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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
2 S, u1 N) N7 s& M7 |& C, YBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS$ h1 J* S" \- m) [3 ?- k1 A1 @
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
% C( J0 r' j; D$ {) N# E5 ]operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
4 k8 g! Q/ N; W1 r$ D/ Jthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"; ]9 G5 A$ `7 C
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.3 M: v/ M' {# e& c
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
3 H4 i& M- j- i; V; ~6 @causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
1 W+ e$ l) }7 i3 S( SHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected, ` o+ C- `3 h7 n
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
4 P' ]7 Z6 y4 f. g A |! z) ftrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
/ t' b. A7 T# Y; M: dmats and sticking accelerator pedals.
7 ]* H% X8 @$ t, e3 OHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal# O N8 J5 Z& r* Y
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp/ e$ P0 x [/ e! ?6 g
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be: ^3 j! J7 A) Z- v
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could( m5 o/ Q& O* u% g1 T, R9 w% [; N
not stop her runaway Lexus.3 F1 ]9 {! ?7 U* ~& k7 \
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
* [$ S( U4 u! J$ M& B. UTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
' c( M! X( N& n3 l# H m"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators./ o/ n( b( [+ ?6 i( c- K3 S6 Y# b
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues* L, C; B* v; N! w- D' Z* q( x6 ?
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said2 ?2 A9 V2 v3 C1 G
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has% b9 i/ w4 r( P+ X2 k
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
. s- u/ M' E# m" Y* x% A0 g) ~ Ythrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's0 Z" Q- a {2 S/ o, B& Y0 T
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
! R5 X* a) g6 e4 t' T" WLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
- p W, Z Y6 J8 F- ^electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
n. z' i( W( rthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
. G; R5 h. G* o% S9 W, i8 \malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
# c+ I) x9 \5 ^3 {6 isaid.# N) h8 p( ~/ R+ t
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what8 M6 S( ?+ L- N1 |" V8 l
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe* l( O( ^' S& l/ [
about driving our products," Lentz said.' \# X- I: g9 U( P$ T7 Y% l' o; K/ Z+ ]
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
( d$ _0 Z5 {1 i) z" I2 Aproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
6 ?& P' l6 E* F/ Y6 @; X+ srecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6. o4 r5 j" @2 d P6 c% p- I2 Q, L
million in the United States -- since last fall because of3 ?; o9 c, F# {$ v# a: Z
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking+ x- P$ z7 D3 }4 X0 m3 f( F
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering9 L; J. o5 |% d# ]
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of) t. d# r" ~$ D* y
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
; G( p+ b0 S$ `! F, Y/ {; {down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
0 D8 e; E C y; Treceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration% x8 h3 _, e0 o& w, Z, ^& B$ l
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.5 l! N) I) V1 g8 M3 Y) W
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own$ z9 R& e7 K6 q$ e' f# U; h
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he8 q) h) y7 y4 s, n4 q8 v( `; i5 W
understood the pain.
! m2 G1 ~4 o7 v; O" ?* V. X"I know what those families go through," he said.( `; Z* j/ h7 s; Q$ _
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's2 [1 W6 Y* J. v" V( V5 ^5 j
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
3 g, s( o, @" B, S+ V5 V+ P1 |But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman. `! _" k- r; |1 @/ g
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put! q$ [ w4 n+ l# v* ~; r4 k
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,) M5 @5 ?6 L: }
Lentz replied: "Not totally."
8 W7 u3 ^. z7 s3 P+ Z" d( mStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
! }7 }: w) g) H& L7 w" C"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
% M: E9 J! h+ p+ \Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
" x0 ^ {. ^- X$ I" F! R- A; Hpedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its2 z+ E) w( l2 P9 r+ ^6 i
vehicles already on the road.% ]* d G6 e7 W6 l
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
9 t) V+ D% c/ u7 e7 Jbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full; @* b2 |0 D. E; v2 Z ]. Q, l
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
" g* c0 |- Y" b# [offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were0 R; T9 a( @% `5 c2 p% w
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.3 S4 y5 `+ n7 h3 E
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
/ E, Z( T) |0 h/ W- Ytragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony4 g' F8 B! c6 I% v6 t. }
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight' h9 [: f! I o& O# I% p
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
/ j P# @/ I: P/ |0 a5 L# T! acommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
3 }! u/ U- F" _6 t- H1 q# Xrestore the trust of our customers."' ~; G$ h3 a1 Y, Y" `
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from0 q0 |9 L8 y& e* K; Y
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly9 `; a5 @8 t9 ]- L* b7 t* K
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop -- x n9 l; O0 ~, J Z* e7 M" |
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and3 c) `# r+ e: J% W8 a% n/ b+ D
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
, X- ?* b, E+ Q( I5 athat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
% k! H8 X* r* ]4 Zturn off the engine.7 x( {; a8 z1 [' Y& H
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
: @7 n5 e, u E' Q9 ?, Z3 r7 ROctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
% W, [3 J: N7 b' Q+ m# V! Z$ {2 a"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she6 y' a& Z k# v& i0 |. A: R
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond5 Q( B% F7 _7 J4 R2 _! L# |6 i& c( D* D
to her complaints.
6 q; ^5 @$ c- O7 c# mIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers" A! F6 ?5 g. M% H4 Y2 J
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
7 r7 t2 z9 x5 r( a+ e5 \malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
( x$ P" x/ \% U( x) r, o"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric1 ]* z2 s2 U6 S: f i
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited# X1 r: X$ n; _- X' s( k
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
2 ~/ l: ?3 ]1 q5 L, `& Noff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."! W4 X: j; k5 p( ^0 T# n
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in* {* r7 V+ n3 N" B
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
& H3 S" k8 a# n, T: P9 wbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
9 A4 ~# ^" j) ?" Dwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
- w. U. L3 {: c. eevery question.": a7 k A- y# ~' O% M; u& X' r
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
- j3 y9 e, A8 C/ M; delectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
6 `* j/ ^# T8 E- {firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But! |( b2 h2 p$ W* R3 @1 C
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small" T0 u4 ^- S- c) p
number of vehicles
; ]$ v; E) N6 d$ I& J& X) uTracking down an electrical problem can be far more
8 u/ D. Z) X7 a! l7 l1 F8 sdifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
9 G7 n. C8 _6 Q3 u) j# @2 cmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one# U8 V. r) U% J2 S
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
* v, ^# ~5 W2 f5 a: n. [7 M* k+ LMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,( k% K; M* B) h* x
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no0 t/ n, D( j& `
trace at all.
$ F( K9 D# l9 M% a- N: @3 yHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call- f' i0 h4 g3 E; K/ f
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
8 V9 w/ ~8 ^4 F" q: aacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
6 F( y; ~% g( m4 P% D f5 {9 drecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
: R0 ]9 J8 s: V. X% Q$ i) lRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
1 Q6 c5 f) Q$ Usaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
( C% \4 X; G: q9 d! X, p# g( vother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
# }% y1 r7 a1 m/ n+ n2 j( Aelectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible5 _) H( a) h4 s( E0 H8 Z
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
8 u' M+ \- l$ A. b2 Msuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained$ Q3 @9 t |+ z8 U) k, ~* o
by Toyota's lawyers."
: `) x+ K9 t0 Y+ \' Q% ULentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
# C$ }- B4 ~+ E# Uproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our- W( e& ~" y$ S
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
( z7 y9 N! m' ssaid.) t# r* P8 I4 p" d1 h: e2 l& z
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
+ f" L0 ^# q$ R8 c0 n4 A6 Za rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our+ e* r0 D9 _) n
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
{3 P; t; ^# }1 p Z4 z' v# Zofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
- P8 a2 t) L8 l# K1 F6 ESeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying0 L8 G* K( p) \, l
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread& I4 V+ I4 O$ r$ V; m1 a0 F, n3 ~& M
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
6 W( _( f0 z) y$ Z W; P2 }5 yautomaker, at least in part because of the government's4 {" g7 ^, @( m* o) p( p7 T7 m$ j1 \
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
5 K; x+ k6 o- m @6 f& bChrysler.5 T* e! ~$ r8 V) M$ x9 G g- F
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
; c/ d9 z1 J: |: W4 X$ Kdollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a% Q. q; y! J' ]0 p1 ?, h* w8 m# e
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
* d0 Z5 Q0 o: [0 Z: I0 Y. Zserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete( f4 O3 j3 r2 }2 Q, r7 c
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
. o& j- b4 i. Q3 ?3 Mtough."
5 m3 {' G" }' d$ ~1 f3 C---9 [" p- O) L$ D$ m( T; D
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom3 U% M8 W1 p: S" H
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
/ O; \( @/ V+ N; L7 i1 Bthis story.
& Q4 y2 u# {" h( X
6 U4 f4 X Z- f( x% h-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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