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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
* _4 V1 e. o8 [' V' n" F& cBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
2 Z* Y3 R2 E8 e, V( U0 I6 KWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
2 O+ n7 @7 z# W) o2 E Foperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
* R4 k. X: B/ ~' }) ?the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"3 |3 E% Y+ x% X; C/ W
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.: u8 t5 ?& a1 y' c% Q
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential& I9 W0 [+ k+ c
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.% E8 t6 Z; ~5 p: h$ G# }2 D
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected1 O% p! Z8 \$ v( _- Z1 `# [
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
4 J% I x$ K1 {7 B- Ttrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor$ @0 t6 ?0 C. f, \& Z' }! Z# B/ r3 v8 r8 {
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.
/ T+ B1 n5 A! [ _0 jHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
! E5 g& G3 l- w$ S4 S x" Vand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
+ z8 O7 E0 X. f& F! K) u0 w4 ecriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
4 W' V9 G, Z8 t8 Y2 I7 W+ qfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
6 e2 `0 h# O6 x, f2 e: i" o( Lnot stop her runaway Lexus.
' g" m( ~% Q" t% y) u; @"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,! [% P7 \" p* W! y) b
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
6 |, E8 f% a. P7 s"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.! \( X$ s# o$ c+ ?# A! l' k
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
5 H2 S/ B; A8 y% Z: `' Rearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said+ ~& L x; F* t: M% J3 \+ [& m
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
B- U5 T$ {9 Y$ Udone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway& W' }" z. I8 M& ?% r
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's1 [4 v: \ y0 [5 {" Z
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham." [" g) N2 I3 z, E5 r, ?, T- c
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
/ v5 L9 h6 U/ Y# melectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
4 A' k8 Z7 e, X, U8 H6 n' r- Y `* q+ Nthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
( s: L, U6 }& Wmalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
9 u0 c( O7 \$ q1 W. {said.
- C- u6 H+ t9 }+ {2 {5 z7 b9 OAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what0 ~& a! O7 ] B4 o+ k
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe1 T" R/ k6 X7 I3 X+ F8 e
about driving our products," Lentz said.. I" D7 H O5 c
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
! _! V* e% `0 J2 zproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has# D+ O I" ?2 O, Z
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
' e% T! z; _" {3 k) k) Z% Imillion in the United States -- since last fall because of
7 g/ j9 g) b$ I% eunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking3 [; X3 O$ E4 B' S& F; X4 C! P
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
# q/ P, y3 w5 S1 M1 ~0 uconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of4 i; A9 @8 b/ q" }, X' k
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow" A* E7 r5 [- k+ B
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has! d1 n/ A7 y4 f- ~3 a2 q! D
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
. D& {6 I9 f' ?7 B. hof Toyota vehicles since 2000.
$ c" \, L$ f: ]Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own2 e" s; o. l$ f7 D
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he9 l5 R( M4 V, g8 [2 b- _/ B
understood the pain.4 r: m3 `( D* @1 T, ^) h% ~
"I know what those families go through," he said.7 Q4 |3 O, H: M, |4 d
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
9 U' X+ k# B' bfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.% d; |8 Y& r0 F
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman9 E. b& |" X) x! A
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
$ L, T2 d$ M6 Q6 F+ o" ein place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
, f! P- W8 m. @9 ^Lentz replied: "Not totally."
* h$ X Q- ]2 ?! j! e7 e1 CStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were9 z: |+ z3 \4 x5 s- U
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
/ l8 s, P5 u' J$ k% ~Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas2 M' b) l+ I/ y
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
2 J, X. n b2 s! ?* b1 {7 P8 J4 c7 A wvehicles already on the road.
/ P' U* |; N) |# ~$ K3 zMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify4 H1 Z$ {0 [9 d( ]
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
' n0 N& }1 w" n5 j/ ~5 z% nresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
. ]) x- F, s0 T0 H6 f1 {offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
. ?! H9 f- W4 K* v& ~killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.+ G" `7 F/ K# h# u$ ?
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a& c1 d- B* r* U# c* |7 ]
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
% b3 N& G- A) B9 H: Q+ R& |for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
* [3 ^6 k/ H) h `0 }/ Z% [4 jCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
' ]/ }7 d8 C" U! tcommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
1 T x" J/ h& V4 \& p( j6 orestore the trust of our customers."
8 @9 A2 S8 Z; K) X8 x* i% c& xLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from* l# F' g# w* ~) b; E
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
) P$ L( D; H$ O3 Czoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
6 D' ^6 G" t3 {) O5 Pshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and0 u8 U* m1 j% o1 s
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough$ _" V2 q7 |1 m
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
( ^% N4 p0 {* {! }: ?6 Yturn off the engine.
5 x9 h; n) E9 c8 c/ f4 E# ^Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of0 g# E/ i0 t+ ^ e8 c
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."# R u" V# r/ z1 r9 e8 }- j
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
0 X* q; h3 G# B/ T: Qsaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond4 R5 f2 K; b0 d7 X' _2 ?
to her complaints.
. A3 ]0 k3 h3 HIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers9 o- m$ X& u- C
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic4 Q) T( E( a" m: O
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars./ X, a# r; s% F! @, M( _# s/ n
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
9 g$ n2 S# `8 n& i) {9 L5 ]throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited3 L7 X! Q( _4 n2 m; Y; c& \' G, k
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut9 S# i4 _& o" i a5 y, O
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."+ r6 ?5 d' A, q5 J
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in1 O, X% o9 U4 H3 m: d0 j
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
u. ?( W7 Q2 u- ^. U) Dbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls; ]* h' i( Y9 D* i* H- P. g
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer, F6 s$ p3 R0 B: t- {
every question."' d0 A0 i3 L2 m" s3 ^0 x k
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
; z9 i0 ]* I0 {electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
; a% q4 V G' K6 }; Ofirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
& ^) a# H3 C5 Q g1 q1 Ucommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small
. R! j- i9 m' i. [, w. @number of vehicles# v) N8 z5 s7 W) h! J. T: s7 ` m* p
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more' ^. @2 u2 e. ]
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a6 _2 Z9 R1 C6 P5 a" r
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one3 m& R0 M- ]. R4 s. y
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.2 t$ `( U( e1 |- G" D- }
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,7 j: q1 N/ Z3 Z: C) ^7 G& K
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
; C% _3 {, Z3 P4 _2 E' t7 _trace at all.
5 Y$ ]8 i) z! RHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
1 [! `2 i1 h, C1 W- Hdatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden3 M( n+ k& s4 W$ j8 L4 C, Z( e H
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the2 S' |# ^: g9 g7 X
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.- A) P9 H& [3 W8 w6 s& T* f9 i
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
2 J, ?# l! I: z9 g% csaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and2 C' C/ C+ ?. o; R. C; B
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the" U! V1 a3 P% x& x0 ] z- r( c
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible+ D# F. \1 N+ [& A
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only: m& J1 M* M/ x v) Z
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
- h) ]4 Z/ H9 ^$ hby Toyota's lawyers."; x v! M0 ]# j( i n
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
& H: H8 T3 h3 @+ sproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
0 s% E% S( n% w2 Y' Vcustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he7 i8 n! a: \! V4 m
said.0 b' Z z' {( o5 q8 h: }
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with, \( e x" t, b3 N% {% c
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our6 w' v% v. V$ P1 E
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating' E S" B" d9 j& ?3 N
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.. A* D& V! n' W3 l
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying9 ^; |6 a( h2 x3 v# F. v, m+ \/ Q7 N; S
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
" i, m L' y. v, q% Q, s. @rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the7 \% v3 b1 @ g8 M% M: {
automaker, at least in part because of the government's, x1 c# [9 O% R% A6 v
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and, X2 |$ u- _5 v2 P1 ~9 X# i' I# M
Chrysler." g _8 ^ F( N* t
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax* F9 Z8 v5 B; \, M% o
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
1 N: A/ m6 y( mHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
( U4 O, Y A' ~/ J" j3 }3 {served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
: a8 }. M7 r _9 J8 Pwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty: n4 g# R& ?: ]3 b4 V
tough."
0 k1 Y) r z" t' M+ L" i---
" S; L7 ~8 I3 X6 q' X' GAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
0 o* i, [ y. r* n6 Z! R! LRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
) m: P" s, M, x, J# pthis story.5 a" z9 W, V G# d& ^1 M' b
: l4 }1 H1 f& [-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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