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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
, R# s2 s) s1 e" A# [# c [- pBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS" T7 E7 C1 e; T( ]/ ~
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
9 Q/ H8 W* h5 Noperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that8 ?" t% H3 N$ Z
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"- P/ P9 R) ]2 d0 X! Z
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration. Z* P/ Z8 J: W+ y" H8 K
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential g; [% A4 l1 y* p# C. ?) R
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
- p( e4 r% y5 X5 \! D: bHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected( j' d/ j+ W1 [& P- C
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
+ ?/ Q3 \& A( y1 L- X+ Ttrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor6 m% q7 c- p. V! d! ~, z
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.- k8 f8 V$ `: ~/ `1 i- y( M' |
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal% R! o9 R5 o4 K1 X4 B: T
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp o) @- F: L- ~7 C3 w
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be# Y) K8 C; }5 G8 X5 \6 g7 c7 Q
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
2 a! r; ]9 A+ P; V3 |not stop her runaway Lexus.
/ Y% K" h9 Q1 X, l$ r"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,! M3 r: Y9 A8 v) c, d
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second+ X. y0 s; k+ N' ~; m6 v
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
6 `9 \) d( i/ @. r; JTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
. @ u% Z8 p4 v, Zearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
) L! U3 {' R2 S6 W' {"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
+ W) }/ U- P, Bdone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway& s2 [$ \8 W9 C
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's( N! e4 _9 w* J I5 E" y3 Y+ h
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
8 ~. w, H0 S _4 E0 M# HLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
2 p* t3 d# y7 E! T/ H3 }electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
: f( `# @( ]6 sthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a. F1 |1 s( J1 Y" |0 _5 E
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he3 I3 ]9 W/ ?0 s$ Q: n6 S0 M
said.
4 ]. P8 a4 \) }5 iAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
2 D- x7 p( @; o$ w- }" D5 D& shappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe2 j `0 K5 p' T* Y' ]* A% G
about driving our products," Lentz said.9 l; m) Q% E/ \% h9 r8 L- u( M7 W3 P. b
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
" ]" K, M9 {/ o2 D% v. o! Rproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
: I( V. k- y8 V1 V8 precalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
1 Z0 r+ F4 N# _( y; z! p6 Xmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of
- v2 c3 C$ C+ F, r9 Hunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking% _& P+ K: i; K# n6 m5 A* j
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
# S! M* K4 m. m. fconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of& j% I, y; J% H! N4 A; u R
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
4 O: ~" V- b+ Odown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has9 p' n( e. y) c: j9 v
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration9 t& r0 L; y* P$ a7 }& @' G
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.6 |7 O/ K' U/ b
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
, s0 p( h+ a. Kbrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
, O( y% t. o5 P7 }- [" ^! ^7 _understood the pain.( n9 Y9 A+ F4 c$ I/ y
"I know what those families go through," he said.$ a& X6 c" O, I" x; K0 ?: k
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's H! {) c0 `+ [( u
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.1 ~, u8 B5 t& L$ A Y
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
4 X5 p% w+ J4 [& F1 j! UHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put# V& s/ A& `9 G( f0 ^
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,* K* ^0 O- T& }! M& r
Lentz replied: "Not totally."
2 ]2 O/ L/ M" r5 fStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were7 t ~. A m6 a2 n: q, A
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said7 R7 ^5 `$ A) l' |; [! n
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas+ h& d; F! d" a8 T8 q9 o
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its" C0 V% D/ e5 n- r2 n. c- a
vehicles already on the road.
8 ~ ` ?, E6 r2 Y( t) f5 {Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
$ h! N) L+ [# s v" K* jbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full N, ~7 t+ O3 Y0 y
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
$ g- J% v- u; qoffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
/ ~2 W8 O7 H5 Fkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.! J" w, T1 I s) k
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
& j4 I9 {* Y' a/ y1 K% J! t6 Wtragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
- e6 d! k3 m7 s. yfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight3 k: a j/ r( y/ {, a
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
/ g9 r% \( V/ i3 j$ G! Z# _' Gcommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
! _ O' [6 {* srestore the trust of our customers."+ T( J* p5 G3 T+ [3 g+ z
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
) ~* q8 |1 V1 n+ |% |$ kSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly: ^/ w# Y) X9 z. |9 M
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --/ S: U7 E8 K0 y: \8 L
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
6 ?" Y; v4 z" Y- N4 Z9 b9 ]hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
5 q0 d9 z- j' n6 {that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and3 W) Y- l- \5 Y2 o- C
turn off the engine.; c+ b( h: P: k0 ~
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
+ u E a: _) YOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
9 N( j/ G( ~- z$ ]/ O) X"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she; C& M4 Z9 \6 M* i7 U
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
1 h$ c8 v D0 ~" v8 Gto her complaints.8 ^( A! }$ C! k5 {& w8 w9 U
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers0 ]: f; ?2 q$ X4 f. _8 x
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic* l6 L o) U/ z6 F: R2 |, _
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.1 X$ Z; m4 A) E* |
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric- T( S0 `/ V' G, m2 Q Z8 ~
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
3 w- S! I1 ?$ p5 d1 l/ Q5 u+ p"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut# N0 P F$ a) e e: C
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."1 k& E5 m/ t3 O9 z+ H
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
! \+ _6 Z% l, c( L) W$ Uprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
5 K; d, v7 a: C M/ T! e- tbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls3 M% F) j. H4 u9 {0 T/ @
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
# a( j) Z: y* p# @& ?every question."
+ m' ?$ N7 S1 I+ JToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether% o) h0 \& Z: M" _
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The+ B- V% G$ R) U; G4 B
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
( G |+ ^/ z" T9 t$ m0 I* ycommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small; w; V8 t9 X+ c% v( x/ D9 d+ d
number of vehicles8 D R `2 h7 d: s3 j5 t$ b8 a3 c5 X
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more! }. f. \0 D7 x! C4 k6 w
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a X6 E1 y/ d% V6 q
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
5 U% E2 @0 y8 Msource, and they can come from inside or outside the car. z0 q. B/ h4 h# W' G% a1 x) G% W
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
% C8 U" `' s8 _where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
. j- X7 d2 X" G P. |trace at all.' h- k, [" g9 J$ Z! o
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call5 c6 S/ x2 J! `
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
+ H/ _' j/ _2 o7 {acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
* z4 h/ T( Z" m: Orecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.+ k7 l; n. u, U# K5 |1 n
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
4 d' l4 B: r% u# \/ d3 p* `said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
# m" @2 G6 t% Xother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
( u7 ~2 P( Y4 D7 f- j- `( eelectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
, i4 x8 W7 p$ ^cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
& ^: @: A' |' ~4 O/ Rsuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained( x( J/ t8 t- @8 X
by Toyota's lawyers."
/ [/ h& c% }4 \7 u2 X# r: @Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of( j+ S8 O/ K2 K4 C3 A
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
. [; v5 R. v6 S, Z) C6 e6 z' `customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he. ]* O, `0 s9 W$ J! \0 k
said.
' e* k% B- b/ g( k: o4 g. E"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with- D& e0 r/ ]! P; A
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our" ?( z+ J P( F, Q* @
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
; S- ]* U9 p- j Y7 j) Iofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.: Z, y- L. |# [; U( O
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
/ r, P0 T, }/ n2 V& D, @# xmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
# b- q( ?( f* J1 lrancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
9 V; ]% o0 v) T2 a2 iautomaker, at least in part because of the government's0 a! j5 {! W$ G6 L. k0 ~5 X
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
' K6 ?/ V) Q! d0 p" Y0 T+ o7 P' U6 SChrysler. S, K8 W: g' {& Y/ \* w, w+ m
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
6 A& C$ F6 S4 d) Jdollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a; E5 j0 V) _/ S) O5 G
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
! A9 a# p. Z5 ?7 ?served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
, M W+ R- ~. |7 o* n0 Vwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
1 d0 C) G7 |" [, qtough."
) G: P" x$ X" Y---
+ w7 t4 Q& p& E$ n" X; b/ g CAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom0 O3 Z( h+ {& Z8 h1 n, G
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to& P" U& N' Z* ~3 a# ` V
this story.
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-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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