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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
/ Y; F e7 M! S! p( |By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
3 Y |8 ^: ~, OWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.2 {& R# k& ~- T7 n4 f
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that- b% D |8 |. ]. f2 Y
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"5 N& G5 P# d4 m# J$ P6 b
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
W3 K, Q# i# g6 `+ G9 D"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential1 {$ V8 _" l! N* g g
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
9 Q% z$ o7 _( w; S% CHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
" O a$ `5 j# l- Yacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
; E# x, ~$ R6 ytrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
) }8 e- g1 W9 P4 r9 Y/ Pmats and sticking accelerator pedals.
! ~" v; H0 W5 P9 L% ~9 `; IHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
8 d8 R: C! x, A+ Q% s7 h2 F* tand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp& _# L9 j j6 m* p; z- }
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be* \- b- m& f8 K& I, b3 C
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could1 r3 X/ K3 ^( Z! t" B
not stop her runaway Lexus.2 A0 v% |; X9 f- x- t5 W$ U
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,- k. F4 x( G3 j6 \4 d+ r+ Y/ y
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
' A% L8 C9 z' f1 G: g$ R"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
9 A3 U8 V7 L0 ~. dTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues: X5 w7 }4 O& }9 a! d
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said* P& ~4 z, T( g
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has% s* K0 c5 h; s$ F$ A8 @2 |
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
; {+ H9 S E; _8 u. R b; Hthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
& k/ U0 A4 @: ]( ^- ~. \% v' T% ainvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."1 W; L" b+ y, t* p9 t: m8 T
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
z( ]4 {. O+ T6 e J6 M" d, { G+ Yelectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
h* |% M- D+ e3 O/ t, w, gthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
. i( E3 ~- s" X" y n, ?6 \& Omalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
% ?) k9 w& j8 ~8 m( asaid.
; I/ ?: ?0 F; ?# U6 _ ~9 w5 KAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
3 h( Y6 s6 X& shappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe3 _3 |3 s5 |9 n4 U% g
about driving our products," Lentz said.8 V& P$ Q, E$ v/ y, L- O
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's( q; r5 h# o0 l" c/ R5 g% s7 B. R2 |
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
6 Z% a9 I* k: q; L. T% @recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6/ q) ?& m+ x: e. t. f0 g0 u X1 y+ S' c6 F
million in the United States -- since last fall because of
1 F D$ h0 b; y. @/ ^, z- vunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
+ D0 r& ]0 ?2 d: |5 M% xissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering/ g& a Y/ X# u1 B/ Y8 g& h
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of7 U" J. A' Q/ ~$ F) k( k# B
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
/ @( }8 x7 L# h: S4 \- Qdown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
- z! u4 }8 C$ ^1 [) [received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration' g2 V4 Q7 ?$ u, e* K" b
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.% R; ^ N: Y9 o9 B" s5 l" G
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own! w+ ]1 K* \: m& F0 x4 b
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he; ^2 K ~6 m! q9 R5 i& }+ S' E
understood the pain.
1 n( O9 \: j4 c- i( U% N"I know what those families go through," he said.
2 O1 P7 n( N8 m+ r4 C& ]Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's2 Z8 p5 f/ z; w" d4 r* I* B {
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
+ i7 t2 ]# Q+ r+ n- |" tBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman, J4 ?7 M0 S5 a1 l5 |4 J1 f
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
. U+ Q- h# d0 H0 N$ k% b, Z# n+ Lin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it, a W4 Q2 y! { o, X
Lentz replied: "Not totally."
" E1 v* @- k' Y; pStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
a8 N: m& S( Q- w"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said5 @/ ~4 T0 L( A$ U
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas9 i8 Z) f. j' H& Q, h3 K% V+ m+ d
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its- |( p4 t: i1 V' [ x: u$ j8 D6 B# V% _
vehicles already on the road.
, ~% L1 j" `; y4 j t0 J( MMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify2 \( P1 G$ v0 Y) p* O& T5 j& M+ Y
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
: v$ t% R2 i. ?9 {responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and$ w4 r( p! l2 r2 s) Q# q* L* ]
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
/ D( J7 K/ V5 e, ~# jkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
" q" t& w% R+ i0 x6 y3 F: r"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a0 Q$ z7 ^# z `9 j* e
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony) }1 K2 }) }1 a3 i) e* g2 H
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
0 Z8 P1 T3 Q6 C6 h9 B( `Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal1 e* x' T, W2 T+ k# a0 ]" |
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
" ^0 V( n; W3 O# P& S0 |7 @restore the trust of our customers."7 ^0 W" u! @9 b
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from! f: _; A3 l. P4 V- A1 E
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly: F- L# @! g& Y) d* B
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
& ]& g9 t* D* D5 ]1 Mshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and# j6 R" I B: j
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
' w. \ H5 [% p* t/ p! Uthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
U: k8 {6 [5 T% ^* Mturn off the engine.
! N- G* l$ {% C6 D2 b5 I( L6 CFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
- K; y! u" z2 \* }) ~October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
6 @" L' k' G: B4 j/ }2 |* Y. ?"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
9 g1 d1 H8 r3 _, J- Usaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
% b |- I' d1 }4 mto her complaints.
8 Q! x) a. y4 w7 `In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers( Y" Q" J ~' [6 M2 ?4 M0 ~* \
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
- }$ j5 O) ?% _3 w f1 p. ?malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
: L9 W8 Q7 V* }! }6 r"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
- b) v0 Y9 H+ Xthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited- y% l, N2 f; C7 o/ D
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
, H7 n# \1 Y# n, O9 G, X* r9 Coff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
9 y% L# p$ B# ~6 `Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
" b% D0 N* n7 s4 N0 Uprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were6 X. J5 M; d! Q0 V9 ~
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
, ?1 l0 G" O# A3 [8 @: cwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
! b& H0 s) V1 o. V- a0 {' Vevery question."3 d% }7 @8 M$ G5 n; I. ~
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether0 c& W! M6 I- ^) i
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The' R1 S8 W2 w$ O) _/ r6 L$ b7 m
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
; ^) F6 U/ C8 P8 @4 k: L$ h3 lcommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small. s. R( F- @8 U
number of vehicles
; ^4 F8 ~2 m# @. a5 OTracking down an electrical problem can be far more* C) P7 k9 Z6 b; M
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a; o/ y( k" [6 R! O2 F7 D3 @. C
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
" K$ Z+ [; d& S0 w: G+ s8 `' P W2 psource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.- Z% H; \8 b' M& z7 a- B
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,+ K# d4 D! Y8 Y' u
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
8 H/ j$ u/ Q+ `4 N5 T5 ctrace at all.6 `$ G/ N2 H8 h
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call. U2 v' {4 s, y$ l4 |% j* k9 q, @
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden/ A# L3 S& Z a6 b
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
: }" q$ v; z9 s( Zrecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
, _. Y- I7 _( ?" ?( K$ o) ]Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
J( ^: v/ [4 ~7 Z, A2 ]$ wsaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and% ^+ H9 A- g! x- _; I/ ]
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
. W+ C% z- \ g& k) A, qelectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible( t' F, W- z# R9 a
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only7 z- G) r' Q X1 N' j
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained- @( A2 |7 W! T) C) R& W
by Toyota's lawyers."
6 M+ u( j& [% A) bLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of& K. b( B5 [; q: [$ @5 ]* q0 P, P
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our0 D" h( ~' S3 ?) T
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he2 D) o7 L* ~% I% I3 _" |$ Y* w
said./ [( s+ Y T6 Z+ [1 Z' \
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with4 U) t' J9 R2 B; f
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
0 c3 `% W( V0 m! E( m3 Jgood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
/ l- W- |! ^% X; W4 A: L' uofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.4 ]. J- ?) X3 q( k5 N0 e4 T
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying1 N* o( v; y. Y K. z" e
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread) k# y1 h0 X: C! C4 |
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
2 u5 ^6 ~ z$ P: r" Nautomaker, at least in part because of the government's% M3 r' D! g# {3 f0 I2 _! T
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and# W- g3 g; m4 {' y* G$ ]) P
Chrysler.' S* Y% a6 r5 L
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
* U% H: A4 u* \! v& ?dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
9 U0 K$ q' s4 c) VHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also/ n* f Z+ X: t1 u; x- p& k4 N
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete U7 @5 f$ T0 o1 Q! ]! @' w
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
% X- a4 }; F; ?7 Utough."
9 Q/ N$ k4 @5 b( A---
# j5 \" _4 P% |* n0 yAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
3 I1 I/ ? @' p H8 WRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
- ]" X' T8 Q. y5 s0 Hthis story.) S& R% m w$ f" a
! W/ Z* o$ U6 {$ ?4 G; c( [2 g
-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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