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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题/ M1 Z1 O# g! V4 J
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS X+ A( V4 h" T5 N3 S
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
% m1 S" u1 d/ P, Ioperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that% q+ z/ o% Y. a* e" s5 V
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"- b. s: }$ k$ x5 M$ s3 S: i) n$ x3 C
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
4 n# @! E8 ]) |5 R" } V"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
$ M" J2 V9 r5 [+ Z* R2 R; Gcauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.+ z! y0 p3 n( N# G
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
5 v. ?) E3 |1 I0 Kacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
9 z$ G0 @' ?0 F$ Rtrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor. h' A- W0 D* S# p( I, t( t/ L
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.
; E% T# A% K. Y9 ]8 v: ]He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
; [, s8 t9 K2 J( `8 Aand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp7 z! a+ R& j2 `! h7 e3 Z
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be2 T1 D4 j8 p9 s7 q' q
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could- Q* p6 G- ~, K
not stop her runaway Lexus.9 }* \' w) l6 U3 c
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
7 L$ p/ V7 H! Q3 z! ETenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second3 V2 e" }1 C% i, ]7 ~
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
8 p& X% c9 p# p2 B) d# P: t5 gTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
" j; h' A2 `2 l% _( \& M2 E- X. R$ Tearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
, } Q' c& R3 m1 x! y"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has9 j) }# ~ n% p' ]$ [
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway+ v; J( F- P/ |$ A: S6 S
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's* v* I( V. T" R
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
' @1 J1 @9 ]5 R& m( X9 kLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an2 ]* P9 f' _% i* T
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of7 x9 V, _" ~& t3 o/ ]4 `
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a3 b1 r2 |1 J4 @9 I0 |3 @
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
5 T. C2 U& M7 D9 Wsaid.! ], S& F B( t6 T: T
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what9 D. ] _3 A; W/ P6 G: V
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
0 {1 X0 {% @# nabout driving our products," Lentz said.
3 B& }' i3 d& \3 L, k" i) Z# RThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
. N+ ?/ D0 R; q& uproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
+ e: V, F( p' u1 y& s& L6 Brecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 68 G! m) x' @1 U
million in the United States -- since last fall because of4 D% B! }, m3 C
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
- z( W3 f& C; B/ K3 W( Q- Cissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
2 z, N3 a& x' Jconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of3 G( t A" V1 P F W/ e# ?7 [
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
* F0 o" k0 l7 ~- b# m' v3 Q( wdown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
* U% M" K! e6 R* j' i% l# Kreceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
+ M4 C7 k' J/ r% c: Z: |8 {. M, ^of Toyota vehicles since 2000." `: b* S3 ]9 j8 ?) M2 x0 x
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
+ M* a- o$ W" M' O Ubrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he- [3 V$ n) V# D |8 O
understood the pain.
7 n9 N6 _# z2 C$ L2 ~/ ^"I know what those families go through," he said.
9 P* s( E- c! F/ Y, C7 ?# n0 E/ g9 ZLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's V2 I: a0 A3 h3 K" ]: H
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
5 C! z% t4 x, ~) uBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman2 d9 Z' T. M/ Q8 P
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
( T6 i: m- N- a( m8 |5 f, Vin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
2 Z; O6 V( t' L$ T* v- W8 F$ YLentz replied: "Not totally."
, v0 G0 h) i$ p: zStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were0 J- s0 @5 h* H3 F' u) A
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said. Y8 J7 G" V) d- Y9 R3 w+ K
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas7 D4 R) ~8 U) x
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
! g' m' o# }( ^, Avehicles already on the road.
: p5 b. e: U% B8 d' H" P% @9 KMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify' |* H. }, L" k1 i
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
9 i" {2 r6 A v4 Q2 k/ L2 e; Nresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
" ~: y9 K6 ^2 ~offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were: X# W. a9 \5 D" o/ j* Z
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.$ M) r S! l4 \% A
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
/ r( w" k5 ~& \! E" z$ ?tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
4 D8 l( B o) H K4 Jfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight/ e. c$ }) R$ c- S) d- K
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal$ F4 {+ S; u+ L( K
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
( P* E5 q6 @0 n V- Urestore the trust of our customers."5 \* i( U8 I: B7 f: n- V
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from! E% Y% B: P7 T5 G
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
) C @$ ~# _9 jzoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --& p1 L/ U7 A+ r0 [) J: k" e8 o
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and7 Q3 b" y% j" X a6 j4 s Y, \
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough4 [6 d% m8 n9 r9 z
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
) j$ ]$ g0 v" @/ Z/ d! G. h3 V" e$ Yturn off the engine.: f7 u! h$ p. p: n
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
/ `1 o+ B5 {5 q+ l u4 FOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."! K1 e0 D' {+ Y c
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
7 o2 m" b. |: h* ?said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond: b! t" R$ w. G/ t( k
to her complaints.# x$ j: D( P: N3 a, K
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
" f# p3 b) p3 r; E: p: C, ureturned again and again to the question of whether electronic% |: h- P+ V0 J$ p
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.* L5 r9 P% B# c$ G" h5 a
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric' W) u/ V! z8 k2 ], {2 \8 l& @
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited u0 i( e) G& x- K4 p# s/ z0 Y
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut7 {0 t( c: E1 u4 P1 t9 p4 g5 V \
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure.", F! A( N w, p( c# V! Z
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
" I) ~ ~& y. }" w6 u; Nprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were6 Y$ I$ _ J+ L6 a: [
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
" `9 X; A0 b: n* ?, j) h" T4 gwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
\5 @ Y6 |; @# V- f: revery question."" I. w9 }* [4 b% x8 H) u
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
+ f5 X6 G4 c7 |1 ?electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
+ D$ a! _! a0 Y+ K1 R5 xfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
4 W- E$ E! f* ?% qcommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small4 l' G9 r/ f' V6 G" X
number of vehicles
5 t3 D) t* K/ X! S1 `/ C! iTracking down an electrical problem can be far more; C+ _4 {4 h1 a# X2 ]) k$ V
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a8 m. v$ h1 s5 B: m
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one- A5 j. I T+ s9 ^
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
$ w p* V, b6 Y: Y& ~Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,# w# N4 P0 t* |
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
& n) T+ J' F3 k) d4 R$ ktrace at all.8 ~6 g* P8 S/ y' R" g- o
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call+ [6 T+ g% L4 _
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
- o1 B4 i) ], O$ f; |, v/ Yacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the4 d3 u. h$ P. Z) {
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
: A2 [, ?( ^5 y2 F% gRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,3 r) [( G& w7 a6 S) n9 `9 d
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and5 G* Y" I/ t8 H$ a
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
9 s5 K0 W/ s. n( Q! k* J) N9 nelectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
' u- j: i/ q2 A. Z: P }8 e# Ucause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
# n K3 U% c5 D" O" Ssuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained# p$ o" F' X7 B& H* E2 w( \: C
by Toyota's lawyers."
% w( b; W, t1 q) ^9 J0 ?Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
) J; k* o, p# K, c6 F0 z/ o5 B( ^problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our5 H& l+ T& ?8 Q/ ]' J4 A
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he/ a8 W4 H7 K& j9 F% M
said.
! `7 f0 ^3 N; d4 s% V3 n"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with9 [: V% X4 X5 D; Q
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our# P2 R7 _7 b3 ]8 h2 ]
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
1 W7 w. C1 U- i# _8 e9 U8 a6 _# ]8 k, iofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.& C. w* i$ V( |9 B8 J
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
2 K/ a) l" r$ \. h5 Emembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
/ g9 k/ Z% W u0 `rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
5 U! z" _5 ~# E, E- ?) e Pautomaker, at least in part because of the government's! D2 u) N$ z. J$ @% P6 `
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and0 u$ I+ h& e( W* x1 v, l
Chrysler.
$ X/ e0 l3 F( E1 H"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
7 j+ x- t) \. S( Q' x. f. Bdollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a+ C% @6 e7 y9 a' N; i: b
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also' O u6 ]* m( \* X% W4 q
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete' g0 d6 m( |, h
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
8 q7 X. f7 ~* l+ x# {' Ftough."+ M8 N4 ]( F1 p) D$ @# ] I! x9 t% G
---
; Y) R/ L) X1 M% s( bAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom( ^" ], W: z, Z$ e8 B \+ B
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
6 ^5 `2 ]7 G; W& K; ?this story.
5 \/ A4 k6 ^; w9 @2 v( N4 o
2 j" S& v9 i0 G y* |-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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