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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
3 Y+ t" b- j+ k+ }# u2 ~By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS0 Y& i0 d5 ~' b3 g' J. i& I M& i
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
) [5 ?4 E4 E/ Q2 q$ K$ A# noperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that" W1 x; I. ^5 ?) Q, s) p( R
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"$ K; ?) A9 O; x
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
' h) f, u$ ^& G& U"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential8 W0 U: }& d6 i( u7 B5 @
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
3 K+ B' C" B! fHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
$ N0 ^4 f! [$ K- j1 E% e9 Facceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
' t; k3 Z% r( s3 N/ s% B2 \trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
+ D4 [+ p8 P. z6 Q: ~# Rmats and sticking accelerator pedals.
9 D+ R* r" D" r+ {( [He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal/ ]5 ^0 E0 u) i' b1 V1 j
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp6 K5 S/ d! [- ]. u( O* }. f
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be! K* e1 Z" e$ Y. {2 L/ o# q
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
8 \: N. w& g# S. mnot stop her runaway Lexus.8 h/ x5 V+ N8 b. q; I5 ^
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
, _3 @* V+ P3 v q2 J0 }Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
' G# ^* r* S6 S4 b. X0 r% p% @"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
. C" B( R s$ qTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues% V$ p1 x& k( M9 d. E
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said }9 g. Q8 I* F0 N4 m
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
; D4 ?. D/ j8 B N$ {3 d( cdone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
8 z3 {1 B- Y% e) S+ r& g8 O; ^ Xthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's% L) [- _9 W7 G4 h0 O
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."3 c7 k8 n2 Z. X. g+ l6 N- X
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an# q) x# B: F0 ?5 ?2 s/ T
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
5 n$ i. R6 i& K# {4 L0 _ ~the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
1 X/ k, _2 s M2 nmalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he6 V9 l1 {: e, U0 N: h! x" T
said.
# V( l# T$ H: N3 [ c8 zAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
. I+ W: Z' o5 b2 S6 D2 T Chappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
* t% Y2 ^3 P9 ~6 |, k% U, j9 P9 Qabout driving our products," Lentz said.
, q# N/ m' r" D- l& K" _, XThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's) P, L6 S) p! ?/ a- x U3 ]
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has0 V0 ~! ~. P4 r: ?! r. i( k _
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
7 S- H9 u( t, H9 p$ n2 Xmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of
/ t9 ^4 P" x' U0 `- W) A9 `unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
: A$ \/ ^3 B4 b% Z. m7 z: M. [issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
+ d0 ?4 ~9 c( r. d3 l" Q4 Aconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
6 ? w" j1 T- \( F$ @) x* @- y: rtheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow( V2 G, q I! z( X7 E
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has, j. y5 h5 [# T" n% s8 b
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration& G- g7 [1 L" z3 L6 v
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.. X! t" \2 @0 U! m' W7 s+ J8 E: s# j
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own: D; i/ F8 G" E% m$ L7 i! h# @( }4 R
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
; N0 K/ q) J' Munderstood the pain.
& n9 w ?8 o0 d2 v0 m7 f. ^) n"I know what those families go through," he said.2 B5 K( C- Q5 L# o5 A( }% O$ s
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
+ u/ O) f3 s- I3 tfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
, m8 C9 b, _9 _4 r/ t: yBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman$ o) h: Y" ]! U/ T, e7 w4 c$ d
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
$ I, Q$ x# d* O* f- r7 _) fin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
7 [! ^. o4 H7 n- eLentz replied: "Not totally."# o( l: @; \: V7 |. K: L
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
$ B6 _& `" c/ x1 l2 J; S" G"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
- X! a7 V4 o3 eToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas* H9 ^# ?4 k7 C. x) Q* l: ?; Q1 Q
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
, t5 j* k3 j* A K8 w7 Uvehicles already on the road.
" O2 U8 _8 b! T7 vMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
5 A, j8 W, m' b) t; cbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
, M- b+ u3 l, a' }9 B# d2 e4 |* [4 [responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and1 _. `8 v, u& k0 `. k9 |% m" ]; w$ a+ D
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
( `/ d8 G+ b: M# j, ]& Ekilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
# w, a; g/ J! I8 l"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a4 W# E- T4 o1 I" w; H' |) t
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony$ e* i' ^ j' \' d
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight' Y- P8 K+ u& F* G: y9 d2 C3 O
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
$ h# e L7 Z: h, x- o+ _! icommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
4 {- m" t0 A# ^. n# }& W) irestore the trust of our customers."
8 d6 A" D. w6 v; o) d fLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
8 m) c1 w& q( SSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
; f( O' Y6 r7 a, ]7 r4 v$ ?zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --: y! k- D! @0 N7 G6 n1 r
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and' @5 _- l4 w8 o
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
% w- N* C9 N- j8 v3 Y/ Nthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and& Q6 J1 V# Y' a; p( k% P5 H, _
turn off the engine.. D. {# ^& g/ c6 @3 e' ~0 t; h, i/ p; c
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
5 J3 P2 b# ?7 H/ k9 I- U/ qOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
: L0 j( \) M. h5 F"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she" ]5 M) [ K* F0 P! D- g) Z
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
# ^# | ?+ J9 \8 Q" R4 H* Bto her complaints.6 f2 T$ S) _! Z( k
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers- ` \( @1 b p R) J& S: H0 y
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic0 n) S- D" q7 D6 G
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
5 _' p( y( m% @! N0 J. t8 W8 s; E: s"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric h& @& M, p5 m
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited8 ^7 D( v# t; a, \
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut; I" x' ^" ?. m9 i9 G8 Q
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
* p" \2 i6 x( B' tTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in4 V, @3 A* ^9 T- z9 I* y1 E
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
) a" G0 \$ k+ j- F# A* kbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls- i* j! A: c; k {/ e
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
1 s: x7 C8 F9 z* g3 Yevery question."
+ Z1 I- Z! ~% A" k0 LToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether9 g) M: j- M' q/ m# L* T
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
0 C6 N5 [: \% X' L# {6 V) s* l+ Rfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But' s8 P8 ?9 }' @& ]% _9 }; T
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
6 a/ o9 m+ P% lnumber of vehicles
4 x9 q V6 s; [: uTracking down an electrical problem can be far more: X" l9 ~& _& b9 M8 V$ z. o: V
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a4 E! u: N9 n% \: H- T7 f
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
- q* c5 \1 F0 q7 x% B0 Vsource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.2 @6 j* s' v3 n) d7 m: P
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
8 `( g8 }. R7 F- @where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no- q1 r2 i0 l3 r; l% g
trace at all.
9 U- v$ D @" w' c( X" tHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call9 N: d3 `+ a) L. p
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden! w0 ^7 e3 }& U. Y) w; Y: R+ T
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the! n2 Y; s! P6 p
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
. {- j0 u7 l3 _ }- B3 {Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
5 u; s3 P7 c9 I% ?said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
2 P4 A' }! N* Qother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
9 ~4 F5 d$ t3 y$ M% J/ ?$ z' melectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible+ g/ O! _/ `% V% N/ Z& _9 ] Z; v
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only' l3 {" v- S4 z' h0 G
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
, M6 |4 S4 C/ S0 ^$ rby Toyota's lawyers."+ q3 ^. u6 ]( O0 X8 p
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of! d8 v1 i9 H# s' l
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our* R! Q3 Z! A8 @* O+ t
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
R% ?4 C; v+ V: Nsaid.
1 V# ^2 J D! r, g! T) N"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with' T( \3 E4 u" P
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our3 ~* }# e- }/ W
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating7 G a* |1 a' l, ?5 P0 S8 y
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.1 r0 g3 E* l8 b* q0 i
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
: d7 a& D/ G. D1 W" P! omembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread. q0 }' ~0 H& @0 {" k5 z
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the G+ K% W9 k6 m& S* }; }7 G* N
automaker, at least in part because of the government's- A& L. y0 |0 l0 |9 e! }9 {: U
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and; q4 M5 m" j; y0 \+ W
Chrysler.
% M* }: Y3 X7 _"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
) R) K. ]1 O# E rdollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a' _( H9 p* m5 n8 ?
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
+ \0 b5 Y6 V: ~ N: U' I h; m5 ^6 qserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
; O$ ~4 ?6 O( p& F9 Xwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty& x- P, v2 i4 E+ L7 p# z; z
tough."2 t( f$ X& T' ^" |* J7 q+ K
---; Z$ f$ X! F& u+ a
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
4 q2 k# D! q6 r8 jRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to ~5 R& L3 J- r* H7 c& Z
this story.8 K q$ t2 w( p+ V6 p
8 n5 C7 N' V$ Q: C% @; U/ v-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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