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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
9 j( W [7 D$ C! zBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
; t6 v. E; b$ t) J4 P& P6 uWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.& X$ H0 a# A4 |1 f$ G# j
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
( i8 V% j E5 A: d) X: E2 R$ Lthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
' w5 u+ { M: a; Q: @3 asolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
# I6 Y: f3 \; X"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential4 {0 w0 ^ A, R, G* G
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
, l |! X# b; C- {, ^3 @ OHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected7 n' ]3 I7 a8 T: p
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and6 F0 y$ v" J1 F7 F. g- l
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor4 X, r! ^" D: G
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.( Z# ^' p( h, w% `$ L$ t7 M( E8 X
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
: g9 W" E& P6 J1 v0 }and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp0 S5 E3 J p; H H3 X( g2 ?
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be% A0 _+ a. M8 i. l
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could( |$ E, C2 |4 i! P# y q
not stop her runaway Lexus.
( l/ ?* C& ? G6 D I7 o2 O"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
4 Q/ T ]& O( Q2 u0 PTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
+ d) g* O0 g, L"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.$ \# d" K( @$ S& ^/ d
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
( g+ C, i7 v. C+ ~3 p6 C( N4 N6 Dearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
/ R- J% |1 G% H/ ?: ?"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
, Q- h* @8 K- O& G/ M% o5 A, fdone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
& l3 p4 n6 x2 K& G/ p) ithrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
- C0 ]3 A* D+ v0 \2 ^investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
6 C& h" q `4 s: a: A+ uLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
) o9 L( r0 m7 ]: K6 felectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
4 ]% Z7 A" [' U' d! c# a, zthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a* [8 e6 i2 f, I- |, v; ?
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
+ @ I! v5 r$ P0 b/ [! ~! X9 `said.
, Y+ g4 S5 h6 f5 \. @! NAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
& ^: w7 b0 `4 _7 E/ K' c7 nhappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
: _' U# e! B9 H5 z3 R. L6 h' Pabout driving our products," Lentz said.& n3 V% D2 c! m( }: o+ d
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's9 u3 p( Z% k L s+ d6 i7 i! ^
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
! i* H [+ J, e* arecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
$ [0 H, _% S! U. S# ^million in the United States -- since last fall because of- L7 T3 R* V1 ]0 ~6 @# ]2 s' O
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking8 m4 F" b4 g$ V
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering+ B' j) d3 A- \* I" l8 B6 _
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
8 ?8 F% A/ h+ Q9 i( N& D2 `their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
. Y0 ?- \) m2 W0 K" Z5 Udown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
6 i1 Z/ Q$ a( g) k' B( ]received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration Q N) C# R9 D5 v
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.1 G: B, c* d$ Q4 j
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own! q7 @* M* r! r
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he+ T3 _! J5 ~( j) F6 ^
understood the pain.
, {' \2 g+ J' L"I know what those families go through," he said.! |% a9 Q# z, S/ z# y) S$ S
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's9 a# w: \" s6 L) w) @( a
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems. m8 I6 I: O# |
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman: {* v* d. N! P& z. [+ v S
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put8 H2 t% D# E: v, _. a
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
6 w8 G. A% X/ yLentz replied: "Not totally."
3 Y0 Q7 O2 k1 E! {Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
" g+ G; [. F l"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said2 _. V$ d( ? f
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
2 ~1 Z9 F+ m5 Y, n5 gpedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its: j& b" ?- Q. r! J( u
vehicles already on the road.8 k9 w# `7 ^' ]! g9 V/ M" v2 R. k# E
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
$ o4 b+ W. {' v% u. R+ N1 s0 [, |before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
; A; T) H1 @1 n. V" ?! Rresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and# W6 s$ o3 [% N1 x2 C
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
: a5 i' `' q: r" ekilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.- q& D% O9 {' U( _4 I5 \
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a) L8 s: ?; A5 A! Z- T, i8 I# z
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony% q( o& L8 d* I- v" u
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
7 `2 h' e6 F& ^4 ^" d1 g0 T" v' uCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal( T1 Z3 g9 z Q+ F4 B
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
$ O! d1 D- U$ ~. p2 L$ L& x- K+ _restore the trust of our customers."
+ X2 ?6 v2 R5 g' H! D/ S0 CLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from/ ~+ M% u8 @ r' \4 N
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
1 W8 S4 o1 ^2 o( @+ ] Azoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
! F C2 i4 F) m, n4 {. Mshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and) x: g% D$ S) s3 Y6 W
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough" c# u0 k# }" k t& k
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and. x: Y" t3 O7 K9 }
turn off the engine.
7 I/ B! g4 r8 w9 C- z& k) ]% o8 fFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of+ \6 I2 q' z3 W% \1 L
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
, A$ e! D3 @8 g% B1 |) { l"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
5 z. M1 n* v. z. e; K# u, z% A7 _said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
; I g+ r. e/ x- Yto her complaints.* T9 X6 @9 n! L9 D6 z6 x
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
/ i$ W" Y9 g3 q1 Q ]2 treturned again and again to the question of whether electronic
; ]# A8 J2 X Y+ n8 smalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
1 e9 U, t1 e1 J/ A5 J. k"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
n! I: I, o3 D0 J: C! ]throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
* w! k% h# \+ C# l/ t U$ O4 ^"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut- E. m, S" d8 y: k1 \* [
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."; |' H% I2 |/ ^- n
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
, C3 H9 X" \- ?3 b7 Q; r. Jprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
" J! w( b5 D G! R% c5 g# I. q# O( ]being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls3 G7 {* s; m/ N& d
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
) _: n$ ]3 |! E9 }# D g& h( Cevery question."
$ p0 M' U& F* |( GToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether. K3 l/ ^8 C0 u. o/ E# T& X
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The9 k8 q4 x, [; h. |! C! D
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
; t) K7 G/ E# u: i5 V0 R ?committee investigators said the testing studied only a small2 A" m( x* T; b& Z6 s, G5 Z' A
number of vehicles
/ w0 i' t8 S2 a- F5 ETracking down an electrical problem can be far more: T7 _/ I1 Y3 s
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
8 i- q* c& Y' u8 m0 z4 ]mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
* Z; {8 h# J, p/ qsource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.$ r0 U6 t9 R3 ~4 W& j! b1 F
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
* O& x* o# U) B7 _: Y' S) I3 b+ ~2 ~where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no1 O2 h/ T: L; s- s, k& b2 H/ Q
trace at all.
# @6 h8 y9 w/ l, pHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call% l' R" L8 i4 x3 ^% v/ h% X' ?
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
- [9 N3 {7 s8 eacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
; z% Q8 q2 I7 G7 W. arecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.4 K0 Z6 T( z6 [: U8 X
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
# j& }7 f! }9 h& f; Hsaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
: G1 ?2 o9 Z1 K/ i( iother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
0 q+ X0 [# S$ c+ I( H% relectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible4 T1 h& I1 b% ^3 g
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
7 e( d1 }8 B7 T4 n0 Ysuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained7 z6 B9 M* L6 G6 K; Q: [# C
by Toyota's lawyers."+ x' ^4 @/ }8 D' A2 U
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of; T( ?- y0 j# D3 E% D9 p/ l
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our" N6 d; v3 \( ]. d" w
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
! q/ a2 ` \; [7 R9 j; q& \said.
2 B) a H6 |8 j w( ?"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with' q; B. w3 _/ ~5 J; ~; J# y
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our2 K5 P7 R5 u3 |6 A* }2 g) a& x" k
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating: m5 _8 r2 E7 o/ n6 r3 X: A5 E
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.: G/ J% W* b* F! b& a; X2 v+ i7 s
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
' N/ |, e/ D% J0 s; Pmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
. k0 w, Q4 S8 {' c4 qrancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
1 Y# R* O9 d3 a, Xautomaker, at least in part because of the government's
8 [2 V* z2 a/ M! M1 }6 \- r- }( d" h4 iinvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and" q' q- |) ^$ C" F% ~4 l0 Y1 x
Chrysler.
2 \! c4 P1 v1 [1 Y& z d4 S"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
7 O% r$ r& ^4 W" i1 H6 Idollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
! X! ]/ q" W3 W$ b; N7 JHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also% Q4 v) _* h( z i5 [% d9 t. z
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
5 F6 S0 ]3 [5 h$ ?5 J$ N" twith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
! v/ f6 g* a/ p$ w' z0 Htough."3 w. _. q- I4 N
---
% ^: t9 M; M- x! ?+ _+ F U) KAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom. q. m- N$ |( U9 [* J
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to- d& e9 K) X8 Q* K1 N- S3 K
this story.
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/ S- c& a: w5 _! u$ l/ ^% b-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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