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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
( v7 I t m8 F: q [, yBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS! }+ b8 K; r7 }$ c+ ~+ H" l
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
! @$ a j6 _% {, w3 l5 r6 Z soperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that" t1 a+ J( Y$ I& z
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
# e- F8 ?8 q, L- Lsolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
/ ~4 I2 S% l" q1 T# n! O# L+ t"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential! `" X8 u: Q6 V' E2 s
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
% W! N9 v5 W' {- Y7 dHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
% j" g: C7 R; }4 ~$ Q; Q5 ^4 J2 Kacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and; ~8 `2 F/ r' }, V& v7 E
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
' J, B& ~; q5 ^mats and sticking accelerator pedals./ [) b5 A: L7 _, e, X) W& [
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
( }2 `' C! [3 w+ l Uand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
; b% O5 e1 B' Pcriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
# G9 k/ Y; h; E% r5 {1 rfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
: n; H1 {/ y. j# M& M: D6 ?not stop her runaway Lexus.
- l Y. b j( b/ R2 w6 q"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,. G- Z& ^( G! f1 t
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
# X a8 g* N2 l3 Z8 Q7 O"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators. r: e) C L5 m* M
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues: D0 i3 g$ Y( K1 R3 L! G
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said- L" T5 L+ q! `6 {* o8 g
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
* ^3 z- ` E O$ t3 R, ~done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway4 z' {+ h8 P/ s* I9 | a! _0 j+ U
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
* q. Q9 P6 g- b: s' R- a2 f2 Yinvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."* g2 G: B3 Q- Y7 L
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
8 M2 v+ C" Z: o, C. t, {electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of8 W. w7 K v- l p s
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a0 C, D& ~6 @; V! c; c4 Q
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
% D7 g9 r: i; hsaid.: _+ J; ]6 k6 m: y1 V/ V0 g
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
' j8 {% [" F9 G( P$ Ehappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
( f& U# a6 T9 N& ^about driving our products," Lentz said.
4 l, D" {% F+ }Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's, p/ w4 f: ^: ~
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
( n+ D; `% V1 `8 O( o7 m$ U& wrecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6# _$ S/ l8 v5 B7 |5 y5 V6 R
million in the United States -- since last fall because of
5 h. c, u1 m0 z( Tunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
8 X/ E4 H. ^4 o' Fissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering) A0 b4 S7 I; N& {
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of7 h) b" B% d& R' v& U* ]# h! A, \! F
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
7 M, h. b" E, ?: @6 \* Xdown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has& h1 ?! B* b0 [4 |- S
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration( a( `' m! a; T" o$ }3 K/ a, K) \$ b3 i
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.) f% F1 P% I, {. G$ T
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
$ b) W# H, o6 @% G2 ` J2 Bbrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he1 U) l5 D* ~ M4 }+ I- f6 G/ j0 P
understood the pain.
6 k$ u( O0 \0 H( ]& L"I know what those families go through," he said.2 q% w* b3 |; l7 o. d* Z
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's# ~; f: {( _ K/ `5 I; }
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.0 i5 Z& z8 r) |9 I8 t; v
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman" O' r2 e) J# f
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put* r" k9 S# \5 n
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,1 t, ]; B* H% t
Lentz replied: "Not totally."
$ A+ E5 A2 H5 }7 e: G8 nStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
" ?2 g( W. r5 z* x) J7 ?"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said6 L4 I. O( Z' \' u6 X. T2 N
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
* Z0 n s2 _8 L5 F' H. Rpedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
0 B* y& U( K' u6 B" P" fvehicles already on the road.
, I3 M) |* y5 V4 l( SMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
5 O4 V& P+ L8 o. J% d! c+ K. F, W6 Kbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
4 u* | L: P2 U+ q ?$ ?responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
; M* y' c8 K1 \offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were. h! |$ m; c4 D4 t* t
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
. g/ A1 b! S+ G: a% R" ^"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
8 o& W u& ?7 vtragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony. v6 k; ]/ h! K; P6 J
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight) \" F8 M+ \% B
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
: v- {$ Z9 s1 E3 W& }commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
S5 r& V- _. z& [9 j. U2 trestore the trust of our customers."
3 L3 C7 I' i2 k a$ a8 HLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
5 m% C7 I3 Y0 L4 ESmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
* M7 W; N7 b3 ?, B0 u0 F( tzoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --5 J( I8 d* Z4 Q* m" O# I: d
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and( S7 Z. K$ ~) v0 [, I
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough; T5 i! W8 O9 v6 e' b" s0 P
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
# K# _6 q* K- l9 y& x$ S/ xturn off the engine. Y4 v& F' T$ c. c" N7 v
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of" f% _* _ F9 E6 M2 |+ j: q- ?) a
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
! u5 t% ?' d& M$ o+ _5 t2 F; ["After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she" G' K3 { M* b/ ^& b0 K
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond9 Q8 a% B, S4 J2 p3 |
to her complaints.0 p: E6 \2 @+ N: V* v% m$ T
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers- V" B# J# {) V8 k9 L
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
0 X; j- n3 ]" z+ K) ^! L" G S tmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
. r. o9 Z& B# p"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric: n/ |/ J9 E }) y; Q0 R% k
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited8 B$ a* j( t1 d+ s
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
, H6 k) w( @5 E4 Roff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
' _, V% j2 D6 p; oTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
. H$ |+ M6 _0 C5 Y' K. n: M" }prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
% Z5 ^0 _- S" S8 Gbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls. A6 H) o: R% {6 J8 D
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
1 }+ @7 M2 e% W% j" l Fevery question.") N4 H" L$ i+ \8 y
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether6 t4 V8 j6 _( V/ y4 A3 h+ \% O$ p
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
1 S7 X, _0 w9 wfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But' R8 `2 x1 R) |* \& F
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
' N* ~! }1 Y6 m7 _; V2 Anumber of vehicles
T1 J0 t/ \% d* H& d5 jTracking down an electrical problem can be far more9 g/ J, y- V) U' O: j: N4 h
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
6 n7 i8 r" B+ d. [1 Y0 J" fmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one: g1 I+ h, A* `
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car." ]- r) D) R5 V" [0 L: t# `2 l
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
0 W0 C- q9 {3 i% ~8 D" W/ Nwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
3 z" D$ `# |, y$ i7 a* ]/ P1 K( C/ }trace at all.
: J. g- M Z; c" K2 Z5 t* c+ yHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call# Z |5 ]# |/ W3 l
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
* [9 H7 Q: j; B0 F8 i4 j( @acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
3 l; P( y+ O9 I- _- V: Z) T+ urecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.; S0 Z, W, u! X: u6 ^
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,9 P6 o, S/ D0 z7 n/ P( v* {
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
6 K5 }0 [) P1 q5 C" Cother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the& u! J% t: G" h# `3 n+ @
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible0 q8 |# `. }4 h9 |
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only( d. i I# k3 B0 I+ q
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained& v# `, P. `( Y% U% C9 G" V
by Toyota's lawyers."% Z5 }3 _! l7 b& ~ G5 x
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
- g0 x8 R+ a- F$ A( b, l, h9 Nproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
- d% I$ B+ b; ?" P6 w- R( {- ncustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
7 V& v" `' A, _5 J% K5 \said.' q& x' k |6 Z; G: \! l
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
2 L7 M7 K: f+ R8 K c0 ^a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our, J% Q2 Z2 L. B, u7 O3 `& U& l
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
- \5 E& @1 N( x0 N# u0 k; F& Iofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.6 J3 C& Y7 |: u1 {; C8 m
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying/ }1 E) X6 N4 \5 Q) \8 H
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread1 l4 C9 w) r; T+ F. b+ R
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
$ f$ w: [8 ~5 q, d% d, }$ p7 Rautomaker, at least in part because of the government's
, u3 N# P; k% a7 winvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and2 }; o2 ^) m4 Y, q7 ?* D0 W5 F. q
Chrysler.( t5 N! D% h; `# y) {7 p
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
0 E8 E- s# V6 wdollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a3 L. \. t3 L# J1 i. v' g4 _* f
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also: U7 C+ ~$ h1 m. I
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete4 O9 u( m8 w1 m: g8 j
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
- P4 z1 Y, A( w2 x/ T0 ktough."/ _6 B+ }2 s- j" B6 _0 ]8 H8 |
---
! g- T: `, A! @& ? }3 KAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
, c) m9 ]* q- C" P# N' o/ iRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
6 T Q7 z+ A2 Z" `' M% q rthis story.# W; v7 a6 t3 k! f- e4 Q
6 O, P7 _, B5 V7 r1 X
-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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