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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
2 q0 t8 p. b6 f. FBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS3 x( c' n2 _9 g1 _5 h) Q
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.3 B2 j R; b# H9 R J4 @
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that2 Z6 E. x# s- h& u0 m- Y! P- P2 O
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
1 y& ^! C) Y( H& H+ T3 p9 Lsolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.1 U7 }9 {7 a1 l% F& F1 [3 w
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential' r2 Y% F! ^) O+ j( R, U
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.* a: |: a: F: |; u% U4 h+ L
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected+ I# _1 T( }% D1 `' K5 y! r
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and9 c0 k& i* k% k/ z' o
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor( S: K. J/ |* J7 z! f
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.
) G9 W1 e3 Y1 l3 J% q/ H7 qHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal& z% B' q5 P. h0 M# x
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp3 \) h$ i: a7 O: X6 _
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be3 x; q1 |% W$ I; D7 Q1 \+ W) M
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could5 a2 @! Q" k z5 N5 \
not stop her runaway Lexus.
0 B. G* }9 Y- V" a3 k: t"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
. g/ d+ m& b! R8 k* X$ @) dTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second! m1 e! {) s8 Y$ g- n
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
2 O9 q" E! f5 M4 ]& oTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues( Z+ N7 ?; w# A2 F3 g" K% D7 W
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
2 [+ V6 l- t0 e4 V"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
$ C9 V% I2 ?6 [8 W( F' F" ?done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
, T+ A7 v' G4 C2 }1 Mthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's+ O0 m$ ?% W% ~, D) A, e
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."/ w4 H p8 K9 I* Z, M: d$ c
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an" e7 t6 z5 P7 M
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
3 B6 F( `2 N, I- uthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a6 c/ k) C2 E4 J. c: [' ?
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
' V$ u4 p' I R. |2 usaid.
# I [1 X/ j3 C R/ ^As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what1 M& G/ J% d9 U7 u4 s
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
$ m I3 L `0 zabout driving our products," Lentz said.
# }9 F/ D& i, }* B8 r& Z7 gThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's" ]" A4 H4 R7 {* ^' ~+ M
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
4 V& f, G5 u# Q1 z7 T- b: M X5 u2 E9 Mrecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
, w) a/ f* J d& ?2 s# Zmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of
8 i/ N ^- a; ` S1 Punintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
8 w$ ?+ P/ c( fissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering1 _9 \ i/ P2 Q, m% H
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of# x; v5 m9 T# F$ \4 H
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow$ \ W8 B+ [1 B1 j/ b
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has# R. E- y" J) p) ^: f
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
# n B* v' C. `% @. bof Toyota vehicles since 2000.
1 o& Z0 n1 d0 HLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own8 R7 v l& K8 J8 y3 V
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
! n. Q) j/ z* D+ W9 U8 {understood the pain./ _) l; U" L. c1 o$ V' t
"I know what those families go through," he said.1 i9 o. w5 O; R. r4 L2 t
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's3 B, _4 c' X2 \: o
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
% M( ~% q& y% _3 V2 z4 H7 U6 w) SBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman) ~1 R7 M, j6 O% ~; I
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put) P8 h$ j% i* g5 S/ }
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,* Z% k4 n# ^, n7 P+ a- O H( {
Lentz replied: "Not totally."! S1 y; [. i9 y: r
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were7 z- P# o8 G8 P+ z6 ?/ E
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
) V( F! b) N, H4 k2 P& ?Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
6 k: N1 S6 G. @+ J" xpedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
( |* T# t% I4 m, d* Nvehicles already on the road.0 D! {* ^) |# G0 v: h
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify; O6 A) j4 I0 F3 I3 T& r/ l
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
z, Y9 _* U3 Fresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
6 L: N% i- z0 v* ^) g, C( E0 g) aoffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
0 }* }! D( B( L( M$ G4 x" Pkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
2 `! I. H) f( ?8 K"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
3 e O* ^; P7 E" Z9 x; B( U' rtragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
/ l0 L- a" u3 m( k# Kfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
% [6 f- ?3 F5 e( E/ v$ d, |Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
" v+ `4 S" L! `! p# U# P) K l( w5 f3 ^commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to) q6 r) s- M; Z3 J3 |1 l8 t! U u; q
restore the trust of our customers."
* T! _2 o; {) {* {6 bLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
% D1 d) o1 ^6 r! n: XSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly9 @8 c% b4 s8 E6 O; i$ c
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --& W3 v1 y( }/ ?+ J& q
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
R) }" r5 W4 ahitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
6 v: X0 B0 H+ p6 F* Kthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
/ j9 q+ t3 W9 B+ G7 {6 l# iturn off the engine.
0 v) c% y8 D6 K* n3 u3 t- t% tFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of( ]* d- M0 a; h% J% d
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience.") e6 H" T/ I# k5 c* k0 F
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she& V6 p z2 p, z7 k4 N! k4 V
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond3 v4 I# t! d+ [! K3 |5 o' D6 x
to her complaints.
# L1 d9 N, X( _) [# MIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers$ l( _( E9 {, F
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
( e9 ^2 A7 S& |7 l8 v5 Kmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
. j" Q6 i6 I" r7 m- F; y"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
, G( p+ q. O" Y2 Hthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
; i: ^- G" P5 Q; M( y- C0 `"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
: \/ d2 ^3 Q4 V7 ~ x3 Ooff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."$ K- Y9 K. M! |9 p9 G! y
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in0 V7 ?/ D( |: E! m* M5 t9 ~3 F* S7 S" J
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
$ E" {4 b- G! ibeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
8 p/ a% z2 W M( `$ A+ [; Qwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
8 x3 X$ K: [1 n# y) pevery question."
( X6 O! I! r5 S3 W5 ~. Y3 GToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether$ w' r2 Y4 e5 f4 |5 q
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
6 K! q6 r( c+ ^% w) J9 bfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
; F$ k8 \6 Q1 e/ a$ C/ Hcommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small8 Z5 ]4 _- a I
number of vehicles% v0 z" S$ ]! l9 |
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more* f+ o! U# T" t. |$ {- J4 R7 O
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
$ D: c; _4 H+ M7 Hmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one6 r! L) K4 S) T+ U- Y3 y& j4 b9 e
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.9 ]1 P! o3 F, q: ^. f! Z' c( R* L
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
+ j; x/ t4 `( `+ R3 }$ o# ~: ]7 Wwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
" A7 {6 B D$ ?3 Gtrace at all.# a" w6 F$ n" j! w$ W; L
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
9 b2 U) W% Q7 o0 r$ l# Y1 fdatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
% F( V/ F3 W: I0 `; j5 A0 ~2 |acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the! z1 h! E) @, a
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
6 _- m U( o: o) h* U3 Y, ?Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
- j! [" `" ?7 b& |/ osaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and6 K7 l7 |& \3 m/ w# ^0 }" L
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the" g o3 I! V/ `( O! q8 \2 s
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
% s3 V- W) x. H8 H1 b5 j9 a9 B2 Tcause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only& f, Z# a7 q' l2 g& W K/ D3 l( {
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
# A0 d) g! ]0 Y9 I3 R3 f* B/ Yby Toyota's lawyers."
2 ^1 c6 j) V/ i( O$ K! g, OLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of# y& o, k) W9 R
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
, @8 a: m! i, A9 Ncustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he6 R/ S+ g& r) R' U" w; J; {
said.
4 K/ b8 h1 o) V/ E" h& M4 R"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with7 k; g& p) ]% E: P$ f# O( y; w
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our: H0 \0 z8 E C) c8 V/ a
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating* z7 m4 s% K1 {9 J& [# k$ J' u
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
/ W- X" b3 c/ R2 z' jSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying, o* h- ?4 A$ S+ x9 N5 E
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread. V" D* ]) S3 ?2 d. ]! X
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
# P. S( A/ k7 ]2 j" Vautomaker, at least in part because of the government's
" N: ~2 u X. x( {investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and! L, V/ H2 K$ o# n w% M
Chrysler.7 A1 @/ v$ B. B6 @3 Q5 J
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
* y9 x( c, z H; @. kdollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a% m s2 A$ e K- K( ^- m, I
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
" D! C9 x, N4 Zserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
+ j j9 ~1 K( M3 H2 E- P* L$ `+ bwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
' R s5 |7 i9 F4 gtough."
( L2 z3 ~4 q9 T! K; O8 Y5 g, g---
& E7 E& n: d1 b1 e1 L& YAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
# k" X: Z) A2 A1 ZRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
" l7 h$ l7 F% o- E, G* ythis story.
% I6 a: d8 D9 q- E, U# F- y3 X$ D/ z0 B, K
-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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