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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
. F* ~2 o/ H. C& i% A# k: M' fBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS$ p- w; l8 J5 Q' D& A* [
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S., _0 o3 V/ i5 u6 k2 j; I R
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that( {7 f! U! M& |( ]7 J, H
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
4 I& I) @/ u9 Y2 P+ fsolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
% ?' d2 |) E' E$ p"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
4 Y% Z/ |+ g6 U: E6 I6 ncauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
r3 s+ C* L9 ZHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
2 d& H$ U- \# h' |acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
X; D6 S2 y6 }9 R$ K: C9 vtrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor+ e; M1 Z9 [+ h$ x, z
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.
7 V$ ?& r0 O3 V1 Z7 r7 q7 nHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal' o/ \ H, H4 p
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp5 u- a0 G$ E0 H ^) P1 I, K
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
0 g) p9 v% P$ qfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
( W* [" d9 b! e1 s7 E2 b( q: qnot stop her runaway Lexus.( u4 f* `! x( h' E4 J) i
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,4 ~/ U/ o7 y+ y' ~4 M7 P
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second; L# m9 c* u3 {3 E* U6 W' y
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
3 u( z; W6 v0 cTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues' M) c$ \ [- P( w8 v
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said" H W2 @' k; }8 ^* o- }4 ^1 ^
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has2 g( A/ ~* @8 l8 q# x9 }9 E
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway# a4 U/ U0 _ S1 \) z2 N
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
. Z: }6 M( J/ D1 O+ B6 C2 i* sinvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
# ^# Q. o p8 r* b5 c) JLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an1 Y' R8 P2 E0 H; y/ C0 ?9 |/ O% L
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of. _, h3 V j3 F: L5 ]
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a4 d, s# ?- i( v5 _# Z: e# O
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he' z5 N- M- N' g% X$ x( H+ g
said.
~$ R1 L2 m Y& M" y+ i, q0 FAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
) w( z4 X% N+ q8 X( r' Khappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe% Q4 w/ {6 Q" y0 l8 `5 B
about driving our products," Lentz said.
/ ]# m* e- s8 @( OThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's4 p! n/ ^' Z; l2 z. g" B) ]5 r* A
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
7 a* S [/ y. B! o, d4 }recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6! D! `5 B7 q# g3 K
million in the United States -- since last fall because of8 J8 p2 ^+ _* S7 G
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
: c- L6 X, \8 \. a, xissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
" O) b! b" I/ M! Uconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
( j& y& U( E# w& O6 |+ i! ftheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
. i5 y6 y& _( A' c0 @ S& Fdown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has" l. K; v1 p; Z
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
6 t/ j$ ]& H- Tof Toyota vehicles since 2000.
+ q8 f; |, I: oLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own4 l/ l; u) Y/ @$ E8 n: Y$ y1 J# _
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
0 k, a8 w/ C# ~understood the pain.9 d T0 Y+ D1 a' {) \; l; b
"I know what those families go through," he said.( U [( H1 R, U0 h& B' n* p" M
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's9 B# |( Z, r" C4 \' U' X% E
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.- h. u' c% _. U5 N3 d; S# N6 e d2 P- M/ {
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman3 ?8 J: a9 @; ~: b
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put$ m, h' S+ d# R" ]6 F. a* e! n5 r
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
% c; \4 c8 k- L. k% wLentz replied: "Not totally."
* i2 E, f0 z8 J% i/ \- H0 S8 L+ V, I, PStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were. K. e& a% n6 \7 |: N5 ~2 Z: B
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said& D; X( G5 ~. I" g
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas% j) \" C& D6 u/ {0 u- [2 W* g
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its- B4 Q( C. I% l
vehicles already on the road.
# x' s( _5 @" b0 G/ E6 _Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
d: B7 z: \ z1 a. g/ Nbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
9 ]6 _, R/ X$ M- z5 t7 l* G9 vresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
+ [. R2 b( P4 V; n6 uoffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
$ y( e8 j9 H2 `! |killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.. ~5 O D( }" K- p; b
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a, C6 t5 O1 N, \+ V' ?
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
* y* M+ w8 e8 U" R/ d5 A7 B$ c; B/ Efor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight9 }. F/ ?. P1 s3 Y/ @* B" f
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal) p8 L0 N* `: Q4 i
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to. {, q! j5 Q% K9 K* U# B
restore the trust of our customers."
- l6 d! B; s& a1 ILawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from- b7 z4 {/ s( |4 o# {1 k$ q
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly/ E, Q1 K. q% o
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --1 k( @2 D) j3 w8 _% x& x- O
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
9 {, _" N0 |$ zhitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
+ N& \/ d' [/ V( y& Athat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
( J6 A9 Z+ |6 p! H6 u7 mturn off the engine.
+ k( u- R0 `7 S6 E; d s( uFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of; K; M) a/ y4 t' a4 S
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience.", k" L y) x/ Y1 `# [1 Q
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
) m; `9 e" z; csaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
! g/ x. n# n2 O5 ], o) sto her complaints.8 b5 a6 P! V% m
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
) e9 u: G' b4 ^/ K" |# ^4 Vreturned again and again to the question of whether electronic5 I: Z6 l' `5 h" q* {2 p
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.6 r0 F" Q8 x( d' ~5 l& G
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric; Q8 M- e; s; A2 ~5 y9 D# z
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited! a2 }/ e- |% G' i* {( c
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut' I- a$ m8 Q7 _* d+ ?) g# ^
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
0 d4 d0 q; u+ c, @Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in9 b& l& Y: c, `. ]! q
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were7 l. b$ [/ j3 v$ \8 {9 A$ g3 u
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls5 R! t: |* o) o
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
" F: r) b, ?" X; y* Devery question."
; Y3 G1 _( T! V/ F$ |/ PToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
3 g4 u& ]5 q; Zelectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The; W) a& a0 U1 j0 f! C. V2 y3 L
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But6 k- ~$ N; r* Q6 G
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
8 h$ U9 k1 |, O. `0 }+ q" Mnumber of vehicles. }) I* g) w8 S
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more$ R$ U7 ^! h) t+ |$ v W. x3 g5 U
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a' i; |0 r g2 d/ n8 N
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one& b$ Q3 f! i* I# v, [5 `' L
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car./ {7 A3 n) g9 z0 w" K
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,7 @, @: W+ @; Q/ x0 K6 O$ g8 H# ]
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no* v. ]* [! ~) d! V6 h! p
trace at all.$ f1 p3 \- t/ j" q( k8 T0 T
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call5 Z! y' }; b5 Q3 P& ]! w( a9 F
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
+ T$ g7 l9 y, A+ r) S( e4 F1 Zacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
: E h+ Z) i/ X$ N/ Crecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.0 ]4 E* S0 q1 e9 H7 K# T
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
& e" k" q6 m) D1 Xsaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
" }" ]% D9 B- h3 sother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
7 A, f" L9 t/ x6 g4 T& q9 K9 Felectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
7 e `+ l( n- mcause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only! `! Q6 \% k0 \$ V& j) J* ]: o
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
3 r( S* }2 P& Vby Toyota's lawyers."
5 h, r/ H; B1 w8 ELentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
" k6 {, u. P" i9 {# O6 c7 ]9 t* Sproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
4 f! m! I# T. r5 G, N$ _+ ?customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he# h/ l# [( y* n" p' d6 E; Q" O5 ~
said.
7 z& r- T; a& W% Q( @& V+ N# _"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
/ o, o. q# Q1 Ca rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
9 Q; s5 O; q* r( a. m; Igood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
: c- A- s* k2 u; { \0 b7 |( ^2 nofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.$ T8 }$ {* J* E: d
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
/ ?8 M/ M! E8 M) p& t- `: vmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
- A5 F7 b; H9 t( \! V( trancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
q( d! V% c& l4 |8 kautomaker, at least in part because of the government's) \6 `. O' \$ U2 p- p B9 b$ J( m
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
( v2 r: K' [3 ZChrysler.' H9 y* ~1 d R
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
/ d. r7 A5 o. v8 g7 Pdollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a( Y0 I0 i7 Z( J3 u! m0 g
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also) P( [" ^2 h+ e4 k$ ~
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete: Y8 w- \ e, r. O4 O# n9 C
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty$ l6 H# V+ P# {2 I
tough."/ V! W5 c5 m! v/ [( ]1 |
---
" m) S- S: Y* V& f& B+ n jAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
) g) t" \ i( c& _0 y3 p6 {Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to5 b& C7 ?4 j( Q
this story.( u+ _/ {0 K7 V, y* H% G, H0 r
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-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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