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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
6 P2 ], s6 v& { {- mBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
. [* g) d% q5 Y4 ZWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.+ s" [/ Y" [. }+ R" Z$ }% G. z
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
6 Q+ X' ]. E5 Q. z9 o8 }' v4 Othe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally" q9 r8 m6 z) S" Q0 z% X
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
- K; {8 E V# C"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
% M. I- S( s3 a0 Acauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.' f4 e7 K3 [* G& J
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected. F \* \1 @# Q* j1 E* M
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and/ s; M$ w$ ~+ V3 @; \( K% [
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor0 m. A# K$ |+ z) r1 {7 v1 B. ~: R2 U
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.
@( n- y. X, y0 SHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
$ i; ^. S( J1 S& b) Qand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
3 ?- O4 U/ J. H0 o5 [criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
6 L7 a0 O! G9 N; L, \/ Rfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
0 T# o9 B7 c0 `) Anot stop her runaway Lexus.( K& u C; P! ~$ h$ D, d
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,- V* V! h) x7 z0 W# H: g
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
3 o" F" N% `; N* {' V( d"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
5 t, v+ N* C) k& {* CTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
1 @+ k2 ?8 ] g; A4 F4 eearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
0 Z+ D v) a0 i3 u/ m& T0 I2 d1 ~"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
* y$ f' R$ A( s1 Kdone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
2 w( C6 r: J7 `3 i, c+ ?through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's+ H3 P) v" Z4 k B6 k- W6 f
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham.", N" R' \6 c( h% B' ^+ y' z
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an0 J9 O) D3 H2 A1 ?+ c
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
/ G% q1 w7 @8 Athe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a" z: I: O" q0 U2 H6 a
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
" Y. S/ a9 O8 x% V6 `8 Ssaid.( X, N3 w) z3 e% w+ E
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
6 M( ^4 X) M& u, ohappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
9 A* \; s W: Z) B+ g: kabout driving our products," Lentz said.
( E* w4 S3 P' q8 X4 EThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
! } {; T1 }. \! G+ F9 I* ?$ Cproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has4 I9 P* j; h7 `7 W
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6- h4 J1 M% z. n/ D" j, G4 T
million in the United States -- since last fall because of
3 @( Z0 g( B) U- j Gunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking$ d0 K+ s* C. w. V9 ^$ @
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering. j) V- |9 J2 @% [4 ~& N7 D7 w
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
. _* `# R" r/ f: v. a) Ktheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow" y3 X8 z! \4 X) G+ A
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has2 J% v& N8 v2 R; p! r# T
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration- v5 p3 h( ]6 X2 I- V
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.9 \; ~. o0 T* g0 S
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
$ G! V- k Q- w4 Ybrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
6 V2 W) S' H1 x/ x/ `# yunderstood the pain.
5 j6 h7 i g7 r$ z; m$ K"I know what those families go through," he said.1 \: d5 A7 P: q4 ]: x! f
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
/ a- ^; N9 {7 ^! ^$ V7 mfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.3 N Z/ z7 c T, u2 g9 r
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
, B, T% M8 ?. l4 SHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
! \* F; {, O! w" hin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,$ a8 {. g2 P8 w$ P: B
Lentz replied: "Not totally."
" R! Q, _ A; d$ t. @# ^% ^Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were+ ^1 t+ w# U; Q7 T5 J
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
; S! i2 D. j5 e6 a. P# f8 I: iToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas' z' V. E Z: M
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
# Z: Y r* L; f8 e& Uvehicles already on the road.% i+ Y2 x7 ^, V4 ^) t- _
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
4 X9 Z2 i; i: ~4 ]! g+ xbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full$ l6 M; X @0 V
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and$ E, p( a4 ?' L5 t, G: I/ t
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
, T: M. P& b$ m' P2 s/ hkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
7 K/ D O, ~: C8 l* P; [+ ]& [/ M"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
" N3 p" t! C# v. _6 j# S& x8 X; ftragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony5 [4 U% P9 y+ Z) ?* [$ z
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
: r. l" H; |8 \1 K$ z e7 ZCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal _& z0 y# U9 ]8 T
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
% w! u1 \% K; c! q3 @restore the trust of our customers."
+ M3 R' o" l8 Q. w. E. x- ELawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from+ ~% M. V1 a# \6 |% X
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly( n/ ]( p' l- `7 z" ?
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
$ \- o8 v/ a7 y: ], H' m0 R! Jshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
6 F! J# w! B' S5 C+ O: Lhitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
0 K* C5 h2 O' R5 I! ^. [7 x$ }that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
( T) |9 V8 y: U: K8 Y- v3 fturn off the engine.6 x1 r: `) }3 P0 O* g; e
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of- N% V5 D) j! q9 D
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."9 Z1 O; ]6 z1 r2 ]' A+ [0 l
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she. V' y2 o! r( O3 P
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
- d) D4 l: @7 _0 F; vto her complaints.* p5 J: Q& D( F8 U4 H
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
/ a1 R! _& M" W$ d+ W; ?6 Y1 M( creturned again and again to the question of whether electronic
( U( L" F$ S: C! G( l. _$ }malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
1 N- h* O9 Z9 }7 M"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
! F9 F, J# a4 P1 p, rthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited: Y; }) d* X7 H, P! h! [
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut: Q" i9 ?3 u1 u
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."7 h. q4 H& b5 G0 A
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
. Q' w6 ]# q; J6 Fprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
+ Y; G0 D3 W4 Z" l7 zbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls% G5 E+ u; ]* U
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer! c: J8 A2 Y; r7 y( Z" g' K: z
every question." Z: s6 a( p/ |' C
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether5 _; M. k, n& h) R7 r9 g& b
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
3 s, ^. x/ `; p0 L5 J' W ~firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But: a, |& N- `& ~- E% F
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
. `8 u$ i/ U1 ?3 Ynumber of vehicles4 E- v' r3 W1 K& R/ J* l% j
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more
( b, L0 U1 R$ H0 Cdifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a: |# D: p& P+ W; k/ n$ t
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
" G4 D; z* u. I0 j# Psource, and they can come from inside or outside the car., z0 g7 L0 Z' X" X) B
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
3 O6 A3 H+ Y6 A- {1 j) F1 P- Iwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no; w4 @! T( j3 o- K! d
trace at all." B- |; a- l3 F6 ^
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call) L. z2 b8 H0 |1 p; v
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden, f( ^6 K8 J9 O# k4 ]6 k
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
R; H( p3 N4 Orecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
1 l) R! \$ Z1 f3 [' U/ r0 wRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
. i/ U' |. }$ s" Fsaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and; ?6 ?+ L! F- r0 E8 Y
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
0 I/ a6 s" Y2 N" p% ` celectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
9 P6 n; A" i, R2 j% g/ scause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
$ g7 a) s! p, T+ F! tsuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained" O, z) ]! |6 b9 ^
by Toyota's lawyers."* F6 D4 m/ B3 S9 I1 q
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of H- d2 X p/ i+ V! F
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
& L, n- C9 @ v) i! fcustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
7 T/ p/ }& @7 J# S* X( N6 e9 y8 n7 @said.
! { E6 ^, Y6 A* w"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
0 U, q3 c* V) K7 Ta rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our7 x1 B$ s5 \! X' `8 Y
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating& d) _; e! {) Z" Y# D9 d
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
" t. c" P* W0 ]" C/ b& ASeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying1 S; w( U: w7 e6 v6 |' b
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
8 V7 F) Y6 H Zrancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the9 A6 d/ n# i$ b* ]( @! \
automaker, at least in part because of the government's
+ ~- @/ G4 _; t( ~( Z, K+ [# \investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
: W/ \4 i# P, t3 h% i! d6 cChrysler.# |8 {0 X) z2 k. M/ c
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
, `* i: F% c; o# Ldollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a6 s B, { s" Y8 b H7 @
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also0 k& v# M5 r- b* @
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete; r! B5 U3 ~' t* |' b2 Z9 N
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
8 i, w1 o3 Y h5 y+ L7 x" _tough."
9 J; c! ?( b8 I/ U; `) Q7 Z: K7 p---; x5 _0 E7 X8 T4 H3 ~ P
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
" Z0 p# F6 @4 z& e4 h" j. T hRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
1 j! G; u5 H0 othis story.+ r/ Y8 x# R! J2 M
# U9 }$ h4 M; y8 I" w-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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