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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
" H t% `4 {+ @1 z# }7 H2 |By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
8 o& T* O( s5 O! KWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.0 E( }5 f) a" k# ]# ?
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
! m3 Z3 }8 r9 b' {% K7 J; Dthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"# N: k2 l" ?- C4 j- g
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
* R9 p5 |# m) c) ?! g7 }, \1 M"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
. S" s' c w5 q3 J1 V# K+ e8 qcauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.2 q7 H' g7 H) y5 o+ L' `
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
3 O+ q8 D* g$ S Q! }, Q0 Uacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
/ C# A9 a1 n: ?9 w9 }- o. c( A Utrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
3 Z: H& ]4 h/ | B: }5 @5 m3 rmats and sticking accelerator pedals.
' X0 m7 o) r6 Y, bHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
" q8 J* i' t( ~% Z2 E- Gand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
?% l5 O. U9 ]# hcriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
& H. S% h( m# Q$ _ cfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
) ^$ i3 C7 G% z( b7 [7 @- nnot stop her runaway Lexus.
% G8 C: u- w8 I2 S. `"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
( n6 ~, Y$ h: R' _Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second8 ?0 ~" G0 T2 ^+ q- V/ U
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
6 e @# U! o4 i, ~7 wTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues6 {( {! W+ V( D: R4 r, F E0 I
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said& M; r1 L; w4 ?' f
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
# s6 {1 H4 B Wdone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway ^5 X5 n- X* d* ~& D( o& j* ?! _
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's% ]1 o. X& b' k) L# \' k( H
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
( m6 R" J( b4 w; w; ZLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
% i' W3 x; Z( T( g8 Qelectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
$ W L) [$ e* f* [( L0 zthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
- u2 J, n# i% e B0 zmalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
1 o/ t, n/ |5 j- d; N3 W z$ z- bsaid.
7 s- Q, q1 H- K1 x; N) jAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
5 K, d7 S6 ?7 X5 d2 u% R8 y% dhappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
& l: D% u# R/ i) R' vabout driving our products," Lentz said.
+ E3 v4 V% m7 |Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
i2 Y/ Z* @: E8 R5 v2 sproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
y M- o2 H& Lrecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6- U2 R7 H! [; W# T6 C9 H! Y
million in the United States -- since last fall because of' x. L* k- l, J+ `0 j
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
. _1 N$ k3 r2 y# z: _5 Zissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
6 R# U/ B' J3 |( t5 mconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
- F2 m2 N ]- T; r2 T! t( Y& Q- B$ _" Atheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
, p4 A# j: H3 Zdown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
8 o7 u/ _' t# V' Y1 ureceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
6 P" l+ B0 | v# u3 [6 @of Toyota vehicles since 2000.7 [; m, d; d: K; n. }
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
; u y, I$ S3 Wbrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he+ Q" p. B! d6 l% B7 E
understood the pain.
* ~# ^; n7 `" L0 @1 C q. H/ b& `, h"I know what those families go through," he said.& w; J% X/ u$ s5 B- |9 `/ B
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's( h- a ^$ L2 x& V/ l+ l- y
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
! @% s7 N: m' s4 h! b/ lBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman* f# O, [# a, Z
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
7 G1 v9 Q6 y! \- N' W; s" h+ Qin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
+ l8 t4 T7 S# M3 A# t% W+ KLentz replied: "Not totally."9 k7 Q% C1 d* D/ n6 O' s
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
s8 U/ E) ^' |1 y& `% t"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said' H) l* D# t4 v+ W8 }0 s
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
5 w. r3 p3 V) ]1 y1 Vpedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
! i# u, n& h8 Q0 F, [" U* W/ R yvehicles already on the road.# q. b0 {; |8 Q( P- i
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
" I# ?& a# w& `before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
# Q* q. g! `% X6 c9 ~. X/ q9 |; G0 tresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and( G6 W) b4 g. B% q0 Y7 I
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
! G8 N7 ~ B) {7 I5 C7 {# L6 ~3 Mkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.8 g f8 T( J X
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a) W: T0 Q4 `; ?" `: w2 R) r% S
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
! _/ b3 N( z0 v5 D2 a* tfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
' @ d* s. q# k3 w' iCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal9 i' Q6 [8 {. D! G3 k
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
/ _# d# w y F6 Brestore the trust of our customers."; ~$ z9 A; u& ~& [: P. D( P
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from5 ~# \5 I$ d9 k6 V* ?! _2 |
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
( N) e; g8 B& _8 x5 z3 Q9 j1 czoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
2 [% O I% m0 ~+ `2 `shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
- r$ }1 P! b) w; Y# W; e# nhitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
, n7 h; J0 a6 ithat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and1 `0 c# y- k( P1 i5 C" j9 r) i
turn off the engine.
+ R7 a& t) p; j( i p7 j) @. z4 zFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
, X! e# [) f. i$ |$ e' _6 i, _October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."6 h2 }' P" A% q+ E: n& D5 I8 g' ?
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
8 p+ t! f1 v, G" g7 T# csaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond) p; e7 H) r$ L! `: L' {0 p# e
to her complaints.
( n; R+ T' V' U' J+ Z1 a2 W0 mIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
6 O9 Z$ ?8 W8 p, D# s3 W) Z9 {returned again and again to the question of whether electronic, F$ S7 N. t' ]$ i( X
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
4 F I1 {! [7 G"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric) b( M+ W* H; |6 T e+ _, t( F
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited% Y" T" S' X3 S
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut i2 [/ A6 L/ n
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."! y3 ]( `* K5 u& {4 O
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
6 }' z: G( f4 |8 Sprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were1 `6 F$ X4 R0 F* z; C
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls! v( Z! w4 L' Z" D) u; s
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer% f: H( ^' b9 O' `! o6 l
every question."
8 ? R' `6 ] X5 E1 P8 e- _7 LToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether+ c% L a% n% {; F# O) V
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
! s4 j# M; o: Q+ a+ x" S2 o% Z% Ufirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But( r7 `5 `) B# z7 d: g% S+ _
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
' k8 Y' ]7 {# _5 R. x( Hnumber of vehicles
2 w5 |' e, Q. N( \) }. aTracking down an electrical problem can be far more ~. H! m( D5 ^5 s, K1 h7 y
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
9 s3 J5 k; F; P( b0 @mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
3 A( e4 Y2 m4 h8 ysource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
& W0 M( D. {. k7 Q1 BMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,0 ]2 a- Z" U, d+ G
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no: e3 T7 O" j$ r! U! A9 K3 m1 n
trace at all.
' f3 H2 z7 C5 b. ]0 H9 g* {House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call% O& c a! L6 r2 t: i' U
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
( j# |; W! O, q2 P) jacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the( Q3 B9 @% p2 _( e8 |- C% v
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
5 i* L+ O* k0 g$ r9 s: M) @Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,# v1 @0 J3 m" d9 b% Z
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and2 {* w4 s5 p. z0 @/ A/ `
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
- d9 M( E- Q7 A1 Nelectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
5 @: |9 W3 r! [cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only- e: l: }# |. o
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained3 _9 d6 M5 C7 F$ H
by Toyota's lawyers."% _7 T: I5 u" d! f' c* j' \
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of" L( t5 C5 e+ }6 T- S2 m
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
' C0 w9 D+ P0 m" X, B, z; _3 jcustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
& c6 V( f) N# Q" x% E# F. w2 h2 \said.4 ]! h/ J' v4 i+ E: h7 ^0 R) n
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
2 l' a3 v1 E# q* x1 Ua rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our' J' r6 ^* Z6 S2 R5 S5 x5 Y
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
& Z1 q$ o$ y2 B s8 B0 t1 |officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc. f: Y! p- ?4 r E& M" C
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
. R) ^" Y5 x1 ~3 Ymembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
) k: k1 w9 y) G* q! E0 Qrancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the1 c! L1 P5 g& Q2 L m
automaker, at least in part because of the government's" a* X1 k# @+ @5 [5 @# ?
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and4 a; d5 P* G1 _
Chrysler.! t v e4 @% Q
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax9 N8 T; V; `, H* D* r
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
: D' ?! ~# C5 }* _0 @5 I0 ?9 iHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
" u: g( `9 l* ?% Aserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
" G8 }! ~; A% R Z3 @with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty0 c) s( {: I6 C; E
tough."
( ~& j9 l' y) O8 `' o6 I1 @---4 i' L K$ m+ X
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
* e; y% a0 |+ h: Z+ l/ R9 IRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to0 x2 Q9 `. R+ N9 e
this story.) D! r' \% m/ a/ L
' H6 @2 u- q. F! j" R/ q-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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