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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
, C3 k( R# h4 S2 |By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS$ k0 `+ `9 y$ Z% D
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.( g& p* V: e* I5 O
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
% \4 W5 G& @1 kthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"& n$ F7 V |- C& z: p
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
) C) N4 K/ _+ ~; Z6 D"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential! X! S9 r: |0 p t, ?7 k* P
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.6 N2 Q1 d4 l( l
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
; e" [ h) Y7 X+ R4 \acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
2 G$ [' F* V+ b6 e, H6 ltrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
& X! ~0 s) B2 y! }1 f' Hmats and sticking accelerator pedals.
2 @/ j' e3 y5 w5 X) ?; C2 i8 {He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal8 g5 g3 C+ n3 U" ]$ T
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
) ^% ~) k7 s. y& X' M% T2 ncriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
u/ V5 |( v2 t2 R c7 [further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could8 o1 `5 e. H' j4 H
not stop her runaway Lexus.2 H$ [8 N' Z9 N6 o* o
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,: _/ I$ s/ G+ r; w1 n7 V
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
- P6 l7 }1 ?* @% G. \ ]$ ^"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
7 N2 ^* l' t% E4 ~Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
3 w2 n( d0 }2 g7 wearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said1 Q0 d. v0 O, p* G$ _8 a/ Y
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
' g3 O7 l' {! zdone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway. b) b" u' h+ i' f' ^
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
7 @3 q: v! S/ W l2 ^. @: a; Ainvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."" q$ D: B' B6 A
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an {7 k! B. x4 n& I+ k
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
; _8 i {) L: r/ _ @the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a2 i1 W5 Y+ V4 C. E
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
, N3 b' [4 q7 Q8 Y. I6 E* Wsaid.' w# q9 z4 b8 e' j& Y
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what( D5 C, D9 B2 ^3 L) a$ s, G+ i
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe7 @' D/ t: k+ w0 Y# t& Z
about driving our products," Lentz said.4 t' V2 |+ W9 v3 v0 d
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's. h5 n; {. Z( M
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has1 V3 [3 h. F! A" r3 _
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
6 I8 B5 e, @7 H Q+ Emillion in the United States -- since last fall because of( m- x1 V; b! T# I' u
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking3 V6 f; `0 u- _ L @+ y" [
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering+ w: s. I: A$ e" ~; X; c, h, X
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
% T' K8 b( n4 j# g0 }their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow# S6 Q' k: \" |1 z& h: y; P' D
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
r# {( N. i* @2 L) o" T5 o. breceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration) h6 _- ~7 o: ], H* i, H
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.+ A; H' o' u9 z; |
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
, |. {% f9 A# g3 C8 mbrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
7 w$ r% J# R) e n' q! Cunderstood the pain.
1 G+ p8 z2 ?2 y+ P"I know what those families go through," he said.) u" V+ w+ a: e/ M* ~: P
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
4 ~8 l( d5 O9 [+ o+ Jfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
/ }; {' ], x8 J. @6 A% `/ @* TBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
* e9 C1 O, N" n4 `) E) uHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put+ s% Q; {+ R; M. a) {" H0 ~% r
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
2 d" v9 O f# k+ D. ZLentz replied: "Not totally."
$ _# z5 u! x: O8 f: kStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were! O9 \+ e, _% u7 o- J* n0 e
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said. ^5 P+ m6 A }) T2 D6 t
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas H7 p4 z1 a* w4 a$ L2 g' p
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
, P" O0 J7 I- a& qvehicles already on the road.) l& c1 K8 P, P T
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify0 z9 @% X7 F' Y# N7 v$ @
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
& J% Y4 x% \& m# Y1 Qresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and# z, t1 z# h- g" i
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
: @. f, i3 ]& H) [- s" o9 Z6 r+ O" Ukilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.4 q8 K8 @+ N: E
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
6 f+ e3 {4 e O) D3 j% d/ ^tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
6 ?8 ~* f7 k: Z1 rfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
7 ~( `: S4 W" z" dCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
! G4 P5 b; }! C5 H: F) gcommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to V i8 b3 K: Y a- G* h. Z# ?$ w
restore the trust of our customers."; J% X7 ]+ j: J% m
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from2 p+ W. g2 {* r
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly5 H# ?' p& V; E% q
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --5 J% T' o1 H$ R6 A5 {5 }; [3 e
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and# D6 b$ _" p( e; {* @
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough* }4 s5 P, p; R! F. O
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and% u0 C& D4 g9 d( B2 j6 a
turn off the engine.0 I D# G& y! d1 P" m- R9 Y
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of: `0 ^1 X/ x, ]) B0 m3 G
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."; f/ v& s- h1 v$ T! ]
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she* u1 s0 D. {$ a) e+ T. A) w
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
* c# ^& j* n- M9 hto her complaints.
& o# _$ w6 _4 s1 {; T& WIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
1 J' E" d1 Y8 m* u" A/ x ?% Creturned again and again to the question of whether electronic& g; x+ g( K Y& K* j5 v. Q
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars./ s& S7 |1 V6 ~: O2 ~
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric& T& Z. H+ G4 ~
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited' u( E/ ~0 h/ `. {7 R5 U% U
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
( ]* O# n( h7 W: V; zoff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."- |3 ]0 e' b2 ?7 Z, l5 ]
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
, i" C: l7 W+ K- ?' Pprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
' O: @! H6 j3 V7 q7 q# Obeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
$ _! H& x' a" O6 Ewere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer$ M* H0 E8 }( T3 b1 l# T! A! R3 h
every question."" F! B* N( \; A' u2 r
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
' y8 B% p# a4 ~) r* f3 B0 Q* _5 \% \* U" aelectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The) r) ~) l7 G9 C7 q2 t2 X- H
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
1 Y+ s) h0 x F% X9 ^committee investigators said the testing studied only a small) {! v2 }. [$ U
number of vehicles
; o; M. _4 D _4 v( R4 sTracking down an electrical problem can be far more' r) z- K! d, x+ b
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a7 o* z3 n8 M3 f) |5 m& U
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one/ b/ E w2 F, o; F. e( f0 V( Q
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
5 {/ k! ?8 H$ Y& r# k8 U" \. J( {Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
- s9 p% e) Q+ T" [& K+ Q6 J) qwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
2 l* N1 t' B% j* [2 w* E+ ^* ntrace at all.
3 G! j; `, L8 ]* IHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
. `+ A1 m" v# m1 I5 }7 @database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden9 I, _. j N* c- q
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the. s; P& p, P0 @# k
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.7 a& ^4 W3 q* e$ L
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,, ?: h9 E6 [; i4 i- e9 g* O
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
0 p2 u3 y. e! Z8 N5 W$ pother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the+ n" u8 V g! x. x
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible+ h: y" I* K/ o& g
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only9 y% u9 r0 M7 E1 `! B( o0 I! r
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained; [# A0 [2 _" m0 m1 w7 `+ m
by Toyota's lawyers."
$ s V* [, T( R. n1 ?Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of% z- W+ K1 l! N5 H& J$ @
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our( f! P2 t' |% a+ v& S' G
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he8 T5 f; s! J" a- Y
said.( s" k# S5 a5 u* x; v$ t8 ?! G
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
. c6 m: Y _5 f" u/ Ka rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
; ]* Z+ G8 P6 S) q- sgood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating" ]9 f" x7 k, l4 v7 B3 | C
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
c! H: p; o+ H* |1 Z2 C8 TSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying' _! H3 S" |' K3 n
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
4 ^5 X4 Z% u6 O k2 o1 X. X4 p Z* yrancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the# h# A: y& _: o C) F
automaker, at least in part because of the government's8 ~" b* i+ Z2 A
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and8 h2 D! L5 G" U5 L6 z! G
Chrysler.$ _6 S0 \/ n6 K
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax0 u7 {7 |* I& n: D. q3 H
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a7 @% a8 H8 T. W! e! _% n7 t
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
/ g- T+ I* a6 Y; X" ^; I. wserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete' a! p3 k# P s) n8 w
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
5 N6 Q/ r6 V! p* L$ P$ p7 K9 s' Atough."
$ `: E' o' n# T. j; ? {---
4 t* U# H) D1 s( f3 ZAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom. O( F' e. w. H @
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
7 ]+ s% J- g: Z" nthis story.5 B$ _2 r' I _% j! g( {% m
0 n2 U: Z5 O1 y H-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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