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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
% X; V$ Z1 c' [! b+ C( DBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
# ? ?; S) [6 }9 z& [4 ~8 {2 L- b, oWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.' y. ^4 Q5 C1 {- v2 D Q
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that4 u. C( Q. }% {# L4 p
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"! W) _2 F5 c* ?4 }; k% f
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.5 j6 `2 o! x' d% }; W4 Z( l2 `
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential+ C9 P: g6 y( t# s% ?: |2 E Q6 I
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel. R7 `0 X2 E4 X3 y
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected/ B- l/ E6 J! T. c) r; M
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
9 j, Z" Q# o3 I: X: t" strucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
1 d0 F+ u, F8 l) I# [mats and sticking accelerator pedals.( w) j8 W: { e$ U
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
, X0 w' d+ |. c3 D9 v8 Nand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
% V7 Y; E6 d" _0 \! f) ]: @( I# qcriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
$ |& y9 s J; g) ?0 |further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could9 e/ h$ t0 _6 P, U7 B* K' E
not stop her runaway Lexus.$ m Y2 h- q9 b! Q% v
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
1 E; b* r4 z1 n1 VTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
, ^4 }' K9 L/ h+ W- Z6 c7 }5 s"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.2 G7 p9 f4 p, A3 f( b3 A$ }( `
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
: p/ M5 [# N6 S0 [4 @early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said. F; d9 I5 M6 [; y% y5 {+ ]) P
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has3 }! C0 O5 K) F; Z
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway6 n O7 D! r% ~5 Q/ `, s: l
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's: v" M& }; D4 R M, \/ F& e: J
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
" U$ E5 w! v/ }4 `; f9 ]0 ILentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
( c$ O% u" R* Q( nelectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
7 A6 I# N6 s V2 ?the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a0 E" n5 s. o7 L& m/ K! p
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he7 C& j* N3 T& t w9 G
said.5 ]1 S+ C3 [$ q$ @/ |7 g# K
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
: \ n8 K6 {1 b/ }& Ehappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
& l/ X9 f. Q, o0 x. b; Nabout driving our products," Lentz said.9 `/ |/ K/ x, B2 o% ^$ }; ^
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
! i3 F0 G u& q* a6 vproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
p: A' ?( j. m3 Wrecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
( p+ }- N7 W5 f1 D) N+ T H) gmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of/ t3 y4 M6 f: Q& a/ f3 J$ d/ O
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking, ]' {8 N- X2 c- Q$ w- y2 ^( t$ @4 N
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering& d0 t. |2 p' G2 F* ~0 {1 d) G, g
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of7 R N- V$ D0 a7 z5 v; C0 [: y4 U& F, J
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow: W- {* d1 \" G$ |
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has6 d! o H* A; P9 w8 V. l
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
% Q( h0 e$ m" _- _4 K1 z$ Fof Toyota vehicles since 2000.
, o: W1 ?4 E E' |$ e( I2 xLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
! k% S( u8 h; L4 W0 R/ i5 kbrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
: \; @) {) v9 h' n5 O# hunderstood the pain.
- K6 H8 m( U5 ]' H2 s1 U# |"I know what those families go through," he said.
4 B- \# X5 I: X8 G* XLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's7 `1 Q% t% S! {5 L3 M3 ]4 d( g- \
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.( }( ~! H4 M. t
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman3 Z( _) f+ `2 b' L* t/ U. Z- t
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put% p: h) z+ x& H! e0 g1 P
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
/ `8 n- V4 R! S- yLentz replied: "Not totally.": b4 s. Y5 t8 }& n# l0 E
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
0 x6 m+ a: G2 o- b3 S# U5 g+ A"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
t( I* M$ H' k, q) ~5 H* SToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
$ R) j8 i/ {+ i) Y6 I! Hpedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its$ ]+ \) e7 o: Z" F8 Q. r
vehicles already on the road., {* n1 D$ Y; W1 }
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify% o, Z3 l8 r/ ~0 W7 r7 M
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
8 |/ ^" v7 x9 B+ I* `% J# M9 J! P" presponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and1 {3 e- Q2 X+ ~) a% f0 |
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were; u( S4 W: n6 b& W
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.1 M- u% a" {( n$ J( O# Q
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
, _3 B6 D: i3 A. \1 O/ itragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
/ P8 S: i2 F, p( o. Vfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
) @1 i. m2 _4 F; F7 W4 fCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
6 C- G6 E" }1 o! p/ g3 w7 ccommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
' y& Y8 H- }/ n& D1 F6 erestore the trust of our customers."' f4 ]1 ?( D# s& i7 p
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
+ ^2 k* W& D) A, H* PSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly8 q; @% |3 _7 T7 o9 L
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
) D5 l. T! o0 @7 S+ Xshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
; `3 b! z6 \) P. y% L: D0 Ahitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
& y5 L7 N- l& \% K' P z# Wthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and- I* B7 H( [; F3 ^% Z' x/ }
turn off the engine.1 p; i- B4 a& _) X5 x- y
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
8 H' T1 X. `+ C& UOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
8 ?7 h4 P, y) p. J"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she4 j) O' g" Q5 ~" s ~
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond' f" B8 E: R" R; @6 T5 H9 ?) }0 h2 k
to her complaints.
& o1 L7 x4 L8 G0 LIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
) k8 C$ \# y8 s4 }" ?) c& Z' i5 O& Wreturned again and again to the question of whether electronic
; b6 j+ _+ e( l6 \$ }malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
! {/ e' }9 k* f. t! o, r5 B9 l"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric' _7 k6 f$ o6 u; S
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
5 ]& z7 L+ N; V0 x"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut4 t$ O2 @! n/ d6 I1 f
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."/ j+ D9 J* Z4 A4 M3 ~, l
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
/ X' P6 X$ H% k4 cprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
9 h" O7 }3 }( L# _' C- m7 b) Z8 W- bbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls7 n8 Y0 x4 a" Z6 ?8 G: B+ g
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer% I+ \- S/ x( q6 f
every question."
/ U, l" }# [. L3 V# `! T- Z: oToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether) x4 U d, h) n$ z6 S: ^
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
" U! |0 D7 l) }/ D7 ofirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
( \8 c S( B- T) v# a' z0 y: u5 M4 Mcommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small# Z& P6 R p) ^6 b$ e1 C
number of vehicles
& u; o4 X/ `( \" J1 t+ [. vTracking down an electrical problem can be far more
! y& _1 ~/ R* b; L$ xdifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a n) a. q K) U
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
/ Y* i+ U( B& i( Vsource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.; a; f: z* B$ d2 U* n
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
2 J% x: L1 E4 A8 Y% t) wwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no; J% B x$ J: R6 r4 c' d
trace at all.
" P1 s3 H/ j1 Z$ i4 L. e: mHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
4 Q8 A3 T! n X# V4 }9 t% w- [ @9 sdatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
% n! [- h9 q6 racceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the/ [4 n2 o4 g% v6 K
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
, a6 i2 p* F! Y+ [& |9 T+ C( KRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
" t# u1 K s. h, csaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
& }, J" y3 `+ G& ^6 {! ]# ^! wother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the+ l6 P8 R/ ]. o) K2 U
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible) O; H3 B0 W$ A
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only: I f1 O, ^1 |% U
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
* h) m! d' e% y' t9 Q6 n+ i0 kby Toyota's lawyers."
6 M* ^- ]# c6 d+ d8 ?( j, u( jLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
5 n* O/ {' T c+ ^# H4 X' Xproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our4 G: R# G) Q5 M! f
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he1 a6 K! ?/ c5 p2 b) e! Y& _
said.
: [* b: r4 w5 `& R; k- K5 z"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with) O/ ^% k* Q3 T# h P
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
5 g* V& o) q+ M; Bgood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating3 |4 H. {' w3 f4 P
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.1 @' u# O' s% R# I+ e2 O' W
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying. G* O1 _* M; a
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
, F* r# Q, e0 u* M- Y |7 mrancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
( c: f9 T) [$ U/ oautomaker, at least in part because of the government's6 @( t$ N9 c! P5 c( `
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and& y4 e; \8 T8 z) B% ^
Chrysler.2 h' y2 D2 \2 [/ e
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax2 @5 a6 m' ]) O6 o8 M5 q
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
: r) y' Q s. XHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also8 i/ P$ \1 N. l4 D# Q5 z
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete# y9 `$ v3 W0 n
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty: j! b% P7 j/ r+ N# Q1 [, S: Q
tough."
3 s5 f3 x/ {. s7 ~1 i- i---
, F3 E* | ]" p% B' }Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
& a5 l& Z2 V, oRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to- R( H# i% _; _& T" i9 V
this story.
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3 u8 y' I! G- V-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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