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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
3 b& T5 x0 k' t+ DBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS8 V! \1 v* E4 g: D3 ?
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
6 y: R9 j! v2 T$ G: `. ]5 ^operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
! G8 G3 p8 M5 Zthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
# Q: a. A- L; }4 Y5 R" q. {& c/ `% Ksolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.; G5 y# A, |4 ]7 k( S- l* L
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
- j# Y1 l$ Z, s# z* v3 B; N+ _0 G# Rcauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel./ w6 b) s% z/ u# K% A
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected- \6 `" p9 C) J' A4 ~: F
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
+ J6 s& C) t( e' h: B, [trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor% Y5 w* J3 i% O) ^( X; X: u
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.
. x R/ a+ _+ U4 MHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal9 N) s% [' ~) u1 {4 D
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp N T9 [- A# w3 D- J( Z# F: T& y
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be( ^( ~1 W2 k* [ _! E( \. Y8 j
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could& w9 ^4 V" J7 H+ F. H$ l* }( h
not stop her runaway Lexus.
; b: \% ~. h' W( P3 r"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,- R( U$ Q4 B6 [
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
2 Q$ c6 x9 q( v8 p1 U% K; d"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.4 t/ Y& `% I& i$ Z6 m
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues5 b, o, K/ d1 B3 M7 `' h# h: K' e
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
6 K$ D: q9 E/ x' X"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
7 P; g2 X7 q6 q* Z, e; H/ l! H6 Bdone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
. m, N9 F- p7 B2 |6 W6 h! Nthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's# }0 k" t }, K3 y7 q1 x/ l- U& ~0 `
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
. T, v2 C+ ~. h3 {( b* X5 H! bLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an, ]: U0 \" \/ E' i7 [. U
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of ~ C8 f: N3 H" x0 h( T6 v4 c5 \
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a+ z9 g' E1 @$ X+ i, t4 o3 z
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he, x$ I0 {! M0 L4 u- X7 ^; G2 e
said.
1 R/ \9 N( b; D" a7 \1 p, H- xAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what# c, ~# E- k4 c& g) o% U
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe5 o9 V' g& Q2 E; c! E: Z4 Y$ M
about driving our products," Lentz said.
* L' O9 h& G. _( L3 H( M1 }Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's! ` F- Z. V& U6 V; x
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has$ C2 T! I" Z+ U7 U
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
* @" [3 C Y; gmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of
# G! g Q s& e. q v& m8 funintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
1 o& K6 E6 B O1 \+ sissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering( D. L0 i2 E$ K& m1 o0 t/ y3 z
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
( h7 f6 M; H( D: C3 T6 c* x0 M4 Qtheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow7 Z) y8 l+ y) \# b5 P: |3 V* u
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
# |8 n0 u, h1 Z9 preceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration( j7 m2 @" f- M( e( C
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.2 R f U% I. U u4 g H! G; d
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own+ l ?; }$ b; o5 i2 U
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he. n0 ]2 o0 P' u3 F
understood the pain.3 W- v, y' Y @" {; _
"I know what those families go through," he said.1 H$ ]0 B. K* Y3 C. N T
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's/ x: I# C$ e) @
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.4 [7 M) U$ d4 G! ?
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
J# |) N+ v2 }3 h5 [Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put+ o: A, P4 p5 `( B* v
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,3 k* u. X! l0 r
Lentz replied: "Not totally."4 Q( y+ ^1 H0 M) b: }, a2 d v$ F
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were5 k5 d) o0 x+ u4 z+ ?) F
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
* f" [3 s6 a! v, dToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas8 @8 d! B7 e. d! Q( Q
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its" h6 F3 L L0 E( @
vehicles already on the road.
" z) p& [! a& n- ^Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify% g* ~1 q+ I$ ?+ j1 `! j; E
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
/ O' c; K, a& X" H$ B+ \$ P# qresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and7 }- U$ y' Z9 }3 L; H5 p) d) Y
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
& Q% z4 e4 d. V3 l. }6 J5 Ekilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
2 W! V4 O" ?! M P"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
. ]+ Y m% P& }: Mtragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
8 G" p) g" p' k h' yfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
0 `/ L2 w$ e: y; tCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
. `0 I6 u0 ?) q- q+ A% O( G7 c6 Acommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
2 G* c. N/ ~: p+ [: Qrestore the trust of our customers."1 u8 B+ L$ H! L/ ?5 h; C( k
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from7 I. |3 t1 i1 w! c% c* F
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly* c& F+ L, N0 t& N% Q7 i& G8 Q8 O
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --6 c Y9 w4 L$ B+ [2 L
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and1 ?; ?; V( S# |/ o) g( [
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough3 j0 w" N1 g0 W1 K: {2 B4 l
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
9 k- p3 `3 G" V% k3 cturn off the engine.
' S2 C& B- X6 T9 D. I# B$ u* V) NFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
5 ]$ I; Z0 P# M" `/ `# IOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
* L, @! {! ?# Q& t* A"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
$ o: b$ Z" \/ x1 ]6 c/ z# Esaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond5 k3 W* g% V* `# @% r7 `
to her complaints.: X3 `9 n: I a+ p
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers% |8 S& y( K! @/ H0 n' }
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
/ W" e/ l# r. }6 H: N3 |( Z8 q9 ^malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
' O4 I7 [1 K' b, w" c"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric7 \# v% c- o( S' y( Q
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
. V5 P, e9 }( n5 W/ P/ o"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
7 q6 g+ W. h0 R/ a0 ~- yoff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
$ E/ Z# r, u f' WTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in3 F0 x! {0 ?: R) p$ {6 B
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
: v) f% Q4 X) e; k: c$ ]being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
( N- V% k% C/ u/ h$ Cwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
V5 p) r/ x2 cevery question."
1 e D( d7 @) Y+ n0 L L7 D* `Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
# I9 J6 ~& G/ M) U1 telectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The( M# }6 V( M# A1 \2 Z6 h
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
* Y8 e* Q& C/ Q8 Hcommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small
! G7 z* A, o! z0 f X: m8 `number of vehicles
! \" [- ?. ]* UTracking down an electrical problem can be far more6 w/ J$ ^5 y( @, j
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
q% b2 O! j5 \' y6 Xmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
I6 j1 d0 p7 Csource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
* i- _" I. B4 x0 aMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,4 M& I- b( h' V- i7 J8 o
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no* h& [9 B4 F7 b+ a6 d
trace at all.8 k% E& _/ v" C
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call& n$ @5 [9 K ?2 R" p- N
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
( r6 x) |) f, I+ T& V; Vacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
8 {) f8 ~8 o) D' m) G' `9 srecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
2 W1 }( {* ]* |% ~) ^6 M7 lRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,/ ^2 j8 [% Y2 N0 B/ _2 u3 ?- I
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and a( m# i- q3 ~7 R' Q, d0 c# A
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the0 {; m; O% K; F9 B( c8 }
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
" z" C$ e3 P, l1 E4 Rcause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only, Q! p& `+ f) K0 s0 y% S, y2 ^
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained" s7 O" Y7 E1 B; s$ t$ M! Y
by Toyota's lawyers."
+ y5 W5 _* n! e! K9 z3 X+ v8 ]4 ~Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
3 e+ G# z5 }+ M# \+ I6 cproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our$ Z! y4 O/ L* |! A9 u
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he% O% X; ~% M6 N
said.7 r5 m1 r" T; F/ t$ Z, H
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
% j$ }5 {$ I; q7 aa rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
4 K( f1 q, K- `. \+ Z9 u8 Bgood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
4 J5 A) D6 p6 V u7 a1 w: tofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.- B/ o% H" d8 h* A9 x
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
/ ^3 F' p5 b$ h. B- u. v$ Cmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
* B) X4 g: Z* A9 R7 u) [$ rrancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the. _2 c8 v, n& i; A" N
automaker, at least in part because of the government's( E6 P, Y- e0 Y" e+ U/ I
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
$ y3 z7 Y6 K! h3 F' v: WChrysler.% p* m! H1 S2 h* j9 k+ `
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
( w5 v$ {; h* j- N8 q0 @: vdollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
2 _: v- F' P( L T" J. e4 ?, ?Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
5 g* _5 D* B1 v1 y fserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
& [7 _5 F: z! k' V3 Rwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty) d; H. S0 r4 g/ ~8 I! S! U( }7 A
tough."
) w0 H) ?3 V3 q' H; S9 X---
0 f+ m- Q/ T4 }! f' aAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom" @2 T0 N8 Y. n9 [% D3 n" t! M
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to+ z+ l7 P: A( F0 r! e
this story.
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-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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