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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题3 Q8 U; r) Y2 Z% n3 [
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
: S2 u8 w r; n! N6 W. a: r" \Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S. }3 A& F7 w* E7 ]/ [
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
i1 ~ n2 C7 P' Ithe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"/ r: L) I6 i7 t+ X; O( }
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
8 r8 m" v- x6 P+ ^( i5 l: l6 `"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential) y6 y/ q' Z" y$ H/ c# P/ T5 n. X
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.$ r* p% _! G3 ]4 h, K, h3 B$ U
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
' i( R3 F! E+ ^& q( Bacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
! G& [6 L3 B }) o; Ntrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor/ \$ @' F6 X4 `( P3 ^
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.) `" B+ I$ j2 L) L0 B P5 J
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal5 \# X" `" i% L2 V
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
" z- {8 S1 V- A+ Jcriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
" D7 i/ v1 Z& [- _% y9 tfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
, z8 Y, t' r0 z0 n$ V2 ?6 h8 F6 J% nnot stop her runaway Lexus.
j6 l6 Z) E# P6 E"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,+ `- B% _& G% v% O1 X/ `) c' O
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second4 g R8 P5 b" C0 o* K- d2 E
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
3 x3 |' E v1 o- s9 A7 J) ATexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues6 _* q" J5 H/ N/ ?+ r& c2 w' F
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
% E! n8 L; U' P2 y3 g/ d) k"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
8 n3 T* S# C O+ S- P# sdone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway. J' T9 i% @- n+ f
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
9 q! M. u# v1 R# uinvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
; F, e9 S& |1 G" \. oLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
5 b) e2 z# X, Y/ r Kelectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of: d- L: ~) l) `; T4 u7 u) L" j6 o! d
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a( x5 b% b7 J' }% X
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
/ P. @0 c6 U3 nsaid.
; }, M9 k* K' ]2 eAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
" g( D7 |* l/ J1 f- y3 K$ fhappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
, i6 l0 h5 j8 C @2 t8 Habout driving our products," Lentz said., z; p5 s. H6 d! y X! o( m1 R
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
* G( b$ P! h/ o( P9 \+ Y ]& h# q) Iproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has6 L- K; K% a+ \( G( e. U' F5 k8 r
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
5 j3 X! {' T1 ~9 F. E' ~million in the United States -- since last fall because of8 n( F4 S' V! W5 u. E
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking4 m3 p- B6 Z2 ~* I2 s
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering$ T% s0 R- Z1 S- y
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of. D! t# `8 |; ^1 w
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
. T' Q) A! h2 i! V1 @- O0 Hdown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
( w4 r h0 O: ^7 P' I4 Breceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration% @9 j" x p3 _: z- O, q
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.
9 w2 K! Y+ U/ B/ Y! bLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
* Z, T( z3 A" a3 M+ v8 @" lbrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he$ ?" k" G, o8 T! W
understood the pain.
) C% N1 W8 J4 }, G* t7 g, f) U. ?"I know what those families go through," he said.- l- |- u3 L* `$ f8 K) q
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
5 c8 a/ ?. D( y% f* |fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
, P* Y5 R6 ~$ m4 n% p6 @But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
/ q& L/ l* W# [8 bHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put4 [6 S+ Y* S2 }1 P# T! I
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,, C5 M0 z/ d0 |' Y
Lentz replied: "Not totally."
3 |3 b! d! ~3 _3 @Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were0 M$ j5 V3 k. F6 ?/ @+ [2 v
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said( p- n' h' p; b* v/ f, p, ?" i
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
0 h4 e8 v3 S1 B" M) apedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
0 g4 ~# w$ Y. K# U- M- t* Zvehicles already on the road.( t3 S% `) l- a% F6 z
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify! r! J+ u/ ?( @ N( c) ?+ `
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
) F' t5 u5 I: e O( j2 y& ?responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and$ ]4 h8 C$ l& y8 ~! D
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
8 u8 c; k" M+ |& j* D8 H& Skilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.6 L% T) v; L/ L6 c9 Q
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
" F, d2 i9 y* E' Z& Jtragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony7 N* [. P$ d5 s/ L+ j
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight9 X4 O% t& b E, z) K
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal& u) l: h" ]9 T c* F$ t* l I8 Q$ a
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to! A } |: q1 E. l4 ^
restore the trust of our customers."
6 Q7 V4 j/ D. HLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from. g# e# y, X. s+ ^$ g
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
1 W( K4 j* N" q% c1 Y. n2 jzoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
8 b+ T& G0 b n8 J/ ]shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
' s6 S; V# F- g* c2 ]" }# Bhitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
/ t* {5 K: R; t; Hthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and' { i9 M7 D8 j9 z& _
turn off the engine.
% n$ R d) P$ |0 f' g' cFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
' _9 o8 }9 A1 hOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
& L4 H4 u7 n' i; _! _3 N"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
1 ~4 u& I! G0 E) [said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond7 \6 A1 N V( V m
to her complaints.% M" O( a3 n; N" X5 Q
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers1 D8 J7 q! h1 ~, {! ]
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic; R1 u. p6 P* z9 `, ]
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.) J; u- k T. Z
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
0 t+ X/ v: _+ u( ?! T: fthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
0 g" ]: j9 j; Q"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
9 D2 f. t. x# y% Ioff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."+ z$ K) s- K( w+ T
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in( O W0 [- @3 l0 a( H
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
+ J) t1 P" f% C" Abeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
0 l7 d: R- _: ?, uwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer+ G1 \7 |" |, ~1 S; b! G9 N$ Z
every question."
: A/ m, t# D' b3 q* ~5 EToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether6 Y# I8 ` [- G
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The4 }9 g, q3 b: x- C: H+ ?- {
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
" u" u) e- r1 U8 v5 \1 Jcommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small
( n/ g: B4 Y' F& X Pnumber of vehicles) }0 Y* j3 J* a. C
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more
9 d* K2 h* s" }! j o1 Y! d3 Idifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
$ g+ O6 M9 d4 M$ _+ C0 N- [mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one1 r% Z+ L( y/ _0 W# w6 Z4 c: P2 Q
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
+ ?0 X$ D5 c0 ]) s( M" rMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
) U% r' v6 }5 y# h6 S$ M3 _where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
$ D6 ]; s* j$ N6 f6 Q: K f1 Ctrace at all.4 E7 H9 [1 k8 y0 f6 n. x
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call) ]5 D l( s0 S4 h6 K: J& K1 w
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
: _+ L4 b( N/ B6 a2 iacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
, c! o- Y- y3 x w: |8 M8 g j: Precalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.3 o0 ~$ T& J* K5 k# O H v
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
4 u Y$ ]# N) L+ |3 }said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
9 S, b$ I% m1 s. dother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
* f. v7 }7 X. q$ eelectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible. _9 ]$ b0 _0 ^
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only, t) B0 V) f! N# G7 h2 U9 q7 a$ i
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained2 k/ p. m/ s# u: G+ h
by Toyota's lawyers."; [! B( E: c3 w! {: @
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of* X U {9 U* g- S! K& H: O
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
6 |3 G' O6 w' I$ y' G. g% T$ l" scustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
+ Z0 |2 Q7 I _8 Osaid.
" @+ ~- ^! n( u9 e$ r"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with/ p' H' [, @ r* U; F3 V
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
' _ @" K- a2 G$ t* V8 h, cgood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
7 f8 w3 @/ }. L' p6 u" J4 Nofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
% D' r+ z' O& USeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying, d% B# V4 K2 V. q: m: k4 X
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
3 O3 i& O9 K D1 j9 S0 |rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
9 O/ R8 r) y5 F" y( K, A, e' Xautomaker, at least in part because of the government's0 v4 G8 w/ l3 @4 Z
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
& b y! }2 F) f+ n- k8 I7 W* X5 sChrysler.- O2 v2 y' [- b+ w4 e
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
1 e; ?/ l6 k u: X2 vdollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
+ s. B( H4 b$ P& dHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also+ O% w( v1 O! Y( R" y. h
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
3 J q1 U, Z) f* t+ Z3 Q- Z! C8 x6 rwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty: ?2 S6 F( {. N
tough."
2 R' l2 k- h7 P# n% D+ ^---
: ], n) w( G; x, e' G4 AAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom& L6 h1 l# m5 T4 g
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to; k0 @% S) ^6 J9 ]5 i( N4 q
this story.
/ n& h5 e, L3 K, Z, H' L9 O7 Y" n/ z0 M5 Q
-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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