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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
9 m- x5 F- t; Y* ]By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
, k# D$ F8 H% F8 ~; i$ v! iWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S./ b( U, f* I: L3 C
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that! ~* h- I& ~+ q0 q( ^$ e
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"% ]# h0 p5 T7 X1 i# X
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.8 B/ j1 _ S9 d. O# i# T0 F* p
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential: U5 u# k' v! c5 F
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.; Z+ P$ Q0 m9 V" U, j. [9 G
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected4 Q% f. j- s* w& |
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and2 Q2 J; G& m/ t4 h0 D* x1 H; D
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor w7 `0 T% ]6 s4 i7 R, r7 G3 ~
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.8 k6 [8 D9 V( n# T2 b7 x' A
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal3 p" l% J' y3 }- s- j. x
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp5 i. P( c- F0 ]# h* F- t; o
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be- Y% _- k: P/ `
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could! O' O3 p- J- X9 d
not stop her runaway Lexus.( b9 z1 A/ i3 c
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
~) N& ]$ `- q" HTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
) [. b$ R' s' R! f- d4 K% s9 ?"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
- i- ~6 t8 ^6 m0 t7 x) A; K; ]/ _Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues Y; T1 c2 W$ b
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said: I: e; x& l. D) X6 b, Z9 T( n
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has& ^* M F3 ]8 y! h
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
7 G! x: w ]9 d% _$ ?( w/ J1 Zthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's' \0 L7 M2 Y4 S$ K3 S# e
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
/ I8 N, j, W) E; E4 ZLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an- h4 E+ D- z. P9 z* c3 j/ e% @$ H4 ] o
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of7 B0 u8 i/ u, x8 c/ T
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a3 H- c) @4 Z# ?) P
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
: D v: s. K( F0 z4 T7 Psaid.
2 {; z" Q a6 b: Z2 a$ q: zAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
+ R- S0 P7 p' ^* d" Y% E# |+ w3 A Shappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe5 P9 i. I- {$ l) |) ]6 l& w/ T
about driving our products," Lentz said.
* f% K0 f' e" J8 t3 dThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
! C! p: F. [4 [+ ^problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has* t3 |# ], M8 o0 U v5 S
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
: q7 O. a; N( O# |7 B; ?& Omillion in the United States -- since last fall because of. h$ c9 k& T1 v. t+ v6 N& I5 p1 W/ b
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
y7 O. {3 g; }6 T$ J2 ?! S. U0 jissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
3 G! s2 O. y( J. e% r* ?1 |2 wconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
- l6 k" d. |. S+ ^$ f4 {their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
8 [4 ?6 c# s* M, ?4 p% [( A7 Jdown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has: d( f9 M$ ]% Y* K9 f( K$ u. `
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration: C- b& [8 a7 V S+ f
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.
3 N. }8 T, z$ w! }Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own4 j" J1 r% p) p
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he# v7 u* g. m9 P/ U
understood the pain.
D `- a' F" `"I know what those families go through," he said. r5 b4 q) l( S! i& I1 f
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's( M. j- K7 {, Y
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems./ M$ Y+ |! e: K' x' F" @: \
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman$ ?; S5 }# ^4 [5 D. O3 J$ T, h: S5 x
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
* K+ A/ J2 }, `, |7 u; m6 H$ Pin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
/ j* q% k5 y9 b% M# ALentz replied: "Not totally.") e) ^+ U1 u. i# ?/ H7 G/ p
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were5 ^/ u6 V4 n4 Z( N# N- b
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said2 Q; n5 P& \* W0 ~5 b
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas+ s' D# D& _! B+ `
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
; ^7 Q# i5 k* Nvehicles already on the road.% M: M3 z( K& L8 H
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
& Q5 H) C- i+ }! O2 k' l8 e W7 u& _8 Z, Rbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
, F) M9 c" H4 `" Q( }. {responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and& S1 f6 Z% K6 b8 ~5 N: H( m" P
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
, @9 e+ D; W8 s! m- [7 t4 c8 T% Ckilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
4 p* G1 d% u3 v ?"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a S6 o6 X7 s$ E" I. [( h1 O
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony; G4 X+ [4 E7 E4 C5 ?
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight# t" O) h, ^5 R( X& J) Y
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal) v+ _; I8 J2 @
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
: ~4 s/ Q/ [5 }5 urestore the trust of our customers."
& B7 f) b+ }& `5 U6 n4 Q, }Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from+ i, @; c& P7 n% c2 l
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly Q9 Q; ?3 R$ x$ \; W2 ~0 Z
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
2 @% c! y% c+ D! q( n$ \# Fshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
. a( _* ` F- P( X3 A4 Ahitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
& W( q3 Y" R+ G. \9 S* vthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and H) [/ n% f; Q% e4 a
turn off the engine.
$ i) x% ^& o5 J ?3 HFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of" l9 |: m5 P$ K, m6 Y9 p
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
7 o7 u' I8 h: Q c B; u" y"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
% \8 G1 b/ T$ Y6 N" @said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond- d' ]' B! S+ A. n, J3 B- C% f, b6 U
to her complaints.
8 _# X0 h% S5 \/ uIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers7 S3 |1 R1 G' V t
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
: h" |+ ]3 x( \7 }( B* ~5 G- Nmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
1 N. D+ a7 [5 k& v& U"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric! j4 U3 w. H; e0 h- U
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited" R/ s0 v# n( r" @# t
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
0 `2 K' t$ k8 v2 a! P5 Joff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."; X# `9 ]9 v% m; i: N% ?. S! Y
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in4 Q; E" H( D- a. {: ?2 f
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were2 `+ E2 z' T# u: _: C D
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls* u! V( R4 g0 L" |% _
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer' n* w3 ~, f5 x8 w3 j+ n1 x
every question."" {* w0 o. b4 C
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
% ?9 k8 ~# {2 A! `) zelectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
, k" C7 v& S. }1 D: sfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
$ ^$ A1 h3 I5 K- A$ o4 x- Z7 Wcommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small
8 p9 f W; {+ O6 a/ N# W/ O4 Unumber of vehicles3 d: b& u s% Q, n* R- Z# L
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more
* q) | h {3 z) `0 g; ~difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a) ?0 R6 }- B2 l! k
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
/ Y& J- J& x! A/ G; n" gsource, and they can come from inside or outside the car." @* n, u: |+ ]) p+ R7 Y: ~
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
* k, Z* {( ]0 u+ |8 Awhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no' u" L# M0 ]3 D
trace at all.* q- d* b" r& W: \" `8 E- s
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call% v% U+ n+ _. |" N; G
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
3 v" a, O1 \. uacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the" T$ h" }( C$ L+ H
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
4 L6 p7 d; l, u0 wRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee, k% e/ L9 }' }/ e0 N
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
/ |, { V5 r, g, {7 l" m5 }other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
, C5 X; P5 L+ K: q' Y$ welectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible9 R6 s2 [1 Q0 k# R
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
' D9 j# M- r" B. z; o( U: @such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
. D. b6 X7 l7 j- Y& A7 f1 H/ Yby Toyota's lawyers."2 D2 S$ j: s3 y9 ?) }' x8 ~/ y; N
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
$ ?$ S+ b; _$ z/ Fproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
& w7 j2 W+ U+ [6 c# b. Hcustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
4 J3 i& k8 H; t: U; l& Usaid." e. Y3 D( A( B' o
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
( m; O& z( X5 b3 Q1 q* _- y4 qa rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
4 O: i% E* C _7 N+ i) ^good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating3 Q( s& |& C3 S( a: Q' I% S
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.& |5 S% ]" M, C; ~1 W& Q* @- j
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
# d9 U: J/ Z& w( s2 T$ }. Nmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
% t, m: y6 x( |2 M% {rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the+ x7 U& M2 X. X+ b
automaker, at least in part because of the government's
- O1 @, h) C3 G" t4 a0 I9 Z$ a. B% ginvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
& z; ^/ x, u7 n, _# ?Chrysler., a6 g' p; I# r, X3 L1 L; j
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
2 B- T% k9 m \( A+ k- K4 L! ]dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
: X3 x0 O" o3 Y% s7 THouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
: Q1 T3 d) t; f4 aserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete4 } b* P K. e6 _3 }' i" T! e# h( Q
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty2 W V: M, H" M# u
tough."
/ c; m& R9 K3 s q---# E/ o K) S7 N {& i& m0 x
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
e h. X7 k3 ZRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to, R8 e t( V! F- k) o0 ?! v& `3 K" {
this story. r7 W6 x0 V+ w5 e5 n/ c
5 t: @, J5 m5 A, p0 o5 T% n% c9 `-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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