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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题 m8 V6 J6 k. M& b" z
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
% V0 {& ?8 L( L. m$ `5 bWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.7 V! \' M6 I8 t
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that5 n1 d: \3 ]$ D `! l; _/ P& g
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"9 f+ v- W6 j) F& z5 W0 F
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.. q) _- j" i, m( q- @
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential: N3 Q0 h- T0 x# C2 @ [4 ^
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
1 O P G3 H- |4 D1 l; CHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
7 U2 \0 z5 \' O- B4 \7 yacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
8 V) Y- C' ?- U( g _3 utrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor5 y' `1 [' k1 l* m. d' j% }" |
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.
$ W; j& F7 w8 W8 N0 bHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
, X& g' M+ `$ }5 oand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
' k7 D5 X# {. V( x% v; s; P i6 Ycriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
; m# T: W7 B+ N: jfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could+ x9 Z+ l* E. `+ N, X; v* F) z8 K
not stop her runaway Lexus.- i* }* v- h5 e/ U+ ?2 }" h
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,+ s) Q4 R& f8 t! ?
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second* |0 v, O# Z* \
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.# d6 |2 }, s/ H, K6 N
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
0 y8 T( M( } O4 m0 E8 nearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said& F" \- u0 \& N' E# ^
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
7 d, s+ r; d: _8 [done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
5 Z. k# b( V7 H5 {$ |4 b) ?0 {# E4 ithrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
1 h- r* ?5 d: y X4 v. Yinvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."+ v- W" ?& C F3 Y
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an1 C7 h3 ?; X% t5 |, G% K& F
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
+ p) [( [, z: u2 I5 Hthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
4 \, H- L+ K5 g3 Q6 Q+ Z; N- fmalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he0 ]0 ?7 S o( H
said.
! B3 r; a8 K* G/ f+ Y. y( e$ Z2 xAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what2 x% k, }6 K$ `# b: N( X$ p9 A$ S
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe$ F- g. d( R. S
about driving our products," Lentz said.2 }+ r6 s+ d; c0 [3 L; O
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
0 a: L8 ~6 n0 j. M+ j/ P/ J$ |6 `0 mproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
' l; o9 X9 R8 Q, G* V T& N3 F2 z7 e; krecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
\7 G8 X: @' _million in the United States -- since last fall because of7 n4 F }; |: M" @; ?
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
- r, a$ j' v1 u5 {# Jissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering& e1 q; D3 Y$ N
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
|' \ o1 I* A( Z+ ~% ntheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
X c" U3 ]# {down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has' ^$ V0 f I+ m
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration/ _; s6 a4 A, a4 g+ v% g) s9 ]
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.3 y2 p% L/ X* P4 L4 c2 K; u8 Z; ]1 L6 u
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
* M) |0 a* o. b# ~& W$ R4 e+ r Dbrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
z7 W( u; C3 i/ @& Wunderstood the pain.: r* F* v1 D# I2 q
"I know what those families go through," he said.
, N' ^# [, O) J! ELentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
) @& c3 Z. D+ h9 C& X; @, j) Pfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.0 h6 }4 ~3 O- ~' h
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
- L9 W0 M! P8 ^6 w* w6 }" eHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put* q" C' ^; V- w! K. Q6 d
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
4 _7 W) y4 i( S+ S mLentz replied: "Not totally."' U$ J3 e3 t1 W- k& O5 J+ n9 o, `0 D
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
& o7 D( [& t! L1 b; F/ N& ~3 o"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said9 G S4 r t8 G: T# G x' e- q
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
. f9 e; y$ s* epedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
& {$ V! u- j5 i2 j7 [' V6 V* _vehicles already on the road.
& ^% l. b5 w3 }$ xMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
, T1 F: v! e9 I- B3 \8 e( U9 |before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full- i6 L3 e. P6 R# b" [ C3 I, S3 T
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
6 J! a4 g; X# G& n7 ^offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
# M* z: B9 [# a& _killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.) T' A" F1 ]1 X9 q+ O
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
6 t1 `# E. p% J' atragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony( \, I7 }, k, e
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
. P0 Q) I) B5 \9 T( p {9 ZCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal4 R5 h! ^0 ]2 [5 `3 \) B
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
8 l* f' \7 k& u" E( rrestore the trust of our customers."
& D9 b% a) B2 C* p6 }2 J* D# ELawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
, f- b, A4 g( r2 F7 A# E2 Q; HSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
0 o1 D& R5 [" K) izoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --" X& ~* Q% L! `5 P2 B! C5 j7 E
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
+ s5 h% g |: J9 A! A* j$ zhitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
1 J0 Y3 D- ]1 Gthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
2 P4 P+ d, y Q! nturn off the engine.! I# Z- V- }) e3 o: Y2 M. D2 l
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
* h3 R3 S) I2 H; k+ {: ~October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
$ b+ H( j/ ]( Y7 W, q( I"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she, K" O: w" v0 _+ r8 a( O7 u
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond2 @, O1 k: X1 \. E8 Q" a. a+ k; ?. n7 N
to her complaints.
3 Z7 Y! t" f9 v: a# [In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
! r- n; [4 ^& \* qreturned again and again to the question of whether electronic
/ p2 Z3 X! j3 J3 Y; _8 X9 Kmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
2 c7 R) [4 D5 k"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
; O" O b. |# @throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited5 ^4 d" S& W0 R0 S q2 B
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut$ u- f4 w+ x* c/ U* @
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
/ g- e( Y$ b/ ] A( ?5 [' F eTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in8 `$ b d7 n( D+ S5 l( U! {
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were; o7 w! r0 S9 ^. F
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
* ]+ `3 l/ I$ `" w3 |were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer( t9 S/ I, Z0 u. N8 v0 p
every question.": V" t0 w& p' ?; q3 G
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether7 {+ E( [2 n5 o$ ~
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The/ z. O1 b# ^" [+ b: d
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
! {% r" ^1 H# W* G7 ^: R" h% pcommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small; Q) _# e( H. O+ S% D6 A3 x
number of vehicles2 u6 ]- ?4 g, U
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more! ^8 T6 h% n6 D
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
$ w1 l5 b! c" j5 @' l2 Wmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
1 Z( A. x4 A( p) ?7 e4 I$ _, {source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.( e- K& B; N% y
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,& C4 `& v; o1 h! {
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
1 w1 t0 Y J# s: d6 \! \trace at all.
' n3 M- x! O! ~% `House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
7 X: Y* ^ }7 k% P% z& Rdatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden. ~& Y$ e& u4 \* a# [7 Y/ S2 x
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the, @/ | E- g& U
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
, L- w6 y) Q) t1 y$ {( XRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,& G9 r" l- W* @$ Q4 J. k
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
: U9 w" U5 S3 d8 t8 [8 i0 mother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
; ~% D9 |! U2 j1 I& X( t1 velectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
7 ?2 o- Z9 |9 o8 z. Rcause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
1 Q& L+ {- x. H' h; U! \/ k. G; ?such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained' x# ~7 E/ z3 A: y8 \. X
by Toyota's lawyers."- G& W! V0 y! T( A6 A# `7 D
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
: z; B6 j" ?$ `- @! g& I8 [problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our1 J& T0 W9 Y/ @1 U, K7 ]" ], u0 S
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he. T, L9 \- U' X. y& N
said.
8 t+ | O q2 D9 h( d"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
" U; `; z% K9 ]& Ja rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our; m+ x& {+ H3 \: {3 e
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
5 n. ?# L1 t8 [4 p: y7 w3 F$ ^officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
/ o; Z/ _* p; {& dSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
7 J/ B( B9 o2 q5 z6 N" r) Mmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
9 s" }9 e; A% L5 y6 p4 R& @6 I+ Jrancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
0 R* c% U% S% Kautomaker, at least in part because of the government's
2 L6 m) P& ?( ~/ R* F: Vinvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
, O; r/ [* Z4 `% iChrysler.: G* r, q# B6 g' i( ]
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax( m9 H1 {$ G. T% c( T# O6 j
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
) O3 ?: g- j7 ^) V, b; `Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also# m4 t8 s) D" ^: Z7 o) s
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete$ e5 A8 [. S, Z$ H, |
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
) \% R' F3 L8 V" U+ R1 V7 p; O$ ytough."
% T- F- r6 J+ i# S. r---2 M/ p7 ^- ~) b( o
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
: e, U9 X; J% b$ N1 U! t8 rRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
0 v) r( d+ I* F% p, q- @this story.$ i3 Q. s9 X" p6 y; T- P* \! Q
6 V6 U" N( j8 F# I; p
-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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