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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
- j5 M9 M; \3 A. p3 zBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
) f% w; z& J( N1 bWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.5 `+ g/ ^4 c0 k, e8 W$ O
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that2 b" J+ r' [' o/ h& R
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"/ R; `# d0 [1 ]
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
m" G+ i: Q. h4 t$ N"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential. A% }( t( o" l9 O/ e6 g
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
' ~7 r E, P* \- ?: g3 nHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected7 s/ c6 t9 j+ C7 {3 D+ r+ d u
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and" ~& F' l) R7 }) H+ u
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor" G. [: }6 n# ?# M9 Y; {
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.
: y8 J: E' n. bHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
L4 O3 A9 D9 l; A+ d7 o" qand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp- t/ z& L* ~6 ]' F: l3 r
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be# j% e" g5 f% a
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could3 l9 a' J* {7 U }
not stop her runaway Lexus.
8 B5 Q1 r9 E9 E( @, ~# T"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
" h0 F) S/ [4 DTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
- E: r/ d$ V) j8 ["shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
! c' S' D+ [8 O: R! K U N% XTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
+ m9 q% C! S5 r" @' Dearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
% Z* Q0 l% A O* Z J; [, v"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has& l% {9 H# c4 ?" d
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
" I! W' Y2 @' S$ T9 wthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's8 }8 K& [+ I' S4 x& |
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."% h% E* g% R# O( W' ?
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an! l6 c. |9 E( k
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
! Z4 j# l3 t, v9 y2 T8 L: Sthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a+ R( w' w3 z* w/ ^4 a
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he9 Z/ u7 N" y& ~; C
said.7 \ V0 w+ ]7 A; X
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what3 {; q* i" _2 R# X8 K W( a
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe6 q; N3 R! f; Z# ]2 E4 D2 I
about driving our products," Lentz said.
+ U1 u% ]3 ]' K5 I; LThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
! ?4 b. Q6 Q4 iproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
" s; q5 g% _5 V% lrecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
2 N( t+ f, H/ z5 J! \million in the United States -- since last fall because of
$ S% Y3 b6 V5 U( j$ c: n3 ~. zunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
& b4 B3 {6 A: ` Qissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering1 _: J% N+ S. O
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
2 J" \) X% j% w6 r2 }their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
! Y( U9 V( A3 \; X5 f5 ?& Mdown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has1 n# N7 O" }2 d7 f6 \
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration' s/ {# Q: I4 E. \5 T
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.* [- ?. x8 D6 c& l
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own; M$ N) b! B7 I
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
- V' Q8 R9 E( dunderstood the pain.
" {% J" M! e- X: H$ Q; f"I know what those families go through," he said.( `# K5 _+ X# B/ j3 P4 I( e; W
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's; R" D% J' U, j) @
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.# O8 f6 n( N( B) ^7 s
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman" }3 B+ V7 v# x+ _ t: z1 H5 m7 ^$ z
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
4 M: C4 h+ p' U7 g0 nin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,$ v- \+ n" h& q" i
Lentz replied: "Not totally."
! ~, S# h; n- {) p6 I% l8 U3 EStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
7 j9 `' z- G9 U# B. i"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said- C/ p: _$ Y a1 S. i
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas2 G- M$ S7 ?4 ^3 n2 m
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its% [5 q$ v) U9 w3 S% @- }
vehicles already on the road.& E- a, S! h1 u$ g# s" q$ Z
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify$ z4 o$ E) a7 Z# g* [( U
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
; u. y5 \* a# A% @responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
+ h* L) m, M' H" F1 S5 Foffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
; F, m( E; H- v \4 M2 e7 }killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
- ]& g' `; C3 z6 w0 H% b! P"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a8 M L4 Q) _* |
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony5 j0 Z7 e" \0 T% t4 ]# i- O
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
' Z! {* J. w2 K; |! _6 uCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
9 v0 W2 {$ i0 @commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to- c8 N9 G9 P% G! H
restore the trust of our customers."
2 _# Y! c+ \. X# l1 Y- B' [Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
# v9 A/ R! ^; H" ^Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly/ T1 S1 p9 V7 r% {* s1 V
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --" t, T' _& F! Z% d
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and" ~: N D7 w1 k' N* ?
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
! B' s" f. x( u& Ethat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and7 [" B, N4 q6 r
turn off the engine.# q7 I& ~" Y! E$ K) A) Q
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
, C' d& _3 D COctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
* [5 R- r+ `9 o"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
4 n. m( z/ w% a! ], A" [+ B+ Lsaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
! j3 V2 R+ ^& g+ T$ N- \" Jto her complaints.
# I9 P: T0 j( u9 |2 y+ ~; uIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
% p9 N: g. s9 E) C) Zreturned again and again to the question of whether electronic
% m9 h0 v) `8 |( U& umalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.% ]' ^: z+ U' M% n. Y7 q% g% w. I
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric) m+ c0 W0 u, m0 Z
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
' o: d- D9 Y& S: M& H1 K"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut' w7 B: d; C/ ]9 L" T) N% u
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."1 q6 f. x0 h1 X
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in9 Y) U7 _! l8 Z0 `
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
/ M' p5 F8 m$ a( I6 J; Kbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
0 _7 \* B* g8 u5 g3 x* U0 ]+ awere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer6 v, N8 ]- \# Z$ a$ A. W( Z" m
every question."
+ q7 I @. r9 o; J- o, h0 PToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether: d) z, u/ r. I
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The4 C4 g; A: Q5 J
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
$ G* p8 i: V6 O% b# zcommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small
- k4 Y* ?7 y/ }( O2 a8 Knumber of vehicles9 j" K" C; G0 m- n5 D* I
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more( Q- u8 l- R3 a% p
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
4 b0 W' b- w8 \* z" xmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
( s3 p' M4 Z7 G9 _) Ssource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.9 B) [' q; k0 y2 W# P' h
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
$ A6 c1 ?9 k3 w% V2 Q, _8 Lwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no3 [: ], C% r, E, ]7 W0 E' g
trace at all.# T( p. C- v- [4 _9 ]% g
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
$ b$ s9 y: M/ a8 \database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
& {) L- r6 p% x+ c tacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
3 M5 F3 z5 w9 G3 c; xrecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.2 _% k5 {- ~8 ]' Q0 d: y
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
3 _, N. g1 j7 L. _) W, ssaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and& n5 o! T2 p1 |' ?6 q g
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the0 K7 t) Y! F- l% c/ i: o
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
) L& c- _7 N& l% acause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
2 K1 A: M* n1 R" w- H- Asuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
/ ]) Z" c( Q* B2 T$ P. yby Toyota's lawyers." C0 ~9 p: X! z
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of' r5 Q9 ^9 v. `9 O: M5 N8 c
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
& _9 x! ~8 W' r# Pcustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he$ f6 g5 a6 K. T% }( [
said.6 F: e2 `; z F J1 F2 k. d5 b8 x
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
/ Z6 Q# H8 h5 @% V' _a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
& I/ B4 X! u$ M/ P2 N% q! `" bgood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating |3 ]9 b7 W+ C5 w
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
& B- n: s' Q9 [, ?; t U5 `Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
6 Z9 e' a: P2 n6 _" }2 ^, Qmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
' k) j' b0 ]8 J( I: X9 [rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
, {, V: E% f; h# `5 m+ f9 rautomaker, at least in part because of the government's7 B2 g7 z3 }% G0 A( V, x$ l; u
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
; B) Z1 K4 a" MChrysler./ o" E. j, }8 R& e
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
% J8 D) E8 W! S+ u& ddollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
5 I5 Q2 l3 Y9 N0 e' I. m+ J4 ~9 ]Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also/ R& r) \$ {- G
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete1 P4 i1 P" p+ \# O
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty s: {; \9 Z. v' k
tough."! M4 O d! R& h8 }& P
---
6 H, t3 c) q! ]& w8 BAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom% t& a4 B" N# s% m
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to' U8 k: P! ~" P9 I
this story.7 `! B' {: M6 m+ F( [% I
5 A, W. ~5 Q* v- k4 q-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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