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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
+ ~1 K6 m# U4 d! z. PBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
5 v# q' Q2 |+ w1 u& [3 T8 JWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
. ^1 \) i+ w/ w1 {5 k( Soperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
5 Q3 k9 W* t7 w3 w: ^* Kthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"! z* L% @- X- U( Y% Q4 B' ?
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
* I6 {- W8 L4 g+ \0 Q: ^+ C"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
6 m% c: ~' Y3 p7 ]1 D: ]) _5 x2 Hcauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
, G6 E; q- z- K5 Y+ aHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected1 d6 ^% [3 C' i7 \
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
6 C+ w0 ?1 _1 x; y: T6 ktrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor& f o: p1 d& W6 t
mats and sticking accelerator pedals." f- `6 Y. M- c, v9 M
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal( k/ \7 d% r( A0 V8 I
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp0 Y/ D4 l2 v0 K6 d0 w
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
0 K) O; n+ s# c, Pfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
( R+ \7 N8 ?6 Y' T u Xnot stop her runaway Lexus.+ b0 _1 L6 q, Q
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,! u& ^9 m# k- M, ~& M
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second9 \4 Z0 n7 z7 |2 V `
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
, X$ n8 x7 j7 tTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues6 B6 a6 P$ C+ [5 G# C" d9 T
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said" h- a6 z( W8 L+ J1 \% s$ K4 n- e
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has+ b% D2 E; |+ D; a
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
8 X0 A, q2 E5 P$ k8 @through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's3 B" b3 _' O" y9 l
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
1 B# d0 k6 ?/ v7 y2 jLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
4 l/ w# k8 @ ]electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of- d1 d3 m' K6 d# f
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
0 H- k' X5 M6 Fmalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
7 F2 F+ p0 v! W3 `, Usaid.6 o* I' b {5 }1 ~
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what0 Z) H6 Q) P8 l* Z9 x
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe: q _- F# y9 n2 z
about driving our products," Lentz said./ R. [+ V! z% f* S/ o
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
3 w n0 O7 M" c, t R7 E$ G; ?problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
% a% {) ~9 {* r5 r6 `: c, qrecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
6 ^0 x1 J% L+ H. C! emillion in the United States -- since last fall because of
& V* S/ v3 X) [; P5 ~unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
, }2 v- F# z$ p6 Pissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
0 |( _ o$ x' W0 }concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
1 Z) X+ q" A4 a) n9 J; g/ htheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow5 |# [$ b8 ^" b
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
3 N# H5 i: H1 {+ [* xreceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
, Q: `' g# l4 T; D) D; q1 M& eof Toyota vehicles since 2000.
w2 t+ s: A* ~5 |7 R9 d8 ]Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own+ M7 j% D& P9 o- Y! ~) h3 y. H
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he3 q3 ^: W/ W% k' q! ~ L
understood the pain.
4 D6 M, y% t, m) B"I know what those families go through," he said.& ?7 v& Y3 Y! e8 a q% Q2 e) [2 E
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
$ @) e! c; J6 {" |9 q! R: \fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
' D% S- \; }) }5 sBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
- |; a, w# B& k3 v& ], l& LHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put2 p/ Q: c8 R6 e- K
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
, U A& d/ `7 N, B" \* bLentz replied: "Not totally."
, g& a1 v2 A4 Z- B% X: V) f) X( N8 tStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
1 ~% R8 C! _# o; t( s"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said- U5 q6 \1 ^8 i$ I1 t8 e
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas' |% n: z( [8 U
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
; q- |: ~- n* ^7 q: C! s. ~vehicles already on the road.
/ }% q1 M+ f6 h8 jMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify) I3 B( l, K% N+ O8 N
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
9 o* K& c2 F/ q3 e, p. Z( Z; A1 Dresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and. `+ m$ s+ M& I8 z4 |4 }1 n S
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
- b- A7 L% N, ~" P$ kkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.% v( J. h" r: a6 i+ ^5 w9 a
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
5 B2 G6 w! S9 w$ B8 |- H' m% ?7 dtragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony. {& o5 T3 o: C( M4 H
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight0 k, G- K5 E3 M
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal, l# [0 g6 _4 g1 N. b' p5 n
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to# m1 n! }! I% U* s) }1 W1 Q
restore the trust of our customers."
! l' Y% I, F9 ^5 [& L( Z" `5 qLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from! p! ~! v2 L7 m
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly7 z2 U" b0 ?" W& N1 p7 ~) R
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --+ P- A# n$ B2 d( Q! c! k! ~9 L
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
$ s" V7 z: O; A7 G: c5 lhitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough( g& G7 @0 C: c: v9 e9 f8 Y! S# D
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
6 H/ d* ]4 S" \' w8 pturn off the engine.$ J3 s2 S. g5 o+ c: o% s( o
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of3 n e( q. W0 q! U
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
" b3 s! O# q' Y"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she4 H5 v0 d) } x/ O8 L
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond% G' {) _3 q2 R6 U$ r
to her complaints.- n+ Q; _7 `5 P. S
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
( r# J0 H6 C. X' f) Qreturned again and again to the question of whether electronic
& i& r+ i, n: B. p1 v, h" l, M: smalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.$ z* ~5 j7 M' W0 y7 E
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric8 \; R7 ?7 }5 p/ u1 s9 F
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited' k$ N7 v% S; Y, K4 K/ r$ t; Y
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut9 T# S" p2 z: R3 B6 O; R& A% I
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."8 \" y( s o p" S/ `
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in$ g% o5 e, o y3 S
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
~4 f- b* D; ]+ U' Qbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls" E2 o6 T; Y: I+ B
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
/ |! n' C3 {0 F" b; _. e6 Mevery question.", u% L% v. M$ z; n- Z
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether4 _. `( \" z8 a; r2 d) @6 E/ W
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
) M5 W+ i. D7 s" C/ V& jfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
3 A. t, e* }) ]7 s5 F+ b8 Jcommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small, R# c5 u$ A7 X0 H# G$ j
number of vehicles
) R" }- H3 ~) V6 X3 X2 oTracking down an electrical problem can be far more
3 F9 g. j4 X0 d$ v! o! mdifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a7 B6 l B! u2 |7 {
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
4 Q5 j7 g# e1 I/ D. o U3 Z2 psource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.# O9 U2 {- O* t+ A
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,' K8 H. V4 @8 ^4 u
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no/ X h) T1 ?9 z+ S
trace at all.1 E+ G! f- i: a/ z } q) M
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call7 ~- s0 \" F1 |7 _ }4 a) v+ s
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden n1 m( p5 j, L$ }/ O+ I" J
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the% X2 S( r3 \& ^, X* f. A3 e
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
3 [6 L6 S6 Y" e- Q% s" t: H2 RRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
% y& {1 _8 G: `2 n/ fsaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and9 }: I! G. [# F5 H7 N5 j
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
6 B. ?+ {1 \% @' c$ Oelectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
9 J3 u6 S. a, K) s: ?7 P9 Xcause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
, _, V$ a) {9 }& hsuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained- O5 V% p1 [7 o% A
by Toyota's lawyers."
; [7 r% k' {) |1 k0 t# R2 gLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of" i9 n' |/ t2 ~! r. U7 ]* [6 c
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our; _1 R; N7 O" B& T4 f
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
! s @/ n, n/ Y* A. ^3 esaid.
# ?+ c* i3 ]- M9 t- F2 n"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
+ o2 X4 a- e" A5 M# m' Z0 [a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our E- R2 M: G" [4 O: ]/ h
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating4 W" B; j4 R, L% B2 J4 }( c
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
y$ z) E$ ]# [! \" x9 T; r# qSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
7 u6 r. h8 F1 u" t4 p4 @ e* i8 F2 @members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
1 K, n r3 V v$ }2 M- k6 a" urancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the" N3 K9 n$ g' @$ C9 j/ e# {
automaker, at least in part because of the government's4 U3 z& S9 z5 p) A
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
Q- u2 ~ |6 }: t( }Chrysler.
7 \4 V6 d1 l6 N* i+ ^0 a"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
$ `# J$ W9 [8 K. l) T# g( q; _dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
6 o- c8 c# w0 L, v1 v" jHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also3 D3 T# v1 L( N: y5 D
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
1 {$ u/ |" {* t0 X/ U7 R; g9 ywith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty& \: E1 T2 L5 V# d& [0 Z
tough."1 n' N. v9 p7 _! L
---
1 z% j! }- ?0 ]9 V9 z; L# i* IAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom/ s! P+ `2 w( `: ~4 _
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to/ b, ^- k) ?( D4 X% v3 [; B+ w6 b' T
this story.
1 n% }9 ?- ]; |+ ]
* u- V% ]3 W4 z# ?-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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