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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
@4 O j6 a* G. m$ V" KBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS' e! j6 \7 s+ f; y+ T
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S. O% K3 e8 v" U6 T1 |5 C8 Q
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that1 r, A$ b. V! Z
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
8 [6 a: t1 g0 j! x- l) ysolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
( W" |" Y4 h/ k `"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
7 w- [! r: a) w* b9 `6 Zcauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.. C6 s+ ?) Z7 X( }
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected5 x9 [/ a( c; S( w! x
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and) _+ W5 Z- _& ]/ n2 z+ ~. o
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
4 X4 C4 d% y6 A) D; Imats and sticking accelerator pedals.
) g, S+ ~# |# l! h! S$ a$ yHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
6 D. B/ o3 u8 q# X" K0 ?and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
4 L, E2 c4 p- {0 V8 dcriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
: m; M6 J5 U, g# [: I- J0 m( x6 Qfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could! m7 s0 F3 S, x4 H m
not stop her runaway Lexus.
8 Z n9 Y' s6 E2 C D2 S"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
" K( q8 b( \0 N g: H1 {) rTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second- D0 F( a2 k) X( [
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
4 d+ z6 E6 m1 u4 YTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
! B) ] {0 l; l2 S) G9 a2 @ c! c Y2 fearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
) g4 K0 s k Y3 Q; D. |* X"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
9 t6 r' l& s$ y% @! i9 gdone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
- ]9 f( m) i8 e" t' m3 m/ h% dthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
' r3 z4 K" K" q" A- F: U- d! minvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
% f5 ^. ?" _: D9 J& H" C" @Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
) @5 y$ d7 M! g: e: v# G: z \; G) O4 }electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of9 g6 r7 w6 a; d# ~
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
5 u# A6 }6 r' @- v3 |malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
6 L2 |: s2 g- a# A, ~* m' bsaid.
5 [9 r8 q# D- C/ E5 P/ e4 S3 J3 zAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
8 _5 S, t% ~- \5 u# bhappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe, |9 z0 ?, w2 g. x7 e2 y0 \
about driving our products," Lentz said.' b5 \; [7 A( T( P; y
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's" O$ B1 Q) M6 ]+ U6 {; [' H
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
& S% ~8 |4 @$ Yrecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6. F% I3 Q8 g+ L4 r
million in the United States -- since last fall because of1 X _: M1 H; p. c& `
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
; x$ _8 d& u5 r- N8 qissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
8 N9 G/ c6 k: Sconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of# N6 _1 v8 v% b- f' F
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow/ U+ L5 i. S" w0 h
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
) w1 B7 T9 W# mreceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration1 q) m; l) ]5 ]+ _
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.
+ z; I9 c, C8 O0 c( v( J5 yLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
; l: O9 H5 _* I6 u) h% Pbrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
9 F* Y4 }9 d6 R) h2 V& L0 Munderstood the pain.
: k r: }! ?5 K"I know what those families go through," he said.1 ]5 Y8 |! q' g$ {% s$ ?& ?6 e9 F
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
% V, `' r8 j! _# A! N- w6 {fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.$ l; f0 r* P0 e" n `
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman+ M, x6 ^) n4 G9 b! d
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
/ t3 |9 u8 Q5 Jin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
3 W9 c% y* a5 aLentz replied: "Not totally."
/ T7 p3 B# E" DStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
/ ^' P- ~# z [0 k' R1 s"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
2 [$ p4 T a% v @$ m& D: G/ rToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas# b3 w v( {5 p; Q( w+ s) I* l" O' S
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its9 @5 [; ~5 ^$ J
vehicles already on the road.9 @5 [$ ~1 N. s, N$ e
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
% q# r" k9 k E Lbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
1 b, k+ b4 |% w) Y- q, U; r% sresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
, {# l, n& P4 I5 P! A% _" l woffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were# Z @. _! l' |1 n
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.1 ^3 i1 o6 d% @! t5 _
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a( Z* t) N$ T7 a, Y4 J! l3 q; F8 m
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
) P6 B0 ]( N# C) S8 S3 gfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
( m- m7 L% \% A3 ?6 M; @Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
3 @8 @3 H0 T+ @( b# q2 ^( pcommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to" E% y, H3 ]2 I. O7 r
restore the trust of our customers.") T1 g# g+ T+ F$ b7 X
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from& m9 o0 G+ o5 S6 N5 @2 t# \% ?/ ?
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly/ u7 V, K; t- [# |3 _
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
: ]* R9 x) g; o3 t9 t2 r4 Pshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and8 ~/ O* V4 [7 i& J- j& b; e
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough+ R: [" N% b9 Y9 G( T
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and" d; G5 u0 A" u5 F$ ]2 p) Y
turn off the engine.
0 q6 V( H( O0 O* yFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
0 \) I% a; m* t H2 r' }October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."4 B: W( J9 L3 l$ O
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she# H2 X/ `% H$ ~& H8 f
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
9 H3 H9 F" J/ O4 ]% ]/ Uto her complaints. V+ P8 p( u3 R1 `: i3 B V: ]
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
1 M6 ?5 S, ^4 Yreturned again and again to the question of whether electronic) }7 `$ n W) L; W9 u2 n
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
8 w/ g( u1 \" k$ K( l"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric1 X) t* |) L( M0 N" i2 e
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
5 {5 F v; m* G# t, ]6 c1 i8 v/ I; E$ m"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut& I6 @# \3 W' c+ {
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."4 P# }! w. D+ a4 X+ Y( W
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
- ^& m+ i; J0 h* D; q: H$ kprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
. c9 B' X! x- ~( o0 B8 Xbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
$ Z; o4 v/ y! N( uwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer" P/ G/ E7 Y8 ]* R5 u8 C
every question."
6 \/ A7 t3 a$ ~2 u4 `2 _' S2 `- OToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
* A/ y9 `; ?, V! q7 telectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The. r% ^% R: u& q/ D2 i5 W
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
% Y1 j/ W7 I! \7 }1 p/ ^committee investigators said the testing studied only a small. y$ i3 g; U- H, Z5 B) f
number of vehicles
) `9 ~1 X8 X& e7 ^2 H, }Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more5 _9 z! p4 {9 Y& U5 m1 C
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a" L. i7 I9 q+ a8 C/ ]
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
1 ]4 k% W9 ?6 ]: t" A% x: v& bsource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
$ Q& o7 e% B% D1 D& dMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
" l0 z# m) i" A: z/ Uwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no; T+ ^% d- u' ~7 S6 G
trace at all.
& W0 s3 f1 z, t& y9 U4 SHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
4 w; Q- q2 `0 L- A" y3 b8 }5 xdatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden: V- |3 W9 Y4 [
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
) y' K0 `! K9 b; p: l L+ zrecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
2 e1 b' p/ z) bRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
' I( m& x8 B! A: f; w5 X7 h5 e. asaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and r0 Q$ ?/ ~0 ], X: e
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the2 D- m- x% }0 G& j6 B1 z, Y/ ]
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible$ I! G# @. e7 v7 i9 ]
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only; N+ r# e- D7 S$ e
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
2 ?' x, p- ?6 N' N6 t. K$ Jby Toyota's lawyers."" Z) F6 U4 E5 h+ @4 F
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of' X% B4 j3 Y1 S# O+ u% r3 I/ X# G
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
8 n: R. \0 y8 f& G# Kcustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he, z( j ]" U8 v5 |# I
said.
% _$ t7 v* K3 H( j h- H"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
6 E$ Y1 E5 B) _6 z; K6 Fa rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
9 D0 h: }( P2 ?5 r, T( Q( O" l" ggood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
& o) {3 h3 E, [/ _9 S+ D' ~% r- Rofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
# F' f9 H: L, G" k5 T0 a% q9 nSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
* w+ i1 b2 m( Kmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
5 t: O; N! C, m$ F; V9 Krancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
& p/ k* Q( ~3 M+ J% Kautomaker, at least in part because of the government's
6 n: J0 s/ c* Q, {investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
: N% `, S8 O% Q; C- Y4 T+ YChrysler.* l$ ?' m, W# W3 z! d9 T9 b4 @) w( U
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
@( [. ]; i! @5 Gdollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a; D! X' Q; E0 c9 L: Z8 k# a, v2 d
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
, L, O7 {( e, Q& {/ X" m* _served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete3 _; D2 z# I1 E, v0 Q7 a& z
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
0 }6 C) L( R. Y) J4 K% _; C; z, D5 gtough."
$ l- W1 l. S8 B+ s% t$ F3 G5 k---) K( L7 z) Q3 K8 ]$ g9 k8 k
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom; p( A, d/ E& v1 P( X( N
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
* I' R! y/ c5 K( X( h X& Lthis story.4 S5 }+ d% ] v5 q9 d; p* C+ r
; i2 J' E6 P; W8 B+ ~! x$ S) A, D% y1 M-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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