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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
9 E3 A; s7 ~- O$ H, J6 cBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
" H7 Y$ X# t* Q, s$ w7 ZWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.4 C2 p( W* q) [
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that! f3 z+ f3 H! b$ J# Q9 g
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
7 V N# X' ?/ w1 ksolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.8 F" p3 u4 n, f% f% D
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential& U' k& h' w( U0 l- c
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.0 `/ y. h9 Z# L0 k! h: k$ l
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected1 B1 A z: G: p
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and* H2 d" z# c) d' I7 ]3 o
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor* c4 Z/ E: e6 H6 [
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.
, M, Y" P. |8 L6 JHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal) K# f% ?$ i7 ~ x
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp& d7 f" F2 I: ]. _5 H5 U/ [8 x
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
' K: k3 e5 E% @( K) R7 N( B: g* bfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could a8 Y: m9 c @& ~: _. J* Q k3 ]. {
not stop her runaway Lexus.
( r: L/ V) _$ L+ J4 j"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,; V3 H/ |5 M6 @% z9 `+ A+ W
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
) u8 e9 w9 b9 l+ u# {: m5 j"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.* z. g- Y; I* X2 x' t) A
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
: D/ [8 R/ g( @8 ?: [early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said5 l. c% l8 ~1 K2 q: q$ W V
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has, D+ L Q7 r: ?. O0 Y" q
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway3 v: t( t) C" g1 u) X! D
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
* {/ g ~6 ~# O8 m; b/ Z2 @investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
8 ~* i) J3 a! F0 r x& OLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an# t% {9 _7 T6 C% X1 B
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
4 o: S- D# e. U6 G4 othe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a; k( K# Q" N/ E7 o
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he: p8 z0 b% O* M$ T. V
said.+ Z! }; f( l1 F2 s7 L3 k7 V
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
+ J) B2 L7 e* r: Xhappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe3 T, C3 m: u, ~: e4 R
about driving our products," Lentz said.; D9 D* {& \+ ^, d
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's9 R4 w6 A/ F3 U8 Y) ^
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has7 M5 V# w8 n" i8 l; c. i+ p
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
2 W0 j/ ?4 f) y' B$ w/ Hmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of
* ]1 Z9 O2 y m; ?/ A8 hunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking' p2 y- N0 a, O0 ?$ m2 {
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering0 h! c: k& i I7 h
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
1 B0 v, e2 G/ Ptheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow, r, k5 w( {2 g! E4 P0 d8 J
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has: M2 e3 x/ }) E: P
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
+ k; f4 \6 d5 N; ^1 Nof Toyota vehicles since 2000.. L! {0 M- m8 w
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own5 \" q% [0 f- @% n* U1 K9 Q u
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he* d! }/ D3 V" p% n8 R- W3 A
understood the pain.$ p0 f8 z/ E/ p: o7 e8 X
"I know what those families go through," he said.
/ ~, B: k8 q7 T# b! {; ^. R. i8 lLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's' z2 C: k% i' f$ u1 X, ]1 ~; o' E$ _4 G. t
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.) J, t3 C9 ^5 g. u: U3 S T
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
3 n, z3 E) o2 @4 }- X. O+ ]4 tHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
0 A7 G. X8 K8 @9 p" Uin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it, j6 I( a, O4 B( m4 h! q
Lentz replied: "Not totally."( q) y6 H5 `6 z. F! x2 q( O
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
8 I2 c) z% S1 m/ a"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
& |5 I' h( `/ D* W* _6 u: UToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas3 |+ r) g# L j' S; L" W
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its x6 U" \, S* c( V+ Z
vehicles already on the road.
8 e1 c# n6 r% e5 |* tMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
8 \+ F" O, | `' _/ Mbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full/ Y% ?6 C3 O9 J# }+ }4 ~
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and2 T/ a2 {9 E: ?! |, u5 ~6 s
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were& `# K2 K4 C$ s: Q+ f& N
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.) |7 }1 Q$ |* F" a+ R; Q( K0 M$ P8 Y
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
K, s% C6 f0 K! {3 ?/ S7 ^' Etragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
- K9 m5 V3 |/ b/ d3 v3 bfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight1 P6 Z/ x% ~: o8 G9 a
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal" d( L7 r# t' e1 k8 `! h
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to( x: Q/ F( b8 z* ^# Y
restore the trust of our customers."1 W5 i3 U! j3 A! g1 F
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from: e$ U: |! r- z4 k- S- m
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
. [( w3 z( \2 x, X5 w' nzoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
9 N1 T1 j$ |* d4 W k- e- o" Eshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
2 l- e" V+ q! y/ |8 t9 khitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
: g: v, L1 E# \that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and4 T4 U# l9 s. i( s" v. |
turn off the engine.
( t2 s$ Z' f @! C3 kFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
d4 ]. f: w5 Q9 fOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."7 b: q7 c6 q( w: @
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
8 ?" U2 W$ ^! v$ R7 j9 f/ isaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
; Z5 G% l# Z/ \$ J% zto her complaints.
4 y1 e8 \4 y) g9 Z K' e1 dIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers% s- J/ j1 f; E- G# j! ~
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
' H- s0 l# A& e9 x _" m( @malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
+ K- E; d: A' ]% J"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric) g) \0 a0 I/ K1 X& P/ h8 w
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited. v# x# g1 |+ @4 s
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
, t2 E) D( x' G" p2 Ooff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
( x9 G4 H \/ J5 t# RTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in/ U4 h8 H3 i; d% i
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were7 u E: g9 l: ?' i) W" x
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
* o# S% h H8 [, H% Y+ cwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
$ f' z, C: o+ W. xevery question."4 v7 l o4 U( v$ T1 h. M- q
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
0 I5 X$ P! v' z: E- c1 ]. Uelectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
; S4 B, o1 q, g/ F" pfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But- S0 G7 I% V4 F4 j
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
* w) U/ H1 l2 ]5 w' Onumber of vehicles" _4 T- \6 M( q
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more
8 u6 ~6 B! Y% ^0 J) Qdifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a9 }7 O6 Y5 {7 z4 O, n
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one M, Y2 o7 K0 k) \ ]
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
( u* D5 _& x) s' y( G+ d, M TMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,4 U/ C4 K, K5 w& `5 l1 g
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
6 c1 A7 y( a% \: a5 z3 ?5 E/ g) e2 Etrace at all.
% z0 n* ~9 E- SHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
' o" q3 W6 s! a0 Q: bdatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
8 N, q2 Z5 l. i$ b$ ?acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the; q' ?1 V2 y% f. j
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.- H) d5 K5 k; s8 Y
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,# f' l/ L9 Q! U$ S
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
. Q. d T4 g+ I% s8 ]" Zother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
/ Q( I! |, a7 R, N% Jelectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible1 H5 f! |0 \6 p+ ^. `
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
: _4 \8 `1 @' V/ P4 _- B4 J7 Isuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained# M' {9 E, s5 a" l
by Toyota's lawyers.") I4 l$ b( c- ]3 k+ c
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
$ ]! m% p. ^3 P, w3 N l ^problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our! v; m$ \8 ]9 o: T; ~9 V* P( \
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he7 U/ Q3 j- x) d- W. o+ e
said.+ H9 B" L: g4 N! C
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
3 A- g& g- B3 I' Pa rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our* O4 J. ?9 m! k
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating9 M2 h8 l! O. R6 K7 M
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
2 {& D2 \6 J. W$ fSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying5 t9 ]' O# _/ H- d" `) J* b
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
2 N+ C" w: W( U) ~2 J' ~rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
8 m' ~% ^9 O9 Q [7 M2 S' x4 cautomaker, at least in part because of the government's
; {, N5 b: F$ f6 M+ P( I) V0 Winvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
$ i0 ]9 o! ?, DChrysler.' B2 W0 t2 d6 _
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax% v0 n9 `# V, X3 \$ Y- L
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
$ g& }# x* J) V/ R6 U* c+ }Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
; o9 S6 p; E# q0 Y2 C5 h4 Xserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete- |, v" y; R; N5 W z4 y% h
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
( s% L! `, G3 B4 x$ xtough.": m; m6 u; k' r* M' ]9 t# G
---
# q! m! W8 Z/ j* j& O) S$ NAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom& R( G1 f7 n4 n$ \
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to4 }" j3 u8 ]3 Q8 A
this story.5 M7 D* y8 W( b; [" w$ Z
2 b( d) E9 I* X6 @% D-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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