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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
5 I% j. R( b: b& V+ kBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS, ^4 q* y* Z7 g: a2 h8 |5 `. q
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.! {8 ~% h5 K1 i, u
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
+ Z' w4 d) V3 p' Dthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
' e9 |9 i- C6 Q; r( G* O& L* p1 isolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.; f) o) [& L' c" l+ J
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
% b4 I( {0 N- m2 n% Ocauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
, W. L7 X# r4 M3 X [ hHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected: X; G, l' @1 X" Y
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
* ]& V. c3 o# Y% ?, T$ [( n5 Strucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor f& c r" @( q+ L7 J! V/ Q
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.$ D: E' d* A$ f
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal3 k! ~' I& R, U5 O% R$ o4 s
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp$ I D9 Q" C/ R
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be( }3 K, T; }* u- g: ?: Q
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could: B% s& P2 h+ m6 d8 \$ S8 z
not stop her runaway Lexus.$ u& _- B% z* }$ }; `9 L- M
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
: {. R4 w0 } v# I' ]0 O' F% jTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second3 c! V! o; n! f+ G$ g% n9 r5 ?6 P
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
4 _" o, S/ ]6 }Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
$ ` a; H/ \% v, k- G `early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said4 I; T/ ^7 u8 @
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
' S; j! t* ~0 Y; S' sdone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway: r T/ F1 C& R9 H# w
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's7 i r6 v4 B) B
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
* d7 b2 M' {0 ^Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
) w- n7 n7 h7 Q6 V" @5 u. j' }electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
+ _, j5 ?* M3 f" s* P9 |the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
& b; S3 d6 E7 E1 B5 d( e$ vmalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
; A0 V! U- B# X. ~said.
- e2 D3 M$ \' q* K" [* e+ vAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
- o; {; M' X$ H9 ghappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe) Y4 `) ~% B- R2 e
about driving our products," Lentz said.$ W4 C# `/ I3 R$ A4 u
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
/ Y5 R! ~% F9 a9 S6 ?problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
C& l# s- u* [recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6" c B$ s3 h0 `. P* U, d: R) i$ c
million in the United States -- since last fall because of
* ?. z9 T+ C& F3 `- gunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking8 E. R; f3 {) i6 q0 `- [) B
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
* k- Z7 T6 K9 d- ~concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of! n! d( @4 W' F& y" ]
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
, ?" o+ [- B4 }; v9 J7 H( ^down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has/ K+ T$ k6 d o- [ V
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration, Z' L8 o+ v, C. z1 Y i
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.
$ N2 V! e0 z" c4 n' b' S, E" ]+ k! GLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
+ s* w& _7 z( s$ t+ ~+ t& C7 Ubrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
1 p* T: b$ y7 z+ f9 S% Z1 Zunderstood the pain.' r3 Q* G' O( X* x! K
"I know what those families go through," he said.
' H& p, \ L* X1 _- LLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's# b7 _3 ^- F' d/ z
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
$ _5 X+ J2 x, n# ^But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
% i4 [" d& i- T: Z1 T- V& k5 R8 G4 EHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
! r& t+ B* b' [in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
, N b7 p- F1 p8 `Lentz replied: "Not totally."
' p: O8 i; A4 A1 pStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
m _2 W' M+ Y+ H& d' M"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said3 t' `" k; C$ M4 w$ Z. O8 s, t6 Q
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
4 S2 _0 U7 X% }( j" rpedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
4 s! H1 d, L- B% u% fvehicles already on the road.) y8 `" h1 J/ o6 m- U% N
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify( i; ^- R: P% y4 {5 y
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full% Q6 N5 a5 M9 p/ b/ o7 P
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
2 F2 l, r& D8 V* j6 ~; v, R& poffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were8 _5 h# f& n+ _0 p9 R
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
- n" ~' p+ m- Q6 i$ ^, y& F$ N"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
, A/ e6 K7 y1 r0 M) a( B6 ctragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony8 x+ D6 w5 F* x+ d. t: w; S, C. R
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
* H* k$ j' W, xCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal" P% k" |& V& G
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
& Z' G4 O1 l" s/ Xrestore the trust of our customers." U2 H$ ], q, a1 E V
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
2 B/ a. P$ t- _Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
9 o( i6 u* v2 o4 Z/ h$ x' C' gzoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
8 m K' o: R' g5 Ishifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and6 R! p6 K$ w5 q5 c6 F
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
5 q9 ]4 t' l1 b+ L- \. V7 Zthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
4 j/ i. {+ C) _turn off the engine.
1 w( h; d$ x" [1 qFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of( d4 `0 S3 m$ m( q
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."+ _ i& c `( d: {
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she# Y9 j; W2 C9 l: p
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond$ f/ r1 q7 W! Y( t9 n
to her complaints.& `4 J( q* ~' \! H
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers; S" \; |! Y5 l! S( A! ]; ~+ N7 K
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic& U: l7 ~- q0 e9 e, u
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
2 D v4 }1 v4 c. V2 c7 O"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
9 [$ @. _; P) \$ P, I" L; c0 M- f) Mthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
- u# U0 ^; a! X1 I"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut8 v3 l* e# t1 H. d% U
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
/ V/ d6 ? k# q; \. KTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
6 K' F, l: Y" j3 ?% Bprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were2 r/ [+ M7 e0 H" _
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
: n0 e" J4 h2 R. awere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer0 R+ p: x' S& D8 f" e% B
every question."
8 h; _7 v1 Z0 _1 z" xToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether; C: F2 \: `5 x8 M$ _' m
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The1 _0 f8 o5 Y! c
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
6 o- E& E* ?8 g7 K$ gcommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small0 g4 v! ? I2 ^, ?" N0 |; s
number of vehicles
" S4 l/ l5 n% O. iTracking down an electrical problem can be far more5 X" z J4 c$ S( C3 X
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a* L; }, F1 t% [
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one6 ?# S4 ^$ z" |
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.7 g9 [, u5 z8 [9 p' X- ^
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,6 a1 |( E% n- i. [, }! @
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
5 n; H W# @0 qtrace at all.
7 Z( U& o e; j6 S- s' WHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
8 u5 S5 o' p- H- N. \1 t( ~database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
6 U* E/ ]- v/ @2 t6 s( cacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
/ U6 \' b W9 g7 Brecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals. J- ]# e! M3 K1 u' v) ]5 u
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
" I* |5 K$ M7 h. E ^ k/ q" L8 h8 Qsaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and8 m( K: w' g4 s* `* a6 M; G. e+ {& M
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
' Y& ^& a0 P D$ Telectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
3 ^* q, b5 V/ q5 u/ M. Scause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only. J- {1 P0 V. A! z( [3 O; `
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
" o' B- ]0 f' ]0 N Rby Toyota's lawyers.") ?# L- M9 k: H4 |# ]# R- ~
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of) z1 t+ L7 d% g( n
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our- E+ U4 g3 @. L( E+ t4 S6 c
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he! C) T5 o: M Y# U
said.' B; a, ^4 ]5 J' V9 d1 t9 t& f
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with: S# ^5 _- x0 j8 d
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
, V0 _; d8 H' G" ^/ Ygood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating2 P5 \; G6 k2 n' L8 |' P
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
% [- d0 l _8 w# Y7 n& r- [. c0 GSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying* i2 @' r9 e7 J [3 b$ s: B
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
/ O1 ^1 k' `/ w5 srancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
, J* H% z! ?6 R/ jautomaker, at least in part because of the government's% i+ L- K( c( t
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and" x0 V. N( b9 y) M. {
Chrysler.
7 J. w8 {% Z/ S"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax5 h6 g$ E) @: r4 C6 v
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a; e6 X% s5 z; u7 j" f$ L2 R
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also: H+ L$ E5 V/ t n4 W* _' N
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
9 Q6 m! k7 i: E& o& O% \2 `% o( mwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
; g# R8 w* J+ r T2 x& K! Btough."
/ V- R- g0 J) e! \+ U---
+ {. P5 g( j0 oAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom: |8 f9 q( P% X' r. n8 [! |% N: u
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to3 E0 B5 j0 v2 M/ X
this story.
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-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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