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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题 }+ c# B! J2 \ I2 z3 Y8 [
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS. l% `! @! k5 p( s; V
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
) k! t+ t( s) [+ C. S& goperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
& m2 [; F9 s( ^# l6 V3 `6 t3 n% U$ Kthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
- ^5 {2 H5 y$ O" r5 ^8 N$ Ssolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
/ K3 [- C5 t" ?' I8 y"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
/ e% t6 N4 I, [& }causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.7 o V, A$ ^! J
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
, J5 s4 T( ` |% tacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
; g' W- s5 b5 E4 b4 {trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
7 `- K; L8 N' |: Z) y2 lmats and sticking accelerator pedals.4 {2 t( ?, \) i' v: p. @
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal4 E; G; i1 A# l5 S' g2 ]' q
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
- V! `+ I3 E8 P+ C' u- tcriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
3 v b0 f: \# |+ H6 ]- ifurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could! r9 j' F/ ]0 b# Q7 U
not stop her runaway Lexus.
- ~0 c& w; u/ F"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
. `8 i1 N7 z7 }& l+ UTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second9 \7 o, e) `1 ^! i1 l2 V
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
! n8 M! f% E' @Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
4 O' x. A+ x4 q3 kearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said J: h; {5 y0 w# [( J9 @
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has2 b; N. ^' k+ N8 c: @) \, p
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
$ m# B. e | f& qthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's1 h z" O* U- D. A2 ], T: G
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."2 E# h) h8 j/ y9 F' R$ D
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
% B& J% \, W" O8 d" p9 z: ~electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of8 W- h: N5 i* `( Z' T
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
! _7 a" j2 `/ j* v$ _2 @malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
& ^* Z4 J: u; A" O" J* Bsaid.
; z; m( l" b! J9 ?# NAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what; r8 b7 I- W2 [
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
0 n8 I/ r7 {# ~# t- y5 m O, Eabout driving our products," Lentz said.
; ]6 O$ X$ S3 [& g. b+ j% Y7 d7 [Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
6 k, f& N' m( A- Iproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has. n5 n' C9 U; q8 B( D
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6 l3 ?" K4 i1 [
million in the United States -- since last fall because of; J# k- \( }4 W1 g; p
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking* ?! j+ C9 N& L' S7 Y0 A% P# y
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering2 l* s1 ^3 e3 I- m8 K! R- Z9 S
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of& I# v' f x" e- t* D
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
( r4 T" P [* D1 |% [: F" xdown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has" z( x3 L" [, V4 C0 j- m% a- z0 C
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
; e) V8 @" [$ ~( Eof Toyota vehicles since 2000.
! s4 _! a+ B& e: Z# Y+ x8 ?Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
/ v4 I, s7 v+ h3 G7 F3 ybrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he* n! C9 i" _5 y0 Z( `
understood the pain.. O, ]: ~- r! i" o/ @& j2 F8 V' Y
"I know what those families go through," he said.) J# X# {: B7 |% S% \
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's9 C. J' O/ x0 H; i/ N9 E
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.) @* j3 h( a+ z) |5 l
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
3 v: D- `# d+ P6 yHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
, h' Y4 E. j( `$ H* Lin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,8 B& @: H9 q; N# v* L) p
Lentz replied: "Not totally."
2 `& x" R. K2 N; hStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
]6 x6 m. d& ^- R"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
4 S _* n' _1 k; mToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
& V, k7 C- C& m0 R3 |pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
7 g6 q2 w- t- cvehicles already on the road., N( Q+ x, K7 \* [2 M% l8 d3 W
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
/ N1 {9 C7 X5 I1 G1 X; q- ?# ]before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
7 B2 |( r: d2 w% ? f4 zresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and' Y9 F3 ?& b& M. |8 q
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were& G6 x- p$ s1 p& P$ T
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.6 [* U% _6 V& |3 g7 q; f" ]0 f" ?2 Q
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
# Z8 U# g8 b/ [( k+ z/ `9 c! mtragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony1 L- L. f0 I' ]6 G* b7 z$ L/ T
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight7 g# I( \% i9 q3 j$ q2 Y/ ?0 Y
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal* n# q ^1 [8 b8 _
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
; d5 w9 P! i& q: N( i: ^* Crestore the trust of our customers."
1 }, x2 F) ?. O* z2 p/ o+ vLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
1 G9 w+ e$ G/ A) t$ p% J8 ?- w6 GSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
2 I3 w) i2 q, Bzoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
! s$ U, r, j- X8 Bshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
5 X' p( B# q2 ghitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough8 a7 N, h9 [9 \* t" L: C2 {( z
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
9 g2 s0 p8 p! d \3 ?turn off the engine.1 j7 J! P0 v! J0 A6 ]! O+ _
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
* d& R9 d6 ]! K% h- B2 {& SOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."/ U; D: ^ ^4 B( A4 |. M
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
: F- h9 d% y7 _& d$ m5 T7 zsaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
* i$ h. L5 f+ t; mto her complaints.! C$ t9 P% K& V/ m V
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
# c+ E1 y& Z& B0 J0 L% o2 Qreturned again and again to the question of whether electronic- ]- G) a6 j1 D& S( M+ H
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
$ P" B1 e7 g$ e9 m. a/ k" \# o. ]"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
) W$ \/ ~4 w! D- L( Othrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
. M! z5 N/ t$ ]; f+ t* [9 d"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
9 ~+ z. x! m, z* Z h9 z' moff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
2 {1 D+ r8 `/ V ]2 D( OTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
3 ^+ R& _/ w3 S% h* Gprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
+ h5 P: Q) F- z; B3 O% B% Hbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
2 ?" ~0 b- `& U) [' Rwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer& {0 D( R1 }3 c! l: A/ w
every question."
& P0 Z# N. y, K3 }( jToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
9 X2 B' l4 C8 w# x( n$ ]: K8 I) Selectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
* b9 B; g, ~# J! I: g' _* _' Z2 Nfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
9 p+ \( I' x8 V* n! qcommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small9 D# T" \( t8 V" q. G3 l
number of vehicles. b7 l3 r; \9 y$ r, @. o/ K- K, k- u
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more5 u8 Y" b- |4 w6 O4 i
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
. ~* b/ E" }- mmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
$ k1 ?* T% K7 L$ T! \& e2 Ksource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
* B( T& S# S9 F! K4 E+ T6 a- uMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
2 V# T* k" t" h: Wwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no7 I0 u( l2 N/ Q/ h3 p( T9 @: W
trace at all.3 c2 P5 ~5 `9 |! S/ L% e7 n8 @9 m
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call7 T& ?0 t; d" V% W# E
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden d* P1 L9 a- ]
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the( r' a8 w6 S7 c1 T! Y5 P& O$ C, V: k4 j
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
2 b# V& N4 _0 ]: KRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
) l Q4 t% c" o- b2 C4 Rsaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
( S, z' \( R7 F8 bother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
6 ]) ]7 h$ _8 o, Melectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
- J. m: J% d" w. |cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only; i T' b* {% l$ A
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
' V( t: J0 H, {& I* C3 v" H% Xby Toyota's lawyers."
/ ]3 f" R& Z9 F8 A% kLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
4 p$ c+ }/ V. u4 J: [: F. Y" T5 eproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our/ @+ g2 y K L2 m/ @
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
0 c" Z& ?6 t+ O# G1 C/ Fsaid.
) E5 g6 g# C! s"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
- J! E6 w% h( ]a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our# o4 P) ~7 p8 C8 u" D$ _! N; s
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
: c: f" G( A% N" Qofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
! b9 y9 M/ l8 `9 a" j6 ISeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
0 G, e L4 D% H _members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread9 U; e6 h* r& m3 @: |% M0 q
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
! E5 b6 y# W: h1 F( F* |automaker, at least in part because of the government's
; S% F; t! G. B \investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
& H7 s/ q* F8 `& ~& V8 lChrysler.
1 H+ `" T' x- R; G"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax0 @4 ] c+ Q/ v V1 V2 X
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a/ e) Y# b( b; m4 l
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also3 \ G5 y( _" _* D5 ^
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete* D3 O' n% r. I/ K- J6 S
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty, b! N- I( O/ ?9 x" P! P. A
tough."- t0 F. O& [$ i; a$ S& x% B* b
---
1 v/ L" r! ]. a. AAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom z' h+ {( [) J1 J, h5 C! U4 D# X
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to0 ~- _3 ~6 y) x, R A! b
this story.7 Z/ a( u0 ]/ \ S9 ~7 Y
/ s9 W5 W. l. D* W0 i D! O5 a
-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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