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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
0 L. U$ s6 [! H: d8 ~2 |0 RBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS% K2 r k" L" w! i0 C; A6 p
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S./ i* F& z( v& _6 ]
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
0 ]7 ^+ p: F- e- r4 `8 B5 [the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"+ [0 H/ T0 \6 b4 M& D
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
) t4 {' t; D$ |0 Z"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential; ?5 s6 u# p' r! Q- j2 M
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
4 [/ V/ y/ c7 h* j9 P7 ]( ]& F! IHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected* L: y: `; G5 J' [& k# _1 {
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
' l: T+ E, _ `' Z% u6 P- l: Ttrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
: ~1 v: e) l4 H+ E4 I- P, |7 @mats and sticking accelerator pedals.
/ j6 @. F5 N ~- J( K" FHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal! R8 T1 r( J# g# J+ m D: z
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp# l. F& e7 n6 }8 k9 \2 W3 c. ]6 y
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be7 ~& Z) l* s! c6 [) h* y
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could& R, p/ @, I, e% \ x$ Z
not stop her runaway Lexus.; m, c6 g9 N% @. ?
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
, A8 n5 l' e. H9 vTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
! D0 | y& p3 i"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.+ ]* v: P3 @5 ?* Q4 y9 \0 Q
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues3 K" N0 P+ W4 w4 f5 Y
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said/ s7 r" \9 F( f8 s) L
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has, [) s' Z- Y; y7 F+ p3 C5 e( u
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway8 o" L, t8 q4 l9 n) e5 C* E" ]
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's' d" J, Z5 e/ r5 G5 Y2 J. F. A. b
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
' ~3 H* D7 s5 R& aLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an& s$ a( @+ F! e# O% V
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of) D& x- S4 n' E, d/ M: N
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
+ v9 l/ h9 X3 Amalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
' s2 a& L3 L' h9 W8 `6 `* a8 Ksaid.6 J* D w! K5 ?: n+ _( [
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what l$ v5 t6 P2 G, }
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
1 A4 {, `" \8 C+ kabout driving our products," Lentz said.
1 w5 k3 P. K( Q2 y# x+ FThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
: T" Z1 V4 V& J9 G( b {problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has/ r: J5 M+ j1 l& j4 [% m( n" P5 O$ {
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6# f& Z e1 y" u+ b3 k9 h
million in the United States -- since last fall because of) M" i! d5 ~6 r0 W+ b
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking9 R0 z' q" v! R! H3 O7 o/ j
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
! |7 X, \" Y' t: Pconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
* j# \( B# l2 f8 ^3 G& Stheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
, F! ]) ?0 h; p+ P+ adown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has3 K# g: w) a7 x1 O; C
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration$ n" Q6 e" d! J7 f6 ^
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.
+ j7 N9 @9 x8 I- d& G' @Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own; }" I, s: O. _* ?& E9 U
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
( s8 k' e$ `; dunderstood the pain.
+ y2 o3 h+ s% ?6 Q2 d"I know what those families go through," he said.
H7 f3 {, V% u$ v- ILentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's. N- F' ~7 m8 j+ W8 n& M
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
! ^8 `4 J8 H7 @& f2 d( D5 n fBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman# D* Z6 p8 q2 u2 W5 o) x
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
Q! _: x* W" N# q Lin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
* I" C5 t& w+ I$ v$ |& ELentz replied: "Not totally."
8 @& h- h1 T' s6 wStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were5 Y# h+ b \4 f! W
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said R2 Z* I/ z2 J/ u H7 ` E
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas; Z/ Q% u! u) x' o% }# m7 v
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
' S$ s4 t2 ?4 i5 w H1 z8 s7 xvehicles already on the road.
* T ~* @9 e% @Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify! K8 B# H- ~# h* |! n6 ]. _) Q" t8 I
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full! z: @$ @9 p5 a+ w5 g- K
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
M6 p& v) a1 M; o# X% ^- T# `offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
9 ]/ D, B# H- r6 I6 v1 rkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.3 A3 U$ J2 l: W: l: _( E
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
6 [) p% J8 {# D5 Z* F9 a% E- Otragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony' i- M3 H! M# g5 Z+ E& L
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
% Z9 L J2 X8 |Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal" W& W9 z; y) U: ~9 Q) \7 K
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
4 |! y8 r, b+ K* M+ E2 }5 F- wrestore the trust of our customers."" L/ ~' F4 w2 W5 l: U
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from5 c+ ?0 P+ E. q) p
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly) B, e* I* j* O
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --5 d% l" F; d# k9 V+ z, l
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
6 T+ i( L8 o1 _; V/ Ehitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough3 N" G6 M$ }4 `8 x9 q4 m/ {$ `; z
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
3 E6 K" q7 A ^" b" O" pturn off the engine.1 B; ?) _3 e8 k; o$ `
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of4 ~0 L# [: V) i# D4 n6 J) L2 z
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
+ t2 |0 y% B8 W) Q& e"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
/ g& _* X0 F9 T% ysaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond( o g8 ^5 B8 D$ c1 t
to her complaints." t, ~0 V% S4 k6 w
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers: [. E8 u6 g3 r. E9 s
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
; Z3 ]! Z9 R& N# a) u: tmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
& p& G1 B2 m4 m6 r4 T"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric0 B" G4 l A! e- N9 z* c5 x
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
: A) C0 A7 L: q"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
' `3 K Y# P# D7 f8 ioff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."/ b4 ~ v2 O5 ]( d& C3 s/ w1 E
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in) l6 u9 B# k1 N8 V
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were) e. A! z6 O. S. R" c @+ h2 n; b
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
$ c* V& }# e& Jwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
2 V6 [0 V; u( N* Aevery question.". |4 @/ D& |+ R- ]( m
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
& C7 j" c3 N: [" P. n' x) belectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
" N1 {3 S& _# U. ?firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
2 x" k( m" }$ fcommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small) f' A$ Y& A: `4 h
number of vehicles
5 ~* M$ Y) a8 D$ a$ G$ j2 g$ Q# j8 ^Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more
& ]# Z: d {5 ^( V; B: zdifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
5 i N' P, I! U+ t! Y: ]mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one- B& P2 c: {2 g* ~4 K$ P6 s- |
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
F S1 }2 T( K3 D$ o3 c3 H' wMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,1 I! b3 d# t7 R7 ^0 v$ ^( {
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no, i2 u5 _) c; i, q
trace at all.
0 r2 k! b2 b+ e& f2 QHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
5 [0 C l& y7 \& n! f. udatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
9 S2 B3 z) E( H2 q+ f, Cacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
" h7 M$ x T: a3 \/ Vrecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.3 [" Q8 _9 `6 p
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,% T1 ?( _' J* ? d0 A h$ @
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
4 _; m8 _# h6 I. ?5 }2 I1 Jother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the; Z! h) [4 }1 ^% f2 c i
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible. ~& A3 E3 H7 o# }" I. k7 x1 n
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only7 o. t9 {7 c, j8 q% t+ R0 A; S# k" R
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained8 p' K/ D- B" a3 T; n
by Toyota's lawyers."! N5 G. d x# C! |* U
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
9 Z" {+ a$ ?" W! aproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
! {1 w' Z0 f9 t$ }6 R7 W" t- h( u+ k Acustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
% E4 W3 [! v3 Dsaid., d; S: M* c9 C# g
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with3 J! S/ w3 u" L
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
5 C1 G$ H" B5 c9 d: h& ugood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating1 g3 m# ^# a( `3 P2 x+ K2 o
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.+ ~2 L# \8 y _
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying+ k/ V+ R! T, A# B0 S8 R; E% p
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
( ?' h5 _" [. }+ Brancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the4 \. U' P6 c u3 x6 _
automaker, at least in part because of the government's
. J; S. }0 I- F: ~investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and/ E% ]6 \6 \5 E( P7 ^9 h6 `( O
Chrysler.2 Z2 c0 d4 A, d! x& ^; @3 S/ o
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax) x; R& z0 w( M
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
, F- k+ [% I" Y, Q1 YHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
" }% T& U2 Q( K+ o) K/ qserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
: U3 H; y# g1 v U* ?" ?0 U. y2 Mwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
5 d2 p9 s2 K. i$ n/ atough."
4 t! i7 Z3 k: }3 Y- A, @! x: a& _---: T2 T" g) _& }6 o6 h
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
7 ^2 ?9 ~+ f) z5 G2 }# `$ zRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
" c$ Y+ v0 v: B0 @this story.
" A, Z% x- W4 {/ S. b9 w, Q& b
! P, _% {6 n# F7 M-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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