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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
! D( M! S8 Z P1 A/ ]4 y8 `7 ~By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
9 v* M* x* O. P# e. v3 rWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S." [3 ^* ^+ }3 Q' {9 ~* Y( b
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that$ w: @# Q5 H; T [9 U7 B
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"# O! j7 ^0 B3 G& S2 G# G" {
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.5 U: y, h) u+ m6 F1 N3 h& _9 ^
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
, q/ D/ v5 Y1 T5 Xcauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.' W3 b, ]9 F7 ?2 C/ J/ R
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
7 \" o! \7 h+ ?2 ?8 facceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and# ^; R3 W0 e+ N$ u+ \( [# ^. {- ^
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor) E y' J0 H0 ~
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.( s) C" ]; t& Z& z7 B. W$ @
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
: q4 Y, r2 d$ h/ |6 U# G* @! z8 k+ Eand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp. W- E- N; R- h; Z8 B% U
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be9 i6 [7 H7 t2 j c3 {7 L
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could# h( V! T: b$ f
not stop her runaway Lexus.1 o: j1 W2 ?+ y3 E6 D a
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,+ O4 M! D2 R: ]/ w6 B
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second- y) w) h! [& \# E
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators. }7 |% o+ l+ a: \$ x2 l O
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
! }5 ?% G% p" _" h, i, C0 i; t+ E% H! ?early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said* d9 ^: X. y0 ^+ I$ b9 b5 C; G
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has7 J6 J, F' [# \2 u1 }8 l
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
1 f2 I) G, R Qthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
; |5 N+ c4 T- {' l! @' vinvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
' A7 ?9 i {, zLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an' `- X5 M' r0 q7 r- j0 }
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of! e# V1 w( n! c9 ^' `& p5 S
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
& l) r$ `: l2 smalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
3 V' n9 @, h& a! G7 Isaid.
, d8 D% H# B! m, H% d FAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what7 Z" O6 C: K) b1 L6 F8 O* ]& N
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
7 n* p' A7 I" O: |( F8 Aabout driving our products," Lentz said.
5 g6 N* c* F! L. b$ AThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
! B$ C: w/ D( D1 X1 a% e2 p$ {problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has5 w% C( E4 O! H- M! Y& ^
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
) _( ^$ M5 z. e& W" Smillion in the United States -- since last fall because of, \- X4 ]! P9 c. L T# R* j7 y
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking R0 M1 x+ _, k, s
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
) k2 i: y" I# ~1 x9 s8 N1 Hconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
% N8 E9 Z0 r2 k& stheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
0 t3 t% w) |2 {# wdown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
8 D. T+ F) s2 v, yreceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
2 A; _+ \- N2 J# S, m6 R' N3 Aof Toyota vehicles since 2000.
- B3 h$ i: d% p/ YLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own8 l* I2 u, ?3 m: _
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he' a# t# _% {, e/ i1 B
understood the pain.
. l& y$ v. ~8 i( r$ H& g"I know what those families go through," he said.5 Q3 t* G# w$ a# z8 F' w
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
, f; a6 m1 T* f# t/ w7 X# Dfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.0 S6 A' ]9 f- x. E8 J" k
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
' W% {) D& I1 t# _! RHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put# ~. U# _: R# `6 L
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
9 l$ J( f$ j: d. x& O% t: eLentz replied: "Not totally."
$ U- @2 M+ J# L8 `/ vStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
6 s9 Y8 O5 g" x4 r% a"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
* e6 {3 @: c4 iToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas% L- f0 B6 D! N% e4 T# u
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its6 ]: E2 G; O0 X5 l+ t
vehicles already on the road.
( U% _; f/ ^! b$ ]7 @' RMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify! y* b) J# @5 d/ Y! B9 u
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full& v5 N+ a) W$ l8 r" ^
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and1 M5 D% L7 L/ s% o: x5 G
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were8 S! v$ y+ X, {& k
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.! J6 _$ F9 b! q$ Y
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
% _9 G B# }; x' v1 u. ttragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony3 m- s0 |9 f$ q: m5 q* t
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight' p) e7 ~2 K9 E0 B* P. {/ A
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
- z- ?- M, k# K7 p* G3 ccommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to( n& Y* ~7 D( b# i( `
restore the trust of our customers."6 n6 Z# `2 N& @9 B
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from: y+ M8 m& P6 t: Q" ]+ u8 H" y
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
; n3 x- i- v2 ~zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --- P) m. ^7 ^# b
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
8 O5 p3 M1 \ y5 F* l+ @) uhitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough8 b/ y0 j. p3 ^, m1 B! q- I
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
; M5 `# `; I4 h: J! Iturn off the engine.! w0 b" n% t5 l8 K R* p0 E3 A5 n
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of' \5 D2 C) Q4 r9 a* d
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."+ C6 `$ P. s l: a
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
3 @* r5 j6 `" {4 U+ Qsaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond. K4 u# h2 w0 h+ B* s
to her complaints.
3 k( F/ H5 u! G/ mIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
, S- C" Q) i0 k" `% ^" y$ \, E" q Rreturned again and again to the question of whether electronic
( j b: C. q7 Gmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
. O: H; m; V, \( I/ u"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric) T4 e3 E1 y8 y& w
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited2 X" n% H$ y+ D& J
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut# z2 T8 G* S, T( N: S3 t8 B4 ?/ j0 w
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
. y. p- k f" n/ MTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
5 \8 x) N7 e# _; l3 }) ~. aprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
z0 d1 f' d+ A' P- C; A' E5 }being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
9 E( G* e3 y- Twere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer6 W$ }* X8 m' K
every question."5 ~, L! W( \8 {4 Y
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
/ L/ c1 g: m" \+ e" b; H/ O% V" `electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
& N3 ]$ Y! v Q0 Z0 C% Ifirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
. x: s2 E/ l" C! b$ icommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small( ]5 n3 ?! S8 V8 F5 u% s- i) a
number of vehicles5 X* v. _4 @0 O
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more
" D2 U; b6 Y5 Y6 }difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
3 a v& X) ]# _( k: H8 D0 X9 {6 Q- Lmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one7 W! P5 f1 ~8 l$ m) A8 J g; T1 r
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
) ]! z) i: D2 M, h, K5 v1 [Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,3 x; l, ]9 O. X! r
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no) l8 I0 x! X2 ^9 y0 o. u1 a9 u
trace at all.8 z/ R8 A9 K7 q* B+ p3 e' K
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call% a" i3 ^; T x# Y7 E
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
) r" u' v6 M$ Z7 O% ]acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
5 ^' k+ _6 ^; N4 B" Z- L3 frecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals., h& `; H& e' q) @$ L, Y- X: P
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
2 E3 i' I, L$ m; J( M9 `said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and6 x8 i0 J; Q7 |! H* X" }
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the: m4 o5 Q8 ^# |# `) v2 ~
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
& h' f9 J% V' Z7 _' Y( g( ocause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only5 f$ r- {+ r+ k" c% C5 D
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
2 X6 T$ G% A2 d4 Yby Toyota's lawyers."
" _" {& u I* d, fLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
Z8 j9 ]6 G: L) P1 Y2 Hproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
3 o+ T& n0 _+ a, `7 @3 Z- M' d) \customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he) Y2 u$ w5 S0 }2 C' g
said.2 U( [2 |/ e8 X1 ^8 [% Z8 w, \
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
3 q) m( R4 L* L3 B2 Ya rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
) X- Q+ c* J0 n7 F6 V/ sgood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating6 k# E4 w4 P) N" D% W
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
7 h- C& ]# ?% z. Z' B9 d) DSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying. \% E- Q4 k! S/ L
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
7 H. g( H- U) P/ urancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the# k+ z& q, U% \3 W3 J6 D+ v
automaker, at least in part because of the government's" C8 j5 k# d2 g# Y& _
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
6 D2 r. X; h! @+ _# m- U. |6 JChrysler. [2 U0 \3 ]0 ?3 Y& n" \! ~& M
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
, q$ r' a" E0 g5 S; n& j" }% ?dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
/ U/ O' U& P" n3 u M' V& _Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
8 o# z) y/ M* R4 [; ~served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
: z2 C( ]; K3 f5 V* ]3 P3 cwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty1 g% M8 Q J& g2 _8 c: @* O
tough."8 N7 {& D, a2 ]) o: ?" ~
---) H3 ^( s0 \; z: I% y; V
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
" T1 s6 z9 q& K& BRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
# F' V* C& T) S' W( b5 v' ~/ { Sthis story.
# _7 B& Y% u7 P) ?! S0 p7 Q- c. q
-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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