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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
) h9 e. C3 L1 t4 e3 UBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS7 L' v) k- ?6 A0 I% s; R
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
9 z3 ~1 P7 X6 Yoperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that, y( ~5 B+ o1 \4 V+ \
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
4 {5 Z# M$ _( R# _solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.# D6 r1 d1 k# Y- \4 V
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential: ]3 {: b& Z( e* n) m
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.% j" N0 k8 l! P4 M! l& p
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected _4 `! a+ ?" F( `: F) ^
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and+ |& c" b3 P8 x! e" M
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor! L I E4 S8 n1 r& x Q
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.2 \4 W. V( }$ A4 b; b/ S$ \
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal8 z" y8 W, K+ `8 x+ {
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp0 I$ M2 u# U0 `5 T
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
5 T: ]& H; w% xfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
' g, G* c0 B* E! ~9 F, d+ ]" xnot stop her runaway Lexus.5 I) J8 z; i+ W7 z
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,- b. a0 K% q r2 L: O
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
, c6 w# B/ Z; F"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.! b! g E L2 ~' ~: u% k7 ~
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues/ }/ k9 G# N5 W: t$ D7 v
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
4 r2 m7 \9 `. s1 O' H4 {0 y9 H"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
/ \" d3 R0 s$ X; x) Ndone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
- N3 G6 E$ C% y/ q5 D4 othrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's7 H/ R0 E4 H7 z8 {
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
" d: n& S, P: B. r$ L9 ^Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an" I. C; Z. H, @$ X0 W4 Y5 y
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of/ R( x( m) _; ^% F. n+ d
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a# B% _% f! X0 s: f
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he. C0 k$ _. Q; |9 |$ j& Y
said.
5 k! ?( h; R# L jAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
* F1 _( }" f/ ~' W) x; x& u( ?: M. vhappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe; u+ J3 U8 P) M! A4 \7 O, a
about driving our products," Lentz said.) O4 c7 ]5 @( m- i
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
' |. }6 X. I% N) ^/ Qproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
) Z4 h, N( J0 z2 U& [7 v; p' p! orecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
/ R1 F C+ m1 [/ vmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of
& E M# z: [- W1 u/ J5 aunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking. H' r( A+ J1 ^6 C0 r) C
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
6 H2 t8 C u9 T& h: Q# N" Y& rconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of' z8 A: i# u |; M; K- P9 L
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
% m/ A$ P, J z) n c" wdown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
4 b$ k7 m" w \$ W9 _2 Freceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
7 P1 V$ F, F `% I: o' hof Toyota vehicles since 2000.( s+ l T8 _0 c' z# [
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own* Y3 A% ~$ s: u
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
% f( `4 O2 W1 t- uunderstood the pain.& z D; d8 C+ n" X0 t- Z; W$ m
"I know what those families go through," he said.
6 A7 a: h( L+ ALentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
/ d( U3 w: h8 a/ ]fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
. H! S a1 {$ Y( lBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
( o6 O( ^9 V) |" lHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put9 I- ?1 y( A1 t w4 h9 U$ I9 l% J
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,9 K8 L8 M: b" n+ S |* y( v8 c
Lentz replied: "Not totally."
# A. y; T1 R+ C/ fStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
" i( t* _ O* |"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
. y0 ~5 C, D! |6 U$ r7 kToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas4 M: g2 b: X( p( U/ d
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
! z) l& k3 l: s1 t( dvehicles already on the road., o+ c" c. @8 Y) Q
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify6 w+ [* B/ l0 p
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
6 V4 P3 c1 ]3 yresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
& D; P2 d5 I3 G5 q* A& [offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
( g/ F3 [- G. o- |( mkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.- z/ o9 d( {- \8 F- l9 f4 c( c# ~( \
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a$ P9 C+ ?) V& I& j
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony" C& `. L+ L5 P0 @- P8 v
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight5 c3 P; I3 _2 }2 \; I5 c% y
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal1 L, X9 @4 U G" {6 k$ G
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
/ {6 _% e! V" h0 R. nrestore the trust of our customers."
6 M9 l! T$ `( d6 [; ILawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from: B5 e: H4 A- V1 E$ n3 `
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly% M& ]% R! s8 I- z% \* d
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
$ t. v$ U; r# k- M) q6 l* W5 a4 r& Hshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and3 d: h) C4 r& z9 B8 s1 w+ y
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough; L- g) `. `0 ~
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and& ]6 o: h0 m( q9 g5 e; ^; r2 s% ~
turn off the engine.4 V$ N3 S- {9 G! y" {8 v
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
! ?6 ?" W$ k4 O W2 @' f5 e& XOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."! p( e1 Q% J" |% @% R$ F4 l
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she- I9 g1 r" T1 z
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
; z' b* H, P1 U: a9 W' uto her complaints.
/ f. o U9 Q0 Q! K' p- nIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
- h. z& H! @$ Z% F7 L7 l- jreturned again and again to the question of whether electronic
3 O4 R* `: ?2 x, m- {malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
n% J+ P4 n. W! V6 i"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
% n9 x( m9 a( ]$ |3 M9 Tthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited1 Z: K5 P' j0 t- E
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut, z3 ]6 M$ ]2 _( p8 I
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."2 R9 Y1 b" K* {- T$ S+ r2 c% k
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in# ^' b2 g& w# U9 g m6 N2 k
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
$ Z$ Q* H. S8 M. i& Z1 Y* ~being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls' E/ |2 w+ U& T# E. V+ l, j4 [
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
8 p- G6 V; {% Ievery question."
5 P, O) U( Y& n4 g. S3 A& ^Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether# ^2 `) Z& i/ K( Z$ Y4 z/ R
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The+ Q9 T) |( g% h! F
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But" {6 V( s( z+ e2 S
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small, V( w$ G0 Z% ]( F+ u5 ]5 R
number of vehicles
6 e* }7 f' p$ L$ D& {2 A8 U$ D) VTracking down an electrical problem can be far more
0 J9 _/ \& u9 Q" Q) k+ g' udifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
) q- h3 e$ I. p% b- emechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one# s! W% q2 d( l# o$ N, i/ o
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.' y2 a% F& L9 \; S+ m
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,3 _2 O5 i( {8 }( a* t
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
) E3 ~1 f: H) o3 Q% { j# A0 m" mtrace at all.' A$ X" b* D- h, h% G
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
* [4 u" H) Z8 w |% \4 Odatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden3 Z0 ~8 w" C6 F
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
1 b. n- T: r% D! Y4 h7 rrecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.8 O8 a1 ^1 V0 u& |
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
2 y) {. d! i9 Psaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
( ^6 z+ Z# U: C) B/ g4 G9 K: mother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
# ?* l! C+ m! q1 D3 yelectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
, ~5 {! B) B% u) A) dcause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only2 R: [) v! Z1 S! o2 }$ Y, ^- `
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained* m8 z" G: d2 o6 B+ q; v
by Toyota's lawyers."
8 }0 x" B+ Z: V+ V( A% x, ~Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
" z1 D9 s, h$ I% J4 |& {% m# z" _problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
% ?! t6 ?- W! R6 P! rcustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he$ j( T! A. P( k1 n9 Y# d
said. Z. P4 Q+ W9 ^6 X' R
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
* _8 a2 B$ {9 Y4 u5 _, U6 |8 p& ma rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
& c( o) k A& E$ Zgood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating6 m1 Z t- x7 H3 g
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
, y ]# v y7 }- C# h' m, p/ R) _Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
' X& H: c$ y2 d6 B: [ x* E. j nmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread( G. t/ z( H7 `/ W' f
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
3 }2 A' m- ]- m) K1 o$ W8 Vautomaker, at least in part because of the government's
9 T# T- q2 v" q/ ginvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
4 O- ]* e0 R/ D* H7 FChrysler.
" A% |/ [7 g/ p4 D% v"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax" Q: r6 U; b F( V
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
3 G+ U" h; |* o9 EHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also$ `7 P. ?" ^7 H+ ^0 P7 b
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
; `" @( w% K: k2 e% }- pwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
0 \9 H e. ^0 T3 Ftough."
* V' h4 D3 B! Y. b/ ?---
5 }# x8 i9 C# X+ J( W. xAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom8 ?! x# C5 x: v$ h3 J
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
5 O0 Y2 W" l) o7 r( E; Sthis story.
7 l# @/ G7 u8 G
0 j; ?! k& @' D/ `5 T0 G-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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