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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
+ A% {5 m1 S$ X8 w' U- N; H' SBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
7 {- z2 H- y3 V- F" a" x5 M+ yWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.) D, P _$ E) \. u5 ^; |. C
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that! Y* Q# b1 j1 L
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"; H& }% }/ F) Q6 @, q" @+ L
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
7 P* e* a7 \# w$ ?# L9 e9 }"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
6 D* Q8 z" {) G7 ucauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
A' {1 Y' `+ s9 D& OHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected/ P8 J* @3 I- b5 L" Y1 o
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and; k. V3 h3 u. j' c: O. i
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
4 f4 X) P# |. O# vmats and sticking accelerator pedals.; G* z7 `3 A. z" S+ x# x, |
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal2 W/ q% W z3 \2 S/ }
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp- D1 l4 K/ S( E& {
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be/ T- r5 I% @, f W& Z. z
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
, @: C7 `/ p: M/ fnot stop her runaway Lexus.
$ @+ \$ ^2 h5 P O" M) v"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,( m4 u, Z% X# y
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
" q j0 `" [+ E"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.9 H! l7 Q2 f; v) S T- r
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
1 E0 t5 P/ P, a8 bearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
9 ^+ q* q0 y" C; q% d"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
; G' V. s2 p( Idone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
* b. N- A( o8 m. Jthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
" H! H5 U# b" j. M ?$ o2 Linvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
3 Z# S1 p8 l/ fLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
. [% t5 Z! ?* S- Oelectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
& I+ P i6 N" othe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a+ q! T# t3 p' m! h" W
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he( [5 Z5 l0 ^3 M2 ?/ h9 m7 _0 a4 B
said.
# L6 w1 S1 `% ~* ?As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what7 n& ^1 t: I; Y3 n, m8 w
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
9 ^2 {! V9 I1 D# F5 Nabout driving our products," Lentz said.; j f; L2 K6 S; f8 a# V G
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's5 k! z- Y e7 }, @& h4 V
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
& y& y4 }- [! L& A( P9 C: urecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
) y4 r9 H, f8 n3 g4 vmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of9 J' v+ _4 Q7 D! j8 F9 T
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
- R8 l+ X% U. N; @0 \' w/ H2 Pissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering8 Y# y7 E6 j: n4 C. U7 y; F# ]
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
" K t: N6 N1 E0 ?( A/ _5 ~5 Rtheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
: V( z8 p4 z# k9 qdown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
1 Y4 K( {# k( U2 R( ?0 d8 O" G7 preceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration, L2 y' R: p: d$ ~* `# b% y
of Toyota vehicles since 2000." D, d) z. M3 V: w. d# `
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own7 o) Q0 q7 ^" h9 Y# u; t
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
- u3 O- {6 v5 x V1 a! ounderstood the pain.& n9 ^ ^) H. n. j" \6 D
"I know what those families go through," he said. j5 S3 E! S+ ]8 n" l+ A
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
" H- h6 p% p( ^. w$ Mfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.2 ^$ u4 g) m7 m6 e
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman$ y1 P. h- E& h( `6 G% \3 [7 O8 ]
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
1 G5 e4 ~' V7 X8 _) sin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,+ }% n( n; w8 ?6 E2 |& S
Lentz replied: "Not totally."* X# n% R* Z% d5 R
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were+ B+ t! ~( V( x4 o8 D8 D; x+ z; L& u
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
2 K5 i8 s4 |8 X( F* YToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
) E) V. k+ a4 upedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its2 C) @" p( |( O+ o' @7 |
vehicles already on the road.
4 s$ w, y: U; v( yMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
* ~3 k0 ]! Q5 j# V3 o1 Zbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
0 D" ~7 K, C% n2 t8 t" Nresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
; O3 m8 x5 J# M+ p. ]3 Toffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were5 s& q1 m& b2 \$ R8 H, @
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.: s, k5 v' w, {% @" O4 s; X
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a! ?: C6 ~' F( M! G
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
/ ^2 m9 M; W. p+ @for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight! s, _3 I* G* L8 S. v
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal, [( ?( a H8 |& G+ H, G: P
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to' F+ t5 U' w8 E6 e3 F
restore the trust of our customers."0 a1 T( x! v7 _/ {2 d# x
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
; @$ f3 H2 P* O" mSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly4 u& C" h0 M& M8 N; R
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
. A2 d$ r' @ b) @ Eshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
- G3 q1 d/ t! _; A9 \( Ahitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough" @6 s; K: d8 {/ m/ L, h
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
% [9 y7 v- w0 _( y* n& mturn off the engine.: t9 g# U" n/ \# ~5 p. G
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
6 D9 r- F; A; j- t% AOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
1 a! X) ~0 J( @ ["After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she% E' x9 P3 D, g% R, T2 Y5 E4 g
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
$ E' O7 N( k. U3 w$ ^$ \) Xto her complaints.
3 T- J" w* L7 b8 U9 m s3 M- |% HIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers" R: o$ j8 H+ o& ~+ u
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
7 F2 T# [( I$ {9 G0 wmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
- Q h5 u) `& m: q2 s"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric- N5 z$ ]: ?+ A: k" ~9 ?
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited. i; V) d. q! z7 ^$ h; c9 t
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut8 |# B' f3 j% U* y( q+ I! E9 p
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."' E( c# B- L* a. I- X
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
. C! J) ?- m7 C$ R z `prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were+ r3 E3 q* a9 m1 h A
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls6 |! t; B3 U' t: c; ?
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer& X' y4 s/ j8 C; z' p* ]
every question."
% v. S$ T9 |" D3 l" |Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether7 `* U8 K( Q0 B4 H
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The; w! [7 w6 _' _* }5 v: K
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
' E! x8 d# j i; y7 R' _, ncommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small5 P1 N4 f* U4 I1 {* [6 ]! _- V4 }0 v
number of vehicles
/ r+ x m r+ s) rTracking down an electrical problem can be far more. |+ e0 ` Y5 }1 r$ l
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a+ D0 i/ R3 p, k# L- U+ H
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
7 f% W& g7 z1 P: }& o5 ?! Bsource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
9 e8 S( U" B! o) N+ r/ B- B/ NMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,0 s! M) I/ D0 v) V
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no8 V" `' k$ F+ n: u& t: R- H
trace at all.
L$ k0 ]$ u* ?House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
! W, Q6 H3 j9 ddatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden& E1 Q( A' O" X5 Z, ]1 s! o
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the4 r9 l9 u* o2 K7 a) \
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
A; L$ T/ U: y4 t* kRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
Y; g9 o4 Z0 `8 Q6 y! {: Ysaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
( Q+ N/ x. Q K4 K0 W( I0 Lother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the" m/ ?2 Y6 ?) m8 j
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
5 C2 G0 P5 ` d' j) k- \$ Jcause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only% x4 l' {$ O" |8 o3 M# A
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
$ N9 f# Q; Y& X. d- wby Toyota's lawyers."! J3 Y# i/ l: T
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of0 Z* A4 P) H1 U. \9 I# t) C; n/ x
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
. j, N% M0 }( _4 O) i8 ncustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he* Z1 _9 U) t& T3 g3 _6 {
said.
: U; k0 @+ @) E( \"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with) A) o9 x3 F8 G8 g: b ^; q
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our& R& v& V7 F- f# U: ~
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating7 f ]3 C' L5 q) M$ {
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
& e, m( F; \6 gSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying; P$ A6 Q3 W, D. v* s$ y1 c
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread' N; J5 B0 `" q/ B; `3 L! |5 T4 |4 G
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the2 I( Y. d* U3 U. O" j- H6 N
automaker, at least in part because of the government's
9 H$ V! h- ]# J# |6 B( ~investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
/ D! z3 T0 u8 B8 u4 Y: RChrysler.
/ a2 q5 `) c, L: @"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax0 z- \2 i2 P3 e9 Q: Q3 j
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
- [# k" M% h* w. N( R! gHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also) J# K: A9 g1 v$ F; t5 }; e
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete$ X1 }7 E! {# i
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty( E7 O* _. F t( G( n% E
tough."
0 \' O9 @. D$ P, h- q5 |---
; f- J. }8 |3 t9 B" e" m1 pAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom3 [7 _# a0 G' q/ {# i/ L2 Z# [
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to& l8 e* q* m t2 Y! p8 R+ y
this story.
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-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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