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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
6 g& M( y6 E8 @+ u/ XBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS) c/ Z4 U& v+ {+ O
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
% T3 f: [" m2 T3 p. Zoperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that* e" b6 o7 C! [: V- w" y) L6 z
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally") `. K( t( G% @
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.! S* L- k1 R9 U) L+ E( z y
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential9 s" X% o" K% |4 l
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
$ U9 X5 k& r" S- r4 b* D: O+ RHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
% F7 I7 ?0 \" V3 m' B; nacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
. w8 p9 J0 ^1 j9 Z$ Xtrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor0 n! C V6 {6 ? z
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.( f# U5 X8 r2 I0 l! `4 E# l
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
6 i! L7 J; Q' C' rand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
7 Q {* l$ i! z% s- xcriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be+ b% A3 N1 d5 A- t5 q# Z. y% r5 D
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
" N O+ }- I. V6 X% ^2 `not stop her runaway Lexus.; Y2 l6 O H' o- M: _2 d# P% c8 O
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
5 L# I+ [# K6 |4 }- QTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
+ K% r$ d1 B; ]"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
! B! _' t* u/ d4 F3 vTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
( y* I6 J! k: h G4 `( }, kearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said2 X2 q3 z1 g1 ~! [- H5 n, q* N3 w
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
3 @7 ^/ E! l3 P: wdone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway E6 u" ~4 d/ a
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's( s$ b# {' Q* E: z1 B6 v
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
' C* N. t) f" n( S' _& BLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
! b# b; ? q f: r3 B) Nelectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of& a: B7 H* B5 f4 D7 _
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
2 b6 a+ ^1 H+ c4 t( U/ zmalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he7 B8 d9 S2 h+ y! G
said.7 N) t& W" M/ P
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what+ x& q5 L1 H3 b3 M2 Z9 X# T4 Q5 H
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe! ?$ @. l$ [, H
about driving our products," Lentz said.
2 @# {; v- g" H3 [7 m3 p- r8 H* t7 KThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's' m. H# W4 u. o
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
# g; t9 m3 L9 u8 x% T7 v {recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 65 D% Q) ]1 o, k/ ]" |& h: ?8 c
million in the United States -- since last fall because of3 t3 J) Z. d. {$ o9 N, A( P- o
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking$ @: @# L- b0 {2 w; }6 x5 }
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering, n# ^ I2 v% f% m
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
: n4 m n% f/ Z# w7 S5 Z- {0 |their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow8 n2 E5 [% K( _! r
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has5 J$ N1 G( h" D
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration/ r5 K' E- b/ Z2 A$ d
of Toyota vehicles since 2000." i, v1 h7 m2 B
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own" a, \3 `. P) ]) m% Z; S
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he6 g, L/ ]/ Y: _% V2 t* L- r, k
understood the pain.
" q& x9 H4 L4 V* }"I know what those families go through," he said.5 H6 Z% D1 \9 j/ Q6 T$ W
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's- [6 _2 C. y; b, D0 E/ ?# f
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
, `9 L) T# F4 O0 P& bBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
# D0 x9 y! I+ ~& Y& iHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put7 A# q1 L h3 u; G
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
9 F) p" w& @- U* oLentz replied: "Not totally."/ w0 n5 l9 U8 Q0 v6 k& i
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were# u! @' M5 f( Z" D
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said7 q, t# }& V. b6 e
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
3 y+ `4 G7 w- Q% J# Lpedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
- J+ @+ ~% z2 g1 I+ gvehicles already on the road.
. L" h, c) @& h4 w( LMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify6 e" `6 S" s4 n, p
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
/ m; f. Z+ y7 s+ o. X2 Vresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
$ E' H4 S: e$ Z4 Hoffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
3 B% L$ ~ w( W) f( Pkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
! @4 q# p1 H# p( c* G"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
2 r& R: U6 D. ^+ u+ s" Y6 G' btragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
" _( Z1 L0 Y' e( ^# ^for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight, O& ?2 l# u+ x* ^1 ]
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal/ A2 ?% A. o$ M
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to, ^( V: z6 {# T. N X
restore the trust of our customers."
8 }4 f0 M" O/ D+ k3 sLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from% H! ?6 m% o8 w
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
+ j6 O4 S7 b0 e/ ]) B$ Hzoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --) c3 t5 M' U1 ?# K) _9 V/ t
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
: |9 ^' {0 K0 yhitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough* N% t$ P' ~6 x5 r, Q
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
. |# _7 O% F- s Uturn off the engine.& T, }% Z% F- i" k/ d
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of5 q7 W0 X. I4 f
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."- X m# J/ u$ u7 U8 v, ]
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she/ r1 k4 ~+ m3 K0 }, w3 D- H
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
4 h; `) O" T1 h2 ?" Hto her complaints.) D% P" h6 |4 H* Z2 J4 i
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
4 i8 O+ H: ]) ?! ~returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
0 W, T+ |& h4 s% m: z. l2 ymalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
& g9 Z* Z6 S8 k"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric7 w) W! L8 q& M K
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
$ ~/ x# s( _% m" p8 Z7 M) i"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut7 r# ?* ]$ J/ I1 l- x
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."7 [, X" L7 U9 ?, `! B
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
s9 X8 h& { h8 {4 H! Kprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were9 t1 a% ^ s, R) q6 G; H: {; V' ?
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls! K7 H5 H7 N# r& Q
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer$ `5 h; {$ z1 d9 p/ N. _( F. v
every question."
9 v, f9 Y4 F9 N$ f/ NToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
, N# S$ n* q0 z, O7 xelectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
8 B" G+ Y/ [6 U/ nfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
8 i, \( m# W% U! \committee investigators said the testing studied only a small% D9 s: r# C, O
number of vehicles5 u) E. X2 P5 t( E' E" N
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more
6 @8 y2 @. \: v sdifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a5 Y! ~) h; [& _
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
$ |, u0 v( ?, a2 z' Hsource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
N1 j3 F5 C+ ?+ p5 f: wMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
9 j$ \# M; W/ ~1 \where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no4 T2 j; w# `$ y; J# X; U5 p
trace at all.% C8 u K; \' u# g. S# D% p
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call2 i: K( B4 g( t, j; D$ Z
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden7 ^2 B' Q$ g! M
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
5 D* B! i8 r2 h" n) M6 Q h" drecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
/ @. R5 R! W( F2 c7 s9 mRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
2 q# ~, z: f$ V; g; W Vsaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and) ^. @3 t: D1 }9 u& Y a
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
, N2 @" g+ X4 r0 w1 nelectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible% [$ @6 u9 G1 k1 w N8 W
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only2 _: {" j% p" J8 s# a
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
- U. x: s3 z# q0 g" nby Toyota's lawyers."" t1 \/ P) N; d2 y1 }
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
2 j9 U5 s5 o5 Sproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
/ D6 o$ {' E& q+ Z8 hcustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he" `% m0 T) H* ~ ]" b$ Z- k# B
said.
3 {1 ]3 j, q- Z5 W: T* X5 ?"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
& z# t/ H$ q( g" Ia rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
0 l" Q( D# }+ C3 T! R9 Qgood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating4 m: K' O3 h$ @! ?9 D- |! Z
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.& p: I' o4 y- L: L a
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying+ v. w% B& Z. E
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread2 G/ _3 S$ [4 N0 m" Y: A0 h
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the) s" N$ I9 B% k2 H
automaker, at least in part because of the government's
g0 g3 z' m6 w( ~$ `investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
+ i' @: D2 K3 V) Q' X* O* YChrysler.
8 u1 D' d; J, N0 @9 j. V( P"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax7 M% Q: I* E6 b" ~
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
; y% s2 A) P5 ^+ z7 cHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
! J0 j4 E8 E! Z; L3 sserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete6 u1 m. S, G" j* j; z5 `6 ]- ]" O8 O) \
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
, B# V# r$ l* Q0 C* x* l. qtough."
0 ~: N* u, R5 R4 o% H---2 _( _0 F N. b
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
$ m/ V4 |/ n; O' l) kRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
$ `3 O) l, Z8 K" k# fthis story.
' T+ o7 X$ x3 G0 s. Y
# s/ D( G, v- L* U+ ]-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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