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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
# p$ V/ l2 {! F( t( h4 }By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
1 a, s8 U8 s, |2 p6 TWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
8 I/ u5 v* t8 j9 k b& koperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
6 y+ k8 q. ]9 R! N/ h0 Ythe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
, _9 n. F8 B2 S3 _1 hsolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.; W, R' K/ M4 ^
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
% P) i$ X) z; g$ r P; \causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
" A7 g. }8 W6 WHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected" q9 o$ T8 R5 y" \- M
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
1 J8 v% f- W9 P# Ttrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
9 r; l7 q5 v) A! ?3 N" {mats and sticking accelerator pedals.
- e! d/ ^5 [4 ]* A: u% e5 fHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
- W/ f" w, L- s0 y# band fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp! W1 [% w' Y# {/ i4 w
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be( k# {& M: n k% @ M
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
* _! w7 ]: M) _$ S: F$ Znot stop her runaway Lexus.
7 M* v) D6 v" E8 Z! m"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
! z' C* o, I% q" {4 w+ c$ ZTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
, z, ~) B1 Y8 e+ Y' Z! R"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
; B- y* E& s" G1 `/ `Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
. } v8 v# P" L) H N4 a0 s; b, `9 `early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
2 W0 c+ g; l) J3 _"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
( S( J* p$ F' e. T! e: n( F& Rdone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
9 u9 ?3 s" ]( Z! w; j* W$ i: M/ dthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's: `$ G+ v" ]& V5 R' q
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
P# g# m Q) g" ?% D. MLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
4 X* B) V4 e9 Melectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
+ K* ]3 r/ r$ p) Ythe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
! U3 d5 G9 [- ^' N; o, n6 umalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
$ U$ R/ V' o& b9 n0 Q5 `said.2 ^$ n7 `1 q7 V
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what# D1 ?5 B% n* }* M
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe) `" \9 C4 c9 { D+ L3 N
about driving our products," Lentz said.8 P$ g7 j# M+ f, }0 |- j
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
6 \ q6 h% F" |& k: lproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
6 C# D* L8 N# _recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6$ X+ i P& D& a; s0 }9 _
million in the United States -- since last fall because of
+ e$ o* _ ^) C+ m4 a( Tunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
2 k4 K# e7 J; i' Y7 U( [issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
) J2 |7 l8 _/ Sconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
7 }( `$ @) k* r2 l! e+ d& Btheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow9 V) } n- m* D
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
}$ Y1 ^; q, [+ c) |, O" Q/ vreceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
, s' z2 U/ G% Pof Toyota vehicles since 2000.
- n# h4 l+ o0 F: b6 \Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own1 F% ^0 M0 C. U
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
* K( x9 [3 i, m( J; dunderstood the pain.1 C: D3 G( ]1 G$ M j9 o2 G
"I know what those families go through," he said.
7 Y7 b6 {$ h- @- D9 a ULentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's8 h4 H/ P$ x3 k' s* o$ T) x, v( K
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.+ C. J$ s7 {( G7 f2 V6 G
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman4 [0 S, r, |2 }& v3 }$ B3 \; r
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put; O( w# ?( g+ v! E% ]
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,9 h9 V6 w( F( b: U$ f4 l
Lentz replied: "Not totally.": ?0 a, G; k% k3 p9 R! D% X
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
6 o, g# L# k) a; M4 C8 `5 P& F"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
) P3 t9 t! d% t& b/ r$ r, X: t1 BToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
* \2 X( D+ ?; y$ n2 x3 Qpedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
I* V" p0 B8 h' g- u9 t/ lvehicles already on the road.! i0 p8 h/ R# N1 Q! l
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
/ B, ?+ d, }5 X% G: Y& Cbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full5 y& {0 j9 n' u. p. v4 p* r
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and0 t7 a$ i3 G: O+ i
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
, @7 e' z) k* ~5 H* Qkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
) W7 P6 F! N- \/ L# w$ N& U"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a5 M3 F. d6 W8 X; R
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
+ Z! @, B, ^- w1 `# pfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
. W5 p6 P5 ]/ E) C9 YCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
$ u/ s8 H5 q( G8 @: Tcommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to$ f+ G% \ H0 H$ _1 M+ ]5 o" F
restore the trust of our customers."& h! {2 g# M9 @. O' u4 s$ q. z
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from9 ~6 [6 E! T& w5 C2 m# ^. e' W
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly u, g8 A# }4 Y' l8 ]: m( i
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --$ l' |9 s6 u, h7 p6 }. w5 V8 W/ s
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and" a/ u! Z- s& P( i" r
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
/ x' M q% [7 v. a6 ^8 Dthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
. E' U' p- C# w. p: K6 dturn off the engine.4 L% f1 \& G' Z! _3 x/ C
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of" T4 ^6 t5 p1 } U! C- c
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."0 H/ ]& {# O) s5 `
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
) M! J2 Y- T+ b# E; R# {7 l7 wsaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
( M1 H/ s8 s9 wto her complaints.& y- s; U8 `) G1 l `! J; O' Z
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
4 d, n* d# \1 O, O0 `0 i" }returned again and again to the question of whether electronic8 u3 S" U# k$ B& q7 z
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
& ?! K4 P3 T% S W: t" u"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
# W; V# S# c/ `, j# pthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited$ E& C! ~2 j8 L9 x
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut. w2 Z) j' Y$ g
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure.") z4 A- h4 [- y, ^0 U) x/ R
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in$ I/ ~9 V( c' E- g. \3 U* D
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
0 i0 N; y$ h. Fbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
3 h' h& Y* [( S8 ~4 Hwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
4 \/ K3 X8 V3 ?" p4 y; s% wevery question."1 J0 {, `; |) J# Y& l2 }
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether- }/ D2 v: r6 \) J* V. h6 E
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The" L- B' G* Z* O5 |7 B
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But: W5 H/ u3 Y2 B
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
+ y: f) m X" u9 {, m4 [+ f( snumber of vehicles
e6 g% H! a$ {0 e' r. k) [, tTracking down an electrical problem can be far more
: o! q& R4 e/ [# i) sdifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a I7 j% s: m" g' t8 L9 [$ d6 v
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
% F1 ]1 t6 r9 @( K- B7 r- Lsource, and they can come from inside or outside the car. d- A: ^, L% J) i$ f
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
5 j' O/ e$ B1 z! V$ ?where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no4 s% m- x/ y9 x K" o4 L! C% S) S
trace at all.' |* S: A) o. z
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call [! Q+ d5 }4 J. t$ p$ b0 F
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden A; e4 d9 ]: `# Q$ j0 L4 p% F
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the1 u4 ^) z( v+ n! F$ ?- c
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.# C, m" l3 s f
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
& L/ v4 I; q: q+ N0 C$ [8 gsaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and2 c( y6 C; \2 q0 Q8 T8 O! p v
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
3 h* i# ^! X- t- F; y8 {electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible6 z; {$ B) O2 H: I; V
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
7 @' G( I$ Q% f8 Wsuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
9 h" L- G2 u: f9 _1 Qby Toyota's lawyers."7 `9 m& _9 t; C- @& o# L9 A/ v% T
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
D. D M4 ?" v% W% t( b' mproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our% v: ?+ G' Q6 Y0 F$ g3 i
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he d* h: K$ x2 u( _& I& \
said.9 u7 y& g! X; S. p! y
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
1 V- g& B- L7 ^: F+ } f: o) D, Z+ Ga rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
; S: t/ Q [& \: n, ^1 ]6 H/ _good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating- i' _+ i$ C6 X
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.8 F5 K+ Y7 A6 \. I2 o
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying- ~- J% X6 }, z/ x
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread0 u& K6 |" b, m! R/ n9 ^6 W
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
' k" q! _- B- [ }) T9 A# t0 Eautomaker, at least in part because of the government's
" U- c, C& F4 e7 { c( Oinvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and7 x. y) Z, W3 u; r" y/ h i
Chrysler.* b3 {! J5 l3 i& x# H( G# }3 s. _; k8 N
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
6 |# s% o; |- D1 N# i8 Hdollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a) s/ W8 b( W1 j$ K& A! X" R
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
/ [ c% V, S' ]7 w$ g. {served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete$ F2 v' k9 k' C/ T, W: L& ^
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty. q! Y5 m6 k1 o4 S; t) u3 i5 c, H5 s% j
tough."
0 m G! t: `, S9 W+ Q---
& n }+ u* w) F' n& BAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
" l. Q6 P6 [) @" u) k7 h3 h: `& URaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
0 J9 F% t0 |6 p) h% E3 k9 Dthis story.6 s2 R, H6 d0 C* i, m
! q" D5 [; Q* W4 u# G4 }-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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