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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
: V4 _- p* @% E" d- F; B0 o! @: RBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS- e) Q) c. z* {# X& A- \$ I) m
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.0 `" M2 j7 M7 c2 t! L( q3 H) v
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
. m. H( P z2 T& Y, a8 M: Kthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"2 L2 F" F0 s! O# z, U) P. Q
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.* u' W% d( `8 q# F$ }7 ~3 Q
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
" ^. c. Y& i& Y; E$ F, I% tcauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.5 U1 V2 Z! R# y) P: C
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
9 m+ L5 k' `8 H0 n+ U2 `acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and( I% I( T1 B2 H& i9 H
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor9 M; G+ r8 ~8 K% W
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.
! D3 V* I( ] PHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal8 C3 j& I, A" t, Y2 p, j
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp/ `2 ~6 m2 P' b8 g. P( `
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
) `8 i; f, Z( J" b) `further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
5 ^+ t, Z/ G- ~" V( w" w! J' V1 Pnot stop her runaway Lexus.
) V5 D* j5 N# M1 C"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,/ h t L9 b7 f# h/ p
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second4 z5 g+ T' g6 v. O1 w
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.& q a6 _) T. A( o
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues2 w& w r' N, M2 T. m1 Z
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said1 J" x5 |4 T7 v' [; T- x2 @* x
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has1 [. H6 I) b) K7 \8 D
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
) h/ U* N' v1 _7 _/ j6 hthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
6 w+ }$ F0 F& D' z1 ]- S0 Oinvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
3 j$ m* m5 ?, \/ X+ SLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
3 B3 e0 E- h2 f0 @( r# f7 u- W8 a/ }electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of/ p, @ a( Z) x" x, E
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
9 a N$ z: q/ \" Bmalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
* x* b+ \& [9 n. y2 n$ S& Wsaid.* Y& M+ {1 D% E) a9 K" B
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what- d% m1 R' C$ b7 t
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe" O h; d* Q& U! d+ w# N
about driving our products," Lentz said.. z4 H. p: A8 W) v+ f; n
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
$ ?' i0 y% `0 D* l3 Iproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
3 k/ H# J+ {. E7 \# U% J krecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
2 m7 l7 n# m0 b" y, e0 Umillion in the United States -- since last fall because of
# N! M3 k6 V3 C, v1 hunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking2 U' ~3 E6 W/ }3 L# r
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
( v% Z- _) o b8 rconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of9 Z4 D8 |( ]- N7 L1 b R7 f4 H
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow S) a+ e& m$ Y6 \; x2 s
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
+ e) T( r/ _- K6 J0 dreceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
6 T6 Q5 T) _6 N8 S0 [* Uof Toyota vehicles since 2000.. V9 m" F( C* S( I9 i! d9 t
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
- J: @. \3 B+ r& |; _brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
7 b! N" `& n9 Junderstood the pain.$ z+ s; a6 ?' H5 V( f$ b
"I know what those families go through," he said.2 R2 I% T0 C- U; k5 y# u% A
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's4 X$ Q8 q; e- `+ q
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.( W% d3 L9 N! r8 ^ p* h2 B5 ^
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
, _; q3 V2 F( t7 T/ u/ t2 Q- qHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
8 N* g. h. R8 v& _in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,, j9 U% J( {+ @
Lentz replied: "Not totally."
+ S& y m) J, ]Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
' o0 ]# C) q7 i' ]$ n7 _3 U/ n"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said# q* p/ y$ O1 z7 j- J
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas6 _6 d% U0 q) S# d1 H9 n. `( Q
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its) [6 }: K% r% E
vehicles already on the road.& Y9 |- H% J. a7 A# z2 M
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify8 _& c+ c8 u3 C* M# E+ m
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
% V7 L' o4 x3 t* nresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and+ n2 V* }# r; z3 W
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were0 Y5 ?4 q$ O: d1 p
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
4 J: m5 h9 b1 C" R"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
/ S- u6 ]5 i- W# Y- Itragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
6 v+ ~9 l, w, h$ h bfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight$ v9 e/ z6 N; h+ M% {
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal( B- |$ p- a% e- Q5 N
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to7 b- V+ w8 w6 q* v
restore the trust of our customers."
7 `6 J" o8 z0 m' x% w. \ gLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from8 J! i( w& X0 x b# A
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
+ W4 C8 q5 y; E h+ k6 Azoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --# [; c/ t4 J1 @/ z4 j1 R9 N
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
! N$ D9 u% ]& k0 s) P; rhitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
; ]0 Y( i, ?) k) P( Y9 wthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
& W* J' i9 P( q+ N6 Jturn off the engine.# o. q6 q' I2 Q
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of9 {% ^0 T% Q! s4 K
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."5 s( ~$ v" U7 k+ E) d
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she; l! z6 W, t4 Q) C
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
* V/ i. z, j! d( y( x" n' c2 Zto her complaints.
+ r% E! X4 O& f" oIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers( F. S. p2 a _
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
+ L0 w( U- v" P! O! Lmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
3 \) V- s* d" j, f7 `"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
3 G, \7 k% U3 X3 C4 j& f5 Hthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited9 d7 I. N: s1 @( \" ^8 \4 F0 ?# C
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
8 p+ M8 d1 F8 l3 c5 `+ T Foff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
' q* Q) g9 [8 I4 JTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
* y% S+ E: q% yprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
3 K: n+ B) ?: `being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
: L+ } E* A9 @3 kwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
7 c3 \2 I$ V, E7 `4 `- o* i0 _every question."
7 Z& [5 c& G: l0 l# G. w9 i! rToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
: Q. p( N2 e5 U6 h! @( C. Jelectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
& w/ r3 v4 E( W, W8 Hfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
& Z7 g6 H" l+ j% e; I$ X5 ]1 Acommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small
2 I0 z$ [: ~* Z9 G( D- H$ |; J# s+ {number of vehicles$ V% [! ~2 T+ d! h
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more# ?. A- S2 `9 h
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a# ?8 y# L+ U! d& A0 g
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
2 r) P% D4 `: p$ c1 M7 o* w5 b ysource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
# q M9 \) P0 c, h; Y, s( yMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
% w* }5 q- p5 i/ hwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no6 d! Y7 `3 S8 w( B6 W# I
trace at all.
A: o3 c/ S0 u# B& QHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call0 G. Z# z& Z- F- `* w! A
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden; V$ H& E3 L; G' j9 a* m5 P
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
) N9 k! f @* |recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
. [' K$ ~' C! }0 f3 L+ W! j1 q& vRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
9 ?: z& h+ K3 S3 c2 \3 F% xsaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
# K$ z0 ?" \/ p9 u$ l+ Rother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the! T! p& I( r& `
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible7 U" ~. y$ l8 v
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only- d5 E& c) m9 P* M, f
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained) V0 r; x1 t% W( K% c' D. k! {
by Toyota's lawyers."
7 O/ d J- |: A+ p: f) tLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of) R1 J" x0 B8 P( F1 x
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our# d6 |' V# \3 c! N/ s. b% B
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
; ]6 w+ Z/ E% b4 B- v& d' Qsaid.* U/ H. Q0 f1 K$ C/ d! W
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
5 J" M# y* N9 _( A# a' Ga rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
+ H }+ v$ Q1 Cgood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating* F3 H4 r/ [1 I( d8 E
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.* z& Z, L8 e3 F! S6 B
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying) o* `% H; K) c3 ^' _8 P/ S
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread% P8 r. t {1 V: H0 z
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
( V+ P0 S e: X) s- B2 bautomaker, at least in part because of the government's
" l) g2 c) a) D$ Binvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and7 t; {2 P+ C t; [, c$ Y
Chrysler.
0 O& E/ }6 R1 W"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax. I- D+ [/ R: l) C, S
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
$ ~' h9 w6 r ]! s* p$ C% YHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
" N+ P6 v, E% Sserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete) y$ K& P# r% R+ c' b
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty5 A+ `- B" _7 t) Q, q2 a) F* Y
tough."4 I% D/ g9 l+ `$ M+ }9 u
---
% H; O) z9 t( H* YAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom; t/ J: ^" l" s# U
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to0 _5 a) M) N; r& s3 w: ^0 B
this story.
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2 x, W K5 h! X- n+ P4 y8 N0 U3 b7 V-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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