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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
' W% u# W3 _9 _# u$ l5 N* z! w% \. dBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS' Q: N$ r4 V2 r9 L" ~
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
: \/ K! \2 G v6 `8 C& loperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that5 a8 G# M' U9 U
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"/ }/ j4 v- K* J- h) z2 b
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
b3 J0 s# k! Z) u4 b% E/ g* l"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential8 G) \/ x- z/ X% W
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
! |3 g% }& [8 l. h2 K n3 RHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected3 I [) h) P6 r: h" w; \2 ~
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and0 [) S9 ]: A2 a% s- ]' c1 z' }
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
& f0 b) s* M5 dmats and sticking accelerator pedals.5 M3 }* A/ Z, U* F, [
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
- \$ O8 a% O; h5 |& n2 kand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp8 n& r+ m- n2 Y! }: A/ C8 B
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
, q5 \% R$ [% pfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
8 [0 R1 k/ Q: [not stop her runaway Lexus.
4 n+ o* ~' t3 x* s1 Z"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
% [/ {9 N' v( k7 v" f2 GTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second" w/ y+ [- U0 |' m& H. M/ R
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
- f) Y4 H1 k1 \/ t% p( b. f% STexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues5 E; l; t `, U9 E
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
/ l0 F4 i) V, g) i) O, }8 \"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
0 N- p( j+ p, F* R8 ?done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
" E$ W* F5 M- U* f3 zthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
, f d1 S( v) ~9 K- ^investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
7 J* S( C+ U/ ]6 {: }Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
+ K5 F4 W: Y& y1 z) Belectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
" m$ p% \. q+ S& Xthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
7 H6 l, `2 K# n8 C' l' b, J- S, |malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
* w& g, I; m' z' g( ~+ osaid.
- k' S A% F9 A/ t# `% e8 c5 oAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what: G4 Y0 L2 t' Q! V" `7 y& D
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
" F E* K4 `8 [! jabout driving our products," Lentz said.
" `- R7 L8 |& A+ H" R/ Q& b* h9 eThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's. {- [) d0 s8 i- u8 ^
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
, I6 w7 P: o+ s- n1 p& _4 krecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 61 Q) r( O- e: b
million in the United States -- since last fall because of$ R0 _; K4 u" M9 \ B6 J N
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking4 I, T6 C1 Y- [" g" u9 ~
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering6 f* N V% l9 Z. [2 W
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
% u, I8 c5 A% r1 o1 |their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
2 m( j) i0 u9 @" \* x' zdown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
T! b* w1 c7 `9 Kreceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration8 D; F- A4 Q0 B R8 g
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.
' [& T$ V8 o& N% iLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own: R2 }' @9 X; `5 w
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he0 ^/ A3 [4 X) O; U8 ^
understood the pain.- _/ s0 n4 |( |6 m
"I know what those families go through," he said.' C( }1 ?4 y. R" z+ L3 Q8 s% X# X+ k
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
9 S/ I9 A5 |- E2 qfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.( o$ T0 f9 d6 s+ b5 f* r8 g$ m
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
0 _3 q8 B V: d+ V8 vHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
: |# {' I: v1 A& ?0 z) `in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
2 k2 n3 e9 P& I1 ~4 f( E$ A% S ZLentz replied: "Not totally."
/ L8 {% b1 o [/ q# U& t: YStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were- }0 a* h5 |0 h& G8 s' ^- n
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
% I# R+ @& U( L: S5 V7 o, ~8 CToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
7 V& n, }1 {& R% C+ G9 ]pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its* Y. g* J$ }0 O0 C. a
vehicles already on the road.
2 P# `" v/ _1 O& b0 a& LMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify1 r' P& ~! X+ Y- m9 `
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
1 d' q0 i5 {; w& ?responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
$ e ?3 B2 D4 {: b2 p& w8 |offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
& H2 Y' k2 l) a. F! a- q( R: X4 @( tkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
6 I7 W6 i" A# w"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a/ R3 Q- \3 v% U) K+ U
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
" v% O& h. t2 Efor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
# N3 y1 w; s. k7 @# z ACommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal3 g- e C3 \% h6 U$ M/ n
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
1 w! I3 d* e0 Q/ z2 X) D4 @restore the trust of our customers."0 j" w& k4 W8 H2 z+ Y
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from, P4 _: a5 Q" v. c( `* F2 f
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly% A7 L- v( P4 R6 l8 K5 }
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
1 \4 }8 p5 A+ k( J. q: i$ n# B% Kshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and8 u2 L+ m& j. J
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
0 p7 y+ S( {0 f9 q8 Q' cthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
% x0 F K8 F2 T% Uturn off the engine." J/ t! N8 p2 R
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of+ Z! J. y ~$ H) s: D( _+ q% h; U
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."5 A I+ U* p t, {% a# ?$ A
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she8 c! N [& ^- k: V+ R
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond4 w0 Y% a: x) C0 z" N' t) E- t& D
to her complaints., | E- v$ x2 a3 U6 ~
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
; t# I7 c- V; O# creturned again and again to the question of whether electronic
, C# o" R6 T2 }: b3 m/ Z3 V% Hmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
' r' v2 Q6 H: i J"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric9 H2 g* ?! E$ W2 k$ L c& S
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
: A& S1 v- }$ K) z"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut0 h& B3 }. D4 g' K8 v# r
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure." N1 M- k- r; F0 V6 N" l+ r4 W+ b
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in+ L3 B( G0 ?9 S' C0 C# Z8 Q
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were: q F: i, k0 Q! t3 ]! I
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
- F0 K# \/ ]2 b! i3 uwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
. u+ k* W+ K) r3 W& L. `. Nevery question."
+ F4 U, r: e1 V. XToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether f0 X( K+ c$ _) y A2 g5 ?- _) M% g
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
6 N' @6 e; F+ A8 t$ F6 V2 kfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
7 q1 |' C. w2 Ecommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small
7 @( ~0 Z* w& u) A4 c3 f( e( D; W" w! ~number of vehicles
0 L* _- |$ F7 O) y8 s6 ?Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more+ f; [; `* j( f; o* F) H
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
: X- i- i% O5 I7 Kmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
# N+ H4 j1 }7 O3 `# ~! ?7 Nsource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
- o. {5 F( h: g. C8 Q( c( eMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
* l% T' Z+ z6 z: C* Nwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
+ k& \7 S8 v( C6 f" t$ k$ ctrace at all.* _. u; D: k7 x7 I8 O z
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
; [' b, N. b! k! Adatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden+ I+ \# N/ W0 u5 j2 G! z- V
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
& ?6 X4 R; _, k3 |recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
2 X! x9 ^! b6 F2 r, I) URep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,/ \, i0 C: \+ L& J% y+ {' K( j% k* b
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
# q1 ^4 s# ~# n6 Y* @7 y$ O! m* o3 eother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
5 |- x) ?$ V2 w9 [ Z8 celectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible. p# J3 P, W ^5 F* }7 Z9 O: c3 f
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only0 L0 n$ e7 F( |
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained Z- @5 T0 f, E- A
by Toyota's lawyers."
' h g1 k/ J$ d" ~# ULentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
" j$ x4 _8 v( g. @: Y' Pproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our V1 J! E& j! Q- i4 O! E( o
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he% P2 ^. {9 \" `
said.
1 q2 g8 Y, w+ l"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with$ I$ G9 p9 V: y, m
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
7 ?# R& ]* T+ }- W1 Y8 Pgood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating9 |6 L6 w, [% ~: l7 F
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
) L9 l0 r! O" f" R6 y* |1 RSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
! ` n4 i/ p/ P S" |1 T9 V/ ?members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread/ ^* [8 R# F* T6 e" d, s. g
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the2 S, ]- l/ A8 J) R4 Q- k) s' ]/ e3 H
automaker, at least in part because of the government's1 \' ~ v6 x2 _' e
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
7 q) J6 N+ E5 cChrysler.% u! X, [' @: B: I, Q
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax4 f+ _$ m3 q# p; d
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a3 X( V% P# D0 k% }$ s
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also( W7 f$ N3 ^4 P% J+ X3 C
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
4 i9 x. J3 x* o( j7 f$ h; hwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
4 p' s0 l. U' _tough."
) X; ~5 J3 G4 ?! E+ I---
/ R4 N; ]: S& P* NAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom6 a+ g" I8 a% y/ {) c( ~
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to! n4 _) r& l) H5 @# O
this story.9 [9 @" b+ i! o" i+ N
" G5 U! ]* Y9 s+ z" L-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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