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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
5 {, U9 ~, O' w2 L }By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS$ y. b/ @% n% i
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.8 \5 H2 E. k* X; ~0 U
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that/ L. @: y1 H4 n& p7 t3 d' \$ {
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"1 P6 K& ?* G# K
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.) ? J; H( N0 E
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
! v- x7 e4 B0 E$ bcauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
. v4 t. f/ F# mHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
3 L3 q, J7 f# j A( zacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
* ]# S% j/ a; [6 wtrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor' Z2 d& O: _+ v' c! o
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.6 s# C9 H w/ u' ?
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
2 U& P+ L n Jand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
. a9 Y: l- A4 d/ K6 B# |criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be9 V! q* y0 Q* ]1 r
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
: H0 n1 v- _; ]% Rnot stop her runaway Lexus.$ U. }* ?0 `& F, M! }- T
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,4 a9 \( b9 h- p2 C
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second6 c: [' x& t1 b0 }: q
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
: e) @5 t* {1 b- ~3 T+ w+ _Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues; O* T; Y: S3 w* g
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
# K$ A( q7 B' m"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has8 |' E. v$ u) Z6 Y) u6 Y" ^3 ~
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
- c7 i c1 J0 ?" M; u( hthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's7 W1 X, ~" H+ X% h
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
, \- E/ n! C/ ]& ]0 R5 [2 hLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an2 V9 B+ V5 E+ X! o- U/ q1 X
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
: A* t; u" X$ Sthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a" H$ h# |! j5 s
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
( b! Q/ w" u6 Q7 j" H; Xsaid.7 U$ t: N& L8 b: {6 ]3 K
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
) n6 W+ [( i& R+ g; bhappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
% G! t( C. o1 P+ Babout driving our products," Lentz said.& S2 |5 S+ H1 D2 | C
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's5 D. v2 }+ q2 g
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
7 d* I7 r" r& trecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 61 }: Q6 g/ B6 x; w" C
million in the United States -- since last fall because of
. B6 h# e1 ]7 f, k) s p5 X+ Dunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking+ A$ A# U* _: G- x m
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
' b5 K4 s. z7 u. K" } F' O) p/ ^concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of5 W' c3 ` Q6 B
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
$ H8 j/ A" s' t8 O( _- l; v) Bdown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has5 ^: F9 F/ `/ K* a5 U0 C
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
5 I4 n7 `5 {; t- _# `3 y: u/ Jof Toyota vehicles since 2000." C1 X& Q' D( v* \ M) h1 n+ _
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
. c* C, C6 J! x4 L( Gbrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he# B+ t/ z9 i5 |+ `
understood the pain.
0 q |. ?9 D( T- c7 o- p"I know what those families go through," he said.
+ Y3 i$ I9 k2 d; Q T: WLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's2 G8 p" p) S( y `
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.$ N b3 _5 k6 a2 N4 W/ g w; P
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman. R4 q( w, s( O6 e* J$ Q& H3 N
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put3 B/ x+ M, V) u X6 C
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,5 s: J7 |2 n# c
Lentz replied: "Not totally."
# A3 t. ?* z2 [- u, W$ XStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were9 E2 z; U* @% v- y1 p ?
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said% Q X' r7 I7 V, A6 i9 u
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas4 \0 e/ @3 T O3 P) A* r/ |
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its' I; m4 F0 B5 m
vehicles already on the road.# [, R' H: ]9 `4 T
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify* {# p) _1 i0 p1 \+ v/ g
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
& `' ^5 G$ ]) N9 `. p5 Eresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
% N* t" U1 K* toffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were3 Q& t! Z; L8 @
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.1 G. K" ~, A! ~: X) D% L
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a8 |/ J; k& x3 `* P
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony+ @0 X; \8 Q' c- J
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight1 j: {4 _; V& n* t5 b, Q4 |6 F
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
. A- f9 r* E9 K7 Ecommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to* w* A% }, Q: }3 ~' r
restore the trust of our customers."
0 a3 I. ]- @& XLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from& u, h& F' y8 s% d4 o
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly7 B& Y8 w- M. n# ?6 Q
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --- o4 @- Y3 G2 ^8 {' I% A% n! _
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
, Y* ?1 L( r+ B4 D4 I6 phitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough8 @) X S8 e$ {5 g# I7 {$ k3 T
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
4 l- Z4 v: o- V* S* ^turn off the engine.; O3 B G( P0 U0 y9 F9 J
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
3 }. v% v( V" h1 IOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience.", u9 }- P* ]0 N" b
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she# \9 ~0 [. v8 x, J$ v
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond: L, T- H' D3 d2 F5 ^9 V
to her complaints.
5 m# B6 ?9 b0 v4 J" vIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
1 G9 |; a5 e* M7 U3 Treturned again and again to the question of whether electronic
; j" p( E: v: H, v2 Y& O, kmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
1 w9 W0 R2 e' l1 T! u5 h"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric+ R2 F4 G1 h, q% m$ u8 l
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited5 r# ] c5 i4 ~7 i+ u2 `7 K
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut7 @3 E6 n `" R1 j& x
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
4 ^, \+ P) u* t- {" CTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in! }+ L/ U- d1 i2 R5 n; W) S
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
8 j+ V$ `# W- T3 r8 u; f: jbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
. [2 \: u' _8 `8 i* Y$ _$ [were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
4 P0 H$ p- C1 W0 kevery question."
0 c# c0 g. Y- E4 i5 FToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
( R; k# E6 C; V I7 u1 {$ w. @! Kelectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
5 c) B/ V: I: F7 j3 Cfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But f* h8 k$ I) J3 A1 O
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
6 _! R M% O+ D0 a" j, Jnumber of vehicles
; e4 l1 m$ m, u4 M5 s4 LTracking down an electrical problem can be far more* w4 `5 V$ Q) l; h1 O/ ]
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
" v$ G& B/ h- K) B- vmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
5 i* |) n! {9 k* y8 B& r1 [source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.9 ^8 `; t0 R' N o; v
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,/ t) ^8 C% i, M
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
; n) R% z7 [7 w2 ?trace at all.4 P1 Z$ W' ^& ]1 E+ o
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
' A3 n' ?& L3 P- D/ Pdatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden# h' C$ i* i4 Y
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the& t7 x: ^0 y! L) U6 p+ I
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.0 y8 }* A% d& }4 g
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
6 R8 J; q4 E) O4 V4 p( c0 b- K) lsaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and* v7 m* K+ I# f. A
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the! `2 z* C& Z, Y0 V8 r3 Q+ I) D
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
, n' _" T. k6 ^4 V- }1 O, Fcause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
3 n; M2 m" `$ c$ b! r+ _! n! usuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
0 i% V* Q, v$ j$ r1 B8 zby Toyota's lawyers."
9 ]" O& ]1 e9 cLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
! o& }1 k H% N# Jproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
' w5 ~6 ]$ G& g' F1 @$ E" d- tcustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he( i, I& X0 W3 ~5 D: c- ]9 [
said.
& U& k1 V0 q; [0 i. X3 n9 H4 G"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
: m# y3 g$ ~3 s6 k$ I9 ^# r# Ia rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
' s5 h! w+ I+ w9 i" D3 \7 O: @good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating5 Q# Y+ l8 U8 d$ `' L4 J
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
/ E1 y; k8 r; o0 X% H+ k2 a2 ?) RSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying8 k0 W( b3 E. Q5 \& j% Q2 P8 u% H
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
6 p7 F1 i# I( p9 ]( Erancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
+ _6 ]3 f+ e! w. \2 T; Wautomaker, at least in part because of the government's
1 n, ]" M" K9 _) J8 a" i ~investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
; }, r0 T/ B. f2 _& R! YChrysler.
3 z) l3 ]5 u6 [' A6 y* [) ?; h"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax; B; h" r% U. a; l5 W$ j
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a7 r6 [, J q$ _$ X( x( ^4 L
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also% c" x4 E: n+ [# F M" d
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
- n+ Q% Q( l1 V) Cwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty! ~, c" p3 g' r5 X c5 J& p$ d" x
tough."
9 j9 k6 I, L( L6 Z' Z2 a& l- W# l---& q& z0 }. s: S2 \+ f6 } k1 ~: y
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
! x4 p# g1 D& ^/ dRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
1 n' t9 Z* h1 C( X4 s6 ^& rthis story.6 s: N* g4 R7 I! x% G" ~/ ^7 n
" J) o! @0 d, F/ e-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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