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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
9 t2 ~: \# [2 s3 E$ A) V" f1 p- jBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS! l- F. l+ ^3 R6 w
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.5 ]+ q5 ^$ q: P/ g0 W/ w( f3 O9 g8 `
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that/ w$ A6 O2 @0 \% m" C- B
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
6 C1 l& |4 w- S# Wsolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.- @5 }! b) t6 d, I1 X- K5 F3 U
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
' S2 z( s- w% r5 Acauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.* ]4 g: `* Q: p8 J! }! k& @; e
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected- M* J. `$ J& L3 X# c1 g6 E0 T
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and# {7 t. P/ g. [# U% D6 r
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
5 D, I8 r4 x1 N* \; Tmats and sticking accelerator pedals.+ ?1 Z0 t( b$ G) _' M8 D6 F
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
5 V& X( q8 C, f% J1 l3 nand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
7 x. @" J8 T/ |/ f7 Icriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
2 q1 J# _: F, ]) k" m, i; g: gfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could& e7 h6 a; [6 |3 s9 w0 b
not stop her runaway Lexus.
+ |4 H' P7 d- X" H1 |"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,. E" f+ _# `( U" Q
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
/ i- m5 M# n6 c v" w% ~"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.) h) M3 n' Q0 b, y2 I. k
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
: S. W6 q) Z8 P6 ^2 m8 Rearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
4 H. Y6 _# ` A/ @2 \, v% |8 Y"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has$ `) K) ^ ^8 L8 x
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway% ~3 P5 w, L; `8 D
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
4 s8 ~. V |& h9 U: H" d8 H zinvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
: Q' I; c. u; aLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
/ L+ h1 y; _8 I; V, selectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
( h2 b* u) n/ ^- c) {the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
2 t' ` {' }( [3 }6 ?- r- b% a7 g" q. cmalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
/ d( f* J2 D8 S& x, P1 X8 w) Isaid.) |+ n U/ D0 p8 ]
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what" b8 q; N' w& z6 P% W0 p* ]
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe& f3 z& [4 H0 ~% w
about driving our products," Lentz said.' ^$ B- ?6 J! j% X% M" W6 ]
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's1 U8 w# I9 r z% ?, U5 k, O
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has% B& Z6 i8 h8 q! `% ]* ?4 k0 L
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
2 d; c4 O) _2 pmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of) |9 s/ A$ ^$ _: H% R& E
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
1 K; ^6 m* x! Q: }( N3 Z: Dissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
0 Y: X& W2 n5 u& X4 [& E% d8 i5 Aconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
6 H9 K j% y; E9 w+ d) Vtheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow# p4 F0 p2 B3 E% n& N; I
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has0 Y2 ~% h# ]3 `
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration* d' H; S) D, c6 ]( r
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.( G- }8 S0 Y0 T& W
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
E5 ?9 J& I1 t% Obrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he& J R: |7 E$ d! U: q4 t
understood the pain.
2 v0 v* o2 r- y" V$ C9 o2 `"I know what those families go through," he said.# P9 f* z9 c" J) q
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
4 _' y7 r, P1 l# N: J$ Ufixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
% @, C- l9 l8 x0 | k& z8 H! DBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
. y# K6 X# r& Y* H3 l' KHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
; U* r1 U% i% w Z5 d- a7 Din place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
! w; q4 E, `3 R# j3 tLentz replied: "Not totally."
0 D9 s8 @3 c; O7 CStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were5 X8 r+ @ v" w3 i" b
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
& Q) i. i' K" H+ gToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
* v& [3 f! {" [& T3 J; Qpedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
! P1 S3 d0 p. _% w% a1 zvehicles already on the road.
: G* d" i1 k5 v' {+ o/ mMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
8 R) {4 z7 U1 e* y6 Pbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full# c: V' {7 t; _) ^! m6 Q
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
% [0 |# J# q6 Voffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were: u& D: y! Q' I% u1 N
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.2 W/ l3 L7 }' @' }4 c' Q$ U6 f+ s) H7 q
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a9 i/ p- K# i7 W( C g/ F
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony- `0 U, @5 S, ~, {$ L0 ]- w
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
( k d6 ~$ r! J# \Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal: ]! v7 n4 G5 v, C
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to; X$ J# E9 q6 M( b, a0 c: L7 E
restore the trust of our customers."& d0 m' f$ m: f# u6 ^
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from' C N3 |% f" Z: k
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
6 }/ d& ^9 |: d, Zzoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
. ]. e& J. j F+ {* D o! l4 Ashifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and. }! b# h' f) d' e
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
) A4 @( s! o& q( D0 o; x% Ythat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and; ]' l/ T5 F7 s8 o5 h$ o
turn off the engine.! r5 a, s* H: O5 F. E/ c$ d
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
5 p3 U/ X: K5 [+ n, ^October 2006, calling it "a near death experience.". x* ]7 p' [6 r, g
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
3 G% {: ?9 H# H/ k- H: H( V: msaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
" p; o" D& J. O' S4 F9 G& l! Z% Kto her complaints.
- a2 W& D7 g @* A3 I! T0 HIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
0 m3 t. L; a v- W5 N: l% Jreturned again and again to the question of whether electronic
1 v7 v0 i9 S4 r' \malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.% v7 F& o# p4 @( I# o0 X
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
; \3 e+ _+ A: C! ^% `0 W' u' Lthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
5 y5 X9 p" l- c5 \# p"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
% E- E6 Y& @9 ?! a) |1 i( t; i9 Foff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
2 c4 ?# D% u" c) PTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
% G+ p) i( x, }1 O; ?, Z! ^prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were9 c t3 _8 j, |4 l7 F
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls6 c* W* g" b9 ? Y
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
4 _/ {* A& Z1 |7 T! {& Cevery question."% j8 A5 W: h) [5 N: N
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether. y+ y% I6 f+ B2 @0 p2 H' J+ E
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
, @, _! ]8 j9 g' N7 w& _) cfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But" I" L/ `5 u+ U P* e
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small: v2 r1 o1 L+ I# e/ {/ M/ {
number of vehicles8 H" I: J5 U: D% J! n8 J y& W0 w( u
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more, T/ ^4 l; E# ?& i, _
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a9 b1 S e# j2 ?7 `
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
$ t5 R7 r& X Y: }' O N. F+ u Esource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
/ b$ W2 M# `1 ^( B1 Q' t( a3 G0 DMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
/ n3 S4 T# K( R; z, w" }) Z' uwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no# J6 ` y' e$ r5 C+ E: m
trace at all.
' _5 E9 c0 t* ]* v8 F& G8 fHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call& K5 f h3 h7 C
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden8 k% j5 t. b3 o$ f
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the3 n5 X) T* q6 S: {
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
' i `8 ?/ {" m* R( O9 h) ?+ lRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
8 h; t0 H) m4 K$ Nsaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and J; Z! n0 Q* S/ f) {2 V+ h: o
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
1 E# v+ b) d2 I9 n$ aelectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible+ ^% Z8 O. t+ I2 @: M6 t3 S" e
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only4 E2 s) G7 C* {: \8 O
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
, U6 L4 G9 ^* k* b* L& M4 Yby Toyota's lawyers."
$ v/ x8 Z/ y0 Y8 J$ }6 FLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
5 p! b3 \/ p4 U6 T" x9 J, ]# q Eproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
5 p3 \( }, `# s9 Pcustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
; p0 C5 g& G( Psaid.
c5 c7 L: |$ Z6 h& r9 e: H"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
1 H3 G% d8 t0 g. J8 ba rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our5 R) }) z; v" t, N5 h6 {9 C
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
3 G4 ~6 H! W& D% u. u; _officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
$ y" i# V3 r; D7 YSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
/ W: h" B K" w1 F; e4 Bmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread9 X* B, A. R# p) a' @$ W1 o" }
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
' {/ z8 r: p. ?3 G1 Z! |3 \/ Rautomaker, at least in part because of the government's# U U8 h [/ M1 g
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and' V: X7 Z/ S& c& O) z0 F9 {
Chrysler.5 B4 ~4 t2 {' g. |
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
6 V, N+ P$ S7 k" S5 F! T: H9 adollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
4 g8 u$ I/ N# AHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also5 ~" r# e2 O1 p2 o2 C" n
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
4 _4 [/ ]1 ?* }with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
# I' m( z, ~4 U: i& itough."( l8 U( t/ I [- U
---
5 }5 r8 y1 ?8 R6 X& E: {- aAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
$ I' ]. t4 B# D' w }5 z [& nRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
& f7 e ]6 P3 g# q1 ]* S" Vthis story.
' H3 v" }. s) D, b$ Z" E+ r( \& u9 ~8 S3 @. d; G- m& ]& `/ k
-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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