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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
5 [, f t9 G6 U6 [2 R) ~By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
3 v$ f$ I1 o1 }1 |3 ]9 D2 cWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.4 B/ u# o- r7 y ~& o
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
# C! ^7 x$ j$ V7 g G$ |3 X0 Z1 Jthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
& [- _% |& X$ U; Lsolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
2 x6 V9 D5 D: w7 I L"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential/ l# Q; u! w) m/ }, p
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
' K/ u: n9 W! k! \& o* BHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
1 R- Y+ E* q$ n- `: b: j* C& Dacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and7 R$ r; h7 p; B% j; z. B5 v
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor% |: s Q/ M7 s- ^
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.
- t, `, q$ p/ ?$ VHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal* N- m- `' P$ T
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp" E9 ]& S% j/ C5 [) p$ u
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
! p% V6 p+ t1 n9 x6 cfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could" j. y$ w6 a0 J* S
not stop her runaway Lexus.
8 X" D; X9 d% C- \1 \"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
/ I' l' J4 Q$ t L2 p; VTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
8 F, S' n S9 x' @% d4 X"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.$ H* B5 _, t2 c" S6 K7 P
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
6 w& \* _8 I( u' j. K6 H3 |4 Yearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
x3 f$ N3 V) B) `, T' q S1 U"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
7 t' d( H' i q2 Y) Wdone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway2 c8 x# E$ k6 n0 c( v' d# ^4 Q
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's5 L( o" G# |: n' z6 |+ n
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."7 d) u8 \) I5 @( W% K* l
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
. l2 q8 F \* s4 Aelectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
' ]- ]4 G6 b: a/ Mthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
6 t% w5 C H! }" L# D7 y0 V6 V* x! |malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he! G) r, ?2 N: `2 ~+ R
said.
9 h( ~3 Z! j' n5 C# ~As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
5 e+ K4 m4 G# D4 r/ G" hhappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe1 _/ z. F% u! A1 P
about driving our products," Lentz said.$ E. L) |0 q4 X9 Z7 f. S( t
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
/ e2 `; P% t2 h5 W4 ?problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
1 x& Z8 ~* {, u0 A" O5 K; G7 ?0 `recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6 ^, G5 x1 M8 P
million in the United States -- since last fall because of
* B' Q6 G0 V0 M. X$ Sunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
) t& C% K X4 C2 E9 ?/ pissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering! ~" f0 H$ l1 Y) Z6 f! Q1 ^+ Y
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of9 `. O3 b- k* C
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow, T/ ?8 U3 i( h$ B7 a$ G# G$ o- a
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has. {; i3 m$ }& i0 C' r5 {& G
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
+ [+ N- o; U: ]- Bof Toyota vehicles since 2000.% }' R3 A# w7 A$ Y
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own7 _& I r M# P: r0 n% w( T
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he" W; r6 }" ]6 P: o' s F- [
understood the pain.
9 r9 R7 D0 _% n3 A3 u"I know what those families go through," he said.5 B. \/ s7 N8 z& F
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
0 K% W8 C7 K1 `: afixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
6 W! f; ?7 L, ~, L6 \' u0 tBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
" m* q; b: v" ~' C7 dHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
" A. u+ ^) K% q! ~; s$ H" N- Sin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,$ `5 H" N) \) z6 p
Lentz replied: "Not totally."5 {5 t( |- j# H, H0 u7 X
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
1 f1 m: ]9 p% N4 @4 m"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
& K' Q; d: F4 U& ~! nToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
: M) L" r# Q; ^4 lpedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
% N, B. v- Z2 Nvehicles already on the road.
1 {% i1 i+ L; uMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
; s- X$ p: h, Y/ U- u0 Rbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
+ ?- @& A$ C4 ^9 xresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
% X" z$ v, K/ }5 s8 A3 D3 l6 w" [offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were* c4 e# j$ e; s+ r
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
* G, a. A8 A6 M7 \& M6 d" a"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
( y1 z* H/ k! Ztragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
4 X2 {0 j4 d$ o4 Z2 W# zfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
0 @& [+ k6 R9 dCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal8 y1 A8 w( ^& |) n
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
0 [* n' _$ N9 W1 Jrestore the trust of our customers."
& [& L5 X% s$ {# z" m6 Z4 @% P1 l( ^Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from! w- _" w% H5 C
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
0 C1 T0 G k& D/ T& Hzoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
6 |1 I' N, A* B" F+ K8 A, l9 vshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and9 M; L! v! [( k9 v1 x0 o
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough, `! h6 a% }2 i1 b5 J# ^
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
0 m! J; D0 k8 j7 [& Z! hturn off the engine.
" L- k+ y" T" c5 V7 W" uFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
& w% m1 }8 O# C( G8 { P! {October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
* ^3 X0 r& g3 B: F! d( h% X, M"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
% i/ R, O/ m- l' \1 Vsaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond, O# H/ m) f9 P& K9 p. H
to her complaints.
8 K0 U! k y; R% b& U7 S/ s: d% sIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers* ~0 D/ I0 k( }8 \/ @6 V, d
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic6 ^$ l9 N+ w+ i" S* o( [
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.& I. |4 I; g- B
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric, ~: T) F o4 [ D3 Q6 v+ e
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited9 w) @4 p4 r# [: u) f
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut- c5 Q3 q6 o$ k1 z. L# w
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
2 K3 t# L1 U$ z- _2 ?* m# M; mTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in" N8 j' j* R( @: Y6 [
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
/ O& Y+ o0 z% M7 E; tbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls" S* x3 U4 ^& g2 l" g! r% M8 U$ T; N
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
' |2 @ A* X" `) Oevery question."
/ q! F/ r7 }" a' ~Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether" y- W! p% d6 c3 s
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
) U6 a/ e, J: }% \: W3 [0 @2 wfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
) v7 N8 f" F1 o& E) N, p& Xcommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small
7 B [# J" u/ Q( }number of vehicles
2 h3 R& r1 |' o+ z( kTracking down an electrical problem can be far more
7 e2 ^3 X) |/ ?; l6 r' p1 J& _difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
2 G$ {5 m7 s$ s, g c# Qmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one/ ]' d6 W) N( W O
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.8 \+ }; w6 c5 Y& P: @- s
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
6 J" t- C5 g6 _$ lwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
4 h: m8 c( c: P* c: x) B+ Strace at all.
# `4 N+ L( z8 hHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call7 ?" w4 v+ |8 K+ b# ]9 w" _
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden3 b0 n' D7 {4 ]1 a
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the, \% ]) |" z- ^( H3 Y j
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
) B6 C% J7 D: Q7 ]$ J" pRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
. n' X5 |6 K' O# n: d1 G7 U! Tsaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
n9 v9 m& K5 n6 I" U8 c# `other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the! B ? _2 }! j; ^! c& N
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
" H' x# {* ]7 f9 ocause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only. p* x8 `& l i
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
; B$ ~+ {$ v( Q0 iby Toyota's lawyers."
+ N0 d- C5 r6 C1 ?- x- q$ ALentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
# A9 g! |3 b4 z- M, E2 ^problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
* L6 o, Y' N4 W) w" ^9 J7 i+ Lcustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he- X2 c1 _& G% P* j" v
said.6 z \! P- o. O' K/ n6 } C
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
6 x* U' m; ^3 b3 N1 M6 Ga rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our. z* S' Y9 ^# I# M
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
7 U6 U( i& I) _officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
) n5 {1 A& E& z+ @8 j1 x% }7 E2 PSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
- t% L5 q# @3 E4 P" g6 a$ J( H2 mmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
" Z1 q; n5 R6 @$ hrancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
8 @8 `: ^- y/ u/ M, Q+ dautomaker, at least in part because of the government's
6 k7 O; K V8 P$ V" Minvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
" A1 |* Q' m, k) E3 E6 A' {Chrysler.
& K* ]& `, `( T& D"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
2 R m1 k& k9 v" ?3 a6 Z, |( m' ~$ Jdollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a7 z. n: m3 ?1 N6 M! Z* P6 |" L
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also6 b- z9 E% j$ l: M
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete, D! `1 e: H b7 f: ^4 g) `& d: r
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty+ N2 d5 S$ I' L$ K! Z T- D
tough."
$ H* ?0 H% \+ y3 d0 o---$ e- O- a7 l3 m3 Y8 \
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom. T* K- E: s7 Q% z/ m9 I7 ]
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to5 Z: |; Z4 t% W# P( `# F& O9 Y
this story.' ^* v9 Z3 U+ r! x/ `) O
7 p$ q5 D" L/ |& j3 N$ h$ S* K+ A
-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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