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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题" K+ j3 A7 Q1 q% R: ?# ]
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
2 d( W/ e1 @$ V" j: ^: ^, q9 NWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.% s1 v, j8 ]7 M7 C5 Z8 W% G4 `
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
! _5 w( _. r5 Othe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"6 x. G; r5 ^7 M' e' D. |* ], h4 p
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
, Q" o2 E% f3 o9 D# [1 ?- @9 ]"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
% A. E4 d1 ~9 e+ V; ?causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.8 f) r. M% c1 N6 g9 ~6 q1 O9 f
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
/ j5 ]9 R4 g9 S- dacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
8 D; ~7 c( F) T5 A3 e# @- e' atrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor. N2 {/ @5 Q5 G5 e+ n( Y
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.
2 H) m0 a+ ^1 j0 ~" Y& N- THe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal0 ]/ H9 E1 ]/ o/ {, M0 s+ h+ g
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp9 g2 b/ t8 ]/ l) d7 p% G
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
' q( y. r/ C/ F: `further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could' R$ v# q3 {& t. Q. p
not stop her runaway Lexus. x9 V3 Q) v* ?. p
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,7 b, r) L( f* Q' W( a7 k
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
) i) y# K- `% ]* |+ ?: w- v: {$ ^7 Q"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
/ h; s9 Q" y" W' vTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
! F7 V; ~2 t0 x! L+ jearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
& P" J3 a: F9 f: Q"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has# U+ s& L6 y" o! u" B$ l
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway2 R! A) u7 p+ U t9 p& U* Q
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
# e) g) g8 I& j; P3 zinvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."5 m: M0 K; i: w% Y+ l; @7 e
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an/ ]2 L6 W) ~2 e' O
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of( D" v1 [- H& a' ]
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
; C+ I: L7 @2 |. {8 p: C& bmalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he7 k* p6 R4 Q8 a3 X. T/ e4 ]5 P
said.
4 m; p; x" G2 T$ nAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what: I1 j$ J2 w0 i, r% y! g: W
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe. e( L* M% Q* _& l
about driving our products," Lentz said.
w1 N, v: m: ?7 h. ]Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's4 C+ o% ]8 B6 h3 r& @6 N
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
Y2 N& G; }2 V, D' |% rrecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
0 A1 I- B; `+ n# rmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of
5 n( X$ | S) c9 x6 ?9 xunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking) `" a; ?8 ?( v6 O9 I8 `+ ]' X# W
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering6 S7 }# g/ I6 [, z! J- @# j. ]
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of. o& q P& p" N n
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
! n y0 m. N, idown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has) [1 n/ J% A3 |2 z
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
5 m! g1 {( u+ s2 O7 Vof Toyota vehicles since 2000.2 D1 c4 p" a; P' _. C3 K
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own2 l& F u: H" O: D
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
: y" i. a c I: [understood the pain.2 K ?% P9 ~4 f- ~
"I know what those families go through," he said.) }5 h% }* C" U4 \9 q
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
9 |1 C' ? _0 rfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
) H( [# |* d8 xBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman8 m, \% \; y! h0 }/ d& W6 s
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put* D3 U; ]; s. t4 {
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,# M M. z- S7 Y8 r9 W" d4 a# l: F$ v
Lentz replied: "Not totally."
4 D- P7 `3 ~3 g6 Q0 S' VStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
6 F2 I( y5 {9 _0 |2 X1 s$ I$ T"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
( g8 k, O8 Y+ h1 p X1 Q- eToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
8 C! v9 p8 l5 B! S, @pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its! o$ \, s' y" Y! \) v V( ]
vehicles already on the road.
3 n8 l1 \" ~7 ~, o" y0 ~* i" UMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
, J- U! b6 h, n+ ~$ T. m4 M, xbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full4 f! x Z7 e3 k% R u$ r1 e9 K
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and7 v9 ^) w0 X: U- d* S
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were3 Q; s6 G6 Y: P; t5 N
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
/ }6 s( k) V5 |, \9 t"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a" }, H' F/ L9 _. B. |. E+ I) h% `
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony8 ] Z5 m6 M r8 m
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight# W4 Y' i' o0 z4 c! p5 N9 {1 d
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
+ U, Z8 c( U/ D# Q; h; wcommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to" d: ^1 I, r) C5 X3 k+ Z' Q
restore the trust of our customers."& j% D$ Z) @! R" X6 m
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from$ ^2 [5 d, b9 j5 z
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
. l0 N) K+ n0 {+ S$ Wzoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
8 W |4 I7 {3 @8 U8 Z/ [$ b5 V# gshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and6 p" j7 Q( }4 g; z, l g6 @* n. G. q
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
# ^2 e0 ]- R5 L' [# R. ithat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and$ Y7 [" r$ @# R/ y. @
turn off the engine.
' |5 [2 k0 O9 P r! @Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
( u( P* ~6 y2 j+ F9 ], L, v V' ?October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
: Z ~1 Q2 ~5 Q% f! f+ @, ?% q% f"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she6 ]! M2 [! l. \( j2 W6 y
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
/ M0 F, d) g: M/ Bto her complaints.% I5 t9 c! `* U" k, S$ h- N
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
, z* ?. Y7 ?; O- yreturned again and again to the question of whether electronic9 k; a- C5 J$ Z/ O9 m0 h
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
. Q2 j9 |9 g; W, B4 _7 w4 q"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric# c$ y# D1 |" j9 F) w& @) x$ A
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited* E# H; Q8 k n7 A
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
0 m! R, B4 ?8 B6 i \& `! Koff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."' N! J1 Z% ~1 A
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
. q7 Q0 p$ {# zprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were7 `/ j& ^* q5 w6 O
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
: C# ^' U A1 m5 o: U" ]6 bwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
7 y N4 x& j* `% n1 q8 mevery question."
8 l. n2 [- b; A" L7 [, nToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether6 y' n$ c9 I4 e: q+ V
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The# o4 O8 l' r$ D, B. Q% U1 ]5 {
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
; o" [# {4 y- T n" Rcommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small# j0 p: P" N( n c1 C8 D
number of vehicles
1 Y8 J' l/ f2 C% E3 M+ }3 qTracking down an electrical problem can be far more$ Z- K& l" P7 f7 U3 `7 A _3 G
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
2 E8 f' x2 N! q4 }mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
# T. ]; p" u m1 n" ksource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
|0 s! Q7 u& \- v- {$ W GMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
6 k+ S/ _" v. A2 `! A: D( B7 Hwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
6 A+ j6 ?+ N& O7 |9 p: itrace at all.3 v) b a4 H! n) i0 e5 j
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call u7 T) J3 k* M# w
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden- x. n0 [! w& k# n
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the$ ^- c7 Z% f9 @5 c, n, m1 l
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
8 V+ f4 k: C- p$ _$ oRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,* k( Z( |: f1 v/ ?% f
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
* C- m5 j, {( ?% T; k& J8 Jother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
/ T+ {: }+ f4 `1 p+ M y0 q$ delectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible+ n) n. M0 C* S" V
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only, T# E& n, W d$ `4 k7 A
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained# }# u$ F# V7 K/ C7 u8 u
by Toyota's lawyers."3 z" g: M, z3 ]0 \7 _0 K
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of3 V" W3 \3 k, q$ Y2 `0 k% s1 h
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our5 O+ }2 J, m$ Y/ x
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
6 C: U" S5 p' D8 A6 X# L5 g. Tsaid., o4 P" S' T- F9 I- O: W1 l
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
2 T z; c% k$ `" ?a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our. I! O! r: v% ^9 W- Y$ w
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
9 o" l' n P& k" N6 ^+ m/ tofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.8 e8 N2 B" {2 v" _9 f4 R8 L; j
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying2 g, V# m% p) W) D7 n" `! ~( T( `
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
r6 L% x/ C0 a/ J4 Q5 drancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
2 U: Y! [2 q2 D2 ]" _automaker, at least in part because of the government's
+ a! z* U8 V# d& uinvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
E- s8 A, x; {# PChrysler.6 {8 [* N8 c- u8 w1 S U" N' D( H7 g+ Q
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax7 {( O5 D+ w% N$ b, X! L
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a$ e4 s& c8 t8 W: M5 s7 a" T* Z
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
6 F# x4 y7 {' L% Y% Rserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
( P' U# P2 S- F Wwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
" p: Y% F) O2 _tough."
8 ^2 @( y' Q9 i& c5 U7 _. v7 E+ Q---9 K3 ]% J' I. {% ~/ t8 [% n
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
+ j4 U& u" z3 n9 U% JRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to5 r) V+ b! s9 q. g. I
this story.
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4 u" l5 e4 w) J4 H) d P/ m-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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