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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
3 E9 k/ \" q2 o% V6 W: oBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
, T5 J/ t4 ~+ g9 M- [4 C' WWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.* l# }8 n7 v9 ^( u, Y3 {
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
, ^6 g5 R2 C, l% k+ Wthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
) l9 [2 B* H+ _6 Esolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration., C- b% u6 x" Y- H) J. X0 E
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
+ n, i, E/ i2 p, y* \& m9 E# wcauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
# W) I# W* ?, p: Z# v: [! v6 W4 `However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected, J4 a/ u6 Y8 n9 p
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and7 K) E8 `% P. i/ S Q2 l. \% H
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor4 w, t3 }9 Y, e7 @/ j
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.
, I9 u) I2 s5 K v& Y" n" t N( o- wHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal7 C- x. M4 T) ?9 ~& u1 ?
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp: @8 h" U) O0 R, {. O+ R
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
/ {( F2 `" d9 X9 ^7 z% p( s, V" Yfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
! i ?$ g, c# r5 Snot stop her runaway Lexus.
% e( }9 }9 Q, M3 h! j"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
7 X5 D. V$ C- @. @( H$ O, N% }Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second. I: j. F1 G9 d4 m& ]. C' m5 J0 U$ {
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
0 S0 p2 |: J. r9 u! ] L1 w, fTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
+ x, p$ k6 P0 f# Qearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said) h1 t% s( C, J
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
) t, W% X9 y8 M3 Udone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
! j; n. r; K# }% {through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's+ q, y7 }5 {! c2 g8 L+ d8 k
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham.": [" }$ w7 f' E2 Y: V6 H
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an# W( i. S* Y, S
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
) S `& w, _" z+ S& j/ o9 R3 }the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a3 r; R0 k( O+ g; ]
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
; T) `' R! K6 i5 K' Dsaid.
* ]4 m, U: {0 E3 M( g3 BAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
6 r8 }) m ?) K, I; u5 ~happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe5 P: m W7 x; N W
about driving our products," Lentz said.9 f3 m/ \7 L" P( {5 j
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's& x* N+ w Q$ @# q! i
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has! A# |6 K* H! b+ ^
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
~0 P1 d5 f( p( _3 a2 R4 xmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of6 P9 t! c) \0 ^5 _9 {# h
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
4 r+ A% h; O, I) i, e4 Yissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
4 P9 {* t* J3 t/ t4 t. s0 [7 e5 Oconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
7 A: M$ S1 J. ~their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow# }0 A G! T1 a9 \0 A: M2 ]
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
0 L8 Y# C' x# O5 F+ \" hreceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration# a: u. u! k$ G4 n! U
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.
4 w& U* A8 v5 |8 r! o) L( tLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own2 r* s7 p8 J5 c/ ]4 l, u
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
% n# `# Y+ K$ z" Z. P) Y$ Tunderstood the pain.3 z& p' s0 s$ h f) T. P( T
"I know what those families go through," he said.9 y4 _' D+ |5 q% X1 p3 M* y
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's& A( C6 s' t/ ]$ n
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
: h, c' [7 X! O6 @" h8 Y/ S" m4 SBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman* p) B; a$ A' ~& d( ]3 l9 @5 F
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
' B3 V$ q b" k6 R: Vin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
) h" }& u0 g+ [2 f! N1 s" i$ ALentz replied: "Not totally."3 u- `+ h5 f4 [' _9 q
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
, k9 I. P5 M0 j7 \4 }"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
$ q5 U( h, `% G7 V$ }& l0 aToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas* n: k4 y, R0 b6 a e$ Y
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
: `+ Q& B7 j4 `* s( U4 tvehicles already on the road.
6 e! @* S, e7 G/ o# b3 k+ k, I2 Q6 {Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify% G4 s7 C0 a7 w! L' [' e& `# c
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
9 x% ]3 S/ t9 |; _1 Lresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
' f G! ^1 o5 r- R4 f7 Uoffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were! I5 h! x" Y/ E5 k" I0 _* N
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.! X7 I; i( y( G/ ^
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
) W2 h3 J8 ^2 m0 b! xtragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony. ^+ u n9 f% ^. d
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
, t7 Y6 j$ D) m0 V8 b BCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
" c( j, G/ I6 ^8 I2 @5 m2 _commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
9 D& {! c! K9 ?6 c1 Qrestore the trust of our customers."4 q* L8 }% c0 m6 i# m# r" z: l
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
4 p' U; j# P) E2 w2 USmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
3 K2 p8 h% P4 i7 l8 u Mzoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
/ U$ w- t; X; @) }5 G5 ]shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
|1 R+ O# |; W0 j! b* Uhitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough) `9 \2 ^( K' P) ?$ f1 s
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and/ k7 r' o0 t% Y9 m1 @- }5 f& k
turn off the engine.
+ J: @4 L# O/ ~4 |Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
' ~9 `' p1 x4 J- n3 FOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
5 ~# o* t+ ~! f8 ]! h' w"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
. X3 B* ?, {% u2 G! E% Z7 l9 G" Q! ysaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond6 z6 F% d! Q7 J& J( C* M
to her complaints.0 m4 ?1 V% {4 L3 O6 i- v
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
$ |& B0 v" L( S3 _# yreturned again and again to the question of whether electronic" v. b$ E& U( C+ e# E; Y+ d3 ~
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
: Y4 ? W5 M, V( s% I, |; g; B9 x0 X"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
4 N3 F- t+ W) s7 i0 K, y& h3 Ythrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited3 [. G1 [- O* Z6 `2 m
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut X" M6 l# N& U; m
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
' i0 I$ D5 e% i' x4 ~- e6 MTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in. p0 e$ l1 u7 R% s' f: E
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were" n* M) | H5 Z7 a2 Z
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls6 c* c5 b* Q4 ?3 \6 z, T7 W- F1 \
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
8 S: ?: R4 H/ x' n) ~! H7 ?/ Pevery question."' @% u1 O8 {- e
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
$ K2 r. ?& L# R7 R6 \8 ?electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The: \, O9 X4 e2 f# ` P/ q" ~
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But' V: e$ h$ {. g: O- z9 C3 K
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
+ R8 d/ s2 }+ I; H6 M( Ynumber of vehicles6 h. n5 H; D$ h$ S9 [4 r" ]0 y8 m5 v
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more4 C7 {7 p4 o1 ?3 Q3 H( r& [( ^
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
; S, I% ~! E3 Kmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one$ N. S5 c4 t. x4 j! p
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.! d) q/ y0 V. g1 Z7 J
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
9 k9 W3 H k5 h2 _9 Z1 |where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no# r7 m$ I3 G1 Y7 h- |
trace at all.( l9 ~" S! |. m. \5 p% G
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call8 o8 O$ f# k6 J: `
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
5 y {0 w' C4 b) m) s( W" |+ Wacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
7 a8 j; h% y$ P) ~# a# P* Hrecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
4 O5 T( e% ?4 N9 I6 ^' J, a8 r1 zRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
0 ]+ x [/ I: A* A9 X7 Usaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and! |6 k/ x4 {6 i6 v) \
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
5 W9 O8 ^. d6 k, {1 nelectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
+ }% y" v I- p6 V P b/ r) M' j5 Mcause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only% x8 i! k8 u: T' E( a
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
- {3 V Q5 y' [5 kby Toyota's lawyers."! ] h4 D' m3 o+ o
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of( i' O9 U4 m* [8 _
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
1 }- X U9 {1 b( ]+ Bcustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
$ }, i. ?$ }. n. d2 osaid.$ m& ~; t, q$ n- r1 J
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
/ S' U& S, E. H4 Y9 K. oa rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
+ `6 S# y! p: Y9 Vgood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
8 q4 Q( i% v% mofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc." A+ s) |4 u$ [$ G- l
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying8 `! g2 v: O0 I( Z% @# h. s
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread! [0 K! G: _( k$ J" s1 R
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
: `$ V# p5 Y& O, I8 d7 vautomaker, at least in part because of the government's
# k; v1 g) H' s% V( f9 V- Qinvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and9 c1 M. D0 B+ b8 r
Chrysler.
; _3 [3 _! R# s6 Y6 O* |0 ^# A"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
( L7 U% g$ ?( ?/ j( N9 a0 R0 U. xdollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
7 w1 t* \" W: J; k, q3 PHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
, _ P! r6 s2 e4 I/ f# L6 Tserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
$ l- ]9 r( v1 Qwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty4 M, ]: w' m2 N' ]0 g5 V% h5 n
tough."
K$ _* P+ o. H7 U---
! h* k- W0 S: r7 i; c. c9 kAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom9 W& f5 E' E! h( x- s
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
9 [8 G) ^. n+ ^( gthis story.
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8 U9 Z- ~% }" x9 @4 K# f-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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