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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题" |0 t' k& n4 Y
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
X4 ]5 Z% y5 ^: o: X7 B& NWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
( N- C4 Q. L s6 O7 m9 P F2 Poperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
* g# ?9 K! C# ^ o, hthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
8 M9 ?$ o/ `& {$ c% X% Jsolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.- A3 V! v: g1 n0 u. e
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
' ?1 q. N& m; l& g" }causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
3 n( I! ~( B8 l/ j% v& l, UHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
" E$ h8 h& m0 y x3 V+ I, U8 j" ^( Uacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
) H( Q, K1 K1 Ctrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
4 A. O9 ]. G- {) i, o$ p" cmats and sticking accelerator pedals.
2 c+ B- W1 y; g% s2 aHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal7 h# N2 B/ j7 I- j( ]) l. T% F
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
5 w0 g. H, {- C9 E+ Tcriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
, O- ^3 H% y( |3 K' ofurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could" B, C- ]6 I( c. D& m c6 k: Z
not stop her runaway Lexus.+ s0 C, `; H# V5 e. S* g
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,7 V2 I4 ?; v: n& t2 C# ^6 z
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
: T {! m6 {0 p; x+ \1 p3 m"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators., R4 f, R5 H$ o0 L* {7 ?/ e: G
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues5 F0 e8 k# E; f E: H# n
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said3 J0 v3 u4 `8 `
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
6 H$ L2 m4 q* A, U1 qdone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
" ^- A# Z# j; k$ G* vthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's% M5 K$ E& c$ V. [9 X6 U. t
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
9 e f; i+ A' ^9 z7 PLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
! V+ W% S5 M/ E3 F% h& x0 ]electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
$ L& j& W) u. C% E# rthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a1 t! ?7 e4 y n" e4 C3 e% x( _
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he8 n. |& T/ h( s4 ?$ a3 g
said.
* f( O; A0 P" x Z7 qAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
; K- q% G W" H1 x+ {happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
5 V; x# l! r9 e" |1 Wabout driving our products," Lentz said.
e. }& o4 k; d& c- aThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's( V% R; ^1 Z8 ~! M& K' @2 m
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has, w% W5 D6 W6 i0 h4 V( X& i
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 64 {4 W3 n* G% ?
million in the United States -- since last fall because of
c% F! Q' [! Dunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking7 o e( f8 b5 i7 [) i
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering$ Q* W: U2 o b) \7 c6 Z+ p
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
) j& O- `7 \* ]2 h0 u& i! V+ S& Wtheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
. Y8 P. Y6 A1 b) ~0 y1 bdown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has* z. [1 a# f, F3 L' y2 c
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
* J% e, s: ?' y# x; K$ y" O: d; Mof Toyota vehicles since 2000.
4 I" X# C9 I) Y/ n8 Q: b: X! pLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own" ~0 g1 f% {* c
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he+ |# |3 ?. B$ y* l! K
understood the pain.
* O2 D, b% @% W! D"I know what those families go through," he said.
+ [% E# t' G$ a, L7 DLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
- G; A" G2 \% Tfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems. }* r" r8 A( ]' u
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman$ H c! n7 h* _( J3 e
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
+ I* D* S$ Z3 y' }8 D P* Gin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,/ ]; i9 d/ {- B& O+ t6 F
Lentz replied: "Not totally."
; f& q3 i+ i- G* n8 }- Y" MStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
* u2 s' u1 \' I3 Z"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
9 K) C* @/ g$ u# ?' N" aToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
4 j+ C, P9 i1 c5 `& opedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
/ p' T6 a' e5 @" Nvehicles already on the road.$ U: o( a. J1 b. S0 J& A0 ^
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify1 G+ n$ G' F( w9 c# i9 S% G5 R
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
7 g3 s' E8 ^$ |; \responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
3 j1 \0 B; D1 |4 v1 P, A' A( Woffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
) b& R- j8 V+ ?killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
* y; R0 b8 h" C5 x- y"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
6 v- n" \1 b5 btragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony# d% _- r1 }. u$ l" B- H% m9 k
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
+ `0 b2 {* z# Y1 n3 i# u9 O- v, ?Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
/ p! G, _% B1 l& P% scommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to9 a4 r, U( P/ ~5 w: x, H5 L
restore the trust of our customers."
3 @2 } P8 w+ c( B9 yLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
& o1 l6 D9 X6 cSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
( j# Y1 B) N- }9 ~) t6 Jzoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
$ H) m+ |. d/ q. I- Xshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
1 S; v8 ^4 L6 S2 P, K6 T' Qhitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
/ \: l6 g3 X9 H jthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and9 _' b6 J0 c0 H9 l2 ^ t
turn off the engine.+ Y7 N. T7 X' h8 i% b( E9 {
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of" M/ J, S; ?. b9 j J( N
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience.". G' G$ J6 ?% u5 _
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she- q, O, k: |* X& |3 }1 O' Q
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond; r: R# p) `6 M! x
to her complaints.& [. M5 H! o3 ]4 F$ m! w
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
: t3 N/ G: v7 K! Z( T; x" ?returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
( S( I. R9 t9 ?malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars., F8 n' y8 u5 V. ]2 p6 O
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
, J% b, c9 T8 v/ @+ l8 Bthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited9 a5 |2 p" m' a
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
! O' J# F6 L5 @7 xoff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."' }6 t% b F" S' `; A: K, w6 t
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
B% X" W: Z- N) Vprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were: F7 t' Q8 S3 h+ [
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
: N& Q5 u* B( q7 ?. a8 n2 fwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
* b+ t& x' b% pevery question."
3 A9 b4 \8 Z4 P8 m9 Y* v- fToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
/ y3 l! ?- {5 m5 K1 W" C9 x7 |% z0 Aelectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
; c0 Y/ q/ d1 i% } |firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
. z# \0 k4 J- v8 S, y) _0 Fcommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small
5 i, G( a' ~# { mnumber of vehicles
- G+ \, y6 ~: l i! a$ L5 @Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more
v; J6 |+ B: N2 u' P1 jdifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a1 I7 D! s. T+ r2 Z4 r/ w
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
% w# Z, a" r |( ssource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.1 O, r: E# y+ I- B7 f) ^6 Y* M
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
8 n& G2 J1 K6 S5 H# Uwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
3 c# s: L( T+ q- X+ [! l" S/ f9 utrace at all.
/ R) ]9 L. w. W3 WHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
# a P7 r: a. V* ~. v: x$ a3 j2 zdatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden: @# d! C) I# ]2 H. U" @4 g
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
2 l, f- k( s5 R& A7 Vrecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.1 r9 ?5 F' D4 R
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,: d' r. V! e' z5 W! l2 v1 g0 H) R
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
0 V5 Y" H& f% \$ m1 gother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
$ _, R- p- Z9 t3 |2 qelectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible }+ Z' `, Q6 u4 q0 j
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only- k% t- `1 L: p- j0 C9 @
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
- w% z. y5 l1 a# n3 n2 k4 ~: Wby Toyota's lawyers."6 i% x* |: E8 P6 }5 }$ f0 {% C
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
7 T/ J9 d$ E& a& A6 Vproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our& d6 D+ c) |: ^( l, l0 W, x) [' ]3 F$ Z
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he! U5 A. c7 \4 L2 I9 |
said.
2 M; S. \! V* M2 M0 l' \% o"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
1 q* `( T$ L, Ba rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
O6 E9 |9 D7 qgood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
3 u/ L) ? n& u+ Eofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.3 I' L4 z; i" \8 E# u
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
/ \, [: R9 ~# K& B$ _1 H Q0 S, mmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread. s4 z% E: i& h0 ?" [! d7 c" Y
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
: U% O: o: C. d; V/ T5 g& R- Kautomaker, at least in part because of the government's
, I& Q1 I+ b; ], M* z. dinvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and" o9 j8 x$ r7 \
Chrysler.) H" | m+ X9 f
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax& A, k3 v% c6 }, t7 U' r+ b. n
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a! ]3 d, C+ N' b, ?9 `
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
" ]4 X2 @) j" ]served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
9 B# ]' h+ d1 e4 Twith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
* J0 O& ^# a+ \ Ktough."$ L+ d( l1 p0 H
---
4 n$ {/ g+ {1 E: W6 @4 P4 sAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
# v& M2 f4 a: e& x+ H' QRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to3 k1 g$ I9 _. g% r
this story.# O+ n/ @ k) ?- ~" m
/ g+ z+ G [0 U$ g* Q# E
-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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