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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
+ V* V( N' N4 h: M k" VBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
7 ?1 \! d9 g" o+ C4 X: l. Q1 }Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
0 p' @2 ~2 F d ~6 qoperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
. m) ^2 ^: F$ S0 N* T: n: q9 Lthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"! P6 t" i( i! r' d7 i# f" o
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.' e- m" s% H2 ~+ i4 O
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential5 r. I1 k- H3 z$ J( Y
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.6 A/ u+ {* ]& ^' m! z, u7 }' {
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
/ C8 X9 d& j) Z- `acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
1 {8 y6 d- H' vtrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor9 _" O. k8 v! `! j/ k2 A; Z
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.
" T l( b M# z" `He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
! n! I8 L6 y' rand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp, s' r3 B2 b, }
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be1 I) D9 M; @+ f2 f6 w" U
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
7 g# S4 W" W2 |: N, f% Hnot stop her runaway Lexus.
: f, |- |6 P% m I"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,6 x+ r; O! n( x) A0 o
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second. i7 g& J+ }# y3 @
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.. }! c, g9 U+ O3 H, f$ a, R
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues2 u6 |: h! F# s
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
' ?; b! O0 W) `"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has: m/ t& h( z( ?: Y% s
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
* p. ], K% D3 q$ lthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's/ B3 }4 J# Q% M% Q6 s! q: q3 ~
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."% I0 y7 P( Z2 b# ]7 Z" Y
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
; W5 H, ]( M- j' r/ s) Helectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
% F1 h' x! L& @ |, P5 H& r( L% Vthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a3 i6 B, {. s3 Z& u4 v
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
( F" M5 o# {/ Z) ?% g5 [( Ysaid.
8 p2 }) X0 h* _6 F. XAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
% r5 K/ k; }+ Rhappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
4 K$ c# o& {7 Q8 J2 Kabout driving our products," Lentz said.
2 M' n* Y% H1 s& l ~Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's6 |' Z7 |" s5 B( b5 O& _* L
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has) p1 P$ J& v2 {7 |* Y
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
; A6 G8 i" n s% nmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of! [% j+ B8 L1 X) g* e' s
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
3 M2 j9 L* \8 _ C8 b" }# Sissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
( T4 L, L. M/ `$ \/ Yconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of0 Y& @! x% \, B* d" P. w1 g* E
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow$ h* s1 c3 T! o1 H/ z! f5 r
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
2 t1 t8 v5 O* t8 _received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration f" E5 i3 }. ^9 c5 n
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.! W( T% X% q9 n# z: m. d
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own1 _" \2 W3 l- Q; b9 B
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he1 F! B8 U- `6 i' W
understood the pain.5 `; X: i7 B! _( c, \9 ^) J# \
"I know what those families go through," he said.
+ l6 |3 }* c9 n4 x$ ^4 i* eLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
4 R+ r' A- Y8 L3 _$ e& x* r1 ?fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
4 n4 Z! t/ X p9 h, Q6 BBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman3 ?% g) _6 ^3 C" y+ U. a
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
" J9 H# I$ S% Z$ \# X& H6 Din place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,# W7 [# |1 @/ J) ]5 F; H
Lentz replied: "Not totally."
! x& p% e' Z4 d* w/ o7 ^0 ^9 pStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were2 E9 e9 [0 r4 s: R6 B) h2 n4 V
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
; J( D/ E$ O2 T K7 I: F9 w) ]) R2 k: uToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas$ {* U! y! h/ A8 N' y; F3 k
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its) p: ?0 h$ X2 d3 Q" X$ p! P
vehicles already on the road.
. q6 L, \/ z$ U0 @Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
2 b& H8 @, G- n6 p- jbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full- X, H5 i2 g b. ~ _
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
/ a. Y7 S9 U. B, s& C0 e; Z3 M6 a1 coffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were$ i! B1 L" ]7 o" _9 h2 d" B0 z
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.1 h, N4 B2 ] Z7 p/ c
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
+ `* d' @; e: `1 l; ~4 X. l; ?tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony! r; J% j8 o5 T+ L
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
! B' A% J$ \3 n8 hCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal8 n* g0 a8 |( l. x
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
$ t8 L' r7 I# [# A0 u) x$ Y" V$ ?restore the trust of our customers."/ r- `# a4 ~0 x4 y/ p( Q
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
0 v) E' q$ [) h9 Q# z2 B; pSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly) ~8 ^6 m9 R/ t
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --; C) G' J6 d$ \1 F, x6 p) a
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
/ a0 [/ T/ T$ |6 \/ ahitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough: y* E7 o* z1 M& i* ]" j2 s
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and9 w: X3 \# R/ A3 E) O
turn off the engine.7 \- b! i. w; l2 E$ g
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
/ w& X G& \: iOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
Z& Z) X: Q! E+ t9 _! p"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she7 j2 P7 e- U f/ J6 B5 r( f$ p o
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
2 v. Q. _0 V. Y2 p( j" kto her complaints.$ }, @% E0 \* M* [
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
! t4 x2 M f0 X; L3 s$ L3 g7 L9 Mreturned again and again to the question of whether electronic8 q& M9 ]; F: M1 o& Q$ m- Y& l
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
, \" B2 S" o+ u: y% ^# }"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
7 o$ `4 p, j9 N+ u* p, gthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited+ ]6 G- C. K, s O3 w
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut3 w1 Z7 _" K! l+ @( f, W
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
) t Y- S4 R; E/ BTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
' |( h2 V# O' a( {prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
% ]4 |! g+ |7 o tbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
. g: t& `9 H# k) Bwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
+ U7 g2 B/ R9 ]every question."
$ v! g1 h$ o/ Z) {( q3 W3 ]Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
! H% O9 K2 B% Z# Q( X& Z+ @electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
9 p' X4 L' E: ?0 j5 \firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
% f5 f# d& i; r7 bcommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small) ^$ c8 U( V9 i; E4 C3 ^: ]3 I
number of vehicles; W. ]8 Z" e# H8 ^3 P( {
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more
" ], M! E4 F. ]: Ndifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
/ S1 S) ? ~$ x- q* E7 Xmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one; `2 B& ^3 z3 ~; a
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
n$ \) u; o1 s% {& [- x' JMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,9 Y1 [6 T% ]! A- r0 l3 m; [) r
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no1 G5 k( F5 k8 {! I5 n
trace at all.
: A9 g w7 l. |House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call: o. g; |! b" K
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden* X3 u$ T$ B. g! L7 [+ e
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
* a) o% @# n8 M- ^: w/ w% U- x7 nrecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
' Y, c$ `, u4 h0 S# C. CRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
6 d9 T- Q/ Y) u6 ~& r6 `& Qsaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and6 K5 d% g9 g9 ~& F2 Y' o7 M
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the1 _2 p/ y! P" o0 ~1 F2 ]8 x
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible& ~( k4 W( G( [, u
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only" r: W8 P- E* X% }
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained$ _- q; v: Z& D' _% D
by Toyota's lawyers."
L0 g* A+ T# ~& Y& fLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
' s# i8 }/ j" J# l Q: Yproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
x W& w Z) h) xcustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he# l9 r: o' j. E0 P
said.
s: O f5 @% Q- x"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
7 u8 F( E% Y, b# U( g; Ra rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our- O% W* ]( }6 [% \, }3 q0 @1 u1 P
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating, z# A% B) H- T
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc., F B5 c$ c6 |* J# U: f9 o$ m5 B
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
8 }- K$ M% `$ K" A* @; n# ^members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
+ y. B6 D( V. t* x( w- Urancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
- V4 W# W3 m8 g' u R6 @; aautomaker, at least in part because of the government's
+ n& j4 R# S3 d7 `9 [investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and; V9 T* L# I0 u5 n/ l7 H
Chrysler.
' k* O4 l) p# A9 m S$ s f"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax/ Y3 M# u" n3 o3 w: T1 x% Q$ L$ C! e
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
4 R' w$ o3 c4 D, c; p% W: MHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also2 @& u5 T! s+ {/ @. R
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
4 U% b2 e) A- ~1 X/ S+ ywith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty* G9 O( b8 b( K8 L7 s& b
tough."
, w. ]0 o$ v; c& g' ~2 `---
% n6 m3 M2 o% s9 K9 F% M/ `/ eAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
; S5 u* r% h/ C' f3 G9 q9 b8 ]0 y* Q5 _* |Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to* k# { m) n1 T/ C1 f0 O- l
this story.
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& B9 ? M7 Y" r-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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