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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
2 w0 m6 f( B- n* f: ]6 i. WBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
* S$ M7 {. F$ G6 S! }Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
4 t- S5 Z& ^" J E4 Loperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
. A; u! j3 [1 B- rthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
7 h! K) E* c3 p! fsolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
9 u7 @# t6 a2 x# `"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
6 h2 }4 U8 }( _. gcauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
9 `, l6 x4 b' c6 g/ hHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected2 q& }! r5 X. {$ {3 j5 K
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and7 J7 u3 B: [! F$ K! ~
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor0 P- G( |% z. P: h# X q& A8 S
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.7 ^9 Z3 W& K3 c" N
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
: }8 g) D' U8 D) Z8 ?) \3 T+ hand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
. H: ]- h- X3 O9 t0 Z2 o0 vcriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be9 [' K4 X( | G# t% M" U# c
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
5 G( [) A- r$ }1 C3 @7 q7 Y7 vnot stop her runaway Lexus.
?" a' q7 P; p5 k"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,) }8 | Z/ f" j& [
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
( _$ Q/ E* |$ T! L& _4 t"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
7 ], X5 {' k o" TTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
; W+ @8 @8 r& \4 J: \' y. z2 Searly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
9 O* x/ W8 b0 V, x"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
0 I8 f8 q4 H2 R; w/ ^" Qdone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
9 B# O7 O! v$ e. {# T6 athrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
$ P5 V, ^$ p `2 [, tinvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."3 W6 e+ ^* S3 k0 ]
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
! q1 y. {, r! P" belectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
0 Y2 J- [$ x- N5 a5 X Fthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a, R; c8 q K1 T- \
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
$ r5 W( x( D5 Q) R: E" fsaid.
9 [' I6 ]' N9 ZAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
8 n- F/ v, D! m3 r" b; R6 Qhappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
6 T$ i ?4 i5 A" Y# iabout driving our products," Lentz said.2 J& ]$ I. U+ x: m% z- B: q5 F
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's6 U+ p- a# o8 Y, B( O1 U: Y
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
# A7 h7 C% N; ]0 B' Mrecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6* M3 {' Q* e, t( {7 q4 y7 n) |
million in the United States -- since last fall because of. Z# v* K6 y( z# J
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
6 [: _4 u8 s5 Jissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
* C. V$ }; I, t' l/ `0 _8 j& Wconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of1 B! U9 q0 u8 S5 K" J3 D
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow$ W# O$ I3 @8 \9 w
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has* H; n0 B6 V: V# _
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
$ o" f2 y' q; d# Z& K& b2 mof Toyota vehicles since 2000.8 W; N1 D1 i+ }4 {# x
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own0 w3 U. [! f$ P; x( g
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he5 Y) p0 w* h4 P0 p4 r
understood the pain.
% c8 R5 G5 W8 z2 O M" g" s3 r& u"I know what those families go through," he said.: Y2 o0 R' _7 l, m7 x3 o x; _/ D
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
% u0 K( C/ W" W; Lfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.: N* k( V( D: b1 }& ~' S: x
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman' v1 u/ E k# r' t* b! R" O7 K
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
8 u Z# E# ]! T4 bin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
- l1 k! W& b7 I& b2 z! v# o" mLentz replied: "Not totally."2 P. i6 P8 r7 E# J8 C- t# P3 G
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were }, l, K6 W: @
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said; k: l4 g# k( `3 v
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas2 D t5 T( D; N/ {7 G/ V, C: j( Z4 z
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its' f, V9 f- k p& ]6 j- g
vehicles already on the road.
8 \: l+ f! q$ UMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify4 ^5 M8 n& g/ ~' a7 x- Z7 Y
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
4 @5 Q; V2 Z3 gresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
b' n& i$ ?" |0 q+ @offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
/ f5 E% K3 v8 t+ vkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
4 P5 a8 Q" C; R( C a" G7 Y0 ]- _"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a. m2 [0 p8 i, P! t6 p
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
: P6 K8 e% |3 C$ S( R& b0 {for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
, g1 d1 T- Q" p+ \& P0 ?$ HCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal' U3 ~. r F6 S$ I5 N( N7 S
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to: X6 N5 c1 r3 }5 G1 f5 P. K) {
restore the trust of our customers."
2 v0 c8 {' U0 f, l* dLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
6 G9 q. e2 ?; g3 n% G$ ?Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly1 o. @$ m, h5 I% l( ^
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
3 Z" j$ M' ?) s: b& fshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
# Y% r( N9 \; Q( [/ Ohitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
0 N8 f; J! i* @/ Lthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and) i0 x- \9 o" F
turn off the engine.
6 A/ w, w5 `: n7 E) x; ?0 @4 JFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
' k; l9 w: M! `5 P8 g" t2 x3 hOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
7 q; l: \) j7 j( d$ M; d1 ^3 _"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she0 M: b% G" c2 R5 c$ v
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond! z5 B* `) n& U T: x+ {7 k
to her complaints.
1 ]' j3 @5 w1 F; v* G/ n/ h% [0 zIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
) U; m2 x/ V# q; o* ?5 O' P9 }returned again and again to the question of whether electronic y- K# f3 ~6 w
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.8 W* v& ]7 t8 i1 {6 a
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric0 l" s7 q! j' Z+ S
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited8 O- ]3 T: j( D! x+ l/ O
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut" ^1 v; c4 \! ~; R ]3 l1 r" U+ {& h
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
2 R1 n+ I1 X9 y: w# \1 A) |) @Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in2 d# D% i8 e( f
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were! Q' H S0 D4 O9 X( y2 Q5 V
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls- h; x9 ]5 Y% C7 m' V6 J+ ^/ V
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
2 f9 F! K) z2 f9 ]every question."
" P7 l* g5 _" Q0 t' mToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether: o1 n o, ?+ q( H
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
$ K. U* {( T! Q) V5 r$ Ffirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But3 N) |0 q" B8 \# s3 k
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
" v& F" {3 ~ [* C$ f1 gnumber of vehicles, H3 B J. Q& m% Z
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more7 O9 N1 { x3 _" g" x: [7 q4 S; D
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
+ z5 h/ h3 y4 g( G6 J% g$ |6 mmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
# ^+ \# o, }! ^' S4 C7 Fsource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
. u& E: ~/ U* p6 x, o. {# NMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
7 I8 [5 @' k+ b4 x" }1 k) M. swhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no0 L( {( G* V; b0 a1 Q7 P
trace at all.
! q" w- h! U5 W$ z8 x, IHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call! _" H5 N8 U6 w g0 N d, O
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
9 E. t" ?: E. p- _7 f1 m- s7 x# Wacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the: D1 `% W6 @/ o9 g2 \% M! _
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
3 u" R$ H# J: G' T `Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
9 d4 p( S$ C0 S( X' ?1 @9 m+ isaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and/ ~( Q7 X0 g/ S
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the( V: i( g+ s$ e& b2 t1 r
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
; E- q! M, E0 E% Ycause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
" N; Y* U& l1 g; z9 e; O. }1 Psuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
% t& L" q$ `& [by Toyota's lawyers."
2 F4 Y3 R( e& \ XLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of5 r& ~) E6 A2 ~9 ^
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our; g2 N9 o- i; t8 N* \- i3 ^
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he- K4 {. w+ N" M! S9 T) A. V
said.5 T; E3 T `7 r5 Y: o
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
" b3 i4 K5 l7 d* R: ja rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our$ [8 W# z# V$ r ]
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
4 O: c* d7 _$ _' d% G1 _6 P- Zofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc./ o* M) H5 w" }& U
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying9 z* b" o0 S) Z9 t! _
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread& H5 X2 o% p7 B9 c2 Q, F- s
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the6 N7 ?* p; I8 G( `
automaker, at least in part because of the government's
: F1 C! u3 ]4 b: P8 kinvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and1 S8 R/ I& ]$ Z% b! U: z/ G2 E
Chrysler.2 L( {5 Y7 I* s+ v4 G, h
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax( [$ L, E' |3 U' K- n( T
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a0 u# C2 e6 x# x
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also6 I, I2 v/ |$ N4 J4 [& `7 }
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
3 L2 r1 _( F2 N( hwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty; I% A; d) [" w y z9 q
tough."
1 y( A' {% m3 u& ` O: k' u }" V--- O6 o. ?; {$ Z* X# m8 ]8 I
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom6 @# \% i8 z ^6 `9 h
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to7 ~9 }" R6 }* e8 j5 N' m: I
this story.
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! Q+ Z: f. N$ K1 C: I& [& `" _- H$ }-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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