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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
3 s) N$ Y; W1 e; H- Z* F+ ZBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
& V; O' V, X p# h! YWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
+ e/ a. o' S+ X: c( P: f: foperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
9 z7 s7 ?% B7 @+ Zthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
3 Y; s$ A" m: ~; G7 Ssolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
( H& A) N2 ^. K"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
( i. X6 M+ A3 W' Vcauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.2 B+ h k: }4 a
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
6 i# ~ A' k& U, U* O; Xacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and6 i3 _# M* [" K' }
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor8 M. C. h9 ^/ w* Z" y
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.
$ ^! @4 c# j% C# NHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal h3 q% M2 C- V$ U$ T9 s8 m Z
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
! L" j* l: g4 F" j9 D- N7 H# A0 r# hcriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be. m6 M" C5 T8 j5 K9 u
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could" G0 r1 g; \2 i
not stop her runaway Lexus.
& q8 ^; e2 ^$ [2 D7 x"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,* o5 |1 a4 }/ v4 p9 o f
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second1 a) ^4 h! u* _8 n) i' f2 [* r& v) g
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.- w z% E& c4 Z* z* o
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
, c+ ~* H4 f3 O7 B+ u2 r+ W/ Learly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
8 h# K: ?8 p4 O0 f" v& f( `"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has) q- x8 p6 ~ I+ k' v4 V% I
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway; j8 M2 W' i& [6 [7 B' ?- ~. e# [7 n
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
0 o( n2 h+ E6 Q3 y8 Winvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
h1 R. d4 c9 \4 NLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an: f; Q$ Q# a6 x2 v
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
3 ]0 }$ Y$ b0 b6 R/ lthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
5 V* ?7 D; d. u3 Kmalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
2 l- ]% g+ s0 U' ?/ j, L. wsaid.
1 f& w3 |) d8 b' K' w, `As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
9 r# \( f3 e& T3 [. ~happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
8 T/ E6 b2 \# \+ S* h) ^about driving our products," Lentz said.
0 ^! s, h& ?! C" O& y+ t" hThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's* U d( X/ D7 b6 N" H1 V
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
$ t& G! R- _0 X! qrecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 64 I8 }& d* K+ B2 E% w/ y2 i
million in the United States -- since last fall because of
6 ]! V. y: s% `unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
" n( [% }; l6 W1 c" vissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
& F' v. o9 X1 F9 k/ Dconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of; u' f$ a: B' |9 J0 ~% k+ i
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow, A( ^- y0 S' S+ x3 I
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has' E6 W7 A/ u# P# n; o
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration' Z/ t; U8 @2 h } G* J
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.) d; f$ X, i6 q) _
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own8 P$ b0 u2 k6 I9 y! F- U
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he+ b( h8 Q. q% V+ P1 O
understood the pain.
* `) H( r; Y ]5 @9 s: g"I know what those families go through," he said.+ T) B& M( B! P8 P0 j6 X, L7 N2 B
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
1 y% o8 e. d' b- @1 L- `fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems." D* b! m/ ?+ |& q# W
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman0 A& q0 V- ^ [% n! t0 |5 q
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put9 s; S( K; l# R9 `2 a
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,7 B" U+ U3 S# A/ F3 J$ L
Lentz replied: "Not totally."
- H7 r* r6 A( w# m7 i) YStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were# k8 v8 l- w' ^7 s. A
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
4 ^3 c* S* w& U) y& u3 O/ c- a9 xToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
, S& w# F: N9 v, O8 hpedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its9 [7 |, @! [& ~! K7 _% |& J
vehicles already on the road.
5 W$ o2 ^7 A/ h7 N) ?3 C6 _" t5 AMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify! K3 a6 x- L& E% g7 e& Y# R
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
: a @$ E3 b$ a' I7 U4 Bresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
% F! g! C0 R. \& f, |1 i/ O3 {offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
7 O3 R7 j- B4 C* C2 T8 Ukilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.! v9 T) d3 n- F) E$ M9 ^
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
, |+ u. I( y! t! q% mtragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
, R8 p# }/ M& _( L. Jfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
/ n6 q1 C' }1 @9 @+ `# G) ECommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
9 s6 X/ A* u ncommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to: t5 O+ \; L% v; M0 s- z7 j$ ]
restore the trust of our customers."
. X* @' v% a' W0 H- Z; i, xLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
" Z+ z( E# m, J+ fSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
/ j6 ]. r5 ?1 M# s9 Nzoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
4 o7 e+ _( g) @! fshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
/ o) w' }0 l* Ohitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough7 }9 \- T' k8 g9 ]$ t C8 U$ A
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and2 `. k/ l' d1 w2 X) ?
turn off the engine.. n' q) @1 U( j& b: m+ B
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of" C, x* J: a! `* D! G" U# Y
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."* A! q; y# m. N4 j3 F! a, c4 P6 q
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she( f# E+ b% w6 h9 K. i
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
g6 a+ g5 r$ x* K- \to her complaints.5 G$ ~! g, x, Q |5 ~5 b2 [. v
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
. g: C6 n5 l7 H \returned again and again to the question of whether electronic9 T/ Q3 L1 x6 p& D6 ?
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
) u. M; n) q, K"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
5 n7 v \8 u D/ G* _- G+ W- `throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
) i0 Q7 k. I; G r"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
3 U2 `: a0 l4 ?: J: @+ K5 N' F; Qoff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."1 t/ t1 O5 Z# ?2 y
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in! {7 [& K+ O$ ^* O4 k
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
5 K' V% g8 }% ?- G$ b+ X! G) v% ]4 A) Wbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
7 R; d% I, B" \; l, lwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer& _' P) J% b$ H$ j
every question."
. o- O. C) q( L5 n; wToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
" V E, P% `# _+ F; n' p0 P5 Felectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
3 }9 q# e1 |1 J- W4 n6 U9 r7 ^firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But3 T- _; i( J6 e! ^ c% G' e
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small4 Z3 H6 b7 g5 v- j
number of vehicles
, {; u5 K1 m! W" ~/ STracking down an electrical problem can be far more
8 O( D/ v+ f3 zdifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
% z# }2 g! N8 d& z0 p# t2 ^7 Qmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
Z0 D5 e& L; `/ u( a( h$ j. Qsource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.2 M* X9 c# r* A( [- |6 h
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
/ k/ r6 f" m+ i) ]where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
( _1 K: h! {1 w% etrace at all. b3 a V* `; V
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call% ]4 C0 B8 O1 O
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
: P' _+ ], V, q, M( N( R3 aacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
8 a( m2 R( P1 _! o! Jrecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.% X! e+ f3 N' g! B; @7 f- e# I3 v
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,3 Z" O0 o" |% X2 p8 [
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
- @" r+ }# d$ w0 |0 dother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
5 g) @. T. n N3 p. a# Jelectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible- G: h9 W& `/ |4 i% w
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
* y( O. h1 _/ X# msuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained9 |/ H+ t/ D1 S( W) [
by Toyota's lawyers."8 e' B) w" `) J& X2 L3 y
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of+ r7 B8 x. I) x q$ T& U# Q5 a
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
# f1 Y5 [( r: u. e7 W/ l% mcustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
( |3 Z# Q9 I/ e, usaid.2 n' y/ U# ^7 X
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with* g7 f& i8 r) ]% d$ [3 q
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
% L( q/ O$ u( c/ ugood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
; F* y* e) J3 { Wofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.: q. @7 l, _5 \& i8 Z; C3 i
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
# }6 u& K, q& `5 O5 \, amembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
5 c9 {- U8 v; y7 m% `; brancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the' [. r0 Y) A/ W" O+ X
automaker, at least in part because of the government's( c4 x6 V: O* d; P6 c
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and" t1 X! U% O; j+ }7 w
Chrysler.6 a0 }# ^6 ?$ }2 S" K
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax( y2 i6 p) S4 V) R( x- r
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a0 y3 i, C+ ~6 [5 |. e
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also" |+ a' _/ x* k/ d g; C
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete5 c! z6 k: J" G1 I3 w: e
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty1 Z/ M9 Y. u4 R; }
tough."# y# W1 _2 ^, [! `9 R A
---3 x* \/ i( O( t% J
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom" t7 }( z% `$ F% E5 z9 p) h% F- ]
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to: g2 h# ~/ }7 F: N/ c
this story.
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1 D& `& b1 c3 y) j, W2 I g: ]; L-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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