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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
0 e5 p: G g2 W3 {; p, A! ]By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
; \- v4 p) {- G( D3 l; iWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.+ h5 Y3 }% `0 @3 A& h
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
% Y+ i7 I; A; E. C9 e5 ethe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally", ^+ _! K+ e% D# O# P. V6 {
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration., S, h/ R M9 c7 `& R
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
' E5 S g: {7 \: b/ n8 [causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.3 E$ O/ ~) l4 p3 T
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
9 ^( X" F! t1 B* [/ Yacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and! J; F/ h0 w' `/ ~& ?
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
' B; o$ v3 C. y; [: k8 c. Amats and sticking accelerator pedals.
+ u2 q/ f1 _. o8 s- L& V+ rHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal6 Q$ u8 ^) w1 o
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
$ X# H! ~; {) \& H0 c9 h/ @) Ncriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
( Q1 @& V; y8 P% ~9 Ofurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
& ^! w) U& L0 A; Y) p- N) _8 @not stop her runaway Lexus.
3 B% Q, q' W/ Z0 C1 U& A9 w. u4 I"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
) `. U( r/ K. c- r/ h2 h- BTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
' f& ^ x7 P! Y3 U; m# v' t: G"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.1 X9 D8 t% S R; g4 \
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues( s9 q. U+ O& Z
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said; d5 z V1 G( P, c! A7 N, J* A
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has7 d j" L# l6 | Y. c, H ?9 A# Z X
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway( b: T. t: E- q* `* k$ w
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
H( n5 z5 P/ Q/ v G9 { Ninvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."5 o% j* a" u9 ]- q/ V$ O% a
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
- e- z0 M) i, i2 Pelectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
+ V9 k0 N8 H/ m- {" J5 zthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a# d' i) L* O! c' {- S
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
2 }5 a3 w+ c) I" Csaid.. n* Y$ T+ T& a% b
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
' j1 z! a9 |9 r% ehappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe, y7 ]1 j7 V/ }; h2 L
about driving our products," Lentz said.
% V5 I1 W( F, z% c/ V: ~' p9 \/ h iThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's1 y8 ~, C* a: \. I1 r2 L
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
1 Y! U& H9 [0 N% Xrecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
4 p! o) X- y% _+ n" W+ f. }million in the United States -- since last fall because of
. g/ E- H8 W- u( w% d; t. aunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
) k8 t/ \7 \9 b' R* ]" ?issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering( d$ c$ c: Y- U% }
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
) E. k: t" R5 y, q ~their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
X8 j, p9 u- F2 ?1 v2 B- Pdown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
7 P/ P5 S$ M1 G4 _received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
2 a- t( Z; X2 G! Jof Toyota vehicles since 2000.: l# H# E! I2 d
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own- O, x9 w; s' g- P
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he1 W) W7 ~3 s5 F1 y& P
understood the pain.
c' v' X2 m7 c" U7 \' O1 @! O"I know what those families go through," he said.
& D7 R7 |- A" A- r0 h) ^Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
`5 x, q5 E9 b6 {4 Pfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.! E0 D3 {7 p7 M: u) R. H4 Q
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman3 Q u/ i1 U* E6 I4 h4 t" s
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
$ W. j1 U# F- ]' qin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
4 P9 Z. o' U; |% d8 |5 \5 kLentz replied: "Not totally."
; Y% A0 e4 V1 G, E; P5 H' k: GStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were n x) v# x0 T: V# O' h
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
. d0 M2 n9 w2 ~' kToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas. c+ C; g4 C- g7 Q6 o
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
) H) t7 z* R# T% evehicles already on the road.
: O( A8 C2 W' T4 A) NMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
& q, j6 P8 S0 a8 ^: lbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
9 a& G7 a( r3 W- W6 oresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and: x, T1 `% T0 y1 x
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
( Y# f$ ~: h+ f; j5 M- B7 F* ]# {killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
5 {% g4 c/ H& U% K8 `) V0 V* X"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
6 t' o5 ?1 g w+ h) `* u2 [tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
) N# P2 v0 S& V, t6 \for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
! `9 S) [0 o1 {4 o1 cCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal' \9 f4 S" C; H, ]8 H0 s: M
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
) i& n2 K8 u4 L, ~! y1 Grestore the trust of our customers."* l9 Q/ q8 k7 K, K# d$ R! v) Y
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
+ k4 J; B0 _ ]& \/ w; G$ USmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly. h9 v% V) i# S. H6 R+ D% X
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --& r" G( {% O2 s& K( M
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and \: C; r" k" o! |+ j
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough) P' v" ~0 W- ^+ m! Z F1 l
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and; ~6 I/ U/ B/ S9 {
turn off the engine.) G; E& A0 [. I* @$ p8 _ B
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
1 C% y ^# Z D* ?$ UOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."& q6 P! h1 X( y1 U
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she* n- R' t5 L! W' J3 ^4 i( i9 S
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
& k* p: m2 b7 {: |4 Z5 n9 u- O0 hto her complaints.
( O: k7 A5 d; ^. s6 d' jIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
6 ^% p: z5 U! q% m, A/ |/ D, d, mreturned again and again to the question of whether electronic
; q0 H, x- p5 M3 e* i0 ]. W# d4 U# Rmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.5 p. n5 Q7 p$ @3 o; b7 M6 a
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
8 z' ?6 u( j; k6 Uthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
. M8 t" b( N' a8 Y. Y( p Y8 H4 O"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut/ V) t2 [* v7 D# B5 o' b
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
: y; A; n# F9 D3 d& JTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
) b* I% k; t. ~+ g5 b( l5 N* o6 s/ @prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were4 g, Q3 k" F/ b7 o' C' y
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls+ H3 N4 g( R4 S" H; V
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer3 L+ w- P2 ^5 G" [, U/ P$ D8 k+ S; t5 H
every question."7 U' }' Q: U2 z$ x* y9 K, U7 N# {
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether* @$ U# X6 m2 }* h8 E3 Y& Z# f
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The& C9 u" M) {, [1 g6 v" e9 R* [5 t
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But0 P) J. Z2 q4 r; @5 T' f% ?0 x
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small! m6 C/ B7 A6 y8 ?$ v6 ?. y7 {% q% g
number of vehicles
' f- f4 x: Z( x1 C5 fTracking down an electrical problem can be far more7 u# Z" i/ w9 a0 s! D/ D2 c
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
$ S) S3 ?( M/ `5 Hmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one! P; c3 o" G+ N* `# S7 N/ e
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.% S5 E, c+ R# f1 n! b9 | U, l
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,& F+ s# F1 V; E( [5 k5 P4 L
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
0 I! I+ z& H# g/ ~; q% L4 T# \, Ftrace at all.2 M4 g3 G/ x _
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call% A$ k) c! T- a+ V2 c
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden6 ?5 J0 A' U3 x3 o1 [
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the3 C7 |8 s5 t& Q' j( S' x5 V5 C( E
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
; t5 h6 G: q5 U! ~/ n2 SRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee," q! n, v' }. V+ V" f+ O; ]
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and6 i. j5 E x2 Y6 }* z) b
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
! z; ]2 i/ e% F q2 p X: n) _. N: D$ Zelectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible u w7 @0 r0 A- j1 U
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
3 U5 U: g2 @& s9 v: ysuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained: H' h Q0 F! i: ]. c. j# }1 o/ G
by Toyota's lawyers."8 R5 V Z! W' |- S$ e1 \
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of) v) j/ U/ L8 u% C$ T
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
S/ P3 }. ~+ `3 }: Dcustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he# ?0 _& X+ b) g1 n' y* R
said.
& }2 K9 J6 S( z* z& a! @% s"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with" x* Z6 z( R0 n! t* ^7 O
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our# B, f) m& f; C
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating7 w7 `4 `+ L5 f- A5 e3 x
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.$ Y: r) }; c1 E# O# g7 G; {! p
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying. }) c- @' I0 { E$ G
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread7 S* f$ g' z# ]2 p/ D$ h
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
, D8 a( L4 A3 R1 ]automaker, at least in part because of the government's
0 C8 G$ T1 c r2 }investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and; X4 K! f' A, s3 w- v U/ _7 T
Chrysler.4 G) l3 { R& B6 _, @
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
6 H9 ?& D& P3 B) J1 }) f$ cdollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a% n8 H! a& _! h0 P) ]
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also$ ~+ _1 R$ B$ I9 Z' I) O; M9 b
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
& S/ c1 J; j9 e7 p: ~ \6 f. ?' zwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty& K/ d* c* a/ \% m" ^; r
tough."$ ~! f$ I3 C) g) c5 b
---" C/ {2 Z' M# }! k/ t, _
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom! e2 h9 H) |& {( l
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
* K& s6 j- X2 c- D( v" ?' Vthis story.
2 q1 |) t; p( m, P% V" |3 \5 ~
1 U1 t7 D6 j+ h-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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