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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
# C* ~: y" y0 nBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS+ x+ J- \% o* J- h7 D" H
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
" W: e0 S; x: {0 ?( }% A" Moperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that* H) G& R: {# a& c: a3 F; n: Z
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"9 Y+ \* R* ?5 A6 v" O( I- x; [6 ~7 R
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
4 X) ]9 z5 |0 ]6 z* E' T9 Z"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
) C1 U; d5 |* y0 Acauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
/ q* b( F3 y$ qHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected4 I+ x) r. S$ Z) I1 \/ c: d+ ]- L
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and1 X8 H0 z3 J% G# y" z* _
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor* k* g5 ^; a- ?, a! C# I! f
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.
% `* B2 j) L: rHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal$ S5 D" |* E) {) W* q- U+ n
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
6 h6 c/ l- I! Lcriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be4 L+ t6 q8 O1 g# U3 E
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could: D0 r* ~# p( ~, g6 q9 l& E
not stop her runaway Lexus.
; U0 E2 C( f- Z( E( k0 e9 ?" B, Q6 _4 w"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,/ o/ f- }4 D, F7 j" s( |
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
T5 I1 n$ _: r' Z"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.1 c, v: c7 r" e9 `4 z! u
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues; X6 D$ l" H# t7 @, T
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
' ^: i& r$ y/ c9 z4 B"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has+ E6 w! p8 W" u. F4 ^
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
' I" b/ X! j* l6 ^* p# ~5 V6 B; F6 ]through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
4 q) F9 b& |$ S& T6 F6 p( cinvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham.": N( ~8 X0 d( w7 ~1 |2 l1 B) I: L( j
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an/ j. M. x/ ^2 J) {4 A! u) ]
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of1 p( g5 d- e- b. @4 t8 B: R
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a0 X5 n, l5 y( }- a0 J
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
! v9 j0 R* b" {6 W+ Lsaid.
6 x) K1 w2 o! ^) B( q5 XAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
. H) c0 g1 V$ O" k" F5 U6 [* t- ahappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe! v& j3 ~: i0 [/ H) j- Q* Z
about driving our products," Lentz said." Q0 H, M5 |2 U; I- V
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's, }5 [ J- x6 q% u, v. a3 E
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has) \8 r) E& I( M. l, U
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
2 K; H% b& L6 k, dmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of+ x% T) x6 \2 P
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking% m O! ]/ Z3 X4 s: O$ Q
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering3 ?2 C% ]: N5 B' ^% Y
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
. a8 u- s0 [( E7 M; N) Stheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow z% M& A) Y" Z, Y
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
6 F0 p ~& L1 h F, Mreceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
+ v! [- n& b& J- ^( kof Toyota vehicles since 2000.
% Z' @- K! @) m$ V7 vLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own9 W: E7 e1 ?, n3 P) Q
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he. l s# a" |6 D1 O/ S" W5 w
understood the pain.% o+ d( Q: g7 S; }3 ?- Z3 q5 S
"I know what those families go through," he said.
' ]! b5 ?# I8 |9 I% c* ALentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's1 a& Z/ ?% Z- u0 _
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
: S$ z1 I8 A0 X/ RBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
/ M, H* M$ y; a1 u- X oHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
1 v ~" q( A; M5 { Z! F \0 xin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
0 f# Y; a' @0 Z; q3 tLentz replied: "Not totally."
6 @$ n2 r8 M0 C+ ~/ E( pStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were# F# @+ g* a4 A- l$ \
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
+ X$ q7 ~8 f2 j: N# `4 mToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas5 s$ n$ `, \! ~ I
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
/ y, `, l6 A/ ~1 _) yvehicles already on the road.
, `% E: P' g+ \/ m8 RMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify' N; D* B6 t) |+ l0 a" g0 S
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
& j2 P: G$ D1 K5 q' T0 M7 I- g0 ?8 Rresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
- o3 p* r8 @( Boffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were1 ?4 I; U: P& e
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.' ]* D( J R: Q
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a N( C$ |6 v- @8 X( U, S
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
' g, P, A. j- E- i1 zfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight7 d _$ E3 v# i* ?2 A
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
* I: d" }7 d& L6 Ocommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to5 Y& s8 K8 l& w
restore the trust of our customers."$ z- {. g% z/ G2 L; Q1 y8 q
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from; x1 A% T! a" ]
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
3 y1 g! y- U- c4 ~/ I9 U; C+ \zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
+ _! l2 L% q t, w& nshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and) M( q v. `1 H% N4 E- H6 H
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
, M+ f( {1 Z/ M9 J5 \that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
- }% G8 m) S' b. o& Oturn off the engine./ l, Z% N' J# @0 Q: P
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of2 X& d6 m* o9 H/ f0 i
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."4 i9 }/ y6 R: _
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
& n A; x7 I3 d2 C! dsaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
1 j: J" V" {* [5 \- c8 c* bto her complaints.
6 M- ~* [7 [8 k2 lIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers7 X/ J1 H) U4 b4 Z, a
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
9 r2 h/ Q( y/ U Imalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.0 H% ~0 e+ Y R# W: H
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
; R- K! ]: G5 Vthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
7 w- y; b* }0 W"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut1 L, b1 z7 d/ F
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."+ Q( q; q j" @( S' O( z1 \; j! V: N
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in! W* X0 H# ^/ C) X
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were% q- N& r. K. T( S" W; o& a# f
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls( o) E2 H0 _9 v q! O* z
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer- a& @+ r' ]5 c% O
every question."
. H' C B: @0 [2 G- K$ |Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
" h$ v: P4 @5 }7 d' c5 H. Felectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
0 s* r# ^% t: z5 y! I. jfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But$ [% @' y7 H5 M
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small( C) c7 F9 {: J. R" g8 |
number of vehicles
0 y, q* c6 x1 `6 B! V# ~Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more( n6 ^/ [9 W% K
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a( W# ~% W: G2 v& K' h6 U' @
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
$ j9 C* m, }' _" q. ]! Q x& z; Jsource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.9 B! E4 X% Y2 P+ E
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
e' Y, T$ }2 l9 i' @1 Rwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
5 Q% y+ O7 q4 i/ K- ltrace at all.) M/ O! o, \0 T; {1 Y; I! J4 n
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
: R* Z4 m2 K4 {5 e( Ddatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
" y! k8 L* u1 Z, Y/ A- Iacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
7 }+ g( u/ p: ^" qrecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
, t3 o# l0 P, ~1 CRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
1 f; {, ?& {( j @0 A3 H+ Msaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and) n9 y4 B. b% X* V
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the; u( r4 c: X# Q+ k/ d9 j( b$ ?
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible: [: N4 ?: X1 Y* H( B
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
3 x |" K. b! P5 T: T7 ?0 Esuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
7 ~* F" s3 Z- I5 x9 }by Toyota's lawyers."
* H5 f% c: T8 ]: FLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
9 K6 F6 r; K$ w! Z% U4 D; Gproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
+ L! c1 `: o( W& h3 bcustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he! b+ M( ~4 _. U- U5 T
said.4 j# y6 Z/ b& m2 O* L9 V6 ?- Q
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
6 q* s5 \5 i6 V- M; Ta rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
' A% q9 T3 E7 R& J3 agood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
- O7 ?' V* R2 V& Hofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.; x0 H8 D% g! C
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
( J* v8 a& m8 k' q+ S8 |, p Tmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
! \6 H5 W0 m- K; O0 k& t9 I/ orancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the' U- U% R4 t. E
automaker, at least in part because of the government's+ }# W8 u8 z/ x2 l6 S, K
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and% Z A% s# p( H9 D% c2 ?" C
Chrysler.4 b. d' ?8 c! A' J. U/ [: [
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax9 v$ m& d% J8 {7 W4 [) q2 Z: W3 M
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a# v! S$ k) @# e& S! t0 T U, O
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
4 w$ e. D7 h. y% v$ h1 D6 [served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
# p# V( o3 t0 P4 I. E9 Wwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty. ^3 S0 d0 A% Y; _% Z+ a% }
tough.". v T0 J+ g4 O, F
---
4 h" ^7 o* J7 g3 i" cAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
4 O* o5 X1 W" s# NRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to) Y4 ]( T$ v% R6 Q! D
this story.8 J& Z) O3 N; g/ k6 x1 X
4 M) }! ]8 i: `-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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