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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
h- f6 `$ D3 x( h* [By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
( v9 S% v. J* GWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.! }1 o2 h2 i1 D- p
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that+ b9 M0 f% k" ? _: l
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally" k, i; k* W4 x0 I, k
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
8 ~8 `' E4 q9 B4 z% ~% Z9 Z"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
) i& z6 J0 Q& `" dcauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
: i- y% B+ U2 X' X3 A1 _$ M7 A8 k. K' SHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
9 j$ q# a d) e3 @7 Lacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
7 L2 v+ r- \3 u5 S" V, }1 Y! ~" jtrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor8 ^! @2 i4 r5 U
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.
! q1 K0 ]0 w! D% Z6 mHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
" y* |" m+ {/ [6 I9 g, m+ n, M- Vand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
% Z1 E& c G5 E5 v0 n$ K# xcriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
% B5 k) D N: y2 Ofurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could' b+ U4 a* i+ O+ q4 ~. `9 u% X
not stop her runaway Lexus.
* P0 Z7 x# n5 Z6 ?5 O7 Z) s: A) x"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,5 |& H- G/ q- M, O" o$ `0 B
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second: N. P8 h" e( M9 K. t. j( v( C
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators./ U8 D- X7 Y; m. k1 W
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
. k+ U) S' {* K$ A8 W+ Uearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
i# Z* {7 K8 N9 v9 I1 G7 S"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
3 K/ d$ l( d! ~! M$ h3 @" gdone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
4 U/ c; T) ]% A7 o+ e. Y* ~' Wthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
3 ?. A, \( O7 G/ Vinvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."( k5 B. e( E/ p: `( [' _: \
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
8 w8 N4 f. k+ ~3 A$ X/ s# Helectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of& W6 L2 ?2 `6 ?; Q7 G3 c1 ~
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a8 U+ V% g+ [: s& `5 V
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
7 y& n7 P, c9 @8 z l* ^said.
/ I% H8 s7 r7 g E# Y1 N3 IAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
& q) Q% V% _! Y' Q3 q8 T( uhappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
+ j8 M+ ]. O- w5 }/ R( X% }! P9 J2 W0 vabout driving our products," Lentz said.
1 P7 \0 N% y' E% a6 @2 [: [- A# lThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's& j# F0 _+ A% Y# T* n' \8 S
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has7 e) g% y( Y5 w% z* X- j* Q
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 62 F2 d1 |4 F; V
million in the United States -- since last fall because of: y W" F& R" D* b8 g
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
0 E5 r+ E& `5 M* Y8 z9 vissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering3 D7 N- l3 X3 n* j% a1 l
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of# C: a* M$ S7 B' n' S0 Y; \8 j4 }: q
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
* z3 ^6 @: M6 @# l, Ldown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
' p0 o; ]- y; S3 kreceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
5 W/ ^, u1 e3 n0 c* Iof Toyota vehicles since 2000.
3 `) P2 F2 ?+ D+ qLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own: E/ U1 T* p. X: }9 d# D
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he5 K" r, m$ B. c, Q( T, q% X1 E! K
understood the pain.
( U. w6 [& B! Y! j' g9 E# ?0 {: e"I know what those families go through," he said.
4 d& ^. r9 C0 j- n0 vLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's0 l* x4 W. v7 |. ] z1 X% n- ?
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
4 e: f" I; ?: ?5 r5 MBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
& a$ A& \- ~- p! g% @4 B8 { D' S7 FHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put7 u: B( `$ x" y- | j7 [
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
# {% R, c! ~- c% X& s; K1 uLentz replied: "Not totally."* X$ r7 M* l& G7 M) Y) i
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
: m6 j, A8 H' Z7 i8 p# R) c3 _ _/ U"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said5 E# _( Q+ `7 v7 @7 M; ?, L; P
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
# H/ o2 L' y0 q6 {pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its9 Z. z; h5 B( S; ~/ p. _
vehicles already on the road.
7 A; R9 T* s [1 p* GMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify4 l6 |0 n1 K: F- R5 G* D- s
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
( R2 @% N' \; h1 U) |responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and) n( B& n8 c( r! p. w4 B2 e! Z
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
y1 S3 P6 M$ v# Ckilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.- L$ a; l" V* S* K6 C* L
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
2 a/ H, B# a7 S' s6 [ V2 O8 Htragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony+ @9 u, j5 \* \
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight# T- R: I) P1 w* e
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal5 {( z8 m& L. \
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to7 G# p, R& u9 T8 L/ s6 v
restore the trust of our customers.", B8 Y+ X* \; U% v% k h
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
0 M& U( M: I0 ~5 @3 s0 T" ]% J2 ESmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly' @, D7 z1 T+ |5 _( H
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --4 j7 f! {( P: `4 v
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
3 q- s+ ~: g4 j1 \ ]hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough$ h% O, d4 C5 M- J0 P
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
7 M+ R0 I+ { }5 ]$ ]turn off the engine.0 e9 `" a2 v# Z# {6 d ^% L
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of' f+ y2 V, O, A
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
0 f2 @3 P+ `; C5 o4 a; Y3 x/ z I"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
) b3 @6 K! \8 T% X* r8 \' Psaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
/ p0 A4 G# j7 D5 Kto her complaints.3 t6 j3 b5 m8 M/ C) {/ i
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
" r6 _; v. l# i; Z* n! areturned again and again to the question of whether electronic% @9 b0 V+ ?/ g2 `
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
( g( {4 z/ U4 g"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric6 N% W; Y" m6 B
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited% K v7 |$ O& f0 ]) [
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
6 i5 [' C0 p. d, q6 u4 S3 h' koff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."2 o& Q9 ]0 T3 V
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in, u7 l/ X3 k5 G' x
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were# }: B( S# ]; a: f( H0 S$ I
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
) z: p; y; i' X% W- X# lwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
4 t7 ]- J; L0 f! `5 r+ @+ \every question."
! W* k+ ?, U& w Z( I( O' p7 B/ FToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
" a' `% Q2 z- m* Xelectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
4 U4 i- i: ^3 O9 H1 ufirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
! t8 V X, L/ j, tcommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small3 @8 x. v& ^* B: b
number of vehicles
N. X* W) k/ H' J' bTracking down an electrical problem can be far more
$ e g; z2 S l, t5 Gdifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a7 K( y; C6 x8 q- H# o) x& I/ g
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one3 p5 F, Y% v ]- B0 I8 P
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
T8 \ M, H9 p4 M2 K, |$ WMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
3 R: {% t8 i2 C8 R, Twhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no! _+ f/ I* Q. V/ w9 t( a
trace at all./ ?/ d( p$ j- e! k6 u
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
% b3 \ |: e, C3 i2 Bdatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden, w5 f r% j# |0 [
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the6 P0 |& j3 x$ V z0 W
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.8 |) z+ e8 T) L1 o) R
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,* d" a; l% I# s# K& I5 T1 ?
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and @9 u9 q; T- x8 q3 L+ i; u+ X
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
- c/ ]" O1 g5 ielectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible; u" y# r4 g5 o/ S/ M( F; f
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
0 P5 j6 r" K% d2 C h! A. _* }such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
( F5 \& U1 X6 G0 u% g2 ?& aby Toyota's lawyers."
/ V R! h/ ?* w7 ?0 m5 \Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
% G) u _& G2 p4 W8 w; [' Gproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
0 B5 h* h& ^6 [8 ?2 ]) F) scustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he B- [0 D, m2 I) H Y [; t
said.
3 S" d+ b, t, D! D4 B6 Y$ s"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with: `4 ?& \9 g A8 R+ I9 k! T3 R$ b
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our& x: S1 I1 @% }/ V2 S% z
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
. {, t2 B1 H( F aofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.) Z/ f( t8 n% u+ S8 b8 J( _4 n
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying# @9 t- i* S. x* q3 `; H! x
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread) ?: W B3 x9 Z
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
; i# n% i4 x3 x, Q+ C3 y3 Yautomaker, at least in part because of the government's
% }: `$ R- P c9 K" |7 W4 tinvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and0 J, X" S% Q$ _" }' M/ Y- R. a
Chrysler.
& F% e' q+ T8 k# b"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
: X- \4 ]. c% ^1 E) y$ Jdollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a7 S3 A( H2 f6 u" ?# B, y/ i; {
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
9 E5 p2 {& n- L. \4 Pserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete. c6 N* ]; n/ J$ ]* ]) u1 h
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
( @8 C2 E& I" p0 ftough."& r/ u5 j1 G5 K' t+ ?5 b) B
---
/ V. ]0 x! F+ [Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom& S2 ^% y2 \1 {+ e0 U8 H; {
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
! o. z6 x/ [, A( F5 \! E1 q R9 C F2 Rthis story.
+ r* @+ O" q1 G6 g; C
6 r% j/ `8 `6 D6 E% r-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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