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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
0 o; e* E! y7 Q# R2 X; \6 Y* ^By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
( w* p7 P! f. l, x) J) J6 U, VWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
0 s+ F1 I6 Z: ]. Koperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that& \! Q, Y3 f# I5 m
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
5 F- w! l1 d' @/ Isolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.% a9 ]. F O: N* x2 c& u
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential# \6 i4 V) b& i" n
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
: [' w0 U$ Y7 V0 Z+ A: ?+ WHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
3 }8 B) s7 p x0 v: p% yacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
5 @) p+ g+ q* b0 v% D* K& C" G1 Qtrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
6 y+ l; }( R- {, C Qmats and sticking accelerator pedals./ c9 _! E# J9 b( i" G) `1 q5 C
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal$ `1 T, e% Q1 _* m
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp- C# D" a1 o( g8 l
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be5 i/ I+ Q, E c# [, U
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could0 {5 v6 E' A$ r2 N' S/ r! o
not stop her runaway Lexus.5 ~6 j1 S! ~/ P8 o2 _6 A
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,+ u! l0 D5 m, u1 j* y2 i7 F% }5 c
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
! {2 e$ _- [' d"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.% Y. k; M7 x4 @4 u4 {
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues1 w3 E3 v( x2 h3 j4 V# [4 L
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said) ?4 Y8 s* c; {. w. f
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has2 x9 B: V- X* L# {
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
1 @' f8 ?- R$ ~4 }) \through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's: m3 x h0 d9 x R
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."2 b+ z0 T: j( @, Q) g
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
. O& G2 R8 [, q) z7 Delectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
, v: v3 K+ e/ r- r a; @* mthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a N! n% g+ H" ?2 k- f2 p3 z: s
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he2 r+ f$ Z U" f2 b
said.& M7 B5 X3 X- D" g
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
) v# I: `5 N9 \- w: f5 Z V2 Y Dhappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe' ~; f3 S' \5 P6 P1 a
about driving our products," Lentz said.
1 p- d3 v( j# R2 `+ x/ KThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's' { H j: p3 y# x0 ]) C9 o
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
' p* {# K% w. T/ Z/ zrecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
, Q7 D( L# U- x6 k- Qmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of
6 ?+ F0 H8 ~; t9 }9 V. vunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
% w/ _, Z0 n# Tissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
, [' { D3 d. qconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of4 } t8 |. U# T' ]- I# k0 N
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
5 Q) e- X+ ~' Z: ]0 P( g6 \2 ydown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has0 X- }# W/ s. D4 _" f3 T# L
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
* m; ^" J8 I) a! K. Kof Toyota vehicles since 2000.3 R% m `( }6 J1 |
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own: ^6 @; j1 v2 G
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
# M Q. B: W; e* {$ V1 tunderstood the pain.
2 K5 a% M" r [: v$ ~' Q! D"I know what those families go through," he said.
% v& P5 Y- V7 u5 @# r& jLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's- z0 s, r4 {9 W1 v
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
! M3 N a: b2 m' kBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman" G5 q0 ?' q- ?! D4 t
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
5 i8 q; `/ \* p. p7 Tin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,1 w5 |$ ?- q8 v4 y' K
Lentz replied: "Not totally."% [# i& a* u3 r/ Y, B
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were# E4 U* Y0 p/ j
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
' u( F: [8 U, H `* t7 ]Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas* k! `9 n, ~! z1 [! R/ c
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its; P! V$ Y5 J+ D. s
vehicles already on the road.; A( f& D! \; Q; j3 v
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
$ e/ e/ S) |% N E4 b) jbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
, r/ u' t b1 ~. ~# T# Hresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
- d: A. p! ^; K4 ooffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were5 v: c& w9 \3 Y9 z
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.! F" O4 U: f/ Q x" Y( C
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
4 {3 N, J8 m1 ^- [tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony. U) q# z% w& C1 ?8 l
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight5 X% X6 Y' Z7 k, z& w
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal- ]* o- v6 k' O( \- R6 _
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to9 b" _- }+ V$ ^, }1 `
restore the trust of our customers."
2 R) [; O) S* G0 X _Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
/ v& ]' E* W5 X/ h8 {! SSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly% g# E+ T- R' f+ c' _
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
7 O$ o' ]2 D3 A, ~shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
8 z% q, m* @) q! K/ [& F: Phitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough# Z+ F5 ?! K) f& R6 l3 x; W6 q
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
' G6 X* t9 I; d. a! n% qturn off the engine.: m8 ?* {: {* `8 b9 J
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
9 w8 d1 |+ G( O8 UOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."0 [' ?: F. N: J$ q- v; N
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she! F: F# w9 ~4 m! m7 V3 j- R
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond5 {* V; G5 d2 D# _6 j* G; {
to her complaints.
6 {6 w2 S8 S4 y0 s8 H+ u' M7 Y# IIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
9 E, [) k# a9 R* s8 }$ v# breturned again and again to the question of whether electronic+ Z O+ |" O+ t4 k
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.+ o1 l m* c5 V0 C. {" q
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric# F \$ M' ^& Z
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited' p. ~9 J, x" x# ?
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
3 F$ k1 B4 |/ C9 ^9 ~+ ?, j& Goff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure.") r5 G, o0 y# J |1 U
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in R: W X" k% c0 I* Y& g% k
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
3 w7 y: B* m( d! u4 B. L. Tbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls9 A% S, l$ h) f; I% e4 i4 t5 ]
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer8 V& Y0 K% K( h: W; n+ t+ S
every question."
, O6 O/ |3 i( n6 AToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether4 n7 k$ W# o0 o3 \9 ]8 b. O
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
- O+ w% O( P5 K/ P: ^2 h9 M: Z/ Yfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But# J6 A) z) X. R' K' Z) L
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small. A1 I/ v2 Z6 H; A9 U
number of vehicles
0 Q4 L Z# N. M8 pTracking down an electrical problem can be far more% X3 C v6 Y0 ?( d0 y: \: m
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
m, z B/ K" Y5 A5 Wmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
: A+ ~; B" J: ]7 d, z% O& rsource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.! K1 ?( \4 Z6 X0 F3 R t k
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
8 o( d/ W; ^. U4 m+ m* Twhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
7 A _- c- r' O: F+ F' vtrace at all.
6 T Q, X1 t# k9 WHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
. D8 E* P6 e. J9 t! u! C% adatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden; Z: i* \# W. I* O* W$ X& s
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the) v6 h! \( b5 ~( [5 v; W
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.( c! w0 [9 L3 |7 W) N" w
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,7 w- g, ]; N6 v4 j. v) R
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and" ^; \5 \& G3 }2 d
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the$ V9 e) w5 E3 o
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
. b& l! J9 i' q, W o& p! Qcause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only ^* m1 U" W& V' c- O
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained) i* q7 i2 P H" j! ?' K3 i
by Toyota's lawyers."
) m! D+ Z7 g! I5 ^Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
/ u& V/ m0 T3 L- _& N6 Vproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our4 d6 I- w. m) [1 N V
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he+ D4 Q# ~' x; \/ }/ Q6 l2 l$ s! J
said.
4 M- f; j, p4 A, O. M0 D+ u8 {; f2 {4 h"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
b# i4 s- P& u% E& m" X7 p* |a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
7 A- r8 {) k& A+ Lgood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
) q) O, K4 v/ `3 ^4 K4 iofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
# W) [- s8 m5 A6 v# l0 a+ V6 x' eSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying" `1 o; F0 T: \" Y
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
! E2 Y# V* E8 M: Vrancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
7 q. R" h# G* n$ Sautomaker, at least in part because of the government's+ C! G+ V5 Q% W# U, R
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
) y- _0 I8 z% G" v' k- PChrysler.8 Z% m# X! k; ?: G
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax) M; P9 Q* @4 c) C! S
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a- P) ]) n* V D0 m9 L. A3 c% y
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also/ U3 }( P' o7 ?- W
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
! T# I2 n& {( f$ H; Cwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty/ z" g8 E+ b& J4 p+ @
tough."
+ x& o, w# a7 v---9 G+ N) P/ Z* p
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
" E5 K0 X) y, ?Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to2 j; o% g3 l2 N6 e5 c
this story.2 P1 a0 `3 U7 V& a+ I" g4 v. j( A$ \
7 m: Y* {6 F% P-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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