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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
* Q. s% _2 X' X( bBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS p% C1 ^3 p5 a8 {+ p
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.8 l! g- f: h* c7 B
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
" ^7 X. h8 o% v8 rthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
3 C( C' \; a& ?( @# s rsolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
4 R4 x, |/ ?( F7 F/ g) P8 v"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential5 c0 @8 g6 w, h" o
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
: a- t, h/ x# s) R8 sHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected& _+ y9 J8 X; v: d1 b' h
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
' g5 k4 G5 Q: @8 g1 G% M etrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor5 }4 D# v7 C0 J& f9 g# I
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.
" }# u, O7 a8 e: G8 M& L# i; ~He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
5 u/ Y2 J' x zand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
; [% b- u4 m3 vcriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
* z3 h/ U# j* Lfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
8 J, _, ^" C. j' Ynot stop her runaway Lexus., e5 _% c+ Q. i3 W$ r
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
9 p, @' N7 X+ |# f) {Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
6 {( y! a! T2 P. ?"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.8 R. q* ~. f* r# L; E
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues1 u. ^7 Z. R% m: `8 n% \% U
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
6 D9 M, \) @/ m% w"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has5 C& ^: t% t& c$ I. j- c
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
5 O6 H1 p) E8 A" ?through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
. ^$ Z: K6 t( T4 V- q- n: }! W7 winvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."- O% c( z S7 p# \
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an0 U3 C) O) l `6 g0 a
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
( I" @6 A3 C/ a* c5 w( jthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
1 T6 L6 U- C6 e# o8 G. p9 Pmalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
" G' ~* `8 n! L2 ~9 ?9 d8 r6 Jsaid.# C+ T# n g6 A# P1 J- H: ^( j. |0 A
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
' k0 c# ^! j& p8 c5 E) `7 n8 x, shappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe7 Q0 h% M- S& p& Q M0 `
about driving our products," Lentz said.
# X% [' F E' T1 U8 I: a1 {Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
: B6 [& G" s( d& ~0 B5 _problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
7 }, ^4 J% A: l- drecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
7 E4 W& k2 N) f& v0 ?& fmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of0 F! t4 ^, V6 L( j
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
7 l4 j- d& l+ [- i5 X2 F2 w2 xissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering. e! x% }# p7 q! C
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of9 ?$ s; Y+ O8 r) s: I/ a) ?0 ]
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow9 K* k: c A1 K8 h) [( X3 H
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
. D. W& M8 B! l. r! m/ l( I% Lreceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
& r" X5 K' I: a- M2 @of Toyota vehicles since 2000.2 j# [7 r( J' i, i$ y$ e
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
, o2 g. L" E4 ubrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he$ t1 ?* ^1 t3 h5 B
understood the pain.& ] k7 h( L9 A7 ~9 x) C2 ?
"I know what those families go through," he said.
% h+ q. q( O" y* E5 r- Y. ELentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's O9 s7 I+ ]) R ~) G! M
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
. j+ a% j2 K) j7 k& k$ ]" ?But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
# S. @* ]% B: ~. J1 U9 t0 mHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
9 e# _6 _; v. k9 b! jin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,8 H8 {$ I8 m6 R y
Lentz replied: "Not totally."$ F' \! L. L4 a
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
. q, _% Y: G! c5 u% H"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said& I) `4 h& L/ ^% P
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
1 P3 Y" I2 Q' E* n5 Spedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
$ U, X5 s! @* g! J! M& Mvehicles already on the road.
+ x! Z" n+ N# C7 c8 O4 L! x6 L' `Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify% _. q8 h0 f3 U1 L- L$ W9 d
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
2 ]; G6 w4 z/ c3 m+ B" \& Yresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
% r- G1 f# b0 w- {offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were# y# U+ Y! u, X7 Z
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.2 g& Y7 f7 z5 n/ f* B
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
/ D+ k# }! e: C5 Mtragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
- Q' o- s" s: sfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
& D! W+ M8 d0 y* lCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
+ e) G6 Y6 M2 U3 l% z2 w, Xcommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to7 `. Y G9 o ~1 x% t. v2 M0 B
restore the trust of our customers."% Z0 }+ J- q1 a- h
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from0 P+ W5 M0 I, X Y
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly+ E0 u' L$ T7 a% Y& b+ }
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --. m7 _1 j& Z! I, @1 \
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and+ x+ l# B& k- T0 \$ {# m
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
2 U7 d: `4 s$ E: }# Z- ]that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
& I7 T* S3 R8 n/ d/ \* U0 Eturn off the engine.
7 l. A+ ^& L8 z) [% b) m. rFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
, ?9 o. j. e' o& B" T6 ^/ l8 _October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."0 c; q+ m( x9 f8 Y. x( O
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
. i8 Q3 [. ]3 J: A6 Asaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
6 O3 F0 N) e' G" {' ?to her complaints.
2 \4 P, M* u$ r/ x, @7 ]+ T. G8 DIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers9 v# H% a) d( o3 n( S
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic+ x& j, h: m3 X2 d2 j/ X# p& c
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.& t% s* }! w: T( E; h6 T9 T7 m" A
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric& ?: J! f) u3 h% x8 s
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited4 A! _3 w7 N# ^9 G5 e
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
: A3 O, r5 U; R) N' L* Eoff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
) [0 ?& K# ?! R$ j% r3 u4 n! oTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
6 t! c" x; B1 J, p" R9 T6 gprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
) m9 \9 `$ [+ B# Obeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
9 Z! Z$ ]1 A$ h: W. `! e! Pwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
; U9 R1 ~' y( B+ j, C9 t* V% V, `) R7 Ievery question."0 Z5 ]0 A* G5 c2 v6 }7 P% Z6 T0 |+ v% V
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether. O8 |( J* N+ p6 F
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The1 q1 t" a2 F3 \6 \! t2 y
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But9 Y9 g7 j& Y1 X, y8 q
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small6 M9 R4 A L/ x! I! |
number of vehicles
) W4 @4 e$ P( U1 L# w/ RTracking down an electrical problem can be far more- |! i( c) w# ^2 h- v. m
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a/ J$ @% V9 @5 J( B, R( M
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
0 U" u6 c4 }; W& @source, and they can come from inside or outside the car., W, Q+ p6 ^' U: v5 b, F" p
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
; {. Z2 f. W0 g" g1 A$ G; Ywhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
4 ]7 n+ \3 a# c# H: B/ f0 i; Y! R6 vtrace at all.8 k, G1 r( U4 D% p
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call4 v) x4 r) U; M: A7 G
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden: l8 X; {/ F. J: g1 B& q' s0 Q
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
- c+ Y# c; y6 ~6 J( c2 |recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
7 ?2 X# c" s9 \% V6 z R7 W# R$ lRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
: [& r& e4 x, y" t. b: K7 s/ ksaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
2 U" o4 Z9 y7 H. k) _1 X# `( Fother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
7 F5 v h$ j& Y1 m2 xelectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible# Z7 S0 Z& H9 a
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only& w% O: ^+ V' F# J. ?# g/ R. O& o
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
/ _ F5 b' _2 e, l* Y. b. H9 s2 ~by Toyota's lawyers."
4 G. P- G' Y7 Q6 JLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of1 V1 }- ]: n ?4 \0 y
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our- p; g, ^+ U! X5 S( I0 N
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he/ p6 V9 M" @8 ?# K. Y
said.
" u+ p. ?+ M' {: q"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
6 h" ]9 V& g5 \7 E$ R1 [1 I& ra rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
0 h" y4 T/ ]# g+ f. H3 O9 }! @good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating5 S7 Y9 Y# A8 Q1 ]8 E1 o
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
+ {6 K; w* h' ZSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
' G- E: L# e) n4 S O+ x8 ]members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread' q" |: ?) u1 y0 |
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the) Y1 D) o1 P, S3 l0 c- u$ o F
automaker, at least in part because of the government's* H! { k. l& ?5 ]# y$ _" ?
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
' J: k# e7 n: ?0 f& [Chrysler. I8 A- _, B; n7 r! l: J3 f
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax& N# x# W7 j; g, I3 N
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a( L3 z4 f: s$ ^9 d3 k* o
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also/ S# g4 \; P V7 K5 Q
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete% D0 Z0 ]; y- a6 t
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
5 Z& k5 h# b) A! e4 Ytough."
. ]$ e2 b1 d% o. L! ^* N---! o/ y. R. r" J9 c, ?
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
0 V8 w1 v8 \! j' l' _. FRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to1 U* z9 v9 X$ W0 P4 G( z
this story.
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5 ~: r% r! v; P: b7 N-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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