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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
' r+ W8 ~7 o( OBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
1 s# m! x/ p: [+ M; y+ qWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.; c- Q1 A0 [9 D: x. i
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that! F( k/ F E- H# A; P: H' N
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
. A% I6 A2 T: |solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.0 l0 S$ y8 I# U: V l8 w- m/ x
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
9 P8 s7 B8 a) l; Hcauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.( Z# b6 b# J3 }0 |; w6 r
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
3 B, V" }2 h/ @acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
1 T9 Z C! A6 [8 ^7 I4 w( Ttrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor1 E% W% ~+ W; u
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.
3 p, A' d5 B. A0 w$ @+ }9 vHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
/ C: `+ n/ J& T4 s7 r+ [/ |and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp) W/ Z0 {- ~( e8 }8 I
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
, X7 L( g o8 G4 j# cfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could& C! }' F; R8 n2 K& {0 V6 I
not stop her runaway Lexus.
; G% `! K% p0 j4 }' N8 Y4 }* b2 D( h"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
5 l" Q" @2 O6 ?. i7 wTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second ~' N/ V# m- G
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
7 h( h# C* p" eTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
0 a- y1 Y+ Z- l0 c' [) Kearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
1 v" d4 C' t6 g, A) I" o5 T0 b* s5 p( @"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
5 F: E, g% o# ~8 C+ q6 l9 _done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
- G/ x; M4 J" Tthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
~/ u: O d4 b6 U1 Rinvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."+ `5 [' o' D; z1 ^
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
! _7 F3 G; z; M0 }electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
, c# Z$ r- _' I$ D# Sthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
6 e2 F. c2 I7 l }) |+ k, `malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he# w& s; `$ m0 k$ Z* L3 i1 \
said.! J. s. r, G V9 j
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what# x' {3 u$ L( a( v
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
" |, n* ~; J$ V& [about driving our products," Lentz said.
* I2 K# h: @+ J+ R# N0 ~Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
9 {% {8 z5 U9 l; f. n" R7 D# _problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has( `3 |- h0 v( f8 g7 p5 i' a
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 68 k0 a( m6 |5 |/ x8 Z" S
million in the United States -- since last fall because of! s+ ?1 f, \# W' B
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
* l6 O7 V- i0 n; z; d0 F+ N [issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
' h Q: ]# \( ?/ rconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
: |# p [1 ]4 |7 V' c! f# |6 Etheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow6 o) K; k/ i2 N+ F0 f% _& i l' @
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has9 D& b& S. U' w% Z( H% s
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
7 F/ s! \! _' q9 c s% dof Toyota vehicles since 2000.# V' X9 s* T7 @' a
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
_. j; r3 E* A0 B& ?* dbrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he' a8 Q. p% W) |+ }& T9 @3 n8 W
understood the pain.
3 e& {3 h- S: z"I know what those families go through," he said.
2 h% D6 E& g6 cLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
0 x5 j0 m) C( u) {0 bfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.7 _9 @ ]8 p* c$ V! L+ z% m; \
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman$ [& G) i; z5 K
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put) l* M0 _& ~' z% _7 U
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,( R' N2 q% [2 ^" j5 J9 Y
Lentz replied: "Not totally."2 F- ?3 x+ Z( l2 R3 I
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were* i4 {" i6 x5 t' X7 d2 o0 Z
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said" V* P# |0 _( v) R! @* g
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
, E. |1 `$ b4 G8 U. u: Gpedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its B# Z* d, e- j' a
vehicles already on the road.+ U0 k4 O1 J6 \/ `' s* h- o0 T
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify; p% x1 D) K. M( R$ d+ D
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
/ t0 d5 ~) ]" C# h/ F0 Hresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and3 F1 c, \) x* I8 X4 [" e
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
8 a- M1 W* [% L: g( R. \killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
* e" B! Z" E! S9 t% O8 p"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
5 ?# l1 h1 ^$ n: e1 Y7 atragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
: O2 c! c9 `! h4 d% ?/ ]; v: _- u9 {for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
2 E2 [ j. j1 PCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal7 F' \ \# C0 W. W/ ]
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to3 h; T9 \4 B% Z" w! Q" l
restore the trust of our customers.". z- g' @# d2 W: j' x
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
& F& I; z. Y/ o9 }5 ]Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly3 h( [9 |, ?$ ]$ t5 v7 n& M
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --5 V* s- e- k" v
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and0 O- Y, _6 ?4 C3 ~
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough( d; t+ m0 _ B8 c9 L+ H, M" ?5 q
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
) V0 y1 ], N. H! E- Iturn off the engine.+ z2 f7 ^# a& g2 A+ F
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of* P! E b8 i H
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."; T, g, R2 @. ~4 D
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she$ T$ c4 f7 G5 b) L5 m( D3 w/ W* O3 m
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond- l' t0 k# w, q) E# x2 d! o, h7 M; w
to her complaints.6 ]' i; _- `! G( N% r8 U/ [
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
! i* Q: l) E, J3 w& Creturned again and again to the question of whether electronic) G3 z* G5 ?% J5 O
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
) j( }1 G( m! q( Q. Q"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric- Q" [0 p/ X ^% y
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited" ]7 [$ n6 [7 r* a6 d0 z2 {
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut. D* P* ^( c5 F0 R
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."0 S+ G6 {1 t( R8 z+ S/ R2 z* L
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
7 f" {9 H: a) w7 M2 T% e! Y6 hprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were' C5 [2 y7 h+ P: [, R
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls4 Q7 @% L0 Q* f8 V+ h! J! q
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
- K1 @( O, |; B7 N3 G% }every question."
- V/ D. |4 j) [) f8 C" ]Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether7 G6 a# T$ C+ m4 K3 m1 O: T9 T
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
* A- n [# ^. H% H3 a9 efirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
" s' }- g: d3 a9 Dcommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small
/ s$ D ?! S5 X' unumber of vehicles' r u/ m4 I7 U ~# P& s
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more
7 O. z& u ] l& J4 P1 _& mdifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a; h4 e7 L% n8 p; ~! y& R1 _
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one C2 B- j" T3 F! R
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car./ E9 _2 ^/ @. ?2 k/ @9 U* T* |5 P
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,* ^5 M- v7 c. t: ^) ?
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
( x( {) s2 Z+ g) G9 s3 \trace at all.
: s; ]4 B8 k0 P: ~9 f# hHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
# {: T, ^: B( c+ V; |database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
- u( l1 {+ _0 Xacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the: @! y9 j9 _. h {) ]2 ?: b
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.# }; X; U; f7 D6 n& ~( Z- a
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
. o' L q; K& F- i# ^; csaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
: l" z/ e5 J0 |6 |other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
0 T% {- [! W8 V9 K, k' [electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible# ]0 {; }7 ^/ a0 l: I* |" j( [
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only0 K$ P* N9 F3 g* @/ X
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained. R3 T) V. J$ z# x# J8 F
by Toyota's lawyers."
" C- Z' E& Z1 hLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
) a7 `2 M1 Y2 @* X( |9 j, l/ N& [problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
. Q( g) Y$ r* i7 }customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
l, k8 B2 ^) Csaid.' n9 Z9 b! o0 D
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
4 _$ V- U5 {2 W( ~4 ya rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our' l1 t/ w5 G% f5 c
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
" E( x/ {! X2 W8 E( k- R( xofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
4 B% D6 q0 o2 _Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
0 M( B7 N( m, D0 T' Q) amembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread* H. ?4 t8 h" O* Q7 t# g
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the, H# i0 V0 n* X; r0 @4 n1 x8 b
automaker, at least in part because of the government's
5 S. y/ M, ^: |! jinvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and; {# a$ Q# Y m! i* v- z1 |/ x
Chrysler.
5 V+ E+ F8 n5 ]; h9 }"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
$ p! ~' v+ m( r2 P5 hdollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
8 Z: a2 _, [) }9 Q: u7 e3 }Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
) }$ I- H: m" G1 o _( tserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete7 B6 c% X0 r, ?+ Y
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
! k) c' ^5 Q+ d4 F" |tough."
; x7 c6 H2 U7 x! ~---" k" a5 q9 S. q7 T% Q
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom8 ]& y4 K( ~5 q* I6 s, d/ Q! {' l
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
& Q o. T, Z+ m/ lthis story.
g2 P' {% k) F5 Z9 B" p5 s- ]0 v$ @( U$ ~5 a$ T5 a4 Y
-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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