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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
) X% u1 x. u/ d* h6 UBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS" F' x9 @) G9 |
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
' x5 E2 i5 d- S/ t3 @) ?0 U Yoperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that; @2 D# z* a" o2 | S1 }
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
& G# g) m6 r0 O" p8 Wsolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
0 Y* d5 i4 g9 Y b, v# C8 [7 v"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential$ B6 Y' j$ M, N# j) O& d
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
- h2 p2 j \1 \! xHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected8 A( K: K) t, K3 i+ ~$ ]3 u4 j
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
7 M; q) q) A1 U% N6 ?trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
9 t1 L7 J: V8 Y$ jmats and sticking accelerator pedals.
" [6 }6 N% Z5 _6 Y) @3 PHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal3 U5 E& A) {5 k8 b/ ~# o
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
5 a$ w- t5 E6 u! F" R" G" ^# Bcriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
% r$ B7 k+ I* \( Q# }further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could+ a0 J y, r, `. |( ], G2 q
not stop her runaway Lexus.
; P( w, k# `. y) w; r"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,- I* }3 h* o7 _4 X/ C
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second% L; D# c% N B( g# o9 n& h9 U
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
4 Q, X* @4 M$ g6 tTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
5 ^' X S ?& ?) u4 oearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said$ M" e, f1 V! r1 R
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has4 F% L2 ~7 q3 r: F
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
1 @2 y. ~" G. B" c1 Rthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's% s( }, s0 @# w# s3 S' w0 o
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
' [4 g1 ^ E, u) CLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an6 Q3 M% n! x; R$ Y
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of1 L, f4 i2 Q8 k9 K) @
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a: {& N/ @( T: U$ N
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he5 `& b0 n( s5 b$ K& k
said.) y' f$ m/ Q. N( j
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
0 R9 Q4 H1 h) _$ |0 chappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe- W# k* `: f+ Q( h7 B
about driving our products," Lentz said.
$ M2 {) N' X9 F: i0 yThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
2 y. o$ F0 h; `. J5 \, T- ^problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has" ~6 B) X1 \! y& A* L
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
/ y; l' C' v' z/ wmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of z6 B2 ~9 V: C; c" e( w- r
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
3 T* Y8 H, v8 K; {- y! f0 F) Zissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
9 f$ a% Y U$ N) Sconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
+ N, X! {; B' K0 v8 s! Btheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
( G+ S$ F, C' m# b: O. P, Xdown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has) A! j5 }, a2 S
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
. g! f( l- A5 M5 J0 Vof Toyota vehicles since 2000.4 M7 g% x; f! L/ `
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
N: o) S* n: t! {9 pbrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he; A0 d2 C7 X, O$ X
understood the pain.
$ O5 [: Y6 C6 F; r0 k* _& H"I know what those families go through," he said.8 z. b& J" d& _9 F
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's' b9 s+ ]( |4 i0 ^& ]3 s: p
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.& r4 T5 n" W) t- E+ t
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
6 x& g1 k; c5 G1 Z: x0 D, d* THenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put: E' ~( t3 a3 k) y- O) `5 q1 }3 F
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,5 \$ I8 u& f! D7 O) R6 b
Lentz replied: "Not totally."
3 N, }+ N! F; u# \5 R1 |& GStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
1 ?, U: n* U2 W1 c% \( B% m"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said& F8 |. j9 t6 ~( C
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas4 W' n4 m4 k! k [& l" a
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its; A$ i7 Z) Y8 _! }
vehicles already on the road.9 \- t% Y7 w7 J c o% U
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify( r ]% S0 g- S( o) O/ j2 O
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full C1 C- m( D, n
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and5 t3 f' O1 W4 y. }: L& C
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were8 @7 c" n9 w0 h% G9 O/ V7 T
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.) j# k% S* f& h; Q) H
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
0 R' K' G/ g$ T! `! w. o7 Btragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony: ` O" @* [$ [3 P! u
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
8 T$ A$ P9 k, F& P/ O2 bCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal- `! g: g5 [6 s' {2 z" H( _
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
- K3 l1 h% Q/ I, X9 i+ Rrestore the trust of our customers."
/ q! g. O& o, |" vLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
4 n- F8 t; f, l2 gSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly. o1 q9 D# b; u$ y
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
9 C3 @$ G" t0 K) x% x* l) A3 eshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and$ M: I1 R3 k" ^
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough8 I Z) M# I0 C5 h$ y
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
" q( D& ]6 P5 p$ N$ e' Iturn off the engine.2 z2 B5 O' x- s2 q5 h9 e% n& p$ ~7 z
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
2 h' f! R2 Z) tOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
( `4 K6 S: }0 i0 w2 q"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
5 g/ n9 a* ?; M% ]/ c- z! J1 ?said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond$ i! q% |5 h9 }! {( o% I
to her complaints.
! H A7 i0 ?6 v: _5 q, ]In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers, z# ~% F. \. X" G
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic7 _ E6 \' z. N) _- V5 e! R: N
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.( A' m% {. ^4 U% f* [
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
2 _0 t1 I# h& N/ l/ k& D7 b+ @throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited7 o/ x. S! r% K# |) y6 Z
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut" O4 r9 u6 P- C3 Q6 D' A( ]
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
4 \! ]8 _7 p3 M" y1 k/ jTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in, \( n- G* o W# [4 ]! X2 H( K u
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were* D# ^/ P" n+ N, E4 Q: ~# v$ I8 g
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
% _( ~1 w* n# Bwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
: ]6 S& b/ `% s: v9 B$ Devery question."0 A9 k" X% u: ~9 @; t* _% p
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
3 Y. h2 I; z+ Melectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
0 k9 _+ h; D( d7 R/ V- S- _3 Pfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But1 i$ F* y X7 r3 G/ F
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
5 n( c: H8 T/ e9 X7 Mnumber of vehicles+ ~# \1 b& Q1 [! x+ X- }# C
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more0 p1 j# w& w/ C+ R
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a. a# z! v7 ^) t& O4 @
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one$ l; R9 l, I0 [* C& h W) ?
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.0 m- ]# |$ j v1 c3 F' ]
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage, @/ @( C3 w' O9 i6 w
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no, n; I+ K9 Q6 v4 v" w$ a( b8 w
trace at all.
# G/ y: q; v W6 \House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call& {; g6 o. j1 D+ o* K' Q
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden' ]4 X; @3 Y. D' I% X
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the$ {" m7 h8 a$ R' ^
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
; }0 V/ _" } PRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,5 R9 o6 E+ O+ m6 c2 a7 x) P( `6 T* z
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and" g/ Q9 o: d' L7 P
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the3 u2 e$ `" T# V s
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible/ t, o& a) l3 C; H& m+ A
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only( x! W+ f9 }8 J* Y1 R1 u3 l
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
/ n% ]6 r# v$ Rby Toyota's lawyers."# W) m( h- `( A0 G) h, s
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of/ ^0 ^% b9 H$ }$ g6 {
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
0 O. @9 t0 n E: [8 [% w! i6 ucustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he5 B! a# d7 I0 D4 D
said.
0 v: V* _, Y" Z# U9 e; B% k( H. Y X"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with" A5 l0 I* f# }) b6 \- r3 z: n( L( U6 u
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our3 K6 I3 N7 k. F0 P
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
2 R: U2 Q+ t9 T& G/ g) mofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
6 V+ a9 C. _& _6 ~Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
# e. E+ j, g/ U5 U% Z, B+ @members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread: \* k' o3 Z% s6 c$ E' e0 X; P
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
1 F7 V" N2 Z0 R, i2 Hautomaker, at least in part because of the government's) d- u9 v2 w( t' O4 {1 j& c( e
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and* y; e8 T( ^; d$ ~; @: r+ c: r5 k5 I
Chrysler.! J' Y& K4 v8 ~# T; A; \! a
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax$ W8 I4 P! G" I& F0 ^
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a$ I8 s; J3 H2 _' g n1 c8 w) L
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
2 U- B$ `( V- N P' s% Hserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
# M3 r& `( ]7 \, t9 }with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty8 f: Z) \/ ]! K1 c, J6 |3 }7 r
tough."
' k1 A; A& l+ ^) C% r9 o---
8 l/ b3 }9 E4 ]+ w" Y X% lAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
7 `$ _4 U, ~/ o0 M% `9 r- O0 RRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to5 U4 P0 r! g# R2 T- e
this story.
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0 p% ]- o3 {% }/ j$ Z-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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