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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
4 `( V1 y3 A: D$ i) C. KBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS/ ~& q( Y+ u( Z8 _# k6 D6 y+ H, U
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.7 j' O+ w9 ^; z
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
. Y! [" T, h4 l- N% m: @! dthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
" v+ k9 G5 a9 f9 rsolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration. r0 S% k6 @5 p$ {& d9 k6 h3 y$ Q
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
& B1 V0 g0 L! }causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.7 N v# @! r" L0 x' P6 ^
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected+ P4 W% p' O5 a$ ~
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
3 n+ L/ f4 C/ C: t& D' Vtrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
) l- s7 L& i# Y0 ~& z; ~2 \mats and sticking accelerator pedals.. T1 `' n, u( E' f2 a1 V8 Y! ^% R
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal$ s6 n4 O8 I5 j
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp3 f1 l0 J- N& V% H
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
G8 R# F; K. O5 S: wfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could! T% N# m! n: W" ]+ l
not stop her runaway Lexus.; c0 n- l4 H1 w
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,, L+ \! f# e2 V9 K- ~8 g; @
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second* R7 p2 b$ H, c. h' J6 P
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.. |0 i$ G& \9 X
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues7 ?: h( ` w) |
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said$ |+ G* g6 O1 Z
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
6 t* t, R: V* V- C ]done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway( n% u% m; u1 s8 y
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's5 B g/ s" x6 W; Y, w6 B2 N; I
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."7 u: n! H' P" M% _' h
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an% E8 O H% Y8 ^
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
! ~: s3 g- A. l, V; X. M: [the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a! d; }( I" c: ]% b$ n. l2 W Q
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he$ D: ?1 U2 R3 l/ h, f& v+ {
said.( E6 g: J- B5 |
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
, J7 `# R, W. g( Y/ f: ^1 \happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe0 n) a H& h! [2 W, V3 W2 }
about driving our products," Lentz said.2 P/ G5 |+ _8 }
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
4 t: q' u7 M$ V( \* f+ hproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has' R, m0 Y3 V% m8 g+ S
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
2 i" D0 F" X% c& Fmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of5 Q2 A+ K# g* z2 ]) d8 X
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking( q7 G6 i3 Z: `# {4 {* S$ o
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering- F; ]2 s, _; z# u0 W4 j) C" Y
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
& _) ]3 k9 j4 k1 R4 qtheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow, }5 d0 O Y T7 S; z0 f: e
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has9 y+ t3 {" }2 E; @0 X+ o8 E
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
9 b9 I: N" d# K' S; G- \of Toyota vehicles since 2000.5 k* a' u0 Q' K4 k
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
7 H2 A$ o7 A7 r9 | n" }brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he1 x% c% R) ~0 A3 g
understood the pain.( \- s% \3 f4 W2 ]
"I know what those families go through," he said.3 w7 G7 X( c" b& R
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
. M5 W* j4 Q9 Ffixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.8 t; }, a8 [5 I& b+ `# Z8 Z
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman) F4 \' }! _( R5 c2 s( l
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
# `0 K7 s/ Z* [# Gin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,4 P5 \2 q( ]& R% s2 H6 H- O
Lentz replied: "Not totally."
; e1 y# t9 I. L/ p3 N1 O9 BStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were+ I& ?+ F9 P7 z; D N$ ^
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said2 o1 E! }" @+ ~8 e; x
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas7 h+ H# `2 }) x( m2 ?
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
8 L" o/ p! k0 k2 zvehicles already on the road.3 n8 v) a1 U( Q
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
: R% a3 g b3 a) [' j8 gbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
7 T0 f" ]8 w& j' e* y( c5 Z' wresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
- L/ `) ?& o7 d2 Q+ Y$ doffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
5 E6 I& b6 r$ [8 {) m/ `' zkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.0 p" l3 p P: d) C3 {
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
; Y0 F- k$ H0 N) E9 D' ltragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony2 \9 p3 m/ e( g4 u- S
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight$ u) h, T/ }+ \, f; c% G e+ E8 J
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal) `+ B7 V1 @0 g0 H! l9 G+ h8 _
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to1 O8 y* E& h+ C
restore the trust of our customers." O2 {4 h, D( }$ B) A
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from6 a* T, P6 v2 m
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly7 a5 }+ R; Y: j, R- W
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --- g& K% A" [$ k1 o7 w" t
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
0 [( T3 C& h! i' B7 m8 v" t, H* Fhitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough4 w8 U: _$ _) s; c
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and4 s; y/ |( g' i0 u$ h o# c( X
turn off the engine.8 A& e' s# |: l ~
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
% ^( E8 w1 e7 X- W \' ^# r: a( ^October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."! l- j& ^/ j! L% v
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
9 S+ P$ q. m" F4 Y d; hsaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
* T7 ~3 Y( D% Q" Xto her complaints.
- R4 c2 Y7 G& F6 EIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers5 r3 ~/ j5 `, C
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
# [- ?; {8 P; }* ]9 R8 _6 Bmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars." |7 s$ c2 d3 \
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
) l1 ^/ U$ R8 c/ e6 \' O- P/ j0 s9 Fthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited' v( ~9 o K7 o* n
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
8 d& b7 X: { Y+ U. Doff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."1 u$ g, } f$ X9 p$ Q6 x& s
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
2 ?/ T7 p; Y0 Oprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
9 A1 g7 {8 i6 N; X) S m' Ybeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
& _$ A+ z7 u9 Dwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
% R' i" @" K# J/ vevery question."1 w( Q' N( s- L8 x$ _! x' W
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether/ L, E! R+ y- G* l5 S8 X
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The& @+ X% t. }0 ?$ e- H. W
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But! y6 c" }% R3 @2 y& v' F+ x
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small% @( }8 p& n' x+ B
number of vehicles
; j3 k, J) z6 x0 f" yTracking down an electrical problem can be far more
! H* r4 a* b+ z: Bdifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a2 ?- F' p! Q8 x
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one- ?& ], X5 Z8 G
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car. [/ i; ~7 {. t \( w9 w' t5 b
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage, `5 s# ^. B# y
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
: N8 v3 }& d; S1 R% Ctrace at all.
3 L- y& E; C7 G' B& N7 THouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call! R# ^% K: A! y: R+ f" p
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden$ y/ D8 I* |* `! O6 q. W
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
8 M7 E6 i' Q. H, A$ orecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
! y& y6 c+ z9 A/ M0 HRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,* r5 V/ F5 }9 p; j
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and7 z2 U2 C/ e$ t2 W
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the# h3 c: m v& x9 N4 \
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
6 F7 R7 ?/ A, d8 b0 m1 Jcause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
- u, I; o% K! _2 l& k3 n* H) Ysuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
' R; G7 ^) A* W0 q. Y% Y# nby Toyota's lawyers."! s. l5 |3 u( f/ W+ O$ @
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of* h/ Y" d3 r7 r- P5 ?9 w5 T
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
! Y4 K6 K% Z0 D5 M" a' l- |( acustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he; i* S6 t( T) [8 n6 _
said.
& z# k9 m% x# l"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with! Y3 a' x7 J' D6 p! L
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our1 G: o/ C5 [# N, p" K* B+ c9 ~
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
- E1 F, m8 s$ o, pofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
, E8 r7 N* X; g" ?Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying0 i9 o5 H, `; [: m7 _$ m+ n
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
! y, K$ u; I( ]5 P) U9 ]1 j) N5 \rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the" Y% P2 v8 d0 I+ {- K* I+ c4 B
automaker, at least in part because of the government's& h. ~. M7 l' ~9 B5 g1 g
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and8 w7 o4 h/ B) ?
Chrysler.; H U3 U0 M7 C4 I h1 F) H
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax2 g/ M. L1 P# R
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a9 n: i" J. M$ a* K
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
& g7 Y. y7 T9 S1 d7 ?% \5 g1 U1 \# E! kserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete" c4 z2 A0 e# J6 g
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty U2 D+ N5 }8 Q/ f
tough."
1 q7 J# f- j0 l* d1 j---
7 g5 p, P: G- C. d3 }8 v. X( U5 wAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom' n4 f3 i! f+ ^' E/ B, h
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to2 j/ T% |6 A, T" s$ X
this story.
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$ R6 x# a- f! E& R; V+ ~-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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