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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
4 r$ t5 m4 X: I) bBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
! b$ T* b4 Y; j2 u- n0 dWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
. d5 b9 ~3 P9 coperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that* @& L( @3 `; g7 U$ s
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"; |/ q" b- n' C5 \ W
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.1 Y/ J/ S7 h9 p) u/ e: k
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential8 i4 g' ?$ l/ C3 `. S0 {
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.% l8 c/ [0 G; N0 x, s& m" b1 p1 r+ W7 M3 f
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
5 [+ `" P1 `9 s% c* Q8 S5 uacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and/ p+ o4 ^6 v9 g# b" j
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
" n1 a) |% ^( N. J/ ?- v# y/ ^mats and sticking accelerator pedals." y# U9 M* ?) Q# A1 `2 s' q
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal$ l, l! R/ G( H% m" u- r
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp y8 o( s1 K, x, X
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be' o3 B% n' u, F
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could- n. @5 s0 y9 y( U0 f, C1 t: ]
not stop her runaway Lexus.; O4 H$ z3 U7 t' w) X
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
8 E. Y. T+ z2 n2 C% R: }Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
6 k, c: Q7 c' a+ u/ ?' y& n"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
4 R- I& v/ {- z6 }- TTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues0 `' b$ U* }/ e2 z* ~" p+ t
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
! L- [+ x2 D# L8 a) H"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
4 ]2 d& c4 d% j0 A, q1 G6 Ldone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway5 N% s# {, I: u- Y
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
, {2 N6 j, R9 Z$ a7 ^investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
$ G' P& Y. s; cLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
, G1 D( p6 N6 Z. felectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
: m& j9 h* I' u( f) j# Ithe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a- V; r# \1 h, o1 ~
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he. s6 v. a3 P% b* x& k% G
said.
0 C2 Y$ i" @* a/ v/ T `+ wAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
, R$ N4 v* T) I, N5 yhappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe+ v# {* ~7 \2 t/ B/ q. L5 R
about driving our products," Lentz said.6 m; j- ~% j5 b; D( M: }5 n( l
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's) o3 o+ V( _4 l8 {! }" z7 I8 J
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
7 A. R4 r% \2 Crecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6% h3 h# o9 i0 E- l% ?
million in the United States -- since last fall because of
5 j, K' ^- u: u8 ~! O% lunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
5 _% k- N; L( I8 yissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering4 l& M! O& ]% b' {& K5 r+ C* o
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of( F) y) V7 p l, W
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow% T. U/ Z$ Q. I7 j7 d6 L
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
8 F+ l# x6 Q1 Wreceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration8 k* N. e5 u' ?; B' m
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.2 a4 E! z! b$ o: Z% s" | N
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
) g, V ^+ Q" l' A# l8 ?# ]brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he0 v( D5 a0 t9 b0 R+ r( C
understood the pain. t9 z7 I1 q5 c
"I know what those families go through," he said.6 t6 O6 ]1 W& C: Z$ O. m
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
' g P. ~* x' {7 Z; Z; G. S/ I4 N( Rfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
) N) S2 X7 v! ~- nBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
9 Y4 e# I9 X0 ^9 V8 {: _& x6 [Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
; @5 e2 \" b z, Yin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,; y- d2 c/ K! k
Lentz replied: "Not totally."3 t' H) L: r- g' J- K# B8 c
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were) h+ T. q$ z9 c) B, j4 q* R
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
* V2 }1 G+ l% U( lToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
1 x. I+ e( [% k3 B8 A+ ~4 D; spedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its% h; k9 W7 \4 l, `- x5 c
vehicles already on the road. |6 Z0 T; O Z) T
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify- Z+ O. v7 v( _" M
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
9 g" F9 S( ~- s, Nresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
* H( m; z2 U9 v1 b; Hoffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were/ N+ e% c( |4 ^' y
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
0 \1 d9 \' I2 {" k"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a7 F: X5 T) f+ z C) s# n1 E, e4 C
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
) J+ h* I; _9 mfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight* }3 G6 |/ |+ X+ ]& [$ P3 H
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
3 G% y- P; U0 wcommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to& e' X. Q: p- ]0 z) a( o, _1 c
restore the trust of our customers."$ j0 Y1 h0 p0 x( J* A
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
4 N, `: H5 h9 f0 _* P1 lSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
( J( y, k+ J' U i, rzoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --) |' U% J; j8 O3 }( F
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
" Y2 b. s" F0 k5 g8 Whitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough& u" @0 J, `# Y. B5 J
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and4 [. j1 w; g4 H3 a
turn off the engine.5 |5 [- L1 _# I; k) g* v
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
- L5 z3 P3 A6 F) X% o) v' MOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
8 P ^" P( E( }; f4 b"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she7 c8 G' R, h& J$ l8 F! G
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond( O5 j* r/ |% ?
to her complaints. H$ w0 A( I( [, E, h k
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers& K, } B, \9 \1 u( A
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic+ ]9 |& P8 h. C" j( y( J
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.* U( M6 _& U" P2 \" X0 a- y4 O" V
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric- n2 i6 \1 ~0 w; |0 T6 V
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited$ R/ A$ f$ h$ O0 O, o6 x u
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
. [: u$ R0 k6 k4 k: Y0 O. z2 Goff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
& m3 q/ J8 E% A) M3 {Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
6 ]" l0 u- {8 s2 Uprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
' m5 \! @( }7 m. ebeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls; Y8 p3 N5 D' _5 d! q
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer6 Y7 d6 S. H$ O+ n! i
every question."4 J$ `9 G6 c9 {' E) }5 ^1 G7 p
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
9 H: Q0 B3 o$ ]8 h& Velectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The. h5 v) [5 o+ z+ G6 ]0 U
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But: Y* A |5 R! [) f* L! d
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small3 A4 ^0 O( R: K/ g, v5 r# E$ e
number of vehicles
7 z/ l; f$ x: a% Q% J- N7 i2 C1 kTracking down an electrical problem can be far more
+ I9 X- e6 ]& Qdifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
% I* J$ _+ V: ?" j, Y9 f1 Xmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one( a& p% ]: R9 t& d! l0 N" f+ d6 W
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
. `2 l; L, t+ S0 }: H5 bMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
. D% V. N# J/ xwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no+ B- m! v6 h5 O% ]. ~( t# W3 D U
trace at all.
, R- I! T8 j5 [/ y4 cHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
' n4 n, t H' o% ]% Z4 Udatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden7 A% m" |# X6 e" S0 e
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
( Q$ j& T) O* Vrecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.& t L- T" B2 J ^. v @ m
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,4 J: |6 \+ p+ N) D0 s
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
8 R* R$ k& o" l/ r0 i4 k( M* iother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the g* a) x# T1 F* l' m$ i1 M0 e
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible% d6 X' H8 c( U% k0 b l
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
7 ^2 ?# f: q1 y5 e) c! _. [such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
& n" D; ]# T7 l8 d8 C* hby Toyota's lawyers."
6 N8 p* H1 r' P9 b) ?+ i7 tLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of* b2 J# N0 J6 T! f5 Q; S
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
& m/ y$ t* V1 Z0 y" Icustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he# u" P% V7 R7 G" y; E
said.! ^4 m- H5 L0 \+ M- k: c( f
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
0 k6 C: M% ?, M1 `! g7 _0 X- Pa rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
' z4 R1 o6 `, H, w) O& M. b/ V9 L+ `good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating; g3 |( z4 J: c& A* Y0 M# M
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.8 f4 B( B+ G# t! ^' c9 i" J5 a5 A
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
- a" w' y- z- {" D- Amembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread/ Z2 b: }; A: p" o
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the* }' b, v2 Q4 `4 g
automaker, at least in part because of the government's( Z( u8 z3 Q3 Q7 L+ B& Q6 f+ l. D, Q
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and s# G+ `" X/ ?5 e
Chrysler.
( \. V. ?4 f$ s4 U) p"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
% b1 ^7 ^% y6 pdollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a( h$ c/ H) b5 b
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
6 t6 a1 x6 d3 U Q5 N1 K4 ~served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete; f* E+ u1 A; j+ m( n- d5 x+ h' ^
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
- X9 [" B9 Z- y% z5 ktough."5 B! M+ X+ e: U# E' l3 R6 y1 a
---
% m" p5 O& u9 E W$ u% H! ~Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom2 e+ r! Y- C; g9 M
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
. k y* U3 K, X c# _% I6 Nthis story.
4 ~1 o1 C! e ^, c
$ b* f' l |+ c8 E( y1 J-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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