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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
5 T J1 I: F/ {* B: ^By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS5 h% f: O+ ?- I h b/ q- O
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
, f: r' z) p7 f8 Q1 L) |operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
4 @3 N4 ^) Q l) o7 Othe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"+ z% U2 C" l0 B9 N. Y
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
6 w$ J: w6 o) z1 R"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential6 {4 F& \# x+ Z8 c: }. E) j {
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.. i' |$ a% J' l" _2 q
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected! h! `/ J5 @; O/ J$ g9 H9 w
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
% \1 N* u, U+ H @trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor# R3 f3 W J" d2 x. X0 M, m# G9 }, S
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.4 e3 {3 T# l1 } s" x
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
3 S4 n" P: u3 p G) v! n" ]and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
: J: M' D4 s+ p3 l9 `. M) Ecriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
+ M" ^4 O$ g9 ~, {0 Hfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could* f3 ^; n; Q9 S( x; F9 J3 D
not stop her runaway Lexus.
0 ], }" Q5 _9 c; Z"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
5 u/ m- n% C. _! JTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
! y% \3 K& L9 n. f"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.( N y1 G2 r6 a/ s7 n& g1 `: U8 k& u
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues, G. e9 _/ n# q# L3 V
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
. N2 G, x5 r$ |0 M }"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has7 F, Z0 a. Q: c4 g, W; K' S8 Y
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway/ B8 I/ P/ V, D. V; p# C
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
, q5 E8 s% S3 X8 yinvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."2 F' I: p3 D$ L2 f1 O; u
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an5 ?: j o: S$ S0 |$ o# X2 L8 n
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
+ u k, G' y# Y3 A/ m3 R( bthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a4 v+ s3 y6 e1 v. [9 f
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
. \; M$ Q9 ]. @2 bsaid.
, x' {# b8 r5 P% g8 k5 vAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
: W: E7 t" V- [6 Dhappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
; f6 w6 Q, f+ s; {! Y% v' Xabout driving our products," Lentz said.
, V& U' c' G/ b& b0 `! F) kThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
8 U4 F* _; p; d, r( J- bproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
4 m! ~6 S" R6 wrecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
" z1 {% z$ J* U; M9 qmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of8 ]; R' i9 M# o+ @, P
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
; w5 |0 }5 A* o; A* o$ P! Zissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering4 `$ ^; z9 c* b5 r( u7 J+ X8 N
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of5 R/ ^- T8 {+ e
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
/ b& q# H \5 d: E2 }- J5 Ndown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
0 h: C3 ?7 L3 u2 J" i1 |' B2 freceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
4 O, i! f4 \' e( g0 P* Iof Toyota vehicles since 2000.
3 v' Z& v" M8 M$ i( y" K0 BLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
+ e0 e i. t7 Kbrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
9 R& i( M2 R$ t; j1 |' C5 I, Cunderstood the pain.6 R K0 T; ?5 N( R. ~6 Z
"I know what those families go through," he said.8 M5 p+ ]: X) ~& E' q
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
8 ~: x& r) Z% U9 {) }; B% ?; }* tfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
5 y$ e1 z3 B: FBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman, o- T$ |6 e9 f! |1 p
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put7 R7 b U( I6 Z/ c* T
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
6 e, N0 O! t1 `Lentz replied: "Not totally."
5 V* R' r$ a ZStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
7 i# j8 q7 H1 K9 G% u"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
5 r) O7 E9 f; s ?) NToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas4 L3 x9 e9 l6 L$ P
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
: v7 V( E( ~7 n9 F6 T7 bvehicles already on the road.
* ~( }8 P- C# S4 j: IMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify: B6 n9 ]/ v: m) R4 c
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
k8 R2 g1 A* K C- ]7 U! jresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and; L; _$ }) Q; e/ C4 H7 e7 M% _
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
+ @, f. z' l& p1 Q3 m( qkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
. W8 d$ M. d6 c) ~0 \"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
+ \$ v* [% C- U% x6 L+ O3 [" ~; Stragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
+ ?; O1 N( j2 i/ v7 Ffor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight! v! A8 A9 I8 Q* e3 x! ~
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal% b* G, \8 j7 x9 n
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
+ P+ b" i" I+ p, ]! ~restore the trust of our customers."2 |/ N3 F, g4 W4 q' A( L( X- T+ p
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from! p1 A' C3 E; O c. G
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
; y! B& s3 T6 I$ {2 kzoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
: X/ `0 i- |5 |. ^, O$ z- bshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and1 c' ?* T$ k. Q
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough! k* X0 Z' W% E& B
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and: W5 U0 a; l+ x1 ^1 c, A7 |- i
turn off the engine.+ y& k' a& f( [* N2 ~& |
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
: P1 }: m8 u5 I1 ~October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
' L' H$ e W) U8 r6 Y5 Q% i- d"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
1 T% O. X% z' f7 r, B( l7 q& }3 Csaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
; g( z3 W% t' t* C7 m! R* y! s! e+ M: U! pto her complaints.
+ V( w& W- B8 f" PIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers/ s$ E! q1 h. n4 O
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic/ x, I$ B& ]6 n$ \3 d; |
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
) @5 R4 ]2 W5 g' j"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric! l* M$ o; V* v
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited* r" Y5 n0 |- _
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut7 X( k4 F2 o! M
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
2 S- A( q! B% F0 F1 y4 B) uTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in1 _9 e y m/ @
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
, p/ u/ Y4 L/ f! t c. v. Q, ]' vbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls) C& k; w; a j, e' Q+ n" s6 e
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
D2 h o1 s) N& @. k5 d6 A; zevery question."
1 F# H8 W; d4 T% a EToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether2 H# Y% Q& |" g6 |
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The |' c+ b9 h- l
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But+ b9 v& U1 S; [% v
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
! N0 B# h; b' mnumber of vehicles$ Z+ G4 ]% z3 j* g0 H Q. s
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more
4 l! ~' ^2 F" e/ H2 L' odifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a& _& I( z/ M) u$ `
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one; X+ c+ ]# w. g2 t/ T
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car. Z2 t& I! a7 o7 R' O% R
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,) e$ k8 R1 | L" i: m' C/ s
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
* J. ?( Z, Q5 q+ {3 M; ?0 i/ |trace at all.$ \: J" {0 M+ n! A
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
2 l3 Y9 o. I0 C. V9 x5 [5 J- idatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden* a; p/ y- @; n+ z+ ~
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
) T0 v& x @, f* e Jrecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
4 P5 D8 b) t3 r1 v+ H! }Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
: P: n3 H$ B" S, Csaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
3 F9 N% Q/ M6 O! F7 [; Rother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
- d# n3 P* l: T# e/ ?electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible) Z; m' ^+ {7 |0 {4 k, V
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only+ j/ B. H! B- x# t
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
, m5 m9 g% V: E) `by Toyota's lawyers."2 A9 S: @ r: F& H. ], x# _
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of. q- {$ ]' [. l" Z4 S& q2 t9 H
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our- |( P! m9 s( b
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he, a: ~. G9 w! u6 T# U" z- v
said.% U8 G( l' C: Q c
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
2 ?+ m9 f+ _3 q( U9 v2 I( }a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our; d# z; U0 `5 T! H4 o
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating4 |1 [! M* Z' p: n
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.8 {- l1 v3 S) G" D6 Q5 R1 W
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
" s3 H4 V; n6 D8 ymembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
* j8 _8 h% H& z: x% E: Crancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the' Z J+ _* q" ^' ^( b% i
automaker, at least in part because of the government's
2 N- O3 U4 M& l. ]investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
# Q3 [, A* k0 ]5 lChrysler.) h/ t+ c2 v* }4 o
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
: u6 O5 M7 O5 F: H& T, Edollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
( ~( d# f2 A- I& D% nHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
& I/ ]( K! R0 ^: u8 yserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete0 c+ l U1 e2 H; c) D7 @
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
! t* [6 j8 d7 F' G6 ctough."
8 Y4 g7 c1 F' q' T---' U2 I) z% w' ]. C* _7 p ^+ w- a
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom' O- S3 R) ?6 y; ]9 b
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to/ I! X5 P! S3 T$ a+ l5 P. q
this story.
B7 ]$ t5 a* e2 k6 _6 `- g! r6 x% G. O
-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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