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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
7 O. |) N+ I$ oBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS& g+ c1 C1 J6 h( O
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
% P7 \' h3 C4 s3 `$ z/ D- Eoperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
6 c2 z- e4 u+ W! I2 Othe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"/ \% Q+ U2 P" I, |
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.3 G; d4 A: ?) S! P: n: A
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
' _8 l; |! O+ m- g7 M" D8 hcauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
0 o( X, w- c. V6 I% _! c$ U3 ZHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
" V9 Q- [0 l' d2 s" L `acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and8 P5 g' x& s) |4 t1 M
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor2 u" J) }9 t# \& H8 ~. |- d" W4 g' l
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.
6 a5 R+ |8 V3 Z* f- `6 Q9 ?2 aHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal) L2 t4 x; I$ n. M, t0 e" W4 N) |
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp3 c4 K5 E2 H2 N' ?+ K
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be! S; c; `' D5 X# q
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
7 j5 O( P* u* b1 vnot stop her runaway Lexus.
2 G2 d) `8 y5 e1 [2 u& d"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
& @2 M( ^1 N' U- j9 o3 lTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
7 X/ o5 g! l. _% _& b"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.) d$ S2 Q% _0 z1 R7 P
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues) v) U. {. E5 s/ v6 S( ~+ o; R- P
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said4 H$ U9 d1 O \" X7 I; }$ R8 @5 H9 O
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
, }4 a/ S: r6 {& P) ]done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
) h" A* N1 w, e6 j: ethrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
3 j: i* F+ c2 i* e# E8 H& r# binvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
4 H& l) @) q( Y7 G" gLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an% ~9 y3 H+ [. z4 T* w P
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
. {# D4 l& x9 a6 e% w: \the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
; d j/ I0 k' r; `& i4 Bmalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
9 g H: [8 {$ a" X9 Lsaid.* r: ^8 j: P+ ~* j+ V
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what* z; `. p2 G3 i' q/ e
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
2 E* x5 F% A7 _7 o$ f" e3 @) m' i! [about driving our products," Lentz said.3 y) k4 w% e5 m# C9 ^% A
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's& C# P5 X" L6 V# v$ p: o; y2 |' B2 z, C
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has ]) P& G4 M6 p5 Y3 h# |
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
: ]! w, G: N8 j$ lmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of
% q6 k1 x4 E' ^3 ^1 kunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
& Z6 g1 s8 M- }. ~& {$ Z/ Q8 n5 E) iissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering- z% S- ]4 A" q3 B2 |1 }% e
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of. @- o; F) |2 O2 ~3 X$ y
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
7 |0 ^1 K0 |8 O+ xdown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
+ ^2 {& M6 Q, Vreceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
% O6 ]1 Y, t1 g$ I }3 R9 U9 q+ uof Toyota vehicles since 2000.8 ~+ y+ U* Q- s
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
) u- q, w) u4 d8 C& o" [brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
9 y0 Q- w. y9 ~3 \* Gunderstood the pain.
$ f% K0 _, F2 |9 S6 s$ I"I know what those families go through," he said.
. x/ Y5 c' B8 t! ZLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
9 Q7 i: ]! j8 [fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.7 M( ^ l0 H" p; m
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman( f0 ~$ L0 E# X3 r. |
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put. d' S) e/ Q" }4 ^. Z
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,# E( D! d' ]+ [
Lentz replied: "Not totally."' @5 E. g1 u8 N9 o) V/ ]
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were: [$ y7 F: n* d4 i5 U! I8 n5 J1 E
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said( M/ g3 P( f9 x' o
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
E) I$ O: H" \! hpedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
2 d2 B: |, K. I/ m. n3 L; Cvehicles already on the road.
3 N( v5 O6 r" m% p2 @5 \Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify& F0 [% }/ Y; s
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
. Z8 F2 N! l- O8 {9 T2 a) qresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and$ Z: v, D' }! v, C/ M
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
# ^ W' m& k. B9 k7 Ukilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.8 f! r3 z" ]) q5 Q
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a8 i' V) k2 C# R7 s5 o2 Z8 h
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony+ v0 f' A. i4 \' M3 i, m
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight9 d: M# r1 b0 ]
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
F, p1 t9 z1 {1 `) t3 J# bcommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to; m; u/ I9 t& o5 f& Y' ?
restore the trust of our customers."
9 ^9 P3 ^, D4 y# i# O0 rLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from1 r) }) u7 X) A# @- C: j
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
5 Y' B; O9 ^5 K7 D! xzoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop -- R) _1 R ~3 D: `6 [1 C7 ]9 V
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and9 X8 n0 {' G$ K6 W$ e( Q2 P' W
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
% K- k0 C* Y0 v0 I3 y& O' J* zthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
5 G' _5 q0 D! X: \8 pturn off the engine., J0 t9 O6 ?1 N
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
; P( p, @/ o% W* s x8 _8 ~October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
; \6 l& P M* e0 b"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
: E! m* Z6 N! X3 B" T, qsaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond) s8 ]6 b' Z" L4 O4 @- e+ K1 e
to her complaints.: M9 |! Q ~- M% ?* c0 S" M2 s9 [; d
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
: ?* ~1 h" H$ b( Oreturned again and again to the question of whether electronic; d+ S+ q/ M- s! q: _6 K
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
0 m: a1 _1 i! ?9 P. h9 V7 @# F"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
* ^ w, d0 {* M" x3 s8 gthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
/ p7 Y) ?/ o5 A2 A M"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut! F# B% T- U7 T3 m N
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
( j, @- K9 ]$ OTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in) D3 T, r4 u% O3 X" J" W- _- J2 ?$ }
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
5 {7 f; X! `# E8 B" I( t% Wbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
- s' C, a0 Q& E" nwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
7 o, T" i* g+ ievery question."
# \& c& l/ m7 A' }4 H5 H1 EToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
& n* [3 {. J% m$ H# B; j# belectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
% n' j8 }+ t/ m7 P6 s& Y- ^) efirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
* w; N& n( S, ]) t8 H/ Acommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small4 g, N9 V; P+ @2 X
number of vehicles: P* @! e( w& H N+ w$ F0 i0 o
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more
, D* s! U8 K% T' M. x% ~9 Bdifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
( u2 ?) ^+ X# I( d5 O& D4 jmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
' B3 \( z' A" |: n7 f. K( f: tsource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.* V* ^. ~9 X2 D; a( p. W
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,* V1 g! E, o' A2 Y* V
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
! V; y) |' [: A/ \: u* e0 U: ptrace at all.% M" E6 Y/ u% [) z9 ?0 ^* Q& C
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
5 O- p5 y {) k; Y- a9 [+ hdatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden) W/ p) k+ o$ h8 W6 z8 M: g6 q
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
. E7 M+ t0 J4 G* ~0 ]recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.- u! }3 V4 a" O7 P
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,, d' k8 _4 |( r. `
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
5 }% ?6 A5 k* i# S. \! D2 lother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the0 {3 p- I3 b1 }# g
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
& c8 a/ c, ~$ m" g! ccause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
; x% H/ }2 X( O( [6 ?& isuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained% d6 I" T o4 G* m+ q$ ^% x3 x
by Toyota's lawyers."1 p+ F- i' e2 X
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
+ R- i+ [+ I* x t$ A2 ?1 xproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
" H+ r5 s7 c% f* ^# Scustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
3 ` Z0 w. b- b2 G# h7 O$ \said.) B1 d- |# ?8 T' w! Y& ?
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with3 p- k" C8 F& I' P' E {4 r
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our! Z( V3 K% B% D
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating ~ y- o+ ]( ? V" [; H; n0 O
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
" Y4 f- [2 l4 S( G# g/ u0 FSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying5 F$ e! P. F6 {8 b* r) a$ l z& R
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
* a8 m5 x" e, L# b( I1 V& |rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the* r6 [# d7 U3 \9 B3 t
automaker, at least in part because of the government's
6 R- @. |4 _$ m! G1 w ]" I; u' Ainvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and+ f( E5 z$ \, _6 Z [
Chrysler." ^( G: q/ f( t& K6 W. `
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
9 u3 s9 j% N" `- f* G2 E+ Vdollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a5 V" O* |/ b2 T/ y. @% d
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
/ e# k4 z {7 S3 Xserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
; B, g% T6 Q1 ?' K9 D: Nwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty8 ]# G. J$ h( I5 l) I2 x+ b
tough.", m( @" V/ a; G1 E
---+ W* }! Q& y1 `# l
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
: ]+ H" b6 j6 z, BRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
9 h4 b s2 Y( t, ?# S8 }$ qthis story./ E0 c/ l$ {% y; Q
1 R8 Y' ] J; n9 S& u# Q-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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