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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
3 N6 t+ l5 h+ S+ W, b2 _0 d% HBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS7 o" ~9 \7 a9 q" Y2 u: O% ~! r3 F
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.9 \4 F+ r* o( K B# Q. w' B
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
/ i6 |7 Q( `# D/ f! Wthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally" R7 K+ l& r4 N' E. m
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
1 y$ ^) o! w" ^) `0 C; \4 n"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential, v5 A4 O% ^ P' V- K) d: \
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
* \) Z" \$ A- I4 Y! QHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected6 _( u/ o1 |( {- \
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and( l% [6 c/ x% r% p
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor/ ^7 m) h9 E: X& X
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.& \; B" [8 c, f1 h
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal M2 t: g2 \6 w) @4 _
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp ]: |5 J R6 @3 q6 P( f
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be0 p/ z0 @+ ^. s1 v3 U- J
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could; y. r) ]: W, t* u: q$ }0 I
not stop her runaway Lexus.; z+ ?9 P7 I2 H0 d
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
( _% ?4 |, E$ Z1 x, R) e U/ D3 M1 cTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second% } H% B) C. B3 ]7 y' H& i* t8 f
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.2 |, F9 a w! |: T2 W5 `+ }
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
: [) g4 g) Y; B: O! t9 V" V+ F6 Xearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said( `, T' A- Z9 O# a$ S+ a
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has, s- e+ H; z( _# @; {9 W& j
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
* j0 U" O2 I- O2 jthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's! v) S4 F6 {( v# f
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
4 V3 O0 v" O9 r. `Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
7 i8 P$ h4 ?6 p, Ielectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
& c' r: j1 A, ?, Y$ L7 {+ e' b2 X0 {the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a i' j! N) L0 U) f7 I
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
8 V5 a3 o8 Q0 {5 Z. hsaid.# V8 y; E! O# y H# V& Y
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what3 N' M8 D$ P: N: T7 u! ]% K( ]
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe1 F: _3 x' S r& t9 r
about driving our products," Lentz said.- O1 A8 B+ W& d4 A8 j% Q# B5 r
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
) L3 W B( V7 M! C( T1 l, Pproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has- ^5 j7 E, ]; d$ c
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
0 _" ]& i, e8 vmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of
1 R2 H3 `% ]$ v$ q ^4 m( iunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking" e3 V+ Y0 t+ [. u! l x
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering: m5 |" g/ V3 G- R- Q& G( `
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
7 p4 d% C' B$ K+ btheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
) v* ^' ?& a1 Hdown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has! t, F$ |( D3 K w& q
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration/ L k1 X( N4 n, i7 l% O, R0 Q! @
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.
% _# I# F ^) P& F1 V4 ^Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
4 M0 H. D2 G* R+ M/ W" Ibrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he' i ]# S5 f" I2 e
understood the pain.
( E) K% \- {# Y5 t' ?7 G, k"I know what those families go through," he said." L: v, V. g& f, p* ^* _0 X
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's3 s5 g: H/ \. E b
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
- i3 i7 [8 {5 c2 f% nBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman3 ~$ t; J, J8 F3 C
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put a* E4 {) Q& K1 |
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,) W4 n8 f$ l; Z; Q% ~# ]% ]
Lentz replied: "Not totally.". A/ w+ N6 z3 n; a, f1 D4 s& m
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were4 ] y( s6 j0 E4 ]- j2 P$ y
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said) \2 F# |6 _+ o0 M6 f8 b M- h( F
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas @: ]/ T: m/ F+ E9 _; Q
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
" l. b9 j; q7 Dvehicles already on the road.$ I9 }; m0 q# f' f) N
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify1 F9 H. d: @1 [1 G* `% h
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
( H/ }/ _9 k$ w7 B) Z: w1 zresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
2 a2 p1 R) P: ]1 }offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were& \* v' O" i' \1 \# u( W
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.9 g, i |- c0 u+ }* r9 ^
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
( m. a3 Z- H' f: Rtragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
+ S1 \. r: Q3 o! \$ T5 G3 Lfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
, f4 z2 m; z2 ~& Y- L$ E+ w/ FCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal0 w. _ H# O5 ]
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to5 n P: h# U; u2 _9 ?' Z
restore the trust of our customers."
j! ?$ o& ]$ w' E" M3 ]7 X$ BLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
& H: ^9 ?' H8 ~3 S r- MSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly" F; N6 ?% Y! i$ l
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --0 A3 ~/ ~2 _; u$ w `
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
]! [; D M! {* Ihitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
0 E4 E. `, }# G6 i1 kthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
. g4 K, C( g6 ~+ X* Q) R: Gturn off the engine.
( @1 J# N! ~; O+ q$ U7 ^' o# AFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of; q' s: O/ X5 y9 C( }# d, l" b& ^
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
' g; c% A' W% I, ]: P& C"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
' F. E+ Z1 j: y8 |; ~' x9 a. nsaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
$ h: m' d; s" J6 _. d+ U/ ]* {8 P4 _to her complaints.5 q x2 F0 U) L3 R; b
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers0 s8 p* B2 O0 z0 s n/ b
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic: ~8 ?; D8 e0 L; I; N
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
/ W0 N0 \! T7 m' H [. E+ h- p X( L" `"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric" f) T$ A) F2 Y9 ?1 o" ~. V& k
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
: T8 r i4 T( Z) D6 ~3 ~"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
* D F- s4 O: |( ~off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."2 f6 T6 B' M* j7 o
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in1 k" G: L% A$ r9 G2 {& Q) h( E
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
) H* e, K' a4 N$ D4 R( Z! w( dbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
2 h, p( r2 A$ V5 ^8 F+ r# c3 jwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer8 E6 K1 N( l/ M6 ^
every question."9 m/ q5 _/ ^% }* I
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
) i% J! g4 D0 m/ Z2 o4 M6 c! y6 Belectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The& Y) E; D! r; ~% O4 l, j
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
& p/ S& p( P5 v0 i; i! j& Z" |1 pcommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small/ ?4 s! a! z5 S( Z" G7 D
number of vehicles- j0 r# U- P* p9 P3 v
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more& _- h: F7 c3 g/ N* {. @$ |3 S
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
0 v: s, O4 y& c" m0 s& wmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one# p4 b0 [9 d6 W1 ` o
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
5 I) A* F7 _+ UMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
! `& B& c3 P8 A+ x+ \' A ywhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
7 G) D' F2 e L# L1 I! ` Mtrace at all.
0 t0 ]) [) |2 r' K* E( vHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
$ G! C9 [$ _' k$ C8 R8 Z( [database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
, U5 ?' o; p+ u$ Sacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
3 n$ ~# q1 q% orecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
' \( N. v O9 W' B' S* ]+ b& E. n! ^Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,( }5 }8 z1 z' R# N
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and* g9 o0 s5 o& g6 N$ I7 w' H
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the* ?% _! Q2 b+ a, Z
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible- b1 R) i2 q4 M( L5 |
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
2 r, ^5 M- o# [# o" x x' ~# Fsuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
7 f* S- V5 }* O! t6 E9 Q( |! Yby Toyota's lawyers."- U9 H2 U! U6 N" e: T2 u9 L0 s3 `
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of9 t& E4 ~5 M, v) l4 _* d
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our# x+ u* K w2 s# D& S
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
* ~0 k3 D$ }8 l7 p2 c' U; V( I0 y) Zsaid.
% [& ~# S1 G" n( Q) `3 @, L"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
6 B0 W+ w5 a7 h T5 da rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our* f1 o# |3 [" u5 p9 d
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
9 V4 R$ w, X) Z% v' Pofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
$ o8 ^* Q3 T) U2 {: {3 s8 ]7 XSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying# n' O M$ q& O# I6 H
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread. {' P. @0 j, w8 y* |" p
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the5 D5 s6 w {$ B5 Z, [: Z4 X
automaker, at least in part because of the government's" ^3 h. K: s! K
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
# E8 D+ y) O; j7 \8 B( t# EChrysler.) x0 j) @- G6 d1 a: B# R, u E
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
. ?/ _) t; x. Y* E1 m" _dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a1 P: j9 N; Y: ]( I- b
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also! O3 `0 O7 Y2 t
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
, w$ P9 K( M2 g( _with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty4 q6 g. j9 s( [9 o. Y1 x
tough."5 D# U4 r# n5 ]' y" i2 D. q
---
. X. }& R8 k( @( ~Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom/ c8 C% ^% u+ r1 O
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
4 e2 W' T0 G2 e5 e0 {( ^6 Uthis story.- q( T1 \5 |: T. z) [9 W
! q) [+ }- M, d3 o& d+ D: y. R: `-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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