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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
6 O7 ]2 m: g9 n0 L: w6 d7 SBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
8 Y7 u, d) M' rWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
; B" Z3 `. o7 c7 H) Q9 Noperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
6 \* v* |: O1 X) Z8 I% D0 |% y$ ythe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally": ?7 E/ t; a( R5 g- t
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
; I4 F! g& p' o"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
: \3 ~! v8 a" \( Z% I' \causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.9 k; S4 G5 a+ {7 a
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
& m6 C! P% T3 ^' t7 ^) U. Kacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
& a6 F, f6 S, W+ ~% Y# v& ?trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor0 |- j2 r" }! C4 \/ Q
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.: n2 B1 D& c: B+ l# x& T
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal5 j' J$ h9 P! x- |: @8 ]3 g
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
r6 b7 L5 O1 a/ ?9 Ncriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be) ]5 k5 c& i, |; j% j8 M& r
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could" P5 b) N% N. S7 ? d/ h9 S2 ?
not stop her runaway Lexus.
+ m0 L' P9 q" W* e; M" K" u( P"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,( w) H6 q! ^/ W! X. }$ w; D/ l7 `
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second7 z5 Z& _$ h1 M
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
6 ]2 ?. X9 A$ Q; v8 E7 j3 kTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
7 ^3 {3 T: I: s5 U- p& Dearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
8 Q" G3 I0 v0 r0 K/ o$ k"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has8 {9 n2 e3 n2 d
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
3 B; O9 n' ^$ T1 r/ othrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's# r) ]' d3 Q$ [# \: Z, r. X
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
1 {+ t. S) n8 W9 [) `& x C/ XLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
: s& X( O4 } y; t" zelectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
' t1 ]/ @% l& w& tthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
6 G6 t( N& U5 \ k7 g) a" ?7 Y9 S. Lmalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
/ B: c$ u1 F0 w% V8 gsaid.
2 {1 |$ Q; l4 m4 q3 E' BAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
2 c; }8 E* O8 g; e; c( k1 Ahappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
4 ^: i3 W" n% S5 X' kabout driving our products," Lentz said.
7 s6 v' H- {% sThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's* n# l; a6 u& Y, S5 f$ M+ V7 D
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has! a9 d' Z4 Q1 X, _2 L$ y
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
3 I5 B5 T. i8 ?. d1 J2 b* s+ d# b7 C, smillion in the United States -- since last fall because of
) B7 ~% ~( S6 d% r8 F" D; ^7 B7 Uunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking3 T+ U3 L9 W9 W" f
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering$ V) B7 P( E+ s! m3 Z# H
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of, o# J8 M# T* v+ z& }0 E: i/ T
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow7 Y; {! C4 `: B; P; r- x/ n2 B
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
. T+ ^) h) s* n& ^* D( o2 w% lreceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration- R8 p) I. V" R$ N9 }
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.
% t1 `- ^$ X3 E! c3 y! pLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
/ Q4 D; B& a9 pbrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he- l9 a5 i' o- X. E3 R
understood the pain./ p% v1 x P$ M. Z- C# i+ V
"I know what those families go through," he said.4 Z7 s0 E! }# W9 P' n
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's/ ]: T4 f$ e: S! r% v$ C0 F
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.* P! u! [! m% a2 t1 c
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman. p Y' I3 R! F0 B B4 s
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
0 s$ ?" }# m) v7 H, u" Tin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
* @5 F! ] b$ U0 H; X' dLentz replied: "Not totally."* K2 D# m; F; q" b6 r& @# E
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
3 ~0 Y6 C' m0 ~7 }' B"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
, a% ^, h: Z/ C9 [1 }Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
: D" s) S# W& vpedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
8 A+ Y/ B1 j/ {4 e, [" v# Mvehicles already on the road.
4 E- \- h/ a3 VMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify7 s$ t8 y3 {) {9 o8 j
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full. X( y& ~8 {; {1 ?. Z
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
8 V! o( l3 k9 ]6 Xoffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were1 q. E7 |" E) Q. c+ n+ [0 Y/ h
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems. V' g+ u& }$ `. s6 z5 g) J
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
1 V3 R/ c1 P T8 ^3 ~tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
# m1 t6 W. \# k3 w3 {" {3 h9 Hfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight5 ?: w, m' A/ o' {# p
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal- \8 c1 M* m+ }" q) Y- M- J. Z
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to; a, ?) U8 {4 r7 _1 A1 N: C
restore the trust of our customers."" s' |5 r' ^2 s) l z2 s0 s' L2 O5 g
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from. k" B2 u$ S3 L
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
7 e! m: w2 T; O7 F3 Z0 Yzoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
% L: w; W' g7 c8 l' ^+ w' Fshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and" ~6 M& O- T u
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough' S1 C- R: x; y7 J4 T( {
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
6 z) y" z' d( c: m) L9 Nturn off the engine.
, u2 p: k7 h: jFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
2 W! X; R: t+ ^# sOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
# I w; P* s! i+ W) @"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
8 m$ k- g& H* ~3 xsaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
! t0 T1 z7 z& g+ u/ ^ b) pto her complaints.
; v4 e+ j t% J- c+ k" lIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers( q$ J* i0 |/ s4 U: J, B
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic3 u) w3 h- Z( u$ `7 H/ f
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
3 d; g# f# C2 ~5 l"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric& W9 @! w; ^1 t0 L( f" ~5 O; c
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited# `3 R4 s: b [$ R2 T% T
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut" R* X) U8 N8 k9 @7 @
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
9 c Q0 \! q1 M8 R: j4 w1 bTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
0 K( S6 f6 U) U5 p& }, Lprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
* b7 H) C7 B" Z$ g) S) t Rbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
( Z) p. z7 G( ]" o: Uwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
# Y. J1 {. ]/ J5 d3 q9 F. ?0 Vevery question."/ W8 n4 ]: v( c& H: C& L
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
& |) g. x9 s$ S4 D$ }) b8 \# Qelectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
3 Z7 S9 N1 T- E& b4 d+ ]firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
. f8 }7 |1 E6 V- Y2 L* Fcommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small
5 R! ?7 ~: z& |1 Y: y3 J) [number of vehicles
2 y$ Y! F0 @9 {, S8 I" Z+ ~0 z2 V/ fTracking down an electrical problem can be far more
8 ~. M4 Y2 h" ^9 ?* Mdifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a9 S. r) c# g5 I$ B# l$ j
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one% m6 I6 _& ^& T/ p. _8 X
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
; t% m1 L9 s7 E" oMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
- |3 }3 C2 B% c4 b3 E8 X6 M7 \, lwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
. V3 I' }/ p, X6 x- Y. ^$ w- R. btrace at all.
7 M% T& v8 L8 d% r3 b8 c# E) d) CHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call9 {! D9 F9 f- L) q: q7 ^
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden1 z& J3 y- B7 `6 N
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
) ^( S; H5 D+ s' _recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
, d* H2 H- U" KRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,, J- E2 X* t4 k2 N1 K' d
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
3 ? R7 S+ O( l1 ?other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the$ ]% B4 P! E4 o$ w
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
- v4 G# J9 ?0 N, ~cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
9 G* U' x% P$ M/ O% Dsuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
! y: o! \6 {" ^6 iby Toyota's lawyers."# E0 H/ U- K' O6 j3 w) J
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
7 Q' M( C* p/ Y2 c% P9 Yproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
+ V. a* ^- c/ V, Ycustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
0 V8 O# P$ }2 |1 R* }said.
+ P# Z9 B. n' ~9 C8 D! E! A"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with7 Z5 A! B9 o" F/ I. D( u8 o% ?/ ^
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
, S, O( n; i: S+ b8 f8 M6 ggood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
+ o; z& F: j3 I0 S1 Sofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
5 H6 E1 ?# [# @! z. g/ bSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
8 q9 o3 N+ U5 V- O( |1 Nmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
+ ~# J+ z' T5 C: W/ s" S! G& prancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the9 R7 q. ^& \6 D( F
automaker, at least in part because of the government's3 y) S; i/ y% k$ O* Y' L
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
, j/ ~3 U0 b2 f, z/ DChrysler.
) [7 d( b* \2 {, K/ ]% q! K"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
+ b8 k& R0 J5 l. b4 ndollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
O: N. l; T0 Q, }6 l/ GHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also' t# I6 W' J. _! z
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete; x8 s3 Y1 S! \
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty0 v, l) ^. F C) W" w
tough."
+ ?( y" g5 ]6 i6 ?---
/ Z. \9 Y4 V1 d! t T$ w/ r& f& eAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
6 ~. l- U, Q" X9 e- F' H. D' QRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to7 s9 \4 O1 p" Y/ C1 Z
this story.
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; s: _, a6 S1 x: ~-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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