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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题 U4 N1 ?4 i4 j$ e% ]3 ]
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
; s$ U1 w% z K$ |# |6 ^/ r% U, fWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
% k( a5 U' N5 h7 doperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
3 n, ~1 B d% D( M* _' dthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
- a( t* {4 W2 \6 R3 L0 Fsolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.) }# R0 ~- \. Z3 j0 ~% H/ u
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
# U( x3 ~+ b6 S) Jcauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
3 G0 r! u: g( i. e$ O+ x: t1 IHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
# ]3 z. L$ u9 iacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
: z% [1 d# v, c. L" C8 \1 `trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
$ r& l2 W: }; u. umats and sticking accelerator pedals.( c! d; A* b: w, O9 [! m
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
, F: B' L8 k" ?and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp, R) Z- h: ^1 D# Q
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be. Z9 Q% T, T1 V7 O7 b
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could9 j, _* ?: h8 \7 |+ v0 k# m; O( L; W0 c
not stop her runaway Lexus.1 W7 ?* U2 i* l! l+ \8 [
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,- Z5 c5 f4 K* d) _% E
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second X5 G1 ^. W' P8 d/ g2 ^4 ~
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
* E) Q! M' v1 u+ fTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
2 L# _& u" B. i$ p! Gearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said [4 q$ e. d' K
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
4 M: V- V, ~$ w; m' U+ Mdone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway" H- o, f( ]5 w4 n$ e6 ]
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's" H7 i7 \, h: j' @) x
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."7 L8 }, b1 B( p( p
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
9 `0 c% B% T7 Q) z9 |electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
2 v) W1 p0 }# S! v' c# M2 D5 X+ p* Lthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a5 y) {) h. s# O# u1 S X; u( [+ H
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
1 E! A X# H8 `: r) z; Msaid.
: a/ i7 {/ \! m+ _0 }: \As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what4 k" t3 h! J' X4 |5 g
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe9 v, z( s" y9 R% ^" U3 I2 Y+ a- o
about driving our products," Lentz said.+ V/ @# u* e/ C" j
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
0 W3 S# o" i7 ^$ w8 tproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
# P$ Y7 z+ V; n: n# ?recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6# P% C3 F0 y" |/ F& K! ]
million in the United States -- since last fall because of
9 \: Z2 l, m( Nunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking6 X6 U, |% N9 Y0 o0 b6 B/ [! z6 Z
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering5 I/ i% r/ Y$ w- @0 w! W) y3 { P
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of$ E" n: d3 Q2 j2 w- t: \, \
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
+ A6 ^* b4 k4 h; `1 B2 r* sdown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
6 r0 I6 U' A3 I: B1 h& _; ^received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
& j' {3 T6 g! xof Toyota vehicles since 2000.* U) _# g4 ?! ~7 M" x
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own7 h& N. l2 k0 `! v! h
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he6 y. w8 ]" {( k. A# T4 I1 t2 T
understood the pain.
5 c3 }" V- K, w3 A3 X- Y"I know what those families go through," he said.% F1 a: _) t7 m
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
3 t, E7 K, y' ~! p0 z9 qfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.9 l. W% H3 m9 C$ w A! W3 T
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman+ @9 R6 N0 { i" C! T g
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put3 ^6 g7 E; _7 B- C4 p
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
7 d/ U2 Z) N& S, q1 f: {* d1 lLentz replied: "Not totally."( }5 K8 x9 ?% i, {* H! {
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
( m5 P$ i6 ~2 ]' e7 O"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
4 O" r, }8 t4 R0 q* pToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas& T2 O2 Q4 }8 \
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its4 Y2 s7 w" P S1 T1 P# e% I9 o
vehicles already on the road.2 E4 c, Y5 T% P0 w- W
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
/ ^' F+ J" o. _& xbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full( m: u2 A7 _# [! w3 `7 K
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
; d2 |( ?* ?) e9 P$ m! poffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
9 l" ]! R% I- _$ }$ [6 p/ G wkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
% z6 z" {8 M+ N) k/ @"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
7 L/ t& ~5 E8 r1 S# n; L% s& S) `tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony. B, t: ~! K5 |
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
* `2 M2 A* g. ^8 X2 {; h1 [1 ]Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
: Y' C0 a3 J [/ C- }commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to- J% i% z- @2 e
restore the trust of our customers."
5 @, g- S9 E+ o, }$ R% MLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
! c' ~+ @& N& o/ n& kSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly! l* Y* V. ]' K+ k/ y
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
# g- c' \0 {( x. X' g/ r8 w. Cshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and, V; \6 q9 d' E4 @
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough' T9 L! o0 T" f2 |# N) {7 E: ^% C# ?
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
$ _% O& Q" B! ]5 ~* t! ]turn off the engine.
5 | e' B7 h5 k/ @1 mFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of% ^4 h. p6 K6 |: m# m
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
8 [0 M9 ^; N3 N7 y"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she5 l8 A' W( A" b* \ Q7 y2 }
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond3 A& g# H/ @" }- R: n: z
to her complaints./ [2 n$ t' I. a
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
9 l& |, \. |# p7 S+ vreturned again and again to the question of whether electronic$ ~! z- E/ ?3 P" j; @% U$ m# G# A
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
0 f8 n2 X4 }8 I) } a4 T"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
- s/ Y$ q5 u/ p5 }throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited+ Q, I' |: J1 v" X- G
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut3 ~# T, E7 \. I! A; O- n3 O
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."# B' V- A& g' b; Y8 y2 S8 e- {4 G
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
' T8 u+ [7 l. A' f' b6 T: U+ W) nprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
* |7 a A, D x" V! A+ ^5 }! Wbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls2 c6 n( L* E8 x# x' z7 z" f
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
* y3 F+ P& Y) y. r& c1 a) Xevery question."
- {+ N- s* _& ^" x6 R6 ]Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
* G- h7 v! o- delectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The, L+ U1 K: x& D* _8 x
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But, l& @2 h$ a/ N6 n
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
4 n) b. l' _/ [" c3 Gnumber of vehicles
( F1 V. I* T& fTracking down an electrical problem can be far more
/ b6 A+ K7 ]$ b, e& C% J mdifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
4 D* m1 w: S' q0 {/ _" \mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
6 f- B+ h9 r6 k& E- _4 Hsource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.. _' Y( u3 E' M4 \! Q0 x+ x# m4 Z
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
7 z! j9 k5 ^3 L' F- _# Mwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no3 S: T* m d3 C0 S) Q. G) g' o# \
trace at all.) R4 ?0 a+ v* y9 a! S" X* F
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
3 |$ ^. E( C) \$ {database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden4 w+ F7 _$ u% q! ~0 l
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the* i$ N$ I/ F8 M9 F' z$ j6 d3 \" @
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.; R# n4 m2 B7 \( s
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,/ Q% G, Y8 A- `3 U& }" `* P
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and) U, X" _+ P+ z4 I$ p( q
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
0 y1 [ ~) C/ I$ J1 ^electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible1 B: ]8 P! u- w8 }1 M( |# i* x6 E+ ?3 _ `
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
0 O; {6 `) k- \8 m. M) I7 ?$ e5 Fsuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
7 O1 U3 q5 p2 V( R+ d3 A7 bby Toyota's lawyers.". W+ W; m9 w2 G, l) c
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of; e8 L% Y4 E \4 R
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our5 v4 H$ v: T. _6 k0 |8 _
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
* A9 k/ z$ B! M* Q$ g1 Rsaid.
+ @& C- ~1 y3 ~" o. j"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
9 G, M+ b8 ~- ?7 sa rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
& X! Z4 B. I- B4 @! Z- C5 H# T5 Igood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating G; b/ ~, k& S& U: g
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc., ], {2 A( u9 H& J. G, h( y
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
. H, \0 G' N9 s2 ^, J5 Gmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread2 [5 b1 q, Y& w! Y
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the0 f. G+ G& f9 o! x7 y
automaker, at least in part because of the government's7 o2 y, _( b1 p. J) \( @
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
4 v9 q8 p$ V" `7 `+ i% C' H6 yChrysler.
) h, ]" y7 i- {2 \9 ~ Q2 ^1 w) b9 |0 I"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax# U$ J, N2 l0 Z* u5 v
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a3 r. `. f# {. h* G9 M# C' ~4 R
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also7 ?- h7 r. a& ?& W+ Z7 q) F
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
+ w3 {+ h" _$ t x' swith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty+ c P2 G d1 `8 P8 c4 J, v9 {3 p
tough.": F& W `/ A9 B4 o0 h
---
# Y9 O+ Q) ?+ jAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom" b* q( z& W' `' M1 k$ {0 _/ C
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
8 g, e. M! Y) [1 _/ \4 othis story.( k2 f6 z; q/ ]: K( Q
/ I. { A' v( ~. e. `-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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