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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
0 i5 D% B, G, H3 j; F1 oBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
% W% o* E. ]: ~0 o0 V# n1 RWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
& k( z$ P$ f+ k) F7 t% N8 R% uoperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
* Y! A: c" E. J" e! K: h9 y% {( Bthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
* R9 |) X/ K% w4 ]solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
0 j: O8 }" H/ a6 O% d# |% {9 @$ @"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential' W! t' I0 m9 X+ _: }' G' X
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.4 Y) J1 _, I; X% e
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected: Z7 R7 W1 U* w( {1 \
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and! \( T- }6 i# U- `% }3 k
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
0 n% ]. Z% C. Ymats and sticking accelerator pedals.
& I. R ^- L" V2 m; P: WHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
9 y B# G! q% w0 B; y3 T- dand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp' b! `5 a% t( Y/ f: t
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be4 k) k7 P; P" T
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could& L* B* N T4 m ?5 n+ E( U
not stop her runaway Lexus.5 x0 ]7 r7 s' N- ~. X1 F
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
/ {0 P- s, J+ J5 STenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
6 n+ m! ]4 W1 U( x/ }% u7 p"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.8 T5 |6 f& W: Y; h9 J0 x3 l
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues6 [1 }( f9 X5 P5 z* b+ X
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said' o, F+ [" M d( p
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has' b. ^, |' d' N" L% ~- o
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
% R, {$ c& P& W5 H7 o) `# {3 rthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
* u2 g6 P1 S4 h, j& t9 Pinvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."3 I1 N* k- ~" d3 o; Q& f6 C
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an# _* u: W* V, [" l) g
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
* M- |$ [* Y+ k! R* a: Wthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a6 i7 b- W1 M: H7 }8 E! M# f6 _ z
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he. m# N4 O- y% f; r& s$ X8 }1 e/ f
said., W' y% [5 ]" o5 w$ W( d3 D
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
* C& G/ Y8 d: T% |1 yhappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
5 n4 M; o& |" u' t( m( p' K$ l. s8 l7 xabout driving our products," Lentz said.& A: a/ U6 ^. K3 J8 z
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
- ~) g# O! S! Y% B# Uproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has3 |1 @( @6 [1 M" h# J9 j
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
6 D, x2 p, b; e! n1 A! @- S1 h$ Imillion in the United States -- since last fall because of
, n4 \7 X, b' v( O! j2 I* Nunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking" m5 i% M: `7 S
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
J6 j3 w' r/ n( s+ o! ^" ^6 pconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of: s* i, n, v4 m4 P- M2 G
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow4 O) G F2 X1 f) ^! C0 X4 V
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
: o9 B2 S. e3 E0 W+ N+ sreceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration0 k b! f2 C) r2 r% _7 U8 |' H
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.
5 {6 _3 R" q8 x2 F' |; cLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own" S+ t0 D, X4 B i
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he% M6 r' w& A8 `0 a3 u
understood the pain.0 u/ m9 V+ X3 g4 U" R
"I know what those families go through," he said.
2 W1 V4 G* m( VLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
. S2 M: t0 F& P8 D7 d- qfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.2 P3 X* V0 L/ V" E9 u" Q
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman7 l$ y) v) Z+ f
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put; C6 c" C$ s; }* Z) O
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
4 u$ w+ D8 p: E0 |9 `+ VLentz replied: "Not totally.", ?0 X$ F' S. \$ Z
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were5 s$ G; d+ R% a
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
- F% H7 B; a! q+ _Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
: A E- \2 W$ o1 E; n" m$ Wpedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its2 @- p" P# i8 B: f3 ~2 T; Z4 q: G$ F
vehicles already on the road.
# M- d- j; v; x, JMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
3 c3 Z; i. L$ s, Ibefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
" L. I7 y* p1 b3 r) N0 Tresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
0 S" e/ h, y$ ]3 F8 N S% v$ H5 J/ Ioffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were5 B y7 b4 h* X8 C T' G6 I
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
# G; |' f7 h! W4 d) r' d"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a `! H! i) P% Q- @" Y4 v) U
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
3 ?+ D& d: A+ m: B/ i2 qfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight5 [6 B8 E8 ?9 y% U
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal4 a& [+ ?! I) S5 h& p, \8 @8 F
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
- k8 T. k6 ^$ I, Q! |5 G) prestore the trust of our customers."
1 @! o3 c$ V( n0 m% n2 |, ^Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from, C2 N( F. s4 V# W+ \5 W7 k
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly. \' ^; M) t+ ]0 c+ q+ K
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
3 y i) q" i4 I3 S0 Ishifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and. o8 ~5 S! L# g2 h1 h+ F
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
9 q+ z. k! w6 B: hthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
5 U n. J5 E' p8 o N$ {- _turn off the engine.
, d% G j; C2 G" \+ c# S9 F, l4 HFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
8 N/ K: ~0 K4 E3 j/ j2 K! {7 wOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
8 l0 r5 l- u0 V/ q! O"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
. S. B4 i- `2 g4 A0 M, e0 psaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond8 M$ r; E: m l) t" m" `, \
to her complaints.5 C0 C3 u' r3 P( f) o
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
6 l/ F, I# v4 X& g# z1 }4 Kreturned again and again to the question of whether electronic
5 `5 r9 i5 Y' x7 u8 rmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.3 C: n, V6 K, k* H4 S/ u
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric" S' c, p" y: ]- i9 \
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
. N' Y) v* Y( C) B"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
2 a; {: u: P" m& T7 Woff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
$ W; A" ~/ z2 K8 CTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
- n, w* i' Z% _' ?prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
( b( S2 ?3 u7 G/ R+ c0 ]2 a( lbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
+ s. X2 O& h; T/ swere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
2 H" k0 n) b. y2 P6 |6 |5 T( D/ V/ zevery question."
. Y' A2 o/ O5 l& ^9 M& W5 G+ y- \Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
7 V* E- e* K7 n4 s. }1 }electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The/ @' c; i; }& a7 |
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But+ p o* U; r9 B7 n6 ]' `* ~
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small( ^8 C) J& b; q" c& A
number of vehicles2 h$ F# V% X* o0 u0 k9 z
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more3 H3 l/ F0 x1 Z
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a) r* H! Y; O. d1 c
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one2 Z& [, d2 G; u3 W; X6 p& K4 O' E
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.3 [5 ]1 A7 r, q+ X# [- G
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
. ~/ H6 W, n7 Q2 V% Nwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
- s8 }1 [$ U; l- r8 Atrace at all.* C( i/ p$ B. f4 d7 V0 J
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call+ }& d" _! I9 B" B# ~/ `4 m" k6 n
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden3 ^/ K. v8 f# a" @6 B, D
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
5 G! C" c3 O0 g8 f0 c9 e2 nrecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.8 Q- x% M+ |6 L1 V4 B, J$ n: q
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
+ F7 C/ R% {# k6 @- V' q% Y* |9 ~said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
2 y) E# o0 S5 M- Aother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
7 h2 C& \, @& u7 R: I+ Oelectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
`2 z3 c) `0 m8 F8 u! q5 wcause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
7 e- k0 Q6 T# y. Usuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained/ V M& Y4 Q' o. @+ Z! R
by Toyota's lawyers."& P4 D- [) q/ ~" O- R: K+ s: a/ o
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of/ j1 Q5 D" o9 ]$ S0 i2 K7 C0 f, V
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our, ?% B: N* l ~* c+ p0 S9 z
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he W" z" Y" z7 o G) H
said.8 F/ s9 Q3 y$ G a; q( j
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with* G$ Y+ c5 H: h! y' i1 F
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
& N# V! I0 h$ ?9 Sgood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
& n7 ~( [# S. L. `- Nofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.8 A2 K) }# \9 m) C& h7 o
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying7 h) S9 t% H; B& p( F
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread6 h1 I+ I& W* A
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the9 V( j* G: y3 r; P% L
automaker, at least in part because of the government's
. L7 s8 P( l( n; F# hinvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and5 s0 c5 o$ Y! l2 ^" w6 @
Chrysler.5 d, |: Y1 ?8 e9 b: W9 `: p
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax7 a. c+ A( g+ _" P
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
7 h, Y& E; I! D8 P mHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also3 q- {+ d2 J0 J/ O9 `
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
) ^ I( |5 n/ v3 Fwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
; X. T9 C b8 ^" gtough.", \9 p1 X. i/ M- w1 ~' J c! J
---2 h! f' j! b! V2 ^7 S+ Z
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom2 i9 d1 x: R0 w0 G
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
5 P [3 H8 d; q ?this story.
" e2 S. [& i! S) O+ u1 |7 H& _, Q3 r5 o3 v
-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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