3 v6 B1 q4 u; Y/ h! p# @
million in the United States -- since last fall because of2 }( \; {$ m7 Q3 R6 d
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking' j _- A9 w& |! q$ o
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering# \4 n/ ~6 R1 U
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
/ {0 S) R& Z0 _- R& h; N/ mtheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
8 d: R9 K8 e* g$ k1 |down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has& y" @% [7 R. _9 `) }
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
1 t6 _5 X( |( |% F% f( Q) X: j1 }of Toyota vehicles since 2000.
3 G" q, B. N' X4 P6 o# }0 M9 s6 X3 tLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
4 m L5 Q1 R# O* Q) M& Gbrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
! d9 }; i5 U% U6 Yunderstood the pain." [' \7 K& s2 h7 w; Q" _
"I know what those families go through," he said.
: L! g4 Q" u' j& C, h( fLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
' _! ]+ m& H; m8 l- Rfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.) ]# _8 q9 U. I' W9 y' ]) q
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
1 D( H% c4 l4 ]! j# HHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put! {% ]0 j1 m% `+ d9 i' k7 V& s
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,' g3 R! `- | [4 |# U
Lentz replied: "Not totally.") ~8 M, E; g% L* A }! v" [% ~
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
! F; Y% l2 q- m" l2 H"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said b, x2 x. r/ l
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas4 n3 }9 @7 t4 k! W2 R P' P
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its, ?* k, l3 A9 \- W2 G1 x
vehicles already on the road.
% |! ]; s' U) QMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify: ]% X# |6 J3 h' Q; D* ?7 N
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full+ K y L: a1 C. d
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and( {, M) m0 r! P; l# U( _) [
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
) d9 a6 @9 L3 w s7 ekilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems./ f! z# m" S" c2 i2 W5 X
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a. t7 ~' _, q$ W, ]( P
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony) @3 L6 W! j( N; ^
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
! V- V4 d- h9 [" A8 pCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
4 a3 X* J( s& Pcommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
: ^! r4 n2 B6 W" `8 ?# |; G a. S7 Prestore the trust of our customers."
" o, ]5 }7 r( v3 HLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from9 ~; H ~9 B' I
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly1 C' A1 s5 C2 ?7 V8 s2 k/ d
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
I9 F0 A8 q* ushifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
^2 a2 C$ ]% D4 q7 @ M& C! G2 shitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
* [3 | b6 [2 P! S+ r. ^that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and* D( g3 \1 z7 H0 O9 I; f- X. T& C
turn off the engine.; C. L# d5 _4 T' D7 ~2 n
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of$ n2 ^4 [' T" Y7 d* p; l) k
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."! ?3 @. h* C' x# \9 o! N$ F
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
4 {1 f% H8 E1 [1 p$ v. Esaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond5 _$ q D) [, u* Z- {. Z
to her complaints.
1 ]3 I% L" M# ~0 L6 HIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers# R( z7 r6 S* N/ c
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic6 c9 r, X6 q) P5 M( {6 ]6 @2 }
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
7 p: C1 y, [# F% b. T0 K4 ?"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric+ ^+ C5 j/ ]8 A# _' h6 h2 e2 u
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
) l' E$ {5 H+ Y1 K"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
' N. b% L0 R2 `0 Joff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
& y% s1 o+ F& z! k" zTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in/ }% X1 r h, B" W& T: v" \4 e+ B
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were5 ` W+ |; T" V z' _: _- _
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
@1 }% u2 ?) \3 j" Y1 nwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
5 O: P: Y' k5 j" `2 M& Mevery question."
" b! o8 Y4 R, n2 K0 jToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
- ^8 s) t: m& Q S: C6 |- M% O( e" aelectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
" o/ i, V- I4 ~3 p& N9 Nfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
) w. O+ u2 p7 Wcommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small/ E6 Q' q! U3 T6 F* ^9 K8 }& d, C
number of vehicles: J# B' ?4 p( U q0 N; x3 J
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more* z. K+ R( y1 F* Q
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a. V3 _# X, }3 k9 J* _. {3 f" w
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one9 i) I; l* P0 F
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.$ [2 R/ U' X2 u* D, ~ G2 Y
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,9 d7 v- j+ A" {) Z
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
* N$ K) v0 P3 `/ Q/ S5 Strace at all.
9 _* g0 u1 F# l* V3 ^/ y2 ZHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call8 A: p2 {# d: j6 o2 l
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
( O& N) o: J! @( j Z/ L# bacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the5 f/ `5 ^) x( ?3 p" P+ x, C8 O! ~: h
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
. I( O* r& e) f$ |! tRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,4 P1 z9 h, m% R# h3 V0 V- j {
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and' Y% F- g2 g/ R! D
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the3 C8 F6 M: v( K; G$ r9 m
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
5 J/ g9 v& G% t+ X) H) t) bcause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only |& ~* M, t! o( t6 {1 ^
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
: x# c% \* b$ l/ ^" lby Toyota's lawyers.") D. _/ }5 |4 b
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
' `$ O: ]- z. j7 Vproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
, l3 ]6 e0 u! c5 j1 r X5 Bcustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he- F3 D/ q, b* l
said.
! r! z7 o2 B+ J ~5 g5 L# e"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with% \% l8 {* ?1 S9 w
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our, H5 x4 u4 [# T! ]' B) f% U2 L
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating/ A- e1 {) C, X& H' _) O
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.5 H& U# p5 M! R! g* [
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying; v( r2 x3 p; t* z5 s9 ?# V
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
6 J1 V1 @2 E5 p/ Rrancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the K8 G, Z$ ~! c* y
automaker, at least in part because of the government's" `, P+ `4 G A2 @6 D% B
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
" ^+ u8 m6 \. f; o* oChrysler.+ \+ C2 Q F: _2 J# x9 o
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax7 v8 q/ ~# [8 r& r1 d8 {* v/ _
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
. T8 ]3 u2 ?7 C: u, g4 e2 ZHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
4 q3 i( ~3 w. x- x7 N1 z; mserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
; ]* q! N6 T( F8 u9 mwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
. R. j& V$ n! A# s: ytough."# s+ x" N% L3 C$ O/ p, N
---; }3 F0 P8 A7 v/ q/ \8 @) g! x; {
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
5 B4 _8 c+ J% ^5 sRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to9 C ~" P* Y5 b! q* ?) a
this story.
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' d- S0 u5 T6 O-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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