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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
* K" ]( u( D. O1 t/ OBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
1 g( H! R3 k) t* Q. _Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
! o( h- `' @# b3 T. \2 P3 I" Loperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
' i& C. x- X! t3 n8 E4 t3 f M- Zthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
; U3 J) z$ D0 {: X' H+ Usolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
* l8 A7 P7 N- k/ G+ p"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential$ P# C$ \ C. ?6 m7 ? A" w
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
7 u4 r4 O0 D/ ?& K0 f$ tHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
1 B( u& v& @2 w- W! G6 hacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and% A8 m! {* c& V6 _: Z
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor% h8 f. t( k6 \! I4 T0 B
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.$ S* [& ^1 M* |
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
9 b4 g6 @3 E# Q# @+ r% Mand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp0 m A n& [" q8 g5 A3 [
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
6 A% r& d. Z, ~further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could* c' }' Y0 o+ y! [/ ~
not stop her runaway Lexus.
) Q' }( M2 t, s6 Q5 b"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,( [ _0 |! {. Q; f2 |# L$ ^0 R
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
. D0 ?' S" U+ H' S: S: `"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators. U! A Y+ P) z2 |+ v7 z4 i1 c
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
% I- z9 j! {0 \ J2 Bearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said) c: ?6 J$ \" K5 D
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
# r$ C" F9 c# D8 W) }7 G5 cdone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
`8 Y+ Q* H* ]) @% Cthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
+ L w$ u2 H1 L$ |8 a7 |investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
7 {; x1 W' C( A2 [6 x lLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
- t5 W$ q: c7 c/ s2 velectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
+ _$ d# V& x" k, y1 D& {' X$ ^4 \the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a0 O( T2 A) ~: C% @3 ]( ~$ Z" f
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he. L1 S' H/ M% w ^
said.3 J" C" W! S9 M( s5 Y
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what' z0 ^( o* r6 V: a- g$ L. |
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
7 ]. D& G% F* }! v* Babout driving our products," Lentz said.9 E' [/ g+ K% \
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
* p, ^( w# e X! k& Aproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has, a7 b5 O% O" s) M
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6: z- G5 f; H* ^# }4 r+ I) i) j7 A! @
million in the United States -- since last fall because of# }4 @/ u5 F4 H1 L$ D6 ~% m
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
8 x. ^7 ]8 \; H3 ]* Nissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
/ w8 [! y# x4 j2 qconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of1 a, l6 x- {, q+ Q$ L
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow. g) y9 w6 I ~! K {
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has& ]$ _/ ?' O6 X9 w8 F
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
S3 A( S- h1 s+ q) F; z( N7 e+ wof Toyota vehicles since 2000.
+ O( v. K8 m3 B9 r% mLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own/ x( R, W: ?# s1 W
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
A3 t, I9 ]) X8 r9 eunderstood the pain.
B! W6 R( m9 S"I know what those families go through," he said.
1 z+ }3 R% q# u+ i# V' nLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
5 V% Z: o' U0 Lfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.! v" J& P6 ?( w& }9 Q& t. f* u
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
5 B" F1 i2 _2 i& U; MHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
W% G$ H2 A. I" \4 _ Nin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
& x; V" I+ D" P$ ^: ZLentz replied: "Not totally."8 K& p* w+ @+ c( l8 ^2 A! J* j: P
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
. f7 W& ]9 l G. F: ? T- X"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said0 r- z+ l% T/ |7 Q, u
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas( v# k; v4 Z' H# I8 I7 ^. l
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its- \9 I4 d9 M+ z/ H' T$ J/ s
vehicles already on the road.
8 [3 e+ P% b: [+ x0 PMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
4 z; a! S# Q/ R! q& \% L" x. Obefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
6 N& D0 A* B" [: m8 T0 A$ l7 dresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and0 ~+ |' N3 N9 ~
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
& L) G/ t* m A% n6 F' lkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.: S: u/ Q8 j, |/ u, h
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
9 x: v, b# k1 A+ i/ etragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
$ Y4 U; [# F8 E# _3 J9 ~# [, [! ffor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight, J4 N! r3 g9 _( N* Q/ o
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
- G+ U5 a+ v8 q; w8 F- f jcommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to& k! }. P3 e+ z" n
restore the trust of our customers."
+ { B+ [* ]/ {) ~0 `( HLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
: U9 x# R" _! |: j P( y, h# r7 CSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly4 ~( d2 n }0 {% W5 o% {' B1 `
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
* Q) K$ m1 J3 N5 bshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
* O [+ ]4 J' o6 o Xhitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
" ^$ B- H' A/ e+ s0 r+ d) J7 v" Gthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
, R! p, c) Y' @8 bturn off the engine.* h2 a6 b8 g0 p( n( ~9 G
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of4 d1 \! T5 F' {
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
; `3 |5 g5 L2 [5 |8 H/ d& p"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
" Z3 B& v4 \! b. {. c; z" m% zsaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond! u3 X2 c8 m1 V" |: H/ o" e
to her complaints.) E! v+ ^6 O" X+ X
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers1 B; M. h8 y; P3 y, s
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
- m( `& d3 ]' I& Imalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.; \* M( A. u4 s5 P. _6 l. J3 G
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
1 B0 l+ [3 v' K. N3 r" _throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited0 e9 b5 q2 u( Z
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut- n8 q, [( W$ n
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."8 d9 O: \2 Z& F) o
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in+ I* X4 P6 O1 c
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were9 v2 `( t6 |, y% Z. |0 N
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls- l- O/ U7 ?" s: T8 U
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer9 E9 A$ d& }6 j6 J) O
every question."
$ B( O- _4 c# xToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
* H3 M0 e" Y7 N1 W" t* melectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
1 b0 u/ X- `& g3 Z5 o. z2 Pfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
6 M! E8 D* q5 \8 acommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small6 w' d0 q1 Z; Q; _5 n+ k8 }
number of vehicles
2 G6 b6 J: K/ I) |+ b" tTracking down an electrical problem can be far more5 D* A0 F* T1 O Y7 u
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
+ n3 S- A/ n/ n, n0 ^mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
, _1 }5 ]5 t6 O# Y* Dsource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
S" O$ G/ g- S/ a9 @. ZMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
7 Y+ \2 T& m; s# Q% Ewhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
: h0 W. S9 i' v( |) N1 u0 v% s8 Mtrace at all.
1 K* O8 a$ E/ p4 T6 e+ sHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
% f/ D9 f( P5 Qdatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
1 u1 s) ^: H7 _5 b! u/ Hacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the7 i) g! o6 N6 p v8 o' V5 F t
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
k9 [3 p6 n R0 @2 m, ^( cRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
, ^% d6 G! X* R D, `$ r- ksaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
' _3 W0 s- n* ~. n `other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the) N6 R" P# j- r( @9 g" q8 V0 R) i y
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible5 ~" a: s) Q: b) G* ?" A. T
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
9 f. ?( D; }- V2 E# f* ?* }such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
8 t4 I" ?0 ]7 jby Toyota's lawyers."
' h& B& @9 ]5 |7 ?) p' U, n2 hLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of2 i+ |2 W# j) A6 ~! c
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our1 ]/ l# H2 x: S9 L! e
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he; i0 z9 g C2 U- \; E
said.
: Y! X& Z5 b& T! p. C"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with7 Z* O9 _# @ K. L8 n
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
) k1 X1 Z7 M4 E( J: pgood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
9 T- C( k9 N7 R, l! A; r/ J Kofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
' S- m! J3 s9 R) Q' OSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
l# k: Z# n' [' u3 pmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
0 n( O$ ]7 n. n d; hrancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the) G6 ]# {; H: n4 y, {! h1 R9 u
automaker, at least in part because of the government's
3 _6 o2 t/ T6 }/ Z! r3 }# Einvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and( ~, [9 K: A. k) x% G* p
Chrysler.! m+ g, |- r5 f0 c0 q; v
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
' d* x4 H# T% z; ?# L- P7 jdollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a. A# d" O0 i! S. u7 ~
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
1 w. F% k. t- mserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete: g: R" u6 e# ~ {. v1 l: c/ D6 Y
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
# q2 y" }6 j3 R& Wtough."0 B0 e0 G! T6 x' o5 V
---
% U- F$ ], o6 V0 YAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom2 H" f$ J* i$ y0 [0 P* B
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
; Z. L1 M3 a& K1 D- f+ [this story.
5 P; |! g) g& p$ \& k2 {9 E
4 z& D! B4 k2 [" k1 Y-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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