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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
* e2 O* X2 m- I/ m1 K! W/ U% VBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS3 P( p% c- ?; i( V5 U
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
$ U$ F, P! o. e0 r3 r: qoperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that$ [& S' }# Q7 v: c
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"1 v% r8 `0 B* R ~" [9 D o. o
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
! j2 v* |) g+ ]# H: M; F, T) L% a+ q"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential' Y. H. X3 N: E
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.. \4 F, }1 w$ Z& O7 l
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
0 Y- z* v( {; \4 ]3 c( kacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and3 G( `7 U l' d( G0 c
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor z9 a, N# X" d) N6 i
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.) {) o- _% P. j
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal9 R% W8 n |2 _8 R& T4 Z/ n+ W
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
0 |+ R2 E7 }8 v# p- ~criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
) _, w5 d, i6 x# C8 h% ?further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
. T( p5 ~4 P1 ?; Y" l5 i" i; Vnot stop her runaway Lexus.% j* P0 D2 o: W( o+ y3 D4 C
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
( N A6 {/ q' E0 M8 J& Q1 O: u" STenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second! n9 R# ]4 H9 i# T8 g$ H. ?. P
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
q& {& A, F& l3 x0 H) E8 x7 nTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
8 a4 u" f; j" R z" aearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said6 ?5 F7 J1 l A, V8 @
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has# F; T& a& M5 Y' o* s
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
: y. J, s9 A: ?! p2 ]1 {through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's# `* p% C. W- W( ]+ \( o
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
/ h8 h) M& ]" u: [& z) yLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
$ E7 S$ l, J" M' Z5 C; helectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of/ R1 W+ d* q, i' i) k& D
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a: ?% V3 z" f; q& Y
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he# d2 g) |+ D- n1 g
said.
/ e1 s3 X0 i9 O. ^8 IAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what7 R2 g9 X* y5 [. ^ m$ L
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
/ D2 g* r- ]5 S3 W: wabout driving our products," Lentz said.
v7 \: k8 B4 s, U6 |Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's/ ?; W5 j0 l, i. @0 p9 y
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
8 M4 ]( c( D4 R. b, w C! \9 lrecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6+ X* H: X& f1 M8 C! U3 i5 C$ ?
million in the United States -- since last fall because of1 U( ~% o2 q% _
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking' ] y/ P, a+ f
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering# Q# k; L, ^6 A0 ^. {
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of0 @5 C1 |# ~$ v
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow8 s+ T s3 c g+ y" S* \
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
0 r" e: R( g( Ireceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
6 y. F3 @) A- x- \* q1 J ]$ _( nof Toyota vehicles since 2000. R$ O6 h' V/ U7 o
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
) _9 v9 I, a& F! Jbrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he; l, q0 H- i! D1 f, S1 c/ o
understood the pain.5 b- G) F, m, a; X. J
"I know what those families go through," he said." v+ y; e$ R s! a2 K$ P! b/ K
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
7 y# Q8 r! `4 R: i4 E" ] |+ ?fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
+ d8 T- x" F3 ]7 E) g4 z: jBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
' X% v* f/ j0 zHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
, _% j8 y" r0 f. \1 u- m6 n: Oin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,) ~3 Y) y/ O0 D; h
Lentz replied: "Not totally."
( Y/ z3 n6 ^. k2 g' [Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
; m) f* V& |0 A6 S2 M5 N: C; H0 s"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said A7 F- d+ f/ L- k2 [7 {5 e
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas. R: |! Z. R! y
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its/ ^# `- u# \2 Z" m4 G8 b8 U
vehicles already on the road.+ K& u7 R; G: N% F3 U+ \
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
. v6 a$ ~7 R9 j9 A, O, B6 rbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full; o; \' q; b# t8 `, B
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and% n6 a6 u, @+ d3 ?+ _
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were/ _2 p. U5 p! u/ s4 s
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
" y' R3 Z0 n6 G"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
6 N+ E: A% l7 J# E5 \* ~tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony/ M& U, Y9 i h M( L
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
+ a, L: A% W+ u& SCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal' l( Z: p5 \) W# `4 O' l* Y
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
2 `5 f/ M! T$ i# z5 [% s( Y; erestore the trust of our customers."
5 t+ m$ E" f. j, A gLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from5 ]& @4 W7 [$ f: z4 o+ b2 |1 F6 C
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly7 J i) l* i% O8 m" C" ?
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --. |! \# h7 j3 f: b
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and" n6 P$ n. A5 s( s7 Q, C
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough. s, x3 J, x5 Q
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
- j1 `/ l% ?: P: e/ z9 Y1 yturn off the engine.
: S7 W( M# h0 e% y. \Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
$ J& B& L' s0 [/ H2 kOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."' l7 r3 `; m S' L- b5 t
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
w( y' K( _' b3 Z+ Z" i9 Ysaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond# H r- G6 V& l4 I# }
to her complaints.% S6 n! l( b# `, F
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers4 \& @6 ^( M- \/ T2 K! i
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
" J: T2 ]1 d5 s. W$ A) S& f8 e$ tmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.& ]# h1 r& Z2 _
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric2 ~) w) a) [! |7 I/ Q1 ~6 T
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
3 |) |, l+ ~' C8 N" O. ?& R8 t) p"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut g5 g$ T+ ]1 _+ L
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure.", y2 q; l/ c/ Z: ~
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in& }$ |- M- a# \$ x
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were0 ^2 m: X/ w; C( @$ P
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls8 j6 H: ^! \) ~0 A# T6 d
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
. k* E8 ?9 t+ g }+ uevery question."( M5 c7 I: |" m9 O
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
8 N% ]4 r" h. H( d6 b9 a- R6 P( _electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The' ?. V2 ?" W0 p V/ m2 o1 m2 f7 Q
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
- c0 A0 ]9 T/ s( l, Acommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small- a c' U8 C1 i
number of vehicles' l4 |6 ` {8 R& B
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more
" u3 z- i5 L3 {+ ?" R$ F$ K9 D2 Jdifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
2 ^* Y* ~5 g: T, f" e/ `! z; ~mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
5 l+ }7 g+ M1 E2 x0 Ssource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
3 Y) Z% R& _5 r: W; t( ?Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
' p$ V* v' @$ ^4 L$ B- [where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
& W# |/ T8 P2 L$ Rtrace at all.
0 h# r- B3 d# Z7 HHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
( S+ R* S8 T. g2 }( |5 idatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
- ~. W) O& T" P! k& P+ Uacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
7 K( \) Q5 R0 \! Krecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.2 a0 V4 o: D$ @) O2 H Q: J4 I4 P
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
& P; c0 j H7 B9 }) Qsaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
% G9 L/ v T5 W S; x8 g3 f, Eother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the: k5 `- l& \3 }% |& [
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
( R9 x' ]3 T% `& B% Ucause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only9 Y1 z% R; ^& {6 R# n3 G N5 o0 M: g
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
3 P( J& C/ D- j4 U5 V8 S yby Toyota's lawyers."3 [* E& `* J9 u" N8 u
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of E7 O/ G5 e* o% j* z# ^6 E2 c
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
* a0 ]+ e S3 w) q/ q1 Ycustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he, o6 f/ ?1 k- R6 X% T, {: t$ x2 @5 |
said.; c1 s2 \' Q7 x3 u% L$ ~/ W C3 j
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
' j V; T. n# G' k; P* `+ l8 fa rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
0 ]* s1 T: @$ R3 }: u) B5 d: E, zgood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
2 k1 s! L. s$ ~3 a$ r' e, i# Uofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc., \' W8 z, d& n5 H. L
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
f9 D7 }2 @8 b9 T* h3 {$ I% B# `members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread' ]: _6 h; v" o) M- P- _
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
7 f! H' O, v5 T4 j0 h+ Nautomaker, at least in part because of the government's0 G6 D% j% K3 M) }) ^/ }
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and! `4 }6 w! B9 G n/ D ~; H
Chrysler.
1 {! S$ ?' i/ |" X3 g% k"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
2 n- F9 ]' q5 V5 Pdollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a( |' ^; z7 y1 j; X* J7 k: a
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also$ C$ w# W! \! |/ m( \8 X- b
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
% E: |* A) h, z/ H' Awith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty+ B' [, ^1 `- X$ a2 ^
tough."/ p% x- x/ a& z* q' z
---
- Q* ?! C1 H( i7 AAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom0 X/ g, Q5 u1 @4 k5 ]5 C
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to9 i' i( M8 ~7 V" w* Z7 B
this story.* r+ [! V e2 b" k
2 h, n# h2 t! ~' A
-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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