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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
- Y2 L( e9 ?( n# YBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
1 `: L1 V; Y& O; o6 |6 F: rWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
5 s; J) b! |2 U2 I5 Koperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
7 s$ V; R6 q* o \: b( c) d W9 H, hthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
0 d5 W( t& J& L& D3 Dsolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.6 g H% K* T( P0 {( ]
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
% h: z' R+ w) R9 @! wcauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
/ t4 g0 b) |/ @ g0 O+ MHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
- w* G1 @; _( w3 {& f- U6 @0 Racceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
$ t3 _4 {6 v+ J, A8 @9 T& otrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
% I2 M! Y6 p" i( g7 Vmats and sticking accelerator pedals.
4 K! Q* V& l5 H- dHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
: c+ `" r6 Y' V2 E( f1 [; Land fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp) ~1 x+ c9 b6 T4 m; A4 a
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be" a+ D+ O5 }0 C1 I& C" b
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could2 j5 P1 O, Q! y0 i
not stop her runaway Lexus.
" a' I5 ?% \, r& [) w"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
" t5 S; ^' t- e2 z1 V4 P$ H+ FTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
! d/ e! T, f x. ?$ O E/ ]"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.7 j7 y1 @0 W9 ]$ M7 _1 [% N
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues- a$ X# ?) Y0 Z5 w2 m% d8 u
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
9 V( p u/ W( |: g: Z+ n/ `"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
5 P2 b0 ?7 L: s* D) U* X$ edone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway" A f! ?( V* J. f- Z, {0 g
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's3 D& G* q+ h+ b* k! h! p/ m( O
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."8 p8 H+ G$ d$ e
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
/ |. ?4 W2 i! n3 Pelectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of% \/ p L9 H2 }9 e" {% W) |
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
, ~* m7 U ^+ Cmalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he; v7 x/ K% U+ O, A3 k6 o' Z% z
said.
! _0 }, F2 l1 u+ O6 f2 p! G+ U8 GAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
9 L. Y8 f, R3 Y+ Shappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
, B/ a# h) }1 G N! F+ q+ ?' T& }5 sabout driving our products," Lentz said.* W' v7 x! R# c4 ^) a5 M$ n7 ?- e
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's& F( F* v; I; j% K7 Q
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
2 [, y* a6 v8 krecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 65 z! j) b! G1 j& c+ j: F
million in the United States -- since last fall because of
$ `- t+ R2 M5 i$ tunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
* M6 e' U7 r2 L. d; _: }& Y0 oissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
- R: G! E( B# A: o: `6 H! O6 Lconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of. P2 G6 P. ^5 N$ o1 I6 n- n
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow9 t6 ~% N- f9 y; \; B% |, z( ~
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has4 p4 j- s" Y$ W/ _
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
5 y2 U! Q* @, ^of Toyota vehicles since 2000.
( s- v `- _8 \+ q+ rLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own/ H8 h8 ?) v+ y! T1 s4 O
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
- e/ I* X0 g0 q9 r7 Q& g" vunderstood the pain.) O+ P4 q6 ?& P- v2 X
"I know what those families go through," he said.% R6 d: J& g2 E/ S- J
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's. h; _, R9 F5 Q5 F4 |. V' Y
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.6 c- z- I! i3 v( K. t
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman, E+ p7 Z* _( `6 w
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
; N& e. c. E5 b7 e# }1 R3 v( n; oin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,8 n6 K& z# [+ n4 y8 N4 ^& ^! }
Lentz replied: "Not totally.": @/ [5 m z2 d+ v8 w
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
) p: P, y' g/ t* c"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
5 v" Z2 v8 }, UToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas) l/ r2 J7 S& S: {* v* \
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
' K4 {% A- `5 H0 n c& s, dvehicles already on the road. ~& Y5 J0 A; y
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify. S- j, u) ]9 z) @! ~3 W6 T; u
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full/ @1 g z; w2 L1 C! G/ o
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and; Q; w/ f4 s5 N7 P" `
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
# P# s5 R2 Z6 a% U5 N4 Zkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.$ y" b! U3 x( H( m, D- @
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a1 z. O0 z$ f0 e- V9 a
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
# z1 r0 e8 {1 V4 m" o7 Ofor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight; k. `# K4 Q* W8 \1 N0 d
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
K1 u$ N3 B+ ncommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
& T9 u g( s# z. u8 }* irestore the trust of our customers."
0 v, v; b) T7 V6 Z+ d8 @Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from* {; x- K! J+ r9 {4 ~
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly8 F Z( _9 ]; L
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
9 n0 x( P! M& R" n E; E+ `shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
! M; J* l% s! @hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
$ x4 r1 [; F, @2 J- T- Othat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and) `; V" K8 z# Q# O+ I$ G' a
turn off the engine.
% G4 ?& [# @2 N2 ]Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of( d5 `* @7 D$ M$ \/ c5 d
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."+ p4 y$ I; A* A; Y
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she) c2 s- t. e3 _: N
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond5 S2 r6 G5 Z* O, j: `
to her complaints.9 ]3 X$ p9 E; C! j
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers: A: P. h- W2 v4 g4 g5 S
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic3 A( }+ n! D' J* V- ^
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.9 Y0 O; O( w- Y4 e8 F
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
' `( G& E+ H& j8 o2 Cthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited3 y- f! h5 Q( c- O
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut" U0 C9 R( C4 e! U1 u
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."6 h( w+ G( K: G! Z, `
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
/ I8 M* m/ {2 ?/ @! ]' C4 p- ]+ p ^prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were8 u1 d. g5 A6 L1 ~9 i2 Z1 t
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
- W* I9 _9 C# X4 T' zwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
* R7 @% H. n. `4 a3 Uevery question."
* `# n" a& m* _Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether; ]$ G9 p/ U( `; [1 W
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
8 d* z- X% [. L( i- efirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
2 V! p+ y2 H2 t% I3 ^3 U3 g+ ycommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small
, h$ V5 v) v& Cnumber of vehicles
" f) m y0 E' P F0 V6 H; uTracking down an electrical problem can be far more
$ Q* o2 ?+ y* W: ?difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a$ R; A1 e7 z! e0 J
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one( N0 @ w3 I9 r9 q
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
3 v0 @ w# w$ z$ m! p4 O4 `Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,' r5 B" ]. x' n6 J
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
# P9 t- p n/ M. u) Mtrace at all.
1 R. X" `/ R: FHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call' R# x; F5 `+ I' L8 c `. C; X H
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
; r; u+ N( k6 L. facceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the, _, @% x# y/ ^/ {, @
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
: P/ \1 p# L- X# ~Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,2 @/ t" T+ m! V9 ?" r7 z* _
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
+ F5 k7 h0 ?3 Iother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the1 I9 B* T) M+ g T. F. d' Q; h
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible1 i5 Z9 u! I# x0 X% h: Q
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only* L/ o: `4 `, d- i y
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained* k+ c1 _9 X6 H2 [
by Toyota's lawyers."# z0 n2 B- h( [
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of8 O7 ^# `4 G) j1 Z2 r. s
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our0 V2 j( r+ x0 b# @! p7 u, B) a
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he# O& Z- {* ?* D5 M r' g
said.
% q9 v6 _7 s4 F3 M+ v& w/ k"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with: o1 }( y( P0 C. L! ]+ k
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our$ o: c" H( w1 c( c0 @
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating/ u' ?$ s/ s! E
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
: j& ~* V3 | uSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
8 g3 H' W8 p7 O( l: q* s; o0 vmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
( K, {- w; {& _# d) n; l3 H2 |rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the" T; B, z3 {6 z
automaker, at least in part because of the government's2 ^/ G0 b! m/ f( A0 U% J# x
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
% A* f6 }* U2 T! {5 _Chrysler.. I+ f% B8 {0 |% W1 W
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax! Z- u( y4 K' _% N
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
# [* s; A% T( p( rHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also( g. c1 `. t9 W. O' P
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
5 | D- g2 S/ Y' twith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty/ Z# I3 i* u% W
tough."
5 h+ l. P: O$ \7 b4 h) @6 s- M---
- p! E) z2 A6 B* `1 r$ @* XAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom% }7 i6 R8 Y" c1 [1 v& S* n- P% U
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
z( g: v) }6 D! athis story.
# c5 P9 k9 `4 O8 Z
2 O! v, K; s) l& `7 b G4 x- Z8 a-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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