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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
5 k( X: ?! b0 }3 ]' g$ tBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
# T3 X6 b$ @2 t+ t( NWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.. O2 y- a- d" a6 c: i2 w; i% }4 s5 G
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
! M( P0 E1 l" [* Ythe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"/ A: x9 H/ @# ^: c
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
+ p( n, T9 Y- C3 c, q1 f"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential1 z* t% v6 b0 U+ c$ F& T
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.7 |+ e/ D) w+ I
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected) f* j) |2 F% _
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and# R T8 P' f' y; ]! z' _
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
/ T% d$ D! t) n4 @mats and sticking accelerator pedals.! C7 K0 \6 q5 f. L8 c7 ~ L0 Y! u- \
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
. l. r# ]8 K3 Qand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
# V) U- w) c! T# g3 ~( D% Wcriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be8 o: J6 ~9 [7 v% _- P
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
3 N) h; i! r4 D" Z! \not stop her runaway Lexus.
5 [0 G3 R7 U; y"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,) `1 n6 E' r& @# p/ C) K, z) H4 h+ L
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second w7 y2 U5 Y4 l& G b% c9 L8 f
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.3 c& r, n5 S0 _, y; n; B% Y I
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
* `, _/ m& F! I+ l+ U& yearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
, C' {" B* w; U; v% c"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
& _" T- m! P; [2 j; |8 i( }: Q+ edone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway( |- T$ L- c5 A: n
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
# Q4 t7 O; n( ^" k ?" binvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
" J/ s* M; A- E" g0 DLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an1 I& s! B: P$ z: B
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
B' W: v7 ^# athe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a( x& u& `) O& a- S
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he5 u/ j( \( b3 L2 i
said.
y" X m6 a) K% mAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what. R3 c; A0 X5 n u5 h4 ~
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
: d2 G4 `7 m" `( A8 ~; cabout driving our products," Lentz said.. U9 Y* r+ n4 V+ |% v5 u
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's% f, V! A+ }8 f& c6 m6 z! q0 |
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
8 ?' R/ G4 g' U8 u2 \0 ~0 t2 |4 srecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6) I6 i7 F7 _8 P! b! j) q
million in the United States -- since last fall because of1 h! _0 n& x1 s" E1 P
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
( \( `' I9 F# |! N0 |issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
' ^# q M' d& p8 }concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of b) j1 M1 `6 l% d2 Z* ] d
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow! B) Z. F- Q4 |" g+ w- j& k0 E
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
& W1 Y) r* H8 Y+ A9 areceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration4 H# Z# B' R* S2 x% R
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.1 O @3 ~3 }% u* v" [0 _
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
3 y5 {( D! e, ?& B: @brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
; T* J8 R, C7 y6 x+ C/ Bunderstood the pain.3 V- F1 ^% N5 K Z
"I know what those families go through," he said.; F y) g; f+ Z ?4 t/ ?( ^) B
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's2 G% I' v/ Z5 v- \: x/ L2 V2 @5 E F4 E' ?
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
* R* ?: s8 _( ^5 ^; Q- NBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
* s l6 D/ L1 }- Q9 S0 R* R, n7 }Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
+ @0 W- t( z- L. \+ s7 Gin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
8 [4 N; d. B0 y" B% ^" B% ZLentz replied: "Not totally."( C3 I% l% y, V1 v% w
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were& [" P, x2 D* E; G
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
) h9 L2 ~0 [# u! sToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas( `$ F8 P4 M8 V" I+ Y/ ?9 T5 D
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its* E: I* b9 Q: e- Z' E; T
vehicles already on the road.
: |4 L- q0 g7 X/ lMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify' Q2 V6 w( P" C9 I
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
) I. N2 S; N$ d3 K# X: rresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
+ G; U" ?. P" Y0 ~$ E0 roffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were5 p. x g7 O5 n$ s, \" B1 E% ?
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
l* \* B- }. m$ U7 j+ w( e"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
! g' J" e+ o& N8 L9 O4 {8 Gtragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony: F. O0 v0 J& n" |- f
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
1 T) q( j( _! @5 I. F" }3 i- c; ]Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
. t# z) t, {3 N% _2 Ncommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
3 W K2 a. e. q0 o/ crestore the trust of our customers."
, j9 v1 P- v ?) U. B; A3 PLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from l: H& Z5 i& e& o. {% |
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly: b4 ?& P+ w. k$ o+ `( {
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
{; c, Z4 N1 b F+ T/ qshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and' t9 ~, f( ?% ]9 |8 O5 V
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
: P2 P/ i0 k$ V- p& m' \that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and, R& I8 h! o- c4 U; A
turn off the engine.
) S) L C6 I, g( BFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of- I8 a { w# z8 F
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."2 K( p/ {! [8 X) q$ U0 U- A
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
* p& {/ e9 q& Tsaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
( Z) y: q- V! h) ~3 fto her complaints.$ M3 m( J4 Z c
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
$ B9 x! u$ V: ~5 ~returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
6 C7 F9 x% b% a) d" X; tmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
. B$ e" n' V3 T"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
7 D6 _0 r- X, S, a( bthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited, `/ }- n A* a7 M1 i! f
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut* A( V& J- X8 q+ u: K) x$ o( d
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
# V' I+ A0 W% i3 Y6 m1 H& n" j2 FTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
; |7 i5 `4 _+ b7 S- Zprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
: @# x9 U! p( w1 Obeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls3 K# O5 f/ k8 X2 F9 t4 O1 {8 U) D5 s$ ^
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer3 U6 C, W6 |( [0 }" k
every question."2 {' o% e# b( f0 p) W
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether6 N7 [: _/ l# f- R9 ]2 e
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The, l% t4 X" f3 P. j" s
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
& u) G% f. g9 |5 q- G* X h1 u& Zcommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small
. d( o S9 G( a5 u, y8 s2 F+ B. Jnumber of vehicles+ \% t' C6 R8 \3 F! ]2 v
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more
: u9 Q, A/ R( E, T! t4 r& y2 _difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
5 f' R' f# G8 j1 [2 zmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one4 |& Z! C: l1 H8 {3 y n/ J
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
- c) f3 q+ N( G. O$ S# v( P& |Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
4 }0 @/ U' m4 k. r3 M3 qwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
( s" c$ u. P1 Ctrace at all.
# p3 f! T5 A1 b' A* AHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
/ n# S U& d, \+ Tdatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden$ L% F5 s/ R& A0 t' }, M
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the% p( c+ U4 X/ h* y( k
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
/ _: n. I+ _' [3 E9 j9 x2 CRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
* i9 w) R. ~1 E& V6 b/ ?; Osaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and* |/ z* G8 H" F
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the8 H6 Y* W+ p. |: g N+ x
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
6 a0 M8 d* C; Gcause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
9 J) h5 u( Q/ q9 c9 c- |7 O6 jsuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained* [4 P, \4 G/ ` T$ x. m
by Toyota's lawyers."
+ m; ~6 I' j4 z1 E% ~2 {. qLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
5 a- p8 l5 M) B2 m( nproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
/ k4 @/ s' F3 C+ _; {; f* K1 \$ Ocustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
& h" v% ?# U9 S7 d8 y# \4 hsaid.# q2 t" t. ~" N" P# u% v
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
# B2 ^. _' v/ r+ U/ W2 ?a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our7 {4 \ @8 z9 L$ N3 i( Q# Y
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating6 P; Z1 ^' P- f. P2 Q: U
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.8 r M0 Q+ q* y4 L
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying" y/ @* F/ [5 t( J8 N4 x
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
1 X' @ o; x% y" D$ V4 M2 }. k* e* orancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the3 a, K5 w) }) V8 d
automaker, at least in part because of the government's
; d, v' S2 {7 ?2 ~7 Pinvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
, \$ t! A1 Q( [/ lChrysler.6 B/ j5 L3 g' M; q' ?
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax- M, E( M+ f2 e8 r
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a' M1 P; h, F7 T5 ^* v- C, g
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also/ y" I5 y) X$ M& O: V! v
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete- @+ O/ f; q2 k
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty( e7 ~6 }# _+ ~8 f9 c3 @
tough."
- C, Y! Y5 \6 G) R% K6 K---
& W6 r/ B0 \2 A; t w- @3 ]5 tAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom3 ]5 a' g, a. }8 \
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to: P+ X z7 |% l- m# c$ R
this story.
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-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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