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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
. ~. A4 w) h6 V2 TBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
& X# y( v9 I ~5 rWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.) s5 T0 ~1 J# @7 O
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that$ P" k3 k$ R# n+ K+ A9 E
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
, ]( q% u8 x5 O3 }' Q- vsolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
9 s. e. v" W5 W1 W. P"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential% J( ]! B0 c& u) }4 H/ T
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
- ]" R, W$ _7 d; F+ A8 NHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
2 C* k |# G3 I1 q3 |1 {" Hacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and$ ^+ k1 }5 n( T7 K( m; r$ h
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
- z; X! v4 |' j% A# D$ mmats and sticking accelerator pedals.$ O; [" r& T1 U2 g! Z# q5 y! M2 X4 Y; b
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
2 F, l+ J X6 {9 Nand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp3 k+ q' z' P s8 J% x
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be% i0 R3 [- m2 y1 q, Y; g
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could! V; T7 u7 c0 k& e; h! n% n
not stop her runaway Lexus.
: G7 g/ Q5 ?8 E7 h"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
, a& A5 b+ c/ z6 D2 X/ H# WTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second' U" X4 ]3 m) A8 H3 h$ G
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators., c4 s) m9 ?0 x1 [4 [$ N E
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
9 n+ Y5 Y9 y. {$ B" kearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
( E4 ]" f4 ]- { p& |+ U/ G: \"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
! l9 C' K- Y: T# D5 L, I$ gdone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway. Y# N1 F: J1 D9 }" u* J1 L
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's" B8 [& Z8 P$ w+ O9 d
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
5 W3 t h3 r; a' mLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an& v W6 J( Y& }1 o/ J
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
+ L7 k; s! H+ j+ qthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a2 D. ~ h: t/ b; `7 r2 H' R# x
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
9 Y' n" I5 w" M p' rsaid.
/ a. q% @( R" E. P' `( C* |As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what, i1 ~' L* F! e& _% v9 O
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe! Y4 i, f0 u$ U4 s
about driving our products," Lentz said.3 o3 C; w" X) R" d
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's f& p8 i' s% z9 T! S2 {
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has7 T' [. b6 h( T7 ]9 t/ S
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
8 j5 F- Z b3 F! |$ Emillion in the United States -- since last fall because of# e( Z4 s+ N; X: \7 p
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
" S0 W/ [8 L; Jissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering3 L; S1 f" |* A( s
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
$ B6 f/ ^4 e+ B% I# Gtheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
6 x( K& l. A8 `3 o) @down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has4 y* m# o' ]5 i5 k* d* O& ]
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
. g v. F( ~6 l M0 D4 Dof Toyota vehicles since 2000.. L' v8 w0 W5 V* [/ S5 C' \
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own" B9 {2 q/ b8 f7 f6 P
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he4 o3 s6 P- b) L' t# o! C$ r
understood the pain.0 z$ E0 k% I+ P$ `/ q& R- Y
"I know what those families go through," he said.
& G0 U) \5 b* K; N4 P! L2 H- E! D; pLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's- y# W& J }" X( s ^! u
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.0 B9 q a% j, _4 C: a% w
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman9 T+ ~. Z3 e& n$ _+ M+ o
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put5 {6 F/ l% z. e% M9 `
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
$ |! o- ]/ }9 A, H; v1 _ `' J8 X fLentz replied: "Not totally." E6 A% Q) d6 Q" m" U$ F' d
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were- q9 q4 a+ C: ]) ?0 N+ Y+ B
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
! A# S9 F/ N7 X/ M0 `* } Z9 fToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
: I' w6 g: v' p3 Z1 Y+ ?pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its: s R% w9 n4 M' ?* o5 V% i2 ~2 s H
vehicles already on the road.
4 c3 O, D8 {- sMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify: M! a& g1 P6 O U. w F9 M
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
2 `2 v7 p5 P6 O" [4 g) J+ p. ]2 presponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
# z5 c. ~/ k0 s( t3 F* ioffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
$ K1 B+ s4 D n9 Y4 Jkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
: v, J# v( G7 h( L"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a4 V- N) u$ c3 _8 C$ `) M, b. U
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony4 V. C' I& J% W/ p1 m3 Y
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
" p! G5 p! N" |Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
: s1 c) |$ {: _( }commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
$ Y0 A& X- @( [# V8 U1 j$ t+ t1 @restore the trust of our customers."" L& B! D6 U1 Z1 j) c- [
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from# ^* k2 \+ `% w* Y% |% z
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
+ i' X: N4 K! G7 p: [! O' C) w% r' Mzoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --# L) O: F# Z/ y. l# h+ A$ C
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
& x: a* Y! t9 R4 Q, {) Whitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough! j0 F: b! [ N$ ~
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
' G0 S' T- h) o2 a5 Iturn off the engine.
. Q0 ?) b6 E9 [% U3 \+ D/ ~, A% G `Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
w3 }/ Q& N" V Z) m/ SOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."" ^' ~, n Y# r: Y
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she/ p+ E) p2 s$ f6 w% n" |: q
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
8 w7 I) X( T* v+ i1 W8 Vto her complaints.
7 F& n1 V) K. H0 n* I5 nIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
$ z8 M( k8 q( \: ^7 _6 _% xreturned again and again to the question of whether electronic
; r1 H3 V2 {$ E( V# O% n& u1 smalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.( j. X# h2 M' m% Z
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
0 `% V/ `# b. u o2 H4 hthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
6 k+ x6 L2 b- O3 E"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut3 o* T- ]! F0 I2 f9 W* B
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
! ?/ E m% f0 bTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in7 J1 O: z% T/ U
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were2 ^$ j9 b& r8 w [ L
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
0 a8 W- q# K% k- V& `+ s/ [were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
: }; @6 v% V7 P0 {" |2 M- C! ^5 Nevery question."
, A4 n+ |4 f3 ?& D/ k0 I! Q% dToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether& [3 n* Y( |" k3 M l+ i
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The3 z+ V5 ~/ ~6 s5 g
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But5 b$ T# E( f, Z! [( J5 \; L; y! Y' }
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small+ X/ \/ N1 z0 ?6 B/ N: u
number of vehicles: ]' r {4 n* M% H1 u
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more
2 }2 ^& S$ L# C: D7 X3 x; Z0 ddifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a1 C. z9 e8 R. B) S* {; _$ M0 x! k+ Q
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one( A1 C, `& G' O1 \5 S
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.. d- w4 Q2 I4 A3 X6 e. u
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
9 a- ~4 ~$ e; k) qwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
6 l/ L Y2 s7 }$ U/ ]+ J' rtrace at all.8 b! Q( E4 z: D
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call/ }. ^1 a) z5 S K" O
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
$ a- t* F1 P7 H, K8 @2 |2 I/ o wacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
+ L @0 y. k9 ^ K$ x* Vrecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
* F; N1 g0 ^, `4 _9 _' bRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
0 F4 @: T; b' C$ U esaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and; [# r* G7 }' q, @; G
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
D" d7 i# B) |" ^3 Delectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
0 e& z! p$ e( v. _! l8 l* hcause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only5 Q& n5 y& s0 s. Z5 c
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
3 T7 C) ~' j$ b6 Z o% j" M, Wby Toyota's lawyers."
0 h4 z h7 w: | hLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
0 B7 N- S$ m$ W+ Y x, jproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our% G6 ~* m! a" Y- E# a! M6 N
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
* s* m7 T4 a9 h" k# U! [0 ], [said.
1 N+ g- v. [5 R2 f"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
8 |9 D2 z- E: u/ za rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our. w. W, f2 b4 O2 S% W# b# R
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating2 F* f4 I7 |6 `, C" g
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
9 Y/ }5 E) ~+ y0 G0 pSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
: q( U+ C3 ]: }% }4 Nmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
5 o, V! t8 u1 `rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the) d- a6 p. c& q8 [
automaker, at least in part because of the government's
* U. N: y& E' g7 A) h7 }investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
; P# g. q+ G0 GChrysler.
7 Z$ H8 ]6 n$ I: K/ H3 V% l"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
& C* N4 i$ @) n& |$ ^3 Xdollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
1 f, k6 \( T/ {! `' L+ cHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
+ l3 C& ]# F8 R7 U: V) N3 V, Zserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete2 P/ w3 h/ _1 `) J, h$ l
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty- O( t q* t, X5 j0 f3 A
tough."
1 c8 k. p4 l5 ~& c" P. N---7 B- c3 H0 x' d9 h3 H! W: l) L
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
j ]. w: A5 Q+ nRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to0 g2 o7 ~9 B) J% x1 p
this story.
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8 t/ A; g- C3 P2 u4 \7 J$ d `! X-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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