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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
( m% B/ D$ b' J( Y, hBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
* y5 f. G0 s" {* A5 H# c+ iWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
" c# F7 `! u- v- w: Yoperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
" P0 C8 l1 D; s# othe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
8 x% A4 {, U( ]. g1 Usolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.# r X3 j" W8 a( S" \
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
3 i; }+ x4 P# Q9 w4 ^) gcauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
6 Q j. k5 s) X: j* ?6 }# V, fHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected' c5 Z6 m5 K: f4 P Y# B: ]- I
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
3 }$ X' C# L+ _trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
% H6 q0 Z$ Q/ c/ Lmats and sticking accelerator pedals.
~4 _+ q7 ?: o, w, g! YHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal# i' t% k' V: d$ A% w% Q
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp6 c: A" ?: m& E% k' t9 J: d" J6 w
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be, n# q& o' \: \, \
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
, z J& H; ?- T5 Fnot stop her runaway Lexus.
0 U8 s3 i' I& e* S0 v: f% k/ x# n"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
6 {7 f5 J5 I9 U/ jTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
0 W9 c6 ?# I9 y( ^6 y"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
" O/ t+ S8 j2 G- BTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues, T9 F y9 t, X3 M# \8 h
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said4 A% \& L. b6 U) n
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has ~& X3 x8 _+ q i$ e
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway6 l: I9 h- ]: j& q m2 K) {
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
" o2 i- X- y# O; n1 A+ P# ]( einvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."+ E/ O* J# u3 y9 d. p
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an9 N% P4 E% ?; H b5 e! ^
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of( ^6 k9 a n3 l3 C! B0 M0 I
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
6 p/ { o: m' X: hmalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
# L5 C4 f- j$ v, I/ v+ ysaid.
+ H1 w! x! b; \9 O( f1 D% z; t5 PAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what0 B1 }( o7 X: E3 w4 d- h! l! {
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe. j. R3 m& i! [1 f
about driving our products," Lentz said.
) T$ x, n8 W: U( M+ J ?( A& ]Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
6 {) v5 R2 y( n' u3 ?problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has8 c' J' E- D2 e7 b
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6+ X/ g! F0 l$ R% M7 ^# D
million in the United States -- since last fall because of6 h& v& c( P: P5 X
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
# i, E+ }7 x ]issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
- o2 x& _. X) o* Pconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of) V& { W u$ I/ h4 C/ ?; V' `& z, ]
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
6 s! h/ Y& E0 |' d2 x8 X0 |down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has" G8 I; {) a9 i8 k" d, r4 y
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
- {# C( Z* |1 t! O# Nof Toyota vehicles since 2000.$ y5 ~0 b, o) K% `4 Y& i' q
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
( }5 F& K* }% Z& q6 w! bbrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he( V, b, s2 A. z6 Q6 I5 e2 T; I! N9 a
understood the pain.
+ G$ `- \' A) J6 K& A7 h( |"I know what those families go through," he said.7 y* i$ \( n7 ?- ?' T2 E: _
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
+ n# ]8 ]: f: C) x/ I bfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
% d, ^. o# c2 b. T5 RBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman! W* Z6 C# t. Z
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
6 X% h5 ?" j+ J) Zin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,9 L% @- h9 o: {: p- T; n
Lentz replied: "Not totally.") |' V* h8 i' S
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
1 R* c7 L I& u3 a& \"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said1 t% b/ A. P+ J2 w
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas _6 |2 c, y$ C1 I" E
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
/ s0 ]& R& S! bvehicles already on the road." A5 q* E7 u$ [+ X! q/ V
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify" x5 V2 a. e' d/ M
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
8 c" S& C1 u2 g3 z$ a! ^responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and" U5 a. f' V z% F4 Y" i7 ]$ M
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
* x: m- B- a& k1 e! jkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.% _% A! d2 k x7 C
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a- R# \: v2 `: j7 Z# w& D
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
1 E* ?* ]+ D% R3 Rfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight( D) z6 ~! N p! o p( y; v
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal7 z8 \* B& { l8 E
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to3 X( J" d! `9 Q, _) U3 A0 F
restore the trust of our customers."
" z: [4 V* k" @1 j: n1 s3 gLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
) j# e2 j. L6 ]Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
6 l! a B. `2 S ^6 @3 szoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --) P6 M; `( d5 p0 ?* e' `" l
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and$ Q) M. J9 [9 ]/ J4 _- d3 Q
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough, v1 [: B4 |# E) H% l3 T! C8 E4 }5 F
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
" ^+ _' T9 W8 J( T' qturn off the engine.
2 I6 H% a# D9 R; Q& p, \9 fFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
9 K' S$ ^/ F$ j/ z3 MOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
2 e- R7 i$ D z E"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she' J$ @5 P7 h @% |
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
5 t, ?" p- p! g# `0 j( E' m+ @to her complaints.6 H/ P- Q `/ [4 ?2 x- Y
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers3 s* w# q, M; B5 j
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
' A" q$ C) y- H( Y9 h3 Cmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
& z5 S) j( t' w! L" p& w# ?"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
1 L2 o5 q }% H" O- Nthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
4 P) H6 n# N0 p) T"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut- T: a" V, Q9 H# T/ i# _. x
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
4 E4 n. P5 W3 S* h# g9 ]1 W2 l/ F: eTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in6 l8 T6 y9 N9 l0 f. \: ?) H i0 i
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were7 |4 ^0 h. M9 c- i& @% m$ E
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls0 r4 _* x1 i8 d# ?& b/ P
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer# t) w; ] X1 H5 Z# w- J0 A! {( i; L
every question."
. Q' @. s2 A- J! @+ a; f [6 }( LToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
) R+ j7 n; p6 O1 @ ]% m( C# O; Felectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
0 Z: ^& c( Y7 g/ k9 \3 S4 O2 _firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
9 Y9 \) [2 H! L: }! mcommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small
2 W* t5 ?! O% w( Fnumber of vehicles; `% A6 o; r& f$ i K+ I8 a; u
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more
% }: t, v, P9 U+ i K$ C8 \6 Jdifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a' ^& M |3 E4 ^6 m& V6 k5 s) @2 ?
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
) r7 E: V6 O5 F O3 f$ qsource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
" ?- @2 R- [2 K& G0 p- qMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,, }! K# J: J; |- `/ f$ L
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
' E, O% g, y# u) j7 z7 \trace at all.3 j5 B7 O2 n4 _8 ~. Z" @" u8 k) b
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
. K4 j- T4 o# @/ xdatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden3 R$ E# N$ Y( f& R8 q1 t
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the( j" Q6 J2 R }- I! [
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
% G* ~' Y) o6 I) k! g/ f& @Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,8 d2 V/ ]* Q I
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
7 r9 h! n: N& U# g$ H2 Uother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the# n0 ?! W+ I$ p, i; \* w
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
# a/ P& A. D7 Q1 y9 Fcause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only& |4 v% q% h0 w8 C
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained) L: T* j" B3 R7 L# J
by Toyota's lawyers."" |/ r/ c% G; C7 }" f" s
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of, X6 E7 p5 }% @* ^( ]8 Q5 w6 m* u
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our8 t1 y0 l6 Y+ E# p& D1 O" `
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
. {( W2 n5 W# _2 N' Vsaid.. y" m# {# A% `2 B# [
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
# d( x! E/ r0 f. t- B* c9 la rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
6 U9 B) f8 D! E3 `$ y+ Igood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
0 G; q; _# o7 q+ T! @2 i8 k" E6 _officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.' \- u% w" X4 N! j+ K: `1 s9 g D
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying; I" \6 T+ w- d* m: V! K
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
p$ p$ {, x p7 R) G( ~& P* @rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the0 z2 m2 m4 P% R7 J& B! J
automaker, at least in part because of the government's
# [ z4 S% u0 u4 p8 q# D; z6 dinvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
! t" H) ~) ]4 s! W' x DChrysler.
, r5 I* d- b- S2 @! ?2 T"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax8 h+ V' A! {4 U5 p/ V
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a9 C$ `, F2 I R5 e4 |
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
' E$ I. g, }3 }. W% H/ S+ yserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
' O* u) j. x2 B8 X7 {( V. Xwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty) ]3 o% M$ \" {) U( y2 Q: r) H5 r
tough."' d, ?8 |: `8 C$ s$ h* W
---5 s* Q* M- n4 B/ L" H2 Z$ j2 @
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
1 i8 w( q3 ^5 ?& K RRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
" Q% T* @( W* \' r, _% \this story.
0 r! q5 Z( r$ E6 E s. i) _- @$ ~$ s# K0 D. s( J1 u# O2 d+ E* u
-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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