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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
$ D8 _5 X8 s3 V% g; X( a! LBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS0 o8 ~8 D* ^& |
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
D; f7 \5 r) [, `7 o- q2 qoperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that+ ?6 n& H. N o6 O% v' d5 o5 A
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
/ Z" j; ?0 v' S8 Rsolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
8 m5 w8 C7 s, e( ?! `6 g"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
- S7 S) B6 E0 w& K9 f2 G7 W+ K: ucauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
# l+ _& t! f: g$ `% s$ k4 m( A% RHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected+ e. Q4 e1 H/ X" Q& `+ f
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and! u3 y. u- g# ~9 x% p- u8 [
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
- A- H) ]# |/ ~- Z0 e5 y5 cmats and sticking accelerator pedals.
; \& U* G/ S' tHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
( D) K* G) x! I2 K) dand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp+ f( ]) S' e0 q0 n( c/ X6 q
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
0 X6 ?4 i0 A7 z/ i* b2 kfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could4 f4 e% z; m7 O; X0 H4 \& h
not stop her runaway Lexus.
8 T; y9 n! {, B9 g+ x. C U"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
0 k4 N9 S- ^# z; _Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second: @5 a' u" B, r5 u, J! b |
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.* S$ P$ z; Z9 \8 U
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues2 ?' O3 f1 N [+ @
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
9 T, ^3 x0 k4 Q' e6 i' K* G. K"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has, _/ P# }% O; H
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway% e9 Z" I7 {8 T* W
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's7 X" f+ q" N/ A8 F9 c
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
0 i$ W4 [. I) G, y, \) Y2 c$ h7 ~3 ^Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
C4 N8 |3 p. j3 l; m2 [% J) Nelectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of+ ^% O( Q% ?( c& |; l( ` d- x
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a, C% Z5 |- O7 q1 ?3 B \+ `# W3 B9 X
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
4 i/ ^- S( h& L* _8 {7 ?5 h. Nsaid.9 v0 D4 `: ?( q/ n. [
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
9 ~2 j" O# p. i1 z4 x1 D( zhappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe% |$ \5 l3 o- F8 T) G9 N& Q }
about driving our products," Lentz said.! g* j6 }. y1 _+ k
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's3 n. j; x; Q/ j+ m$ w$ J0 j5 _8 S
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
: f5 T: Y! Y- P9 L$ l {2 _& krecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6' ^1 s4 c0 }9 e- P7 Z3 }
million in the United States -- since last fall because of
5 C+ e3 ~$ z! s/ ~unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking X, F" N( c4 _4 ]2 `% T
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
' S" E- _3 `( w( |( ^( Tconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of1 s( f1 S: t1 C
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
- o1 \! j$ n$ W; W1 ^. |down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
7 M5 \7 G1 n+ ?1 l- _9 q' k( h8 hreceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration7 F/ X, e. ?6 T; w
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.7 t" F" `- d4 O3 g2 N
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
x: }+ l' b, s$ Ibrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
. `$ N0 g3 c4 }, V) U, ?, punderstood the pain.8 \1 p' L% u: {# V3 L1 T5 p3 h$ @
"I know what those families go through," he said.
0 A- d# }4 y1 r( X$ I$ ^6 z$ vLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's7 N! o+ w7 u# w( K3 _/ s) y6 s/ q
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
' x) V7 c; {. K" H0 @1 hBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman( w) ]8 U5 l$ w9 @ G
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
+ |) X+ p$ P+ W _3 l& X: T: Din place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,1 q. R! L9 Q$ u, G: A
Lentz replied: "Not totally."
" j3 A* f- l3 N" lStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were8 X. @) j% B3 W. @$ \! H1 S
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said! M- D" p8 G% x+ @
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
3 e, u8 d; W" ~pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
( c, y7 D+ Q g- Q5 v% nvehicles already on the road.2 Z) u) R. M2 l* M4 N
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify- n2 ?0 Q% g/ J e% ]8 l0 V
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
. _# i7 K* r, P4 i u* m. Bresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
! { r+ _* O a; G( F8 `offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were. R# s! W: P8 Z! `
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.* d1 ~5 F2 _( ]0 Z7 r/ x) {2 y
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
" O4 C& r: G2 E3 etragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony5 \+ l f4 k( G/ z) c( @
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
4 r2 h! ^% e* a- c Q+ GCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
# j! W! q4 {: N# w# w+ \commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to# Z! S! m. E k6 L) H
restore the trust of our customers."
' D3 N! C7 n, ^' Q7 X6 rLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
5 H% ?6 j5 g3 p% O5 |Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
6 C- n& _( Z, `+ ^' a: ]; C2 }zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --* q+ w" l/ ~( Z& Y, v- d
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and! `- h! g3 E2 _. c0 l
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
' Z; |# }2 Y3 Q2 o3 t( R8 y; S) cthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and/ J% K3 S9 I) _. C
turn off the engine.
2 G; U, f5 p0 B% @; `2 rFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
9 r7 k, Q2 R; eOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
4 F2 d/ C9 A2 a0 Y+ f3 j, Y+ y: t5 G6 ~"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she" P9 g! X8 x+ V. j( l; U
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond, }% t3 I3 d9 m U" `4 L; X
to her complaints.: [ |3 {" I0 o3 j( E
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers# s3 Y0 ]$ m% x
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
3 m: f6 J: c+ k; l- ?malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
M0 ^$ v1 l# m2 e"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
: \" Q* V; x- I; n- z1 \4 Nthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
, B# o. W4 N. p3 n- w) |"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
( J/ ^' g+ s4 g4 Moff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."! Y1 Y2 |7 Q" `0 U' d
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
" h' W+ m; Y8 i7 Mprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were. R3 `* G9 u7 _; }. P0 S0 P
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
% p9 Y2 E I( }+ H# Awere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer" D6 z D6 c5 l. J2 \+ K p6 R
every question."% u# z, J3 C( ?
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
% y! e1 E" d1 `. ]electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The. X- k% m g4 Z8 @
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
0 @6 h( ]& k; K* x6 c+ kcommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small% q6 K: U& M' ?" I6 q
number of vehicles
- k7 I4 [) m, J% D! f( z9 Q! JTracking down an electrical problem can be far more
5 N( f9 E" w( h' ]3 }1 {difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a+ h) L& i, _. V0 J, T" I2 U
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
: v5 F1 h0 A: U9 ~' U3 @source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
* n4 ]1 F1 t- c- y: y7 gMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,3 |3 |( k4 y6 X3 u4 q/ r
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
9 H7 e$ w/ u" J6 d; P' \1 c, Ntrace at all.5 L7 F( a3 b6 z. A- ~' Q
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call! L5 i# D4 c _% v8 L, t
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
" D$ S% z8 K' u5 q" L: oacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
( b5 m5 b: n; _, crecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.# x* e* n# D3 J; q) Z" K7 d
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
' }: I. u) n% h! B' Tsaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and$ l4 u' i/ I0 l9 i
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
: m) H- Z6 O& ielectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
* V) K& I" {6 bcause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
8 Z$ Q: @8 F1 D$ l/ i+ isuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained& O0 w! b @ V7 w
by Toyota's lawyers.". L4 \+ C% p' V5 j
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of- L6 Z) m% ^( |: }$ e6 [
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our" v; G7 u" @! P5 i9 }) @# s; v
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
$ k* ]! K% b) x- F: e- Ssaid., }- v, T; O& X q
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
r. K* F _/ M7 s4 la rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
* S- a' q0 G K2 | m+ Ngood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating- }4 m3 C2 T4 O
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.* K9 Y" d. n7 X# ^+ X
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying7 v# w" _* `6 ` |1 l, f$ P
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
4 c( `$ Z" S' i% ^rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the- b. ~* E3 c) |
automaker, at least in part because of the government's& ~+ o" I- T) R& q
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
6 |' C- K" |# Q9 _Chrysler.0 @: {8 r: n' w+ A E# c4 a( Q
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax+ L2 F+ `% N$ w
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a" f# ?! m$ w) d
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also( u" B1 w/ @, _4 V$ B/ T( Q
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete/ M8 a! I, V' C2 S1 p! w
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty. K" m: k* a& l# `; [3 w
tough."
d; W6 V; d: v6 q8 |1 }6 k0 ^; P---$ Q/ \6 b" W( n
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom9 G E8 S7 u! `/ m# t
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to A1 h3 t5 a9 \8 ]5 Y Z6 o
this story.$ z) d A [8 ]# |4 I; n* P
! k* Y% V8 J% R" x& _2 x
-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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