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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
) @) H8 g+ {. K }+ b# S! Y/ GBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
( v: ]- T. y' DWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.. B c' c0 b* `8 e' O/ p4 U) T
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
8 P1 n6 j1 x2 q/ a3 vthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
9 q7 `, ~0 ^3 w* zsolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
8 f& ?- r3 Y; B, R/ P4 D8 Z"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential; o9 l# X7 `7 e7 b6 F6 R, e4 l
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.( `' n4 a' |+ ]) F- R" ?
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
) w% q! Y( y0 {5 Y A: ~acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and3 Q: U1 S. s$ V- d. [: @9 c
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
5 n5 U' R, ~9 u' z3 ^mats and sticking accelerator pedals.7 A1 i. \9 m _, X9 e& G
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal" }; z! l2 E- p2 k8 Y; h9 ~
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
4 S- \4 d+ Y" h% ]% q2 Kcriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
* u: s0 @" i( U+ m0 o: M7 ifurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could0 y7 o* K0 Q. [/ Z& A6 b
not stop her runaway Lexus.
* l; @3 a8 A E2 c/ Y( s! J: J"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,! _6 l* J' v/ H2 T$ [ x! u& p
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second7 n2 A; K9 o. x: b( r. h
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.8 c# |& H: ^; D- `+ r/ V8 w' Y
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues2 ]; M6 b, t* q5 N! R
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said9 t4 A, b: K: d
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
+ P0 C0 ^1 {2 m2 pdone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
) `; ~* P% M$ C9 ?3 tthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
I( L! i. S' `, t" `investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
5 r9 e7 l& N2 h2 O; DLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an% D& z1 s0 m2 v/ V: J; v: h
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of+ T% e" l) I# E o
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a" \6 a. k3 m$ p. O5 e
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
4 g; \6 H' z' a, c& Tsaid.
8 ` F4 X: u+ p# ]+ Z- b% oAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
% `7 b1 D, x; C4 w: @happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe6 L r( C3 _2 _9 p+ A- ~+ H
about driving our products," Lentz said.
, s# A4 O, H( O7 ~. C$ xThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
0 r: ?! a6 N" |# S/ e8 nproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has5 T: i6 C& p6 t8 S
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 68 {; d- G2 _* ~3 ~1 ?
million in the United States -- since last fall because of
* q8 [2 \2 f* G, junintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking1 v* @ ^* Y. V* J, i2 q
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering' ^" F$ T5 x& e) w1 l/ c
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
`( Z: e& z, {" Z! |2 X3 Ztheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow( d1 k: X, x# K; X/ i
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
9 h/ _; z# s$ A" j" greceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
: `5 w% l/ _; U1 O2 Cof Toyota vehicles since 2000.9 n; Z3 {% X: q" r% A/ g; X; \( G% y9 v; ~
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own' |) N9 u% w' j; k5 g' o
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he& k% g0 j- V" m2 O' S# ]) j$ D! Y
understood the pain.# A* T6 x* V5 g; G- q( h- }
"I know what those families go through," he said.7 V/ i. c; t m( b
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's4 Z( ~* `$ W* K4 ]" W* D( \
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
3 C& X- w7 s& z9 ?3 ZBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman1 J; J! N# i2 W! m, s
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
. u. c9 k8 l. r$ [4 g/ B9 n4 v' t0 cin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
+ [7 w/ k" c6 E* F$ SLentz replied: "Not totally."
2 m3 s, n& V Y' {, j2 \Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
% h) ]6 }2 y5 T! e) y7 H& |" t) }"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
6 P1 A Z1 Y0 k" i" @! o. A* RToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
- v7 Z5 v$ m) z$ u& B& `! J( Npedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its8 K) h# [& y5 [
vehicles already on the road.5 T1 S( A# v% J
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify, o5 P1 a; f3 b! U" p" {) M
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full3 S# h; h! m/ m( o% [9 ~
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and0 C3 J" u1 w% a# ~. E8 w( { z
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
% p9 C- U3 c9 |( P1 |" _killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
/ o0 ]. I* g* _& }* {"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
) ]: m0 Z) w3 f9 Stragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
' o0 C- E$ K3 t4 Ufor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight# H. g" @ h1 J* K' R: a
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
; G9 ~+ \# d7 r: a9 K+ [; ucommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to' p+ ]. `% p2 O/ ]) F& @2 n8 z. i
restore the trust of our customers."; c& ~: i" x8 e# M4 H
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from3 ^/ a7 i* i# k) w8 e2 |% \
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly' H; R3 u: `! N5 y
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --& l c% h. a& Q! ^. I8 ~* R
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and# Q6 {, v% x" t# o2 d: b+ D4 L
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough9 {9 s- @% M( L9 e+ x( o
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
; z$ [; v( k8 {' j/ ^5 ?7 uturn off the engine." j' i5 r. X, ^9 w' f
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
! `0 M8 K( l2 B! wOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
$ j' t# [2 c. K1 x* ?' ?"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
3 B+ ^: c% H+ Q ?: W0 o( xsaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond0 m1 ~/ s7 ? R3 l( T; _0 F
to her complaints., x' B' Y% g6 h: L5 }3 E
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
; s) |" l+ a' F: Q; areturned again and again to the question of whether electronic
1 |9 R. N' C* I" `8 y+ H4 O0 ~5 Qmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
|3 M! r! y# C# s6 U, Y"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric. F# @/ ]8 ^$ J/ v
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
$ e5 E) x( F, J c P% R4 e"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
5 F+ W( q: \" Q4 \: J$ Ooff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."8 X9 ]2 o' k- g" ?' ~; e
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
$ M2 c4 t* ^7 u( e' \" dprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
/ L: o2 I$ R* J6 D% J3 C" gbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
+ C8 c6 q$ k: T! T8 zwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
# j" R) N: S/ C7 G8 qevery question.": E w+ G' |1 E* S; c0 f1 q8 Y5 M' r
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
* b- k% Q% i h# h* felectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The% b" k p W1 {% E
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But( h6 @3 v) Q/ J [& a# |. V
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small, i9 D9 F5 d; [
number of vehicles
# b! F6 L6 S: [* d6 J; ^1 tTracking down an electrical problem can be far more
. B$ W* o5 i2 f: [- ^# G# Q5 }% Xdifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a0 _( V7 i4 M, t) ]" u( ?* n6 m
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one& b7 r# q' F8 g) f
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.0 }; V" }1 M- n2 X8 |
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,, @8 J$ E1 i5 v7 s5 N1 a2 j9 d
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no! A" o% n1 j: }
trace at all.
1 {6 ?' Y% W) \* u; y$ tHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call3 N: g! c- _ ? B* E
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden6 F3 T/ e2 H# a x
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the' T& H, D! |) \
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals. j9 ?6 s# v$ j3 j1 {* c
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
1 Z: [+ \- ]% K% P- b1 \+ W1 Gsaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and, ^7 W0 }; n0 {- I" j
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
' t/ N+ K3 Q) e; K7 V2 z7 b( Belectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
2 b3 N r4 }& o6 {0 L$ B' _+ fcause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only$ l* @, | v$ I j! v4 `4 x: M9 ~
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
% U1 B( F3 P8 I _9 y; N; G1 bby Toyota's lawyers."
- K. n" ~$ `) F; m, P6 zLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
5 E5 V$ j- W& V0 N7 N& P3 [problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our- A$ ^, x+ z. o/ m# F L1 w
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he4 _/ R0 `" V Q+ j& b
said.
6 \, _0 [0 ]) k( R0 p* J"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with8 j$ a" v/ I9 P0 _) V
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our7 ?+ n! s; S# x% [( r7 f. k
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating% P! G; n3 {8 R
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.+ m4 w/ u: [" ~2 R; e5 e
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
& v1 `8 N& X3 K6 Q5 v. Amembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread: }2 P+ H$ z7 ]$ K; `7 k
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
/ ? R2 f1 v! K! E! t$ y9 \automaker, at least in part because of the government's
3 m# l& K! T8 `# c0 t8 r, T7 Xinvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
. g* K J; X5 \. {# @Chrysler.
9 \' Y2 U2 X9 V3 ]$ T1 l"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax. C6 h o3 H3 u
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
$ D" P+ Z7 y8 d JHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
- }( r! p% E7 ~; P: X6 t! ]$ kserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete7 e6 J/ y8 A$ U ]2 c, m
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
7 j2 w9 j# r$ S0 J! Jtough."
9 o( m9 [( j& F' _---( L6 R3 U5 E# v- P3 X3 f
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
$ S1 g# [) }+ [* f4 U$ Q hRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
+ _& R/ m+ o/ `2 t- m) l2 X( |this story.
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$ q Y/ b8 a% d$ e$ ?& D' N-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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