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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
2 g$ x: m+ P2 @' `By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS1 m9 {. ?6 {+ [
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.5 @8 ]1 F( @& }; N: s
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that0 E6 O: _$ Y" F" a7 N: j
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
9 G1 T2 ]. ]8 c" bsolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
% E& l6 a* G- u1 s2 X"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
; b2 ^7 T8 a3 I3 l" p+ l. |) x4 |causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.1 G7 X6 f& X/ U3 e( _+ P
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
+ u5 u( b# W! H! j+ m0 [acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and( e, l) B$ q$ Z* B/ v& g$ N4 ]
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor+ t. K$ c( U2 }" b, B/ X% x. X% m8 N
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.4 a* Z$ d. l7 K( Y W( Z
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
# b* ^0 X. H4 J4 ^and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
2 o( i- L7 S( p% [' q9 Ycriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be' y. j/ ?0 W# r% ]5 i
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
$ i* _. a3 v4 q5 M7 I! w! v7 mnot stop her runaway Lexus.
$ }: h6 y7 _, ^' a( Q"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,9 Y0 ]: C" N- j
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second0 y9 d% u% j$ N P8 K7 H/ S0 Q
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
) L3 J9 z+ r9 |( uTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues* |2 S$ C m+ o) x
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said$ ^3 M/ T' B* z' x x
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has# Y6 S4 C. ^# w/ h& I! \6 E8 g, X
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
8 m/ g' B$ x& j4 c( Uthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
" E, y3 f* U+ `8 I5 uinvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
) l% I9 a, f+ ]+ i8 }* k, z4 w1 m0 LLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an$ p; c! \4 K( A
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of1 F( D* Y3 d5 X K
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a- H0 S; Z7 t' c$ Y& g9 r3 n
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
N( ]* u8 z2 E4 j9 ^- {- Jsaid.0 T. v" M: x/ \, E# |
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what# m6 g4 n, |& A" ]. r+ Q
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
$ y- a1 f) O* E, Zabout driving our products," Lentz said.2 Y& d9 M$ ~1 Z
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's$ _, d& H6 ~9 _) M$ R- W
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
* I1 U9 K) [% g" c" v" [1 |recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
e( o( e- r& h1 E, H! S% umillion in the United States -- since last fall because of7 |$ ^! ~' `/ `7 d$ M6 N, t0 A
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking3 I2 ]( ~" n, i! y+ ^4 o2 z! F2 S
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering5 d; }+ I: m, T5 v! l& V& ?3 i. |. L
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of2 ?# s" F& A+ ~: A
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
: d f+ [) I5 A+ \" M" Hdown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has) a. P6 l8 J, @9 h4 R! `" t
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
6 o$ n- A, a' H& Aof Toyota vehicles since 2000.
# Z7 R1 n" p" J/ E/ W) L. c! v* \8 eLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
5 l' _3 }8 O4 H7 F+ ?brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he+ C7 e& @! [) ~, h3 E5 n' h- @
understood the pain.5 t5 ^. l. b1 t# M& Q8 M0 H w
"I know what those families go through," he said.7 K1 M7 M U- p& ~: h+ f3 l
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's) e; z+ e0 A: f+ o; r4 K5 k
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.) H3 g/ a/ J: m# H4 d
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
. y5 _% N/ i7 E3 z1 m! ZHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put- j& z: x/ t3 a' u) J5 W
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
5 @& \( Q/ ]7 Z* F' F9 I( xLentz replied: "Not totally."
* n5 s/ ~+ W. M" V! T4 AStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
( j0 w# `7 [0 o"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said2 G* b* Z' [4 ?$ P' i
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
. O& U7 }: L9 X$ V% B, A* Mpedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
% I% y: P% K" J* U0 kvehicles already on the road.
" t D Y" W3 \+ G: v0 wMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify1 @; E; p& t7 l# l
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full) q3 G' M7 }7 _3 K9 O4 ?( a
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and# \9 o O6 Q7 e) }7 x) s
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were7 J; d8 P v) c$ S1 |
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
' \/ N$ b' Y& U0 E$ w1 D+ n* X"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
8 w8 Q _( z Stragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
. m5 v E* k0 s% Zfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight* j% f7 k. T/ c4 Y
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
( h1 L. W ]2 c; E4 w" ?6 Ecommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
: |6 F3 v" A- @# p# trestore the trust of our customers."/ P0 J8 a2 C& h0 U# {' M, U
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from# ~: {* _( h. u: R7 m. E) g
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
5 \) Q9 \# s* ]# |zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
6 ]. Z% k0 K! ~( a( Tshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
! @6 ` R/ u5 y" Hhitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough: B% }6 I1 V8 ]6 a. S
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
0 `7 C! _' W6 ^0 Q/ g/ Y0 ~/ o+ y! Rturn off the engine.5 a: K8 B, T8 q7 X0 Q
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of4 Y9 I$ Y* G1 p6 _$ E1 s1 ~) D
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
: C3 w+ `7 {! R' G% h# y"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she. g6 T8 Z. c/ L7 |8 Q+ f: x
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond* k) |! l5 k5 l. D8 @
to her complaints.. |6 D6 e1 X! `9 n
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
' }1 \- x1 d' ^returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
& q6 h( V/ x2 l! B- imalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.; w! P+ Z$ g; k5 y' I
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
q& J' r3 g# j8 G$ w3 Kthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
9 o# Y0 V. T. c/ ]"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
8 G' [' O; H1 j0 \/ c5 p y$ Xoff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."1 b1 P. R# f0 I+ V
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in; g6 ^/ ^# u( i) L
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were* I& Q/ W+ T7 E; i9 C7 L
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls# N* b5 j7 e0 r( x: ?8 ~: y! j' k
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
2 B2 S7 h2 C7 d6 tevery question."2 S+ g. C3 q$ \7 X5 S
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether8 v$ ^* M0 e( \: V7 P. ]( O
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The0 L+ t8 i1 E+ B3 w" X3 L( ^, h
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
6 O/ ^: T* a. D, a- hcommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small. w. Q6 @# d; T6 N& l
number of vehicles3 l' h# h' Z1 }) F: }: T
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more8 [. g" @, P; P1 {
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a2 R7 A! M( }$ ?, C
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one# ~4 U4 P( b0 ]1 Y
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
# k4 ^' Z7 ?" d" K& i: `Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
+ D/ s+ o3 q+ ^* Ywhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no$ t6 j( O% e" g; Y, ]0 R
trace at all.$ }; ~. P' i7 \0 W
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call2 p% J+ f6 A* J* `& D8 q3 @* W1 A
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
/ [* ?" p& M$ o% v9 @1 `: Z4 [# Macceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the. G8 X* k6 _; L
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.3 z( T( E) l( H
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
H- l9 C3 [( k0 ?said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
3 N9 i" o# G) y: O7 z0 T4 Lother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the! [" e& q" t, g$ P; O
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible7 C+ d$ S- Q2 O* ^) K8 ]
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only( c, S" ~4 {& Y! v
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained. d/ R4 w' V4 `4 s
by Toyota's lawyers."
e8 S! I8 Y( H: pLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of* t' Q# n# ?( q- L2 D+ f
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our0 v t# _+ ]2 m) U* U
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he" y9 I/ P2 m9 _8 B
said.: P% ]$ W3 D _5 A
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with! k& `6 w9 Q" v' V9 b" Y% C
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our; Q5 v3 ?2 z7 N6 B
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating0 d+ P1 B& v3 Z3 I, T3 T9 a# f3 j
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
& z& C# a8 G1 o0 i' c! W& uSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
& P% H: P; D' V q- |. K$ dmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
! j. ^; v1 W+ H2 R0 r' e6 A, arancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the1 \' x* t2 o. j% w
automaker, at least in part because of the government's
+ z. d' N2 l6 j: K2 U+ M0 Kinvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and8 T1 M( z( G3 w% C
Chrysler.
* ]8 F# r6 u' x* T"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax" ?- D7 N; M2 d+ v. k
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a9 j9 S( W! T1 q% Z4 {9 |; p
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
" c& l. {. T/ J$ s' b. J+ V! `served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
4 e9 X# O7 U" l, @' Rwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty. _) z, ^ ?( y- O0 P
tough."
. Y. A, e V: V. W) @5 Q' f. f---
N) f5 y, P2 d0 E& U' G& u' N& B/ ZAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
0 p; D# X- E( B$ V @ ERaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to* M' [5 d7 D! d: f3 L
this story.+ g5 G+ W$ ~. K
4 N' @9 S; g" @7 f% f: J-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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