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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
7 Z& ~- l% I( t7 Q; G% ABy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS& Z& Q o2 ]) n3 ~6 d$ o
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.4 b: Q( @+ Y7 l% _
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
: l. O( s( W: B0 H+ z3 ?1 Ethe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally" G9 C* S0 w6 ]; m# W3 a
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.. a8 [ J9 Q3 i d6 f) R& b
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential8 {7 a, I* \0 v) e E
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
8 f, j7 F# r1 kHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected, i6 M H1 M7 J1 a
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and6 `/ _) P: ^6 a8 k: o
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
( H0 [9 C, Q0 L9 s: hmats and sticking accelerator pedals.' |, u; W& Q: h! y; W
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal6 I/ d0 w& D7 a$ `* {9 f( K O, I
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp ?! s0 G' D' ^% o- m( x. Z4 r
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
/ a7 |+ p( k5 Q9 Kfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could, U. R/ Y/ v% A$ `
not stop her runaway Lexus.
+ r3 @$ n+ g8 V2 s2 k( n+ f$ A0 J+ H"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,) s; l$ K( S: b. r2 C; `
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
& ?$ t4 t$ |- M0 B* w"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators." n: _8 o, d0 A; A9 g
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
7 V! J6 h, m1 tearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said. |1 ]' X8 [0 n6 c
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has; s9 Z) b$ |! M
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway, t3 o/ z' v; V# d3 e+ b) H3 x
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
0 h7 k0 I( O" Cinvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."1 q' d8 k) S6 d X# V/ H! q0 ^
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
7 I0 ]0 i5 }2 Y6 ~+ \. ^' {5 _electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
8 b. ^5 F7 A. jthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
, D" S7 N" K. e; @malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he" ]/ {8 v/ l& S; V
said." Z: v& Z% F+ i* a3 R, v% H7 w- k
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
( q3 b+ L( [" Z+ a) H! ahappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
^$ C( z8 p& D4 Tabout driving our products," Lentz said.+ C# [5 Q4 E' E: z
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
0 s! d3 j* D. P9 m# iproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has0 `9 I; K5 b( L
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
8 q: N$ X; O- V7 s6 _' O& b6 Smillion in the United States -- since last fall because of# B3 I+ H l) c
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
2 M: u% d- N" U- H M' z2 Aissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering2 j% T( `$ l j* c3 x, c% U0 Y
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of6 m. ^% |, y, @% s! N
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
5 m: `/ k7 \$ x( A# wdown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
: L: i( S: H) c" c; a1 _received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration! T( P4 W+ n* e; B
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.% `& N t) }3 L; d+ }
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
, q+ i6 k! l# h+ l) Nbrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
$ X G4 N$ @) M' g) gunderstood the pain.! V9 X1 a' W: ?/ d6 N6 ^( G
"I know what those families go through," he said./ ~: K2 v% P" D Q r3 ]
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's3 I; w$ a( H& V2 _* W5 G
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.; w; f* S8 H5 W# F9 Q+ O0 `; x) X
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman& I, D" K# w3 v( Y
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
( s8 I# N, a1 T* G2 Lin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
6 i& ]" u9 m u) g4 T8 X# k3 QLentz replied: "Not totally."
5 P; V x" M; f: Q* K2 sStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
1 m) C8 f. }1 }5 i"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said% b* B- v0 o, |! `
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
% w# g$ o8 j+ b, epedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
7 m' X3 ^* O# i. mvehicles already on the road.# C) S' p7 b' j& |. J. w c3 h
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify% h, G. S6 d: ]" d6 @
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full# F5 }8 s0 h m9 n
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
6 ~( m$ o; g0 f9 X4 W1 k. w& [: [$ moffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
( @+ ^5 U, q- B) I2 ykilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
1 D5 x$ R/ h3 F0 Z `: |6 l"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
6 H# P& f$ L& }. I9 I. s+ C4 Xtragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
1 V8 |$ S! z5 Y8 T8 Wfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight! K3 y5 ]/ z; [$ y8 _* K9 Y
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
2 V" @, P& V4 F9 ~8 x, `commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to' H/ x1 P+ c3 o
restore the trust of our customers."
! U! U9 d! a+ j6 P8 `: ALawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
6 i2 m, C: [9 K3 x2 ZSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
6 S$ l( S- D! G! hzoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
2 W1 U* v3 i* R: J' Hshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
$ N3 c0 m/ \, i3 i4 I, {hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough: ~9 u7 U# s2 ]% Y* h
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
5 k& W. l6 G1 }% @: C/ u" z0 Z& b# \turn off the engine.
# f1 n6 g) i/ I; X/ AFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
: N. v+ m, L" ] j5 m" O- N2 L: fOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."4 z- h% F4 f4 N, H/ Q
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she) y1 I$ Q6 O/ Q
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
7 Z, s1 o: ]/ ^% Tto her complaints.0 P1 {9 {( y# }" a: z! `" {
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers9 Z( e. s: p5 U
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
, V1 a8 b g! W" |0 O2 cmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
4 n0 t1 l3 x% ~"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric3 k" X- {( o. X/ J5 r
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited7 j$ Y* m, t4 [8 I! R1 C
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
# W l3 P0 C0 w A5 u; o; foff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
8 X* d3 g D- j9 ]- q* J( X$ rTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
) R6 [) f* c E- m% Qprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
, l. Y& h: F" h1 u$ B& c+ Y, Y( h* dbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls! G* I$ v3 {7 @6 l3 f/ C
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer& r$ Z9 k' e+ X+ o8 {- C9 w
every question."
) O! d( `$ @ u' dToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
! I1 Q( Y) S2 b* Relectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The9 i! }5 l( _4 H, {+ T
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But$ I$ G* s: N, |; R+ c- p
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small% j) {. x( B6 ?4 _8 q+ V
number of vehicles
) A. C7 X: v* }$ nTracking down an electrical problem can be far more7 I% C2 l9 f0 p: \ X0 Y3 q; @
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
+ t" d" Y4 U% I& c3 M+ Hmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one! H1 g) F+ C0 B. }* F( u$ t2 b
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
! s) r8 } Z( e) GMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
$ y9 k0 I t" H0 ^" Wwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
3 Y+ J- Y5 T# H% f0 wtrace at all.
( u0 n! n Z) k6 ]' FHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
+ s% k7 T. I' G1 Ydatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden P7 s4 U9 P8 ~2 i' v
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the+ J+ v8 `8 H$ I) H9 n
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
8 ]& J6 ?1 P$ o" hRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,' a* `( X- m' F1 i- J. j$ N
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and; K$ e D* O j! ^( m
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
, i) E5 {. d7 J( yelectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
' n V6 J+ q* A4 B3 Z8 Gcause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only# ]& r6 ~4 n8 q b1 g6 ~
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
4 C5 [) D, X; I1 n0 i/ Bby Toyota's lawyers."
9 g3 k4 ]! ~; H; l3 ?2 DLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of) d; R# g* X$ J2 Z0 G
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our. d& s! _: L! @9 A2 b4 r
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
* J" p1 T; w( ~# csaid.
) Z' K @ B5 z9 B( o"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
: h* y% ?' `( oa rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our9 h2 M9 w( W; [# ?
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
$ h7 C5 a/ j [0 F Y yofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
, Y6 y$ O7 K1 C& Y/ VSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
7 d* {# | i8 h/ F# {# K8 L. rmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread) V9 }: H# p' y8 [: w6 @
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the1 y; F) [6 N% g8 a0 x9 U
automaker, at least in part because of the government's
6 F5 Q5 |: a! l( [0 U4 ~investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and j2 Y& F3 p, E) y( F, C
Chrysler.
; v) F/ }' T" w- m0 e4 }9 H( t"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
5 e* Z; i$ c t" Y( s* Y+ @dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
& O' w/ G: ]" [Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also# [. ]9 D5 A3 h0 ?- R! Y8 h
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
5 }! d8 M! z7 Y8 Jwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
) Z/ N4 i) ^. A) V( ?5 D: otough."
( u2 x, Z9 U* m! p, J9 {---4 ~/ {5 l8 j% G% P I
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom: Y# k' m0 C8 g6 [: n: c
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
, Y: ^1 f. H! o* n- ?* p7 S* mthis story.1 \. H4 ]. k2 [7 ]6 f
6 s8 { r6 P3 y# W; P-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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