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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题" S; p; o$ l( h6 f" W1 R$ [8 o
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS" F+ V2 T8 X6 F: j
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
5 J# |, L; T' B4 q5 Toperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that! R$ O/ ?0 a( G0 m9 s
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
9 b7 ?% B# O$ {. isolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.. W8 d9 x* H6 l- V# A* z
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential7 R) [+ Q$ x( a: f l. ]/ D3 n
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
* g) V0 o/ P/ s" G, t. ~8 ]+ MHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected5 u. G) R B% D) i7 ~9 ?
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and& Z6 U6 L6 Y9 F' U/ ?
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
0 s1 X1 V, d" Z# ~$ n$ i. Cmats and sticking accelerator pedals.
. _' i0 h% C1 k2 jHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal. r8 K4 @& g* T
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
% q# O: B4 N% b* [4 W& gcriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be& [4 q* b5 Z( C8 g& N/ `
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could. Y1 F# K9 J3 k' t% x: N4 x* {* C
not stop her runaway Lexus.
y3 Z& X7 x8 W' `" N! f0 l; \* ?" ]/ X"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,8 H5 J1 y* j6 x
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second3 E. N, o/ }- |3 e0 E
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
) @! Q. T" J, H* gTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues* S% h& o6 j* V2 m3 C
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
4 H( ~5 @+ h- w4 K9 h. f& u"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
9 T; i5 x6 T4 kdone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway8 \: m+ P8 {8 v- Q, r. B
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's1 L, y9 U+ N, E" P# A6 y
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham.": @. R) C$ ?( A/ I
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an( r( l9 ?8 A9 L4 R7 M% y
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
$ E0 y) A4 N% j% W4 bthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
6 A e" x7 i& l. X8 x3 g$ qmalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
( [/ U& `2 a' gsaid.
" K3 A' Z; N5 {/ d( HAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what* K5 Z; A+ I/ Z( W4 a
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
( c' _% N! K& `; E) F7 Vabout driving our products," Lentz said.' x8 O9 X$ A6 N9 d9 L- S
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's* x. V# u v$ p. J& r
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has" x+ A0 r: f9 R
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 67 F/ |7 a7 t# \- {7 N
million in the United States -- since last fall because of+ J6 c8 }7 w. J; `1 z0 w* V! i
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking2 f( x, X0 b# k7 B: E7 U
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering/ E8 C+ @. M9 e. |
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
4 F7 C- X0 N4 w; g0 V- S8 btheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
" ~$ A! v3 R' n6 f# l8 t' _' j! z- wdown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
% ?, F/ s n T* v. A; ?+ L9 freceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
" x, c* H9 v% k- Rof Toyota vehicles since 2000.
/ |9 O; `/ p$ E2 \0 a3 }3 yLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
7 O6 [8 X$ {; M0 hbrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he# v# Q, X: V6 ^0 @$ F( r) r
understood the pain.
2 U9 z5 L; t6 K/ K2 X: |, d"I know what those families go through," he said.
; x2 L2 H/ Y. `" ~4 n( eLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's# a& h2 j! e3 _
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.7 r" c o! ^$ B$ w# C- |/ f
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
1 X# y! u* _: S$ t* \1 m' rHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
8 v4 o' y2 _1 o8 r4 d7 Nin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
& M$ r) g# l' L) H/ cLentz replied: "Not totally."
: [2 @! w1 q0 ^Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
0 B9 n1 ]8 s' }3 I"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said' i/ E6 ^4 ^- A0 x: t
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas E0 G$ [ u k& v( T+ N$ ~1 p
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its+ R+ N- c- U% {# n' O
vehicles already on the road.. M- |+ C: y# @8 h4 q5 S# I
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify* b9 }0 o7 w% D' T+ Q
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
. P5 N/ W2 N1 r0 u/ \ U! Kresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
" K6 O$ W! X V1 W {# Eoffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were0 v# \8 T( q' V7 ]/ r
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems., ?6 ~4 F7 |6 m, P' S& l
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
! h) ^: U6 u4 P# D: Y. _8 Ptragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
5 ]6 l% s6 }, k/ x/ Nfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight& i z# Z9 N* ?( }- J% ?
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal7 m" Y4 D1 O; a' l1 C+ M1 [: ^
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
2 A; ~8 x \5 J9 ~restore the trust of our customers."
' y7 U( ?/ b5 y4 ~Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
" |9 |! k2 j* g* e: b% XSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
$ [9 i* y# I9 G" czoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
5 D8 ~# o3 s( rshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and) Z9 G6 u, z4 N9 E8 s8 s" |
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
7 E5 A5 p+ @# S' `that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and' L( Y# s3 n# K; b( K
turn off the engine.
4 v+ h7 f2 _ E8 {+ c5 D# XFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
y+ L1 s' J& d$ ]& e. K2 KOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
: M! ~6 v* U; m# j" N5 x4 @"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
' P3 S4 R- {9 `' D0 P- {said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond6 n( ]" e1 T: f N5 v
to her complaints.) N0 x* n, C0 ]$ r* ~# z; v0 _
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
, K6 D+ @. j! X* @9 W5 wreturned again and again to the question of whether electronic
* h$ _- A* w* D% `+ F. G* Mmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.9 s& n0 l8 Z! s. y+ I
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
6 D# Z- C7 G8 M8 R, ithrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
6 O: p* ?3 M$ a |0 T"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut6 G2 w$ B' Y) M3 [/ ^$ C0 t# r: l
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
; C+ a" j6 f h `: s7 k: ZTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in/ L/ |+ T( \7 r" \4 {5 J
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were$ R& G \( B- r* H: u
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
" t7 f! s9 r* K# J% p5 ]8 kwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
! B% e% Y6 U* T: Wevery question."
1 m; s c8 b3 w% { B8 [Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether. f5 O/ M2 a7 Z. E
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
0 e/ g: e" d( t q9 yfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But4 I! o/ @) T5 h, C4 H( ?# B1 w
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small0 v* P0 M8 z& q4 b
number of vehicles1 R I. v4 R: D+ h
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more# o6 [2 M/ j0 k4 q$ w
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
' s U+ f% }0 b/ r( S5 ]: e8 \mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
# y& T9 [' ^+ x' x$ R$ xsource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.0 O( T0 d( Y1 B8 _8 p
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
$ x1 B2 ]3 w# N; J; Vwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no H) @3 C7 I. ^5 V3 L$ v7 d y
trace at all.
( {' R' `! w/ z, V4 }! dHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
6 ^1 }2 ^2 l% h, k( Pdatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
& ~1 I% T) i# l: macceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the5 H0 p8 C' r/ w' R# P) _& a
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.0 G e, _# z2 n* r/ u
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
% h- L5 @% H6 W% R) @: G; X* q5 Tsaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and, B& S8 N, P% x
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the3 `, v" Q/ {5 i0 V' m
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
4 Z5 B2 P/ `) e! x" bcause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
+ \* ]( g4 _" z2 Z; K; b" q9 Esuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
/ [& y+ r: u2 g- ]' gby Toyota's lawyers." j* T- r; A0 F- c0 a
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
9 i* M4 ]& ^& L5 e$ k% p; cproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
' { k) r: \+ _customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he9 g- D; B1 Y; B, p% x r
said.' j- Z2 V, Z( j6 I: O4 E4 C
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with0 a+ F0 ~, h Z/ T
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our( ?) V6 `, b* [. h8 N* K% n! x
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
9 |$ o$ ?6 {) y& W" @7 |" T$ [3 m, Sofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.6 n* f2 U5 m# f9 m# o. i
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
7 l- S* _1 t& B" r$ u5 B1 pmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread9 a9 {: E& A, g" z# [) K* N2 r: F8 R
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
& }" Q/ [ G6 C/ l, o7 ? G; Mautomaker, at least in part because of the government's
/ P* B* v, U$ k [investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and0 H- a8 V+ d, B/ t" X
Chrysler.
- J e6 V, ]& U"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax* T0 A! x$ W, B0 h: U
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
: [1 r. k* r; l) qHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
0 p, _$ ^+ s5 ~4 hserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete( U1 B7 E" L% r2 _/ [3 x& S% E
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty: B3 V* m. {: m( B! q
tough."
+ h# u: t( t% g---. l) B+ N( @- j1 W$ L
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
% V( [, s1 _5 sRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
, M0 _ s, {8 H' Z! M: \8 w* `/ \this story.
" a% ]. S# G. b0 O: k: f
4 B! X# @, n7 e. Y+ b1 ]9 Z$ L-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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