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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
" r5 a; A, g. B$ z' PBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS* ]5 s: _6 f. o% f$ M3 D
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
+ v' L. |' B o! p, s- x/ roperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
3 w9 Z0 I9 I' \0 {the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
8 T5 Y" w; h1 Isolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
$ q1 L3 X+ k) J9 A. b- I( N"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential& q4 Q0 o+ z1 M0 M A3 s
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.( t( [, O) D& l9 i6 E: v' G2 B
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
, r& o9 I0 a( z# y' e( m( j' I- Y5 facceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and2 T1 f% k0 k2 h9 |2 U
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
; W3 Z, b4 a+ i" |mats and sticking accelerator pedals.& K" w) f5 [4 X7 Z
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
3 K) p* f; l" C( g, c$ F+ Oand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
8 t2 D! V$ A9 a& e; `criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
& {# {( S6 A. W; ^; U1 F' dfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could$ S. u2 z3 r0 Z( Z6 Y8 P
not stop her runaway Lexus.
) s1 q& Q G: V7 f+ j7 w& s7 f"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
* w1 D" y( r1 i. b1 f! X. }9 dTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second' ?% z3 u" }0 [7 R. Q
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.& v3 U& [, J1 T6 D0 u/ [+ Z
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues4 c, ]& [' g# z& B6 W
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said8 V8 K6 c% U9 F/ t
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has' C6 J7 k4 \' `6 Z6 C% p" @
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
) r4 g0 u$ l0 t) [) |; y3 h) y& {through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's2 n9 F& {8 e& h0 F9 V, P; l( P7 B0 ?
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."3 j3 V6 x8 a- [8 x) ~
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an% e! y; @. l6 |; G0 r
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of- j' s, g6 P/ |$ `
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
' p; r% H7 i4 y$ ]+ T* Qmalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
$ t6 X$ b# ?' [! ^) \3 Jsaid.
% o6 v6 D+ Y6 ]2 @As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
! ]/ A: _# A! Y' g( Phappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
4 r! v5 P$ c7 u4 F% K% e1 @5 [about driving our products," Lentz said.' {6 }4 O) l9 K. ]; _" E9 P9 N( |
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's$ C4 s# J# p1 B, p3 U
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has* \& y$ \# {) O1 p4 T
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
7 E. o2 k+ D! F( amillion in the United States -- since last fall because of3 L9 x& R1 e$ f& y. O9 `5 D
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
9 g5 O* K& N* Y* Z) cissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering0 M. g% a- I6 J- K) ]2 w+ @
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of( v3 ^5 h5 W2 Y' y! i
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
6 W G" \+ z$ l( ?8 w6 H7 E, tdown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has& K* r9 k; e$ k* z3 Q7 X- V
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration9 k$ Q9 m$ j. B4 n5 P$ @
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.
3 A7 l L% o0 c1 V5 ^, XLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
- n; F/ _7 R( ], c) a; Fbrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
5 e# Z8 c$ c4 r( G' F, d, @understood the pain.
7 n8 P; t4 A$ G$ V9 e"I know what those families go through," he said.5 R7 w' S* y' k2 a# }
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
0 Z% O* ]2 H) O# L' o' y& Jfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
* j. e. l# }6 a n# tBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman8 [; q- F5 K) e9 G1 e% z
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put( H; v0 l! ]) ^, k H3 p
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,$ ]5 K5 b8 z3 j
Lentz replied: "Not totally."
: n1 H* a* _- w( l: e/ r3 J" _6 E, TStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
% e; s# r8 q4 z5 K3 k' `" |/ B( b"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said/ }+ `; [' }3 p7 U8 l
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas7 ]9 o# Y; ~0 j/ x/ L* ~: Z
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its8 x. g6 [% d2 G, M# u6 O: ]
vehicles already on the road.
9 a" F6 i1 c: c" rMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
; z* a: s' X8 t$ b5 F- E# \+ N% @before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
: U% S% \! [! E# R( d* S" k" Mresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
5 g$ m+ }# z, t+ y9 @offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
4 l4 R. a/ q* M7 o6 Y( x5 ]* q* Nkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
5 b; G5 z& }% e4 L0 S2 p"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
! h* ?% C6 p2 b2 ?& rtragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
# u5 J: f$ w' e6 ~/ k9 N ifor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
* g% e! u; @! u3 P9 h' ECommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal) e: q9 K2 c! p) p1 `; d8 X& V
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
* O0 D6 H) B0 E5 C7 c5 q4 \3 |restore the trust of our customers." V3 Y/ K Y+ i# O6 e6 q$ m) l
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from; g1 h4 o8 ]9 K
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly( L; ?! N+ e4 ]1 R2 [! ?5 T6 s- X
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
# L; ~% q. G; T$ u1 b; Mshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and( ~% q- K3 F8 I5 k% {
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough0 G% u# `& H+ Y/ y) v9 A2 c
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
* D7 X H3 I2 E- |' ~4 Q* |! sturn off the engine.
% W+ r! q/ G% m4 P$ s; T* WFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
" S9 g# x: H; O nOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
% s( Z! ^4 R; t( _% J" m"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
) L6 v0 l/ H' E- C4 bsaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
4 ?2 U% _. u( ^2 p/ \to her complaints.2 Y; w# l7 i0 b$ \
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
! \% Y! W3 V5 f; d1 Z3 [5 w; D; Qreturned again and again to the question of whether electronic) \# Y# W0 ~, M9 g) R! I6 m1 R
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
5 P, S! z! |5 C4 P"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric0 l0 h5 q- `; c
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
& H7 ?+ n( K2 W& r; q- U/ z( o"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
* B$ V4 u4 ?/ q2 G7 \& ]2 koff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."" G" }9 n1 u6 B( M
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
- m1 k t& ?7 M! F6 n2 U3 V `8 Nprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were2 Q% M- L) Q- R- {/ p8 P: ~
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls. ~. y# u; ]( G4 G- i6 `% @* `# m: c
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
. Z/ M, h0 p, ^4 _4 devery question."# ]1 V( E V2 g X
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether* v9 J. _! w0 u3 F3 ~; h0 o3 p* B$ }
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
) k5 |: a; N- T( O4 e; S8 a7 kfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But1 j& _9 ~. `! l
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
7 v' g; c% z: {* _; P7 ^% ~number of vehicles
8 V- o* k" \0 _$ J8 M0 Y D7 Z7 BTracking down an electrical problem can be far more0 e( A- n0 q! P
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
) k, `: C9 v( Y6 |mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
% d* V4 G1 q, `+ n0 a4 Isource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
9 n1 c; v& [7 [8 DMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,* Q7 v1 A3 d: n) m A( f2 p1 T
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no5 B) k, `$ h3 s
trace at all.. y# a; [' G9 j' ^; z' {9 d0 a
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
/ x9 h6 s7 P% Sdatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
$ I% L* J v* V8 u# _7 G n* x: J4 }acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
' A8 Q% r& f! {' V* zrecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.. c4 F1 V3 h9 S+ d$ N
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,; l* i f" d: @( A2 b3 M
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and) ]$ [/ r& l$ {6 a
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the4 c. M; i) h9 o3 A0 G% }# k( z
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
) F; D9 h6 P4 J( i" ]4 Gcause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
, i0 w, H7 i: U" Fsuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
8 ^; L( Z9 [. Q. R5 Rby Toyota's lawyers."- ]& G4 r) h. l! D5 w) h7 B
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of8 V' a4 e- H5 X5 B) |
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
c: R- C" s, }/ d5 i; |2 y& Vcustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he% T Q* }+ q7 p, E
said.
+ y' _% Z' o9 J3 ~4 b' m- U5 v, L$ W"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with1 s5 Z% x6 r, s0 J0 A
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our0 o" l/ |! G g) S
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
4 U$ `# v# Y" U& ]8 Y& Wofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.9 ^: O' Q) R; [' X; [" w
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
$ [" ?" g0 b" j$ T; vmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread7 Q1 s, | k, V# K/ `! R
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
f2 o8 P! [7 w3 e3 e, vautomaker, at least in part because of the government's
* u- R, k( J0 N {: kinvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
2 M- P* a: e1 x3 eChrysler.7 @- ?/ Q% c) a" Z9 s1 N
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
: |$ @5 d9 r9 M0 [1 @' }+ ^6 |& odollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a5 Z% i+ x$ Q! I$ Q r( ?+ [
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also) P# `( g7 D% j K
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete: U3 r" K! P5 t
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
( n; Q5 A) T$ I4 j+ F1 R0 [tough.") @ @! u' u6 @& L
---; H& n' p* D& h/ n5 {* j, v. w
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom8 G" [7 M2 b" d
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to$ D+ X! ^! r/ M M
this story.
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4 s9 j' @5 d5 r# g' s-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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