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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
7 Z: `8 @8 r* ^2 L* pBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
$ b+ P% r/ M: d# bWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.! ~9 R) ^" F. x: C) A
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
5 g; b$ }; v7 `6 x ]the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally") h: v. d! r0 j: |$ w7 L) x5 B
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
/ y! ?6 N+ ~( {"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
4 `( b% j+ t! @9 e1 a hcauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
( L% N3 R, ?4 N5 m4 W4 O3 HHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
, d5 E n9 b3 z- y5 l- I: Tacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and1 M3 C" |3 B, ?) E& o
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor9 j) P; n, D) l6 Y8 u+ N4 k( Z! c3 r
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.
' J: ^+ A ^4 R1 A6 h3 aHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal5 R8 ?& |3 \5 a% r# m! L4 t
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
1 n3 A$ o# W0 u( y" icriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be, X2 F% C; _8 E$ z( t
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could( K5 ]: V8 Z. w! {/ {+ Z
not stop her runaway Lexus.* U: m5 q6 R( T: T' R
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,5 |5 t2 R- ]4 F% _5 U
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
2 F) m% T# z# Y- `+ A"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.. D" L0 [; H' |
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
- |. z, e4 f1 A7 }3 Z5 t- L fearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said+ \: G# Y) h: `7 z1 _
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has* k8 K0 g& g+ k# ]$ G0 T2 p7 q! {% ^
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway2 B/ k$ F5 v6 c5 b
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's& o& M3 E- v7 T" k; z/ z: D
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
, A# t, x4 @8 }1 @! T7 g% QLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
' {& S0 K& p$ ~; Delectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
: _7 V) o J w- U$ wthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
2 _1 D4 k! G) K; n5 H! emalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
3 P, {! P4 F b q% \, s* z7 bsaid.
4 Q. H; i# t' m' h, |& _3 ~As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what/ S: O: A( r2 N3 p+ M
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe1 G$ P6 W6 G0 {! M
about driving our products," Lentz said.& ~1 H1 `' p1 N$ K( J9 ?
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
1 k6 l. y1 Q/ v) d: nproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has* L0 b, b' U( ^+ ?
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
. n5 [2 w9 Z; n' E9 @2 emillion in the United States -- since last fall because of
. V# g6 H( Y/ G5 X+ E8 Xunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking. W8 m" o* P2 M- m4 H
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering9 a4 ^; `% f( d+ d4 l" C! e. z
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of! g$ Y, l: X; u( ~
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
i5 A% x4 B% d5 ~0 R; S; Pdown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has! p7 Z$ }7 ^( ?
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
6 [/ ?" U7 N: h2 i$ J2 Oof Toyota vehicles since 2000.
( F$ n* ^5 m7 S: n& NLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own2 [0 P9 `6 @" R/ G
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he4 _' A; L: D3 c& x/ t
understood the pain.
4 R+ U0 C# y' n+ Q. g6 [ Y+ e"I know what those families go through," he said.; u: G( n: A/ g7 T
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
) u0 ~7 T/ m8 t7 b6 L, s' Rfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.# ^! X$ }( Y; U P. ~9 c
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
% X* v! {: G7 Z) RHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
7 c- S# {2 c g8 }0 Z* D6 Q& b, rin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
7 U! Q/ I, K q' mLentz replied: "Not totally."8 K+ W7 e# Q% b# s
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
; o8 C X! T- `8 l"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
. W9 d0 e0 D) @8 nToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
, G: Q, Q1 D" n) upedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
4 I( M7 h+ _+ _! yvehicles already on the road.. J) N6 K, v6 \7 J4 v; j" m7 {$ c! c
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify" o7 x5 {' N0 l
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
& H( X7 z6 x0 A6 K2 ^responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
6 b3 o3 m& ]" X1 d- j; Uoffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
. u. ]& G7 h, ]2 Y% }% qkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.4 T0 s4 _. i! i
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
7 i$ ~+ m) T1 e0 Stragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
, l H& v- H/ P" bfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight; Y& Q+ ^& a) C& t
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
% k( B& q5 w2 s! `commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to$ Q2 h) Z! Q% ]2 v0 M0 r8 j7 j
restore the trust of our customers."
, o$ P! ^5 Q2 y0 {4 E7 WLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
" A9 o0 `* j; MSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
6 ~! J1 {$ k0 h: l4 Hzoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --7 t, T; U& u' Z5 d& q; \; `
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and8 y& [! h" G, {, x K! C; \) | U1 c
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough+ \8 i3 X5 {3 Y
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and( P, D0 N0 n& k! A$ X' O
turn off the engine.
. `+ v5 Y7 U' _. p& R8 R5 V" \& XFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
+ u# R G6 l% e! I- GOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience.": z! ]/ a' O& M# x- Q! c0 `" L5 z
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
4 l3 E" v" h! J/ Y' G, M( C `said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
; \6 n ?; l8 H, v6 mto her complaints.6 ]% D: ]" P* h$ L2 R& M' T
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers; x* D6 u( v; e" T- {2 l
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
! d/ p$ x4 B; K, F& k( U: Smalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars. N! H( Q! B5 ~& d- o" o- R( ?
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
7 {; R% i5 H ~; Lthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
8 ?) Q; }. D: b3 i/ P6 m2 O( ["fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
, U% n7 \% o0 c. N& N# Joff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."' }6 _3 F* Q( r7 P5 T }" V( ]
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
$ P7 }4 {; S. V/ @5 B8 Qprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were" u& }0 P! Z$ T
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
1 b% u! H+ H: K+ z( pwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer U1 n! X9 n6 _" e0 Z h
every question."
/ W# o2 i: L ^, K( n( NToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
' k. O' o5 o8 I! h u8 ~% celectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
' [, y( p8 k' h* Q& C, Lfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But% w4 Q; x# w; L2 o" T; F! |5 t
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small% F, z! |* ^0 h
number of vehicles
) g# U3 E* h% ]& ~4 `9 Z0 xTracking down an electrical problem can be far more5 A. O ]6 C0 I& j) q
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
! n* b: b% P1 }, P7 T# p8 L/ ^mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
2 H, t( k: X( g X3 S" h5 ^$ Isource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.: |$ b! I4 N3 M) c
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,. l$ z1 p5 m" @. v8 _: p8 U8 F! K
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
+ p ^& z& T( p8 r: P/ R" |trace at all.
) ~) C7 Q3 Q' N5 ]5 E7 }2 X; ^House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call5 U# @# y: D* l6 k0 T0 o3 @9 ]: w
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden1 N/ W6 o; X' E+ b) l4 |4 o. T
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
|8 K/ t7 p& n) H/ Grecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.. h/ ~$ s/ S+ a3 `4 g+ V% O7 L( ?
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,; `' Y1 U V) s9 d% R
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
% u! q O3 }3 ^$ i( Lother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
. a4 ~% w$ r) ~5 z' Melectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible% v& T6 }8 D+ b* }: f4 W& w
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
; T t6 u+ I9 f, V% J0 Ksuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained5 ?. Q' F. R: U# a% L
by Toyota's lawyers."8 f, E" j4 ^0 A- y# }5 `
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of& p( E) X; A$ _* ]% d3 ^" p
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
. P8 h7 l D2 x+ Jcustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
+ J' |5 m: Z4 j, Ksaid.
! X4 I+ E0 s3 s; d+ r0 V"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
9 V" A. g( K8 W, r/ O1 P; D) }a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our0 i7 y$ j; q3 J, p) W; ^2 l
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating: g9 W4 [" Y0 c' K0 V0 ~- Y
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
5 z5 H1 n# B9 \Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
3 k* ^! k$ B& g8 M9 k smembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread5 o# w+ Y+ z3 K: ?3 r9 m6 Q' V) c
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the6 D6 F7 j0 {: Z6 [! k
automaker, at least in part because of the government's5 g" G7 C) Q) c1 J7 K" D% ^
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
; W% E- Q' g& H* m$ oChrysler.7 i" B! ]8 y- T& U3 X! z
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
' C% u1 l4 {0 d+ z/ g: pdollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
( ~- j3 t. w9 {8 S; ?& jHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
( H1 E$ P/ I$ D# `+ Z' nserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete$ w5 m" `( g4 z3 N9 }
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
0 [& U i1 S' K6 v; L' jtough."
) {) V) S8 Z: v+ I E8 ~4 x0 ?---
4 b: n- R3 s# OAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom- M) i" c' e) n& V! m+ S; z, K- w
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to! E4 {% G8 ^. G% U1 e& t8 h x
this story.4 G: E5 a; Y- o3 F& ~
; I, l5 F3 b( C7 N( v) A
-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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