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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
! z3 o/ E% z9 O+ |" l$ rBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
- J1 s/ H& P- I8 \Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
; }. g7 H# S6 y* \5 C" Aoperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that! \" H' t1 [7 Z' W$ r4 n7 C
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"- I8 i/ r, h# m2 o
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
9 j" v$ |# J% [: C/ F"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential- k9 u0 c' l0 Q$ w# v& c, ?) F" q) m
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
/ |3 Y" R/ k7 sHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected9 y4 C: P8 E1 j# z
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and8 ~9 |8 {* o/ ^) E' `4 V6 z
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
O& B+ ~7 _8 i3 E7 Jmats and sticking accelerator pedals.- C/ [* U, O- G+ G' W
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal% n0 N- o0 s! M! E
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp; u( z1 F! k( O" c+ m& H* ~
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
6 u" |5 i P9 ] M8 i8 ofurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could2 J4 [6 a5 c4 f
not stop her runaway Lexus.
3 P+ N: H/ d6 R+ o. B0 ^"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
5 _9 m7 P5 a! [8 C fTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second9 e+ ~/ H2 g e) P
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.( S$ J5 {' u+ C% k
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
& h% m/ j; P- u9 L nearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said1 D# t0 f/ s6 ]5 y3 e$ j& R L9 `
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
3 {2 T" l/ J/ C8 Bdone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
7 l) u7 \2 H. `" F( D, c3 I3 c( i9 mthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's2 U3 b4 y3 E3 _2 R+ {
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
6 n+ j) ~ Y P7 n# c4 R; {Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
5 C+ d+ J; X8 R% eelectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of, T: C6 q: ~$ P7 Q
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a1 R- w: @) \: M; I9 {. _6 Y$ B
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
7 Y* w6 _) i- }+ q# w9 j X" R' @5 {/ Esaid.$ B- B4 L/ H7 `" k3 [
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what Y1 P" ~8 A" J0 u
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe/ d6 E- x ?2 n+ _" K
about driving our products," Lentz said.
/ I3 `- E6 j7 o7 C: ~. {Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's# _% V0 e8 F. U" ~) r
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has; [3 h' M ` b. Y8 E6 y: x
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6( g* i- ~) \/ M
million in the United States -- since last fall because of6 `' n& O, m# t4 `. g; v
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking4 V" a. O1 \3 U- I
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering4 e9 X# f4 n5 D& c: B/ n
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of9 B7 T4 r; O4 G/ d6 O
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
/ l2 O, d4 B: U2 b; Z% u; _down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has- H/ I2 j, b. Y$ a& l9 e8 }
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
2 o0 |! E- x: Cof Toyota vehicles since 2000.
* Q4 X- l; i. w+ ^( r, _Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
* a9 ]2 o4 r% _" Xbrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he ?: R- J; n' y% J) C5 I
understood the pain.
8 w6 @8 d3 r z } z"I know what those families go through," he said.; O' u5 j7 ~& y) c2 ]
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's. A$ ^$ G. }$ z: }' k/ \
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.& n9 J9 N- b4 T W1 u5 U9 m
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman* n/ E8 f& {/ K- x6 _: [
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put* G: @( S+ M0 ]6 O( y7 M
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
6 ]4 h4 P/ y3 hLentz replied: "Not totally."' x3 S# T; n4 p/ Y9 q) S: _
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
: a% z" `; ~9 ?( z2 w% B"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
5 B* D \+ ~1 T5 ]' eToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas" ~) N% Q) j1 c: F
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
4 B* E9 Q$ ~6 C. o- B3 o% Q! z; E6 s; ]vehicles already on the road." L( D/ ~1 f, H4 g. g0 _
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify m- ~( |. s# M+ t: c
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full2 M; `+ h" b0 D3 h% c- ^
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and8 l J9 e& c( B4 B- e
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were* d; W+ ^0 y: b" X
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
! ]. u, l+ a2 _/ W' G5 S"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a- l- U. V# h; g* I& q0 h+ ]
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
. a% K0 J% o3 ^" |7 r2 v; ffor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
$ @) j" @/ _9 s# k5 Y2 f. wCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
- b8 h' N& p8 c- L" Z: ucommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to2 l4 ?5 `9 J7 B B: i" Q
restore the trust of our customers."; C# F8 j2 ^- ]$ B6 [- g) l
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from. o& y" `- @. g S* F5 ^- \
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
/ ?6 N$ ~) d3 E5 |# R; F# dzoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --1 ?8 Y0 a% s# }/ ~0 b
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and0 k- g' M/ {" T. [
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
! ~5 D) b# {. {- E( p" Ythat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
3 V |9 A5 o* K0 j# ]. Qturn off the engine. a) q; \2 k; q1 J* C) ^, B, G3 N8 @
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
) _8 V+ S1 r" Q3 r" g3 ~- cOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."3 C) e7 v2 H# _& Y! F. q0 k/ Z
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
& V# r$ S# x1 v* |& \2 H% O/ f0 lsaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond8 e' v- P6 w+ v& ]& u
to her complaints.- \0 k! L" j! r4 n( `1 y+ h
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers7 M9 Y5 ]7 z+ t4 C/ m
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic2 Y, H5 D- C3 U! v6 T/ O1 `" J
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
2 u8 O5 n3 P8 F"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
, k/ ]# n2 f r8 N* j7 W! Ithrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited/ }7 }1 N0 ~8 b) Z
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
0 S, w' O( _* P, Ooff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
8 \! [: j+ T$ C% \+ hTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in3 x- G' _0 ^( p0 o& ]' N- o" Z/ e2 z. |
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
+ z" m- A; @9 ?4 A7 I+ dbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
5 D5 V/ ]7 y+ w$ @were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer, D* c! p% Y. o9 G* q; I$ ]$ H
every question."
J9 b4 e9 A% NToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether' W" T/ X( G7 [' K; e
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The8 b4 F# W! H6 j- ]& @
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But3 g0 A" _& {- n) n
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
8 ]- Z" C7 i0 Cnumber of vehicles; Q/ Y) R. i) N
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more
. x$ U: h7 w, j8 b) {( \7 Gdifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a o6 `3 ^1 }$ B% z: D( c
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
' ~( I- V( R6 ?; Psource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
3 O& I, Y4 d7 C' W1 @/ s5 VMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
: M& y" f# G7 E) e$ h, dwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no* D" g m' e) ^0 |# y
trace at all. H$ l4 }9 }4 I. N& p# m
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call. f X. B% A s$ g! `0 S4 S
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
4 n; H% }8 q! v1 nacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the7 p# c) G8 H. S( @( F6 R
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.2 h5 _; Z- [, z% i
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,6 Q% l# s% [& i6 d
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and, a+ j; O! L* W) b8 M) U9 ]
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the7 V) {6 u, J8 d% K2 | ]
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
, Q* [. B% _% R1 w, Ycause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
6 m1 s9 W# C: O) z8 D- psuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained. W1 \' m$ f) O! ]6 m! m
by Toyota's lawyers."
, I9 L: S1 S9 A/ Y' x0 nLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of* f1 e$ p& @! S3 k# X
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our# B. c( E- B, W
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he- D4 E1 Z3 ?& u
said.
1 E p' G" ]* E. b: t* E"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
3 T. \3 ~! O, s1 H' l n) ^. sa rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our h0 F! b+ I& ~) @& r6 K8 L
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
: @: H* A, r8 C: Wofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
5 B1 @# ^* C, T$ {0 k- T5 k; OSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying) _" _; `6 w8 E4 k D2 D
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
8 J( _2 J/ |7 xrancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the ?0 v6 S; I7 Z0 U: V3 g, V v& c
automaker, at least in part because of the government's. c9 \) `4 K5 O5 E( S& J2 t3 M* N
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
9 x9 ?" J# e7 c' Z. z; `Chrysler.
* Q ^* j: ?3 O$ i# b. ?) y"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax9 g. v! j; `( Y% u
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
" _: n0 T0 }0 M: _1 D( nHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also4 ^5 Q# L, l% ^# R/ |7 h6 u$ M
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
0 Q) m5 l" u" ~; Z7 j0 Vwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty* C( w9 [5 O& S+ q3 }
tough."
4 s! Z+ }2 M, f! J3 {---- |6 N% }" E# F) Z* P: G" r
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
* R+ v, ]4 ?. LRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
4 p a+ H/ A( ?, }: fthis story.9 F3 v* U7 W6 h2 t( K/ s* Q
2 U+ T% S1 x! L' O0 p& q-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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