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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题2 Y; {$ b" N9 b+ I( S/ {
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS+ U( _. M* o5 \5 `7 Z" j# z! U
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.: _3 @* c( R. R% Z4 j$ n1 f+ \8 k
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
8 j$ ^" T4 i% D" D3 \) l- dthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
" z7 O6 k6 c3 D, Y6 Ksolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
( L0 D' _7 E/ v. O6 {"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
' ]! c. b' ~9 h" Wcauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
, n" a: f; b! f) kHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
/ m: W7 I2 f4 h, D" |! O' yacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
% N( k$ @$ `! O, i4 c+ T3 L3 ptrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor" g1 l! \( p( H% E% o) z7 ]
mats and sticking accelerator pedals." R% x5 B6 q7 e; \
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
4 m' Z2 h7 f; land fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
9 j6 J; V8 A) L) D& }criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
, h( T8 d( N1 c3 [further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could# Q. h, M' I- U/ S" b# R
not stop her runaway Lexus.1 V" h- Y8 x/ f* g1 X7 y
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,+ x( m I/ X/ i3 b
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second* A8 R, N( W4 K0 i' w" p- r1 s" S
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.$ c! ]9 Z# `8 Q$ U1 c) a' X
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues' f) Y; V4 t+ W+ t$ o* v# i, P
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
* V& B$ }* s4 b"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has* X. E4 _1 u \1 S0 D6 u! O
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway& {8 M" m% Z9 l; h; S* D+ M
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
# b5 o/ M$ P& K: C) Vinvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
5 w* W; S3 B F4 G7 ~% k/ G& w) PLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
% {+ z, x8 }4 ?2 a; A$ pelectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of& e) d4 a8 h: Z3 s5 S/ t- W
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
& Q9 c% X7 i+ c0 Nmalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
3 {# ]$ g: N# ?0 Ysaid.
6 _* S6 ]; k9 }+ {As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
3 w3 b+ a# B) T- Shappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe! a t+ }2 G* n, e
about driving our products," Lentz said.
7 O% o% I% Y2 [Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
L& b- H. V2 i/ J' ^+ N9 ^problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has% ^3 A$ S8 @, M6 l! L8 Q" C& Y
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
6 ^; F( D$ }* ~million in the United States -- since last fall because of& E! Z- P. g* I4 A: n" g: `
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
! U1 g: Q0 F1 o) y4 t4 Pissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
# y- x; M( K# r# tconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
+ U% r+ M% M4 a3 Utheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow, c% ?+ e- r$ ?0 W0 B7 j: a
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has* u* [1 Y* _ O d6 F v4 Q) c
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
$ u n; s0 {4 M0 k" mof Toyota vehicles since 2000.
. D9 e) @6 b5 O3 @/ }Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own" K) Q0 i+ m7 x5 L8 r
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he' `) Z. v/ G! \2 g- C- c2 B3 m
understood the pain.0 N0 i. S. X- n* ~) B7 Y# q1 l
"I know what those families go through," he said.
/ T, j# c1 A" j2 j- |4 cLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's4 r, x3 }0 o8 j- I; P5 z
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
! e4 o1 B$ `* t8 E( A& eBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
5 B: I4 a1 {3 }9 bHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put5 w6 [; K( ]( q* U; b4 a
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
" h- q# l, n1 T! \1 h: LLentz replied: "Not totally."6 e* n) X2 _; l7 @& s
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were* q0 m& L* e8 i" N
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
1 j( ]* p/ Q2 F2 e$ W7 E/ v. \7 u# ZToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
& M) m/ `: J; Y2 |6 apedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its- U$ r- g4 d- T' G6 z% m
vehicles already on the road.8 X( P9 [; X7 y( e+ K
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
, a6 g% m" X# y( X2 qbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
6 m$ K( E/ V P9 Q; ^- H% u1 L1 yresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
4 ^; S! {$ o& voffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were9 e) b" f% _1 Z
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.% w0 ?# T, D/ B1 m/ n
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
4 d5 l; Q! B5 o( a5 Etragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
$ m, w& B" G u4 bfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
4 F! H1 v% I0 g: XCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal% @( d# C. b8 Q9 z
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to8 O: s2 c: _1 P; E7 U
restore the trust of our customers."
0 {8 |; n1 j% q! p, GLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from1 N- n; N% l; H% {& N7 @
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly! e/ x6 x4 f# k7 _$ ]( B; v
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --% z, B' L7 r7 ?; G+ i( F
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and6 m0 t, c% e4 E9 E
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
' p: u; V( S* jthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
, f! J6 v" k& k' G/ vturn off the engine.
1 J: v; u) `/ t H8 OFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of# O- N/ k2 M5 w4 Q; B4 [4 R* Q' F
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."1 k$ J% K% W3 b8 M' \
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she; _% F9 z* ?8 ?5 T
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
* G) L4 D; f/ e3 m* nto her complaints./ i5 e* i0 A5 [
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
7 {) Z" Q3 o+ i0 jreturned again and again to the question of whether electronic, T z8 c$ Q5 ?' U: i- a3 h
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
, Y+ c% N2 s9 X6 `- n6 R"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric$ n* d+ M+ U( P0 \, n- b* f
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
2 f7 {: r4 p* C1 B"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut% X, S, o1 O9 y- C) D: e
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."+ w) t$ u7 {7 s/ ~8 f4 F
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
/ a. W! A2 i) ?0 w |& x x$ kprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
" b) R3 A& G' t+ \( V- v. Fbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
4 [( R/ u. D, I- U$ [/ t2 Wwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer9 l. Q5 j' b6 d- r
every question."7 ~# q9 i- `. @. r% q
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether" t( q/ o& E6 p3 l) }
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The- ~5 E- E3 P5 W( p2 L: k
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
2 ^5 n0 G/ C6 W$ _committee investigators said the testing studied only a small. N2 X) }2 v& T3 K+ h
number of vehicles
* {9 j- ~. K2 |5 TTracking down an electrical problem can be far more7 Q, L8 X; F& ^7 N6 W# D
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a k2 w+ j. d7 ~, B
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one' W9 m# y1 C+ r) U' |+ N+ s
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.0 O, A) k8 C4 L. h. y/ A7 t
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,* L: |1 W4 a G/ O% {4 s1 `$ H$ D2 N
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no: r+ P& |3 U, }- O
trace at all.
) @& u4 D, @9 |* n/ V5 GHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call9 _" b. u7 W! B
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden0 R! z$ L, ]& Y" D* q o* r
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the) N/ k# ~+ m/ i t! Z A/ y: p
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
9 P$ y# E' Y6 @Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,( Q( w& N- t X' _- _
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
( Z0 V3 u8 f1 B0 C& e O* wother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
4 |9 V2 U* X; P' r+ C; Welectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible5 N" w$ N* o4 ]4 f0 e
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only+ |3 l1 q- v5 N0 ?3 G
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained" K: N: Z! P; p3 c
by Toyota's lawyers."
! R& D& [5 I6 p4 j2 ?8 oLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of" T9 y6 L" [2 |3 b' C- y
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
( X, i4 ?$ X0 K9 g! M+ ^% Kcustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he1 X5 n( y, z0 s3 \$ U$ {' E
said./ i: @6 Q2 r! t
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with" `- d& m; s' E. c4 @% N o& D" |
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
N! x" f1 U1 f. x3 x9 T4 ngood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
- z9 m R% r) xofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc./ p& N, M' y5 \: x
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying- K1 x0 L6 Q6 }2 M% Y
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread" e4 ^* V' C5 }6 x
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
& o% R- K: _8 S( }2 Q9 a/ ~% nautomaker, at least in part because of the government's
- B# O' J, P' m9 X* K y( Sinvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and- U* h. w8 {; ^( Z
Chrysler.
8 M0 y6 _1 |( i! X* H"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax1 v% x8 h% [7 J) i2 I" w
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
& [/ L% k6 F3 \0 s/ n0 J$ x/ o/ \" SHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also3 C6 C1 I( t( Y' e% n
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
% z& \0 c5 p* `- t3 e. }with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
7 x k& _$ |: m' Xtough."8 ~! X) C t, F6 L3 b
---
: ?& G* x& J- f T' uAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom& y* f! Q9 h9 m: I8 v/ ]
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
Q6 Z/ Z0 T: l @4 ~8 G$ ithis story.! M! e) L! a% `
! M: @8 C, X6 l$ v8 n" d-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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