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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
% L% h% v' z( {6 E. TBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
. V$ p: V8 L' r# k6 g3 M; NWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.- v: z% L0 R F
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
4 Q6 ]) J( o: T! b; Dthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
! a: V4 Y1 I4 B. x, S$ A% Dsolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
* B/ n1 t- v! \5 |* N& u! \"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential G" Y- |0 \ Z# C+ }% X6 B: S3 ^ X5 |
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.6 X5 H: m2 i. F6 g. w# z. C4 Q
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected5 i8 O2 W% f" p
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
8 f+ a i- E. A5 c! ^9 ?# E5 ztrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
% r5 d1 r A) Lmats and sticking accelerator pedals.. f( h& ?+ |1 r& m' m9 |
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
& Q+ |) v% L+ [and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp' g [' G! Y$ m
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
. A3 i' Y3 ]! ]further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could6 ]; T8 Z3 {* O# R; X
not stop her runaway Lexus.
9 N& N8 L, x7 T5 A$ y3 k* L"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,% c% p N( ~2 o: d9 N" R: S. J
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second6 P/ c0 R! T: q! r8 ^# F9 |
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
( J+ v* ~. b& a1 g" v: _Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
$ k3 s5 R4 Y8 F7 O, ~early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
$ e k" [3 Q) e7 h4 h# R"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has+ P) K% Y0 o. y$ ^& Y- r( I
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway9 h& f2 ^- y; u4 M4 p
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
3 g& c2 f3 G# ~( v& Q x+ t/ Linvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."2 m0 S( n( a: C
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an" ?: Q( l* [! h5 [/ v
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
) w; t8 f1 |' w/ }% V& nthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
) O l3 ~. ] e o6 B3 f! H4 \malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he6 v3 I/ S& J4 C; p5 [
said.$ @5 \, u% k6 y# k& h
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
+ w. L6 s, v: t' U- _ Z2 ~5 chappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
( {3 b9 y2 t( |! J8 A8 a; uabout driving our products," Lentz said.
: u; s& L5 z) G- f8 \. _9 @# d* VThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's: R0 y! H# ]3 b, D4 S, z
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
& I3 M, v) N/ y6 o0 Wrecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
- \. X0 w& c& x$ X, N$ [million in the United States -- since last fall because of9 k. H$ d" ?, w
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
8 |$ d7 ? q/ f0 h6 Pissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
8 h$ U4 j/ }: c1 Q3 Uconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
+ I# i1 {6 } |1 [- ?8 htheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow P% y2 I" ^2 G: Y' O
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
" Y3 U0 I& d5 o: x! Q7 u' \received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration* i, O$ `5 `. ^% }( H2 p/ p
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.' u( v; Z- r/ L( C
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
& ~" B- a1 w4 p1 Ybrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
* J% n" F, P, V4 f! y/ D* sunderstood the pain.0 L# J/ n. E8 c( ? A7 v+ E" _- \5 R
"I know what those families go through," he said.) g- N) e2 }9 E* x1 y2 w% _; `' w
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
- n J; @+ b; f6 M M: [- ]fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.) u& A% M$ |6 q) ]+ D: r
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman; R/ n3 V$ z. t9 Y# ?3 O
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put9 K B( f6 \8 V7 G5 i
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
0 G$ k7 X% H2 l* i7 X* ~( zLentz replied: "Not totally."
/ ^2 g; _9 N; u6 P; q6 u+ WStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
$ q6 T4 w7 T( q. M- c"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said, i, z+ t6 k% X+ e
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
: W5 _: s# R# i9 l* N1 W0 ^1 ]" `pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its6 H1 ]5 Q5 l9 n q$ Q4 Z; j
vehicles already on the road.) x; J& P8 s5 e
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify' a& U x; b1 u. v; h
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full/ p# ^* _0 T; w) f2 S( `# Z* F, |
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
5 r2 }/ b/ Z* [+ x5 Noffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
$ E) m* ]' _; _killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.( {, V8 y" @4 l
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
+ _% |: L$ t) Q! C, {4 xtragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
9 e$ [% u$ j! o+ `) q* S9 S" ufor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight0 b2 J7 S; J# r% o9 Z* r9 I
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
! {2 U2 q* ?" B5 h- a |4 B Gcommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
( c9 p' F2 Z8 qrestore the trust of our customers."; P; e6 I7 a l$ O" Y3 @& r- }; u* d
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from- c2 U: `: a$ o" E- G
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly" B8 p5 M( y2 r& ^
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop -- V- q6 g' e8 D. M( @2 W9 V/ m! j
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and' U7 S# j% j1 V
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough6 s0 a8 R) A3 Q, ^. z0 |
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and3 Z7 u! S) V! j4 w4 o4 B
turn off the engine.
" H8 d* A3 l6 k* sFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
. {! Y$ N l/ w! t8 ZOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."* T% y2 ~. M8 g
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
8 t# D5 C* y3 {said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
- A" d& W' {3 c) Fto her complaints.
4 Z5 C- h' M5 a: N2 ]* bIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers9 C; O2 k1 ` A$ c3 S2 R* S8 T" w
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
- H8 [0 ^5 i; c7 g* dmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
' o! j. n2 o; |"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
4 q/ B% ^3 ~* b7 l: Fthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited- y4 L/ T* a, [6 o( a
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut0 G( @4 g! W& S' g' Z3 d
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."5 V& e/ j5 i8 L8 l. R, f
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in7 n5 k" ?. C; [. M, F
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
2 Y9 v/ l1 I" T% X" q7 obeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls( h3 N7 r+ ?, ?. k
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer- G! q8 g8 O) M. c0 m
every question."
8 Y4 U0 ?0 t2 i, sToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether* |, J# j9 a& H$ t
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
1 b1 G! m* G& q7 t7 I1 u0 ofirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
. j2 ]' |4 v( a5 Qcommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small
4 C% A, p! q" Y) e- y0 [number of vehicles
8 M8 g' h- l$ |9 Y0 `Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more. g5 c" T) m I: V) G/ r" R
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a ]6 e# l2 Y& ]: z$ q9 `! l
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
+ A& f4 F; k% s6 gsource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
7 \% g% P( e: Y" l( a* o u$ SMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,2 F0 p f. ?/ O& l
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no, M, W! ~! z# s8 f! U8 [' ^2 u# c
trace at all.3 f9 K8 X/ U5 }
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
, Y, o9 D. \" v& F( ydatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden2 J1 o$ V2 O" v/ Y
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the4 H/ k1 }& i5 ]. R
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
5 d F a% J0 R9 O. t# {+ ^Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
4 `# T. v, m* u/ |. I8 Asaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and8 s% s) Q1 a+ H6 L( h
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
0 i. @% ?/ Z. ^2 o9 C( q2 Telectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
% R: P& R& V2 [% B' Gcause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
# K( V% Q& a+ Lsuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained6 i' ~6 {! |3 z* d: ]6 {" g& W
by Toyota's lawyers."4 z- O8 }' A5 f( T, m
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
9 M7 M, d5 z( |problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
1 S. N: u! n8 }* z; bcustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he. }0 D9 S/ s+ u) G
said.2 o* x! a& z: D4 }, i7 R; Y* I4 u
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with: M* j! I1 u% M2 h
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our( @" c6 z7 ?3 x- l1 p
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating: ~3 p4 k% }6 C/ C
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
) \4 \; r, {& |4 @* U2 hSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying' h s. i' b+ u' O( u" c, E
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread8 d; A+ b& f" r1 y% i) N
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the" n; c. Z* @1 |" `$ @
automaker, at least in part because of the government's; S$ c, o. X' z6 }+ g
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and9 d& E2 u/ F* y8 |. g( `; D
Chrysler.
- y" N, H3 i+ a* m"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax# r3 P$ X! K; @5 Y, H
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
, s! e' A$ a8 ]Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
; h8 D, A9 C( |served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete+ o. y( E# J, k X' S' l* x
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
: f* I- b5 l \2 G5 Ttough." C0 _0 a/ n9 _
---
( I Y/ w' s3 a J: @/ `Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom0 k+ ^8 [* T6 F$ X5 B/ _) {
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to! _! V6 r/ A( h
this story.# k7 v+ R+ e- P' P5 B% V1 A
/ U* M% c' d9 H. l: `, \! G2 ]
-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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