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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
k$ d' F9 L! e6 B1 P/ v% Z1 `By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
: i4 h- t2 }# J5 _' m+ e" VWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
' D* |2 L; ~; T/ g7 m- j$ ~- toperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that8 p1 d( J' e2 R6 |
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
+ c6 h3 b' _7 s* rsolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.3 d3 K! ? K$ G+ E7 |+ q0 @3 E
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
# w! d, \4 T! w* Y! f1 i" hcauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.# p1 b6 \: s" E: U ]/ S
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected/ r/ n3 F7 [# J
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
* b$ z. b7 y r* ?$ Wtrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor- {( u! A0 }5 M* |
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.2 v6 {8 d$ A" ?0 K
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
3 R6 Q; ], r' H2 Uand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
5 f. x* E; G3 D W- i- E! Q( Ycriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be1 G' ?6 s0 s4 V
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
- D: t- C6 {9 m) \# J% S* L" r Mnot stop her runaway Lexus.9 r( D m2 j0 b3 @( o
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,% a4 {% P5 `. ~* v
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
: t, m0 u8 F$ `" Z4 T! z* w) ^! q4 J"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.8 {) `8 u% d J
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues: Q, D+ ?. [2 P' _( e" W5 ?
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said- T0 {6 W6 C4 U; V- d, M9 c
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
" \8 \. J# D7 V1 L3 Bdone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
+ b' n: ^, N# h" T+ {+ k( Cthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's& ~0 H, Y) `5 x# C, }
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."+ s5 D+ l8 C0 o+ V0 c0 H
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
$ E* L3 J7 g0 W' j: L' Selectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of! y5 X6 l( o E% _% s6 E. w
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
, U$ {/ y/ |" R* Tmalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he g8 M# E" K5 d% _: y2 R
said.
4 n! [+ O/ u) U- S. RAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
6 k. m8 Q' j! c; Shappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe! i- h4 Y @4 s; b: e: z
about driving our products," Lentz said.
3 k$ z+ c, x& i& y4 tThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
; D2 D, X) r3 G/ h$ U5 A' b: k% Cproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has$ l: y, b- m/ ?
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
/ E0 u+ [! ^9 d0 t8 z- Ymillion in the United States -- since last fall because of) e) t: f! h8 a J+ S
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
) [( S# K4 ^: z2 `; B( x& `issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
0 L# b1 s0 V( L1 ~5 M+ [* u, Qconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
4 g: h8 k+ ^# r% [their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow0 D$ r# H! M/ ^+ @1 c# Q) {
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
3 A' t( n+ J$ j7 X/ ~& |received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration& L$ R4 A1 T$ Q6 P. @6 d7 Z: X2 F
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.
; ~4 |3 w ~7 h7 e2 l5 C0 }# bLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
+ o& \3 g$ k8 e4 Xbrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
6 P" q, }3 j! n# j0 b5 junderstood the pain. |/ W0 D. i7 H3 |
"I know what those families go through," he said.
, Z }3 J9 `; Y( X. l- F8 KLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's" z5 G7 p: E$ ~' w
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
L" b# Z9 C# S7 m. I7 y7 FBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
1 b* C* p0 s! H: @0 @Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
7 ?- Y- Y3 c# q4 ain place to deal with the issue would completely solve it," X3 q5 } J4 p2 |4 V9 l
Lentz replied: "Not totally."+ e/ P7 ], P e% Y3 G* w
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
1 b) l, i: H- J2 H"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
( g. v# f$ I3 N A+ q7 z, CToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas2 P, Q+ B# z( w: A9 `
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
$ ~; z6 D' q' P4 V: ^vehicles already on the road., M5 M1 h! p, B9 \2 Q: x
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
5 p Y6 u0 z' s9 N9 g; \0 ^before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full; b" H7 i' u: s5 Q7 A& ^( v+ C
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and4 r/ F) T& I! C4 r' `. S* r/ N, B6 D) K
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were- R8 _! r; S0 W1 Y2 l; ]4 j
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems." B6 @) Q: {0 Q- y/ h
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
{6 f% R8 h8 t2 o0 S0 z3 d6 Mtragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
9 y- J" d0 d, N# Z2 W' }% nfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight+ r/ O( O9 _( s$ [+ \0 p
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal4 z( g0 Q2 W( e C) m z4 k: y6 l' U
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to7 {! ?# g! A% C, d
restore the trust of our customers."
|7 k4 n+ e# N7 u) h+ P6 i) XLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
7 j- b' U# k0 C8 T! aSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly5 N# F+ X) l1 R+ [0 p
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --+ D! u. `" L: s. J* L4 e$ Q
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
7 B$ t+ }: L* O2 B7 lhitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
) C U2 f: ]$ _3 g2 ~1 ethat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
& C- w& `+ {# S- Q, [7 ^. y- \& H, qturn off the engine.* q& w) l" v: m: E4 W8 f7 Y' i
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
7 o# W+ `: [9 r% l* u: qOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience." p9 Q' U) `8 o4 W. k" o) a
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she: D6 Z0 h. [" M8 \
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond I/ S! S$ U) p: y$ b
to her complaints.1 q, W& T! P! q! {" U
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
9 n" \ Y' t D& s: Ireturned again and again to the question of whether electronic1 C ?7 z3 {1 y3 |2 i
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.3 E9 }8 B* ?& [- f- E/ V6 |1 V
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
# I8 J h( _/ z4 K, E$ P0 |* G& Lthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited8 W* d& }! V( Y1 X) D
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
, I; [' i' [8 y7 r6 ^: r1 n+ koff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."! ^* q r4 I7 R |$ x
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in4 P' g) [4 G: O0 k2 q
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were; H6 v! A1 K. l# @& H
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls6 _$ F+ \+ I2 A/ }. S
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
& M) O1 W+ p) ?0 r4 U P3 Yevery question."
/ @& z/ @4 Y6 PToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
" \: `& k) G* Y. belectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
$ K& m( }$ w' `5 p6 V# P7 mfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But& m0 v1 L- r" M; h) [/ |
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small$ r) R' J( A* X! n
number of vehicles
9 `1 N/ D& s6 @) \7 v5 yTracking down an electrical problem can be far more$ z, P! N7 K0 j' p) \; \
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a# k$ C3 g+ a; i5 Y; b% I M
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one, [1 u' b0 h& S# p
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.# c6 N0 v6 X% S8 d% k7 C
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,; M" F4 z) A5 ^0 Z$ M% R: c1 H
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
, J; o" [( x: {6 utrace at all.5 H2 v) ~0 ^$ G+ G' q* x
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
- j3 G, E& }% Y Idatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden2 w: c! p0 Y: o. l0 y
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the2 ?! e0 t( |$ I* w/ s
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.9 p% K0 r) e9 [
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
: _8 x/ j4 |, V) z! ]said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and& d) z% U/ t" j9 L& W7 A- |
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the5 H1 l) w; w& h2 [/ } V
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
4 h! b' k* g# }cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only* j6 S: e3 ]9 ]9 T
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
" k5 r9 x' ?* f1 F, @0 Y c* mby Toyota's lawyers."! y. K- H. O0 O3 E; @) h3 h
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of: ~ s+ q# @) w2 P2 ]6 x
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
; y0 Z; ~( l# z; D9 kcustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
C6 X8 V# _: isaid.
1 e. c, {6 o3 g! I+ p1 ]"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
( j: E$ P1 n9 s7 Da rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our$ Y; y+ {5 w0 A
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating9 X3 X8 l# { h1 x: J$ ?+ f
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.! `2 J% m8 b5 S s; k1 V
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying0 w ?8 u3 K) a9 n3 j
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread" ^# d8 j1 V! M/ i# i6 `
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
% _% h$ G1 N" |0 N; q0 o, xautomaker, at least in part because of the government's
7 h% V8 Y; B$ }. U. W" |investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and; Z: I1 p$ e x- G
Chrysler.+ C0 C6 |) @+ u- I# S
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax) N! [3 M$ l% h; V# c1 r/ d
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a, E. L! x. B" N, C4 A9 l! F2 ~
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
. R8 k2 O1 E* j8 yserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
! t* d/ g/ \# y2 O5 e/ Z# O* wwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty/ j8 ]) q @& A8 M1 q% B3 z
tough."9 D! l! L1 Z, q0 \
---
* D' l7 r5 Q3 R4 i& YAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
# E( h) s7 Q/ m+ v+ N" I: F0 u! ]Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to j5 X$ G; a. m) \$ R
this story.
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2 b% y8 `, H- N- A-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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