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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
! a7 r* e6 F% o7 ?4 }By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
, c# F, M x' P1 IWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
( j/ t" b; C$ M3 \2 c3 k5 soperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that2 s' K! ]6 h f: q, k, D
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"3 g Z. u1 K( T j& H/ [3 i. @5 C
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.4 p; Q& `, t- Y+ \+ q% Y, S& x
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
" u3 i: Q' q5 ^0 R: ncauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
2 i4 g6 W r" U; E1 Y5 F) yHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
9 ]- r7 D W0 x/ N C4 ]% S" kacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
5 @) [! c W9 H! Q9 mtrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor' t5 l7 ] g: }9 T5 _
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.
9 U; V/ o) D& D& M/ T* jHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
5 d ^5 ?, B2 J' yand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
: u# W1 j0 U/ w( tcriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
/ ~: Z" R% d3 h |4 vfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could5 w: p2 S' |* J9 s O I8 B
not stop her runaway Lexus.
+ O! w! S) ~+ ]: f$ o+ u"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville," e" L$ O% ]; w# v
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second3 C& ~9 V8 k: E, |9 o- O" j
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.& G) T8 m! O6 D9 s$ m) \% q
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
' [ } J9 y5 C2 zearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said2 V9 b' r1 a- [/ u
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
6 T; m; T# u7 q( j1 |1 \% i7 ddone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway6 e, G9 Z' Y Y) E& v r
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
% L, l4 A: b4 U# @& Xinvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."# Z' X" _/ Y! o& {" m W
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
2 t. E- f3 Z' J# ]8 |% q: e7 _electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of2 S. Z3 [5 V/ F- u
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a; u+ t. S& `& S2 n( g
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
* k7 I, t4 d* f% S7 c2 Xsaid.) G/ N+ z% A( s& Q
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what' l R5 d# q: `+ F5 ~
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
' {6 I8 t1 v) }0 l# d3 @( }about driving our products," Lentz said.
" _( |/ W1 n9 A4 m f1 |6 v. NThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's% w+ t2 D& V7 }4 F1 d! K
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
% P( H, O9 J9 |- n! c, precalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
5 g# z7 h2 R( M. d9 S( zmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of
( t, h0 S" \( Ounintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
# ~4 S: ^' `0 g3 lissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering( n: i7 d5 n9 r, z7 F+ C0 P
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
' Z" D$ s% [* W: l" E0 W* @$ ?% {their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
' A; B$ H* F" O4 L! C: x* qdown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has# M/ U: c5 J& y# m
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
/ p# X; H! V( ?) q1 ^* `5 ^of Toyota vehicles since 2000.
& {0 f. g; t. r6 q' ?Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own0 a G% h$ Z% n: r, h9 G
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he* F/ ? ]$ }3 M1 Z9 F+ Q. q
understood the pain.
& {( Q7 q! Q2 _( \"I know what those families go through," he said.9 g! ^+ v' ^8 E
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
/ c7 V H# s$ _: i; I* Zfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.9 v( Z/ @ M, d
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman) [- L8 r% f7 C& k+ Q1 v
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
1 C) r2 y! _; s3 H9 ?in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
! t! ~4 H% F8 E. v; ~1 v0 eLentz replied: "Not totally."
! S& T- S: J% u3 yStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were* q4 i4 t3 V2 P" V4 H' a e
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
& H9 j* l+ d$ |9 k1 q" vToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas4 p" y- ^$ V2 g1 |) B. G* Q
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
7 R9 R7 L" J* _vehicles already on the road.8 v3 k9 t. O5 _) ?
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify& P) h; I3 Y* Z. B8 u
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full& @# S7 ~( m8 _ x% l
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
! ]% E+ Q$ C1 W& o) g( q7 Uoffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
- Z# f7 L5 n# S: b1 J! @1 wkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.* [+ G3 a6 b- q. V x
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
|1 E9 M3 W5 vtragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony/ d# E( d; E# z! \2 ], a7 b- ]
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
% V6 R9 D6 p. `& A' D3 ACommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal% ]! M; u5 b4 `! C/ m
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to1 \6 p ^- O4 o/ Q U1 ?5 a
restore the trust of our customers.": I5 C/ c# x0 N/ p# m( r7 u
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from9 I! V! J6 `8 T& p* }6 D& q2 }
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
# q# y/ F; ^# H' o/ Kzoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
, O4 j. _1 ?% d' ~& }" A" Qshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
$ ~) P9 W5 m0 A' M3 S% @# ~3 N) xhitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
; B4 P; H$ X- Jthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and1 Q' ?) B; @9 I" r
turn off the engine.
. b3 L, Y$ Z* n0 C$ j* ~9 CFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
0 L% r7 l: P B; v( d3 v4 l6 o1 u( u+ S) SOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."8 d; h, P! G( x- H S. P/ E
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she/ g! ?$ ]3 N7 E
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
1 ]8 Q) ? x4 L9 F3 [$ tto her complaints.
! x6 Z6 n! l1 T; KIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers" [4 ]' j( l9 w; Y$ i, B1 ^
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
9 L( n4 h& v) M* x5 [& ^' X# F. C/ mmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.; ]; V: L8 ^8 L' K
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric' E' J+ C# `. D4 a' ~* e5 m: e) ?3 f; K
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited% o( U0 Q8 T4 L. b, |
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
' p; H* f4 Z, c7 x! soff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure.", N& S H$ {' M6 ]# ?3 Y3 D
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in1 u$ I+ Y: {' x O
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were3 M1 I+ R* E0 X: z6 h8 [, p9 |0 n
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
! T: ]# Q: v! z3 C+ U7 t7 [were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer' d) D) { X& L; A2 `7 @
every question."
* k! S# y8 a' k+ GToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
8 j" i4 o# Q! W5 celectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The" N0 s2 P" v* L; b3 K) a% H
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But2 P! A6 H. _* f+ s) J8 B* i
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
7 ~% [) Q/ E/ y. W" A4 p/ }9 anumber of vehicles
: _) W8 [5 L, wTracking down an electrical problem can be far more
. U8 {2 f7 ^: Y" a: s% I) I/ hdifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a/ {! u/ C1 R9 o) E& T4 P' B* d0 S) J
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one: H8 c$ ]# h; V/ m: R) I& T
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.' }. v6 x1 Y H* y, u# r2 w# G
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
g* B( Y2 l6 Hwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no% l3 W1 N G, B) N) C2 Q
trace at all.
& x2 u, m3 y9 @) M2 NHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
8 ]1 c8 ]$ B) _database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
8 ]" w3 \: M! J* {1 l5 Pacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
; |" Q1 d/ l3 U! trecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
?2 x- v/ a' m+ j" G6 m/ DRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,# v+ i5 K6 X# h+ R$ C' S b
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
/ t g9 A; m8 \$ `$ N* Mother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the: O8 L8 Y- A2 B3 V
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible* w2 K# c6 X# ~& k2 b* u
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
% g) Q$ t5 Y4 S) N' ysuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained* b$ _+ X5 e' O" x6 E
by Toyota's lawyers."$ n* ], k" s/ T' e4 d* b/ r) u9 A* o
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
5 ~- ?( n3 E" y; c/ z' _8 P4 _problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
# V; T0 u {4 k! tcustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he8 j: b; P4 R' H; [) S& T3 ~
said.
3 a4 u |5 u9 ]3 B7 w; {6 p"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with X6 g) u5 _& n/ z4 R
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our5 o4 J4 ?+ a% H* A5 ~6 q' T
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating3 O7 b) {6 M, z
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
, @# X j! O6 i' t1 V& H) K8 |5 }Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
% Z3 f. r: V4 U5 Qmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread' @# K: X) }" E" }% u! J
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
. `) t4 O. Z5 S& R* [% Pautomaker, at least in part because of the government's3 ^; @; t# B7 I R( U5 z- g/ k6 k
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and7 O* ~! r5 q8 g* G, s9 T2 p
Chrysler.2 K9 U1 k/ j" I. B
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax% p) b% K% f. q9 i
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a2 |9 h1 X4 ?& e$ o# C
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
% n( }& {3 L9 R8 @% x2 Tserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
0 I. `/ n! H7 u6 F5 Y3 S, dwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty) W- h) m. P# u$ i4 L$ U3 P6 f* i8 e
tough."
" a! r+ O5 @ K8 M( `) m- ?- M0 Z---; @ S/ r4 b5 _8 N* N
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
/ r4 p# Y5 f( ~" z; p LRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
0 O/ w; u3 L% G) q1 fthis story.
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9 o2 b1 G; B( y4 R: X$ v7 j-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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