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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题! V' q0 K: L3 S
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
) s% s' y4 X3 Q2 B' |% ^Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.7 [$ J/ a- @2 A
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
) _4 f1 g" h! [1 r- G/ Othe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"# G* q6 n) a! P. g: o ^' m/ N
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.7 a" q7 B/ O5 `+ L
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential3 t7 x2 ^ A8 e" S/ q l7 C
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
9 ?, F8 h2 z( @/ O) S" ~However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected: ^2 Q9 l' \6 S. w2 ~9 g
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
$ J t$ n4 O+ H$ j' _trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
3 q8 X& q0 Q7 Fmats and sticking accelerator pedals.9 C# @5 V/ h: B+ C! _6 I
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
$ I7 V# z* c, o8 m+ {8 J1 J. rand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
& t* T9 K9 V1 q# z/ Scriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be( O+ Q% J1 D4 X M( L# R
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
" k, @ ?& }' Y5 M5 [' ^not stop her runaway Lexus.( q' ~* [3 D4 w+ c! d& U4 L
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,* m L+ }* q8 i, a- D
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
: z$ d6 n/ p1 i6 O k* |"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
" h1 Y9 K2 A$ m$ U) a$ XTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues+ r( E. g. N8 Y
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
/ B6 _! e- Z, h"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
% c) D1 t' N" q) Z+ _" V! k4 `" fdone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway2 t* Q$ X' P7 _6 [
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
' S/ W8 a" Y5 Y% j7 Z& l( }' ninvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."! T2 q, ?( Z& `- K
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
# E9 ~7 u. G P# [8 Ielectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of% H8 l! M* v: l# P4 U* _& u# v3 J
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a7 j1 a+ d, K. @( q9 @" n0 {: h
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he3 F. v% ]: f1 | q! Z: c
said.: @2 U o/ {2 c6 d* ^! i
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what6 i2 m- U5 {6 J% ^; ?, M c# f
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe- h; ~1 l5 p9 j# e; }
about driving our products," Lentz said.9 E+ `8 W4 K1 P0 B1 _) ]) v
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
; u) k/ v* U8 I( }problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
* h5 r- i& I; P; y& a% l) R2 ]recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
" Q0 o" o6 g, d0 D1 u% p9 omillion in the United States -- since last fall because of
+ K* A- ?4 ?" X' z5 ]8 W" {. lunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking) t1 |* \6 H3 C1 R
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
: s( M. u1 \& T" J) f5 X5 ~concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
% d/ Q# s8 P$ stheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow, C9 ^$ w0 S+ M# {- S) P* r2 A
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
4 N# k1 E& S7 K r$ g+ g" ereceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
# n4 K' x$ l& Fof Toyota vehicles since 2000.
2 `9 j- F/ }/ w" S5 v' \Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
3 T& r" ~% b/ E4 W9 j7 ]3 \brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he+ h3 @- b. H, t$ [( R
understood the pain.
6 x: i( C. g8 v2 y: `8 z"I know what those families go through," he said.% H* _2 i. Q' \5 N/ g* i# j+ `
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's6 t) ^6 m, W+ p8 F7 z
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.: e4 t; t8 Q; X4 O
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
: D- M! ?# S4 a. O5 I1 IHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
) ]2 ]! j( ? @6 F) H; o4 sin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,1 b5 J; G, ^* N' Y1 D, d( N$ V
Lentz replied: "Not totally."
e+ [' _& r. S( ~# d7 NStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were" \# t& k' \! @' }0 |. r
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
" M8 g( @! L7 _4 SToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
0 w$ }+ c2 A$ x5 ?' X3 qpedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
& W: c; l; p% V/ ~& {- _& ovehicles already on the road.
, o1 n8 H+ L# p. I" C' MMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
9 E( w! S& v. S$ ebefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
" |( S- U0 i+ I; y6 j( G$ Presponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and- Y2 y6 `! }' k. ]
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
+ O4 K- |' D+ B* c* jkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.5 Q9 A ~9 k- } P4 r+ n8 D
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
- E9 t+ q1 z1 f: v3 ftragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
5 Q3 G' ]1 C! R) c" m6 l6 m9 Pfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight m+ `7 c% k# D6 N: f0 Q1 r
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
4 L& d8 j! O U' o5 o, w3 P5 kcommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to3 w. w5 b9 _# e, J- \- n5 c4 o _8 k
restore the trust of our customers."% v- O" }5 f* Q+ A' @
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from2 j3 r9 d; E3 [$ f
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly* m- E' h2 T9 S, f# k# {8 k
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --, ]" K% \ V( f4 s' |. G
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
$ \. X; s# I4 H8 b0 E S5 |: D6 X# q2 ]7 qhitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough6 ^2 \' i; b* m) x2 B& i' ~+ C
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and1 b7 u% X+ O' F% k8 W$ ?; Y; C
turn off the engine.8 k+ u! d! `7 @; s
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
- W0 t1 @) R6 r- d2 y# N) NOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
% c. e8 Q4 }' U, i"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she. n7 A5 N) }/ v' T* }
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond6 C i A* H( h# u: X( h
to her complaints.- C. K# C0 ~$ M7 d+ z* ]/ d
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
- g) T; k5 i6 d! g9 c( ireturned again and again to the question of whether electronic
; j6 M9 f1 @/ Cmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
8 w$ z, q# t( ^ h a"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
$ K3 ]' {2 [. mthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited& d1 f% `9 }, O5 e8 p
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
, I8 U, N* s: R$ M% W2 [: toff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
3 {0 T, n- R$ p8 s( qTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in- x/ H; x% n8 y2 ^2 p* z7 {
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were. a3 R4 @ P& {; @2 t9 @& K% L) P9 y" Y
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
7 K4 D" k& ^$ I4 n' Lwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer+ @$ C4 X8 D- F( x3 z+ K0 u* b, \+ C7 ]; B
every question."
5 V6 v- Z4 X+ tToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether Q6 Z7 Z% w/ l
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The! y' b$ L, D& @1 Y" `
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
5 q$ r7 l! \! a+ w2 \committee investigators said the testing studied only a small4 K. [5 c) d" c7 J
number of vehicles
/ \0 a' x! k$ \Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more w9 Z+ X9 [8 h% R+ r$ |
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a# z2 z( @) q4 d) H+ w: A* |
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one( c1 L1 i9 |3 P4 t6 y+ f
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.. p/ m d0 I+ n; p: L
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
. S2 \3 G/ S' P' X. Jwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no- H% z5 n: k7 p, i& w
trace at all.! f2 X/ G6 _! f* D& s8 ]9 E" M/ q& h
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call4 p: y* h8 J# k
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
& S' x Z f9 R" R2 H' T, C6 V) oacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
7 P- a# y! t# \recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.4 R7 K0 q4 m- J3 ~% \/ F8 M
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
' h. x8 i; q* S2 w2 Osaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
( c3 K% q Q, l; Q1 ^: C3 _other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the7 |: O6 c& Y7 I
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
: ~) t c, U) k% g4 Ycause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only, M( `1 R2 D$ o: J& R
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
1 }1 ]8 K$ I3 J: Y/ w* W! pby Toyota's lawyers."
& V/ H1 d% R% t( Z J9 s( bLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of/ y' e. }* }" z& B7 P( d# c7 o/ c" p
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our6 [7 `" ~( T" |
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he0 a) l4 a, t0 W1 ]0 M
said.
* n8 t0 s6 ^) m7 L( z( s$ A"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with; r2 S, \; {7 ~& o% e! D1 f+ I3 g- K+ R
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
8 G& A1 \+ \, d& V, D+ Kgood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
( k2 I* z4 ^& f; E% e3 Q" x3 e* Pofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
! X+ z" q) S6 a$ J7 JSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
- h: z& ]! Z# p5 m8 E$ jmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread7 V# b7 o. r, B: g
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the$ u9 D. K* X' y( \' k! X1 w
automaker, at least in part because of the government's2 U$ y1 Z5 O/ ~. a7 w: @4 {# }
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
; x$ {7 b2 k3 n3 E1 J$ j8 RChrysler.
- t# p* E, y& j4 Z"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
6 y3 N$ `% [, d; zdollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
/ s! E6 ?# {* \- m& @% @& ^9 mHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also7 t: G% `- F& J
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete/ I0 a. T" C3 ~) `
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty' Q# M# f$ ]# ?$ I5 C5 X2 i r
tough."
3 L1 [! M$ d r: a---
; @" d0 e+ i9 P' W$ v9 qAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
! h( ?$ p+ Q3 {: i2 O0 QRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
1 B5 L, }; N, P8 `5 e3 K; Q) t& I* F( N5 Zthis story.# K. Z- i% e: b: O
/ i3 j9 i( z" d/ y; T* z4 A% P-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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