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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
7 k7 A: u, G9 A3 H/ Y) ^By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS' P; E# w% J: V, T' E8 [, c* K
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
5 y7 ]4 m' G1 x" {* T3 aoperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
7 L, u4 y$ z2 o6 Z3 `+ pthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
& g# V' K: Z* A0 Gsolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
; t# S2 ]0 k$ ]- ]. _+ G; N"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
+ f# b1 E0 E0 Y; Q/ Dcauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.' A9 z, H2 O- N8 T: x7 x# G! U
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
$ ^$ ]& c4 K) F" X( nacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and+ F$ k3 z# ~4 w$ _1 p! L1 s. y9 ?
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
' A [0 B- M, u0 q" Zmats and sticking accelerator pedals.7 U+ S* G" l. |
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal( r* t' M! G0 f* g* D
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp. v% m- _/ K% M- T7 d, Y
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
2 S5 G9 z! S9 u: ?. jfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
5 v2 c3 T! }8 J* R. Znot stop her runaway Lexus.; @* ]: Q: D3 y0 X) K7 V$ J
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
, H- e4 d( W" E7 ATenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second5 u. R w+ K+ I3 V5 z
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
4 M6 [( q8 h! y" @& [Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
4 v" g# _) K3 x- ^, F2 z9 Fearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said4 `8 D8 h* L) E
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
. k3 o4 N# Q% \, w( K( O& Odone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway/ E2 b! ^6 G1 B. M% w
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
- s/ c4 E* U+ X T1 T5 t6 z5 |0 Rinvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
0 d' `. w9 b F4 ?Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
% J1 g# o1 ^5 I+ q0 C, Oelectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of+ b! x4 H- O' ~1 b( v) W7 [
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
7 A. T1 N0 E) l+ d9 A, v( imalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
5 E, U" J4 b- n, Y: N0 ^6 W/ H: tsaid.% f& o8 u L. t T
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
& F- o( Q4 ~8 L' J4 Whappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe0 B1 t/ ?5 l( Y3 O, I
about driving our products," Lentz said.8 H: _. @3 Q) O# Z& j" G
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
6 g1 k. A& m' @5 C8 q* Qproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has( K! x! U: T$ F4 ^
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 62 x* ?0 r7 f2 P( T
million in the United States -- since last fall because of; ]6 g! p) d, C/ v3 I) c! h
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking2 S; N3 a7 |7 M' m2 e
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering3 A0 \! _/ r, P& G, b5 M
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of) a; d9 U- V8 g0 ?
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow u/ K: f1 x! T8 X7 a" i p
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
+ Z4 l0 W* o7 x+ s$ K. nreceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration r8 Z. i3 b# ^
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.
: _9 E) [% [/ _Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
$ t- a- s E* ebrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he. z/ q9 q2 T& s( P, w* j k% x
understood the pain.
$ [9 K. p: O0 M# D7 i% c"I know what those families go through," he said./ l: i7 r! ]$ a& @: r. \
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
: ]7 ~; X- Y2 @fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
' l4 G4 P) o2 j# ]But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
$ N7 v8 `) L9 i( e/ \, ^Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
' V: B0 z* I$ |" a4 Tin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,; D' g! O0 W& g$ C
Lentz replied: "Not totally."6 G9 c. z& \) [8 h \# K
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were! o! y! U2 }! O: C
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said$ R* ?# Y) D% [' d! B* ?4 e( K
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas. p- T8 f9 t8 W5 H' A
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its5 s0 N8 R: V1 _- ~3 v
vehicles already on the road.
5 Z" E: e. \5 F8 @Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify) i% T; V8 v5 x" O3 @
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full1 Q0 ]; F; V" r7 E/ k6 k! i
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and3 x* f- \5 q7 ~3 E! {2 }. }
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were3 R; u6 N* i9 n2 w! `; B% B0 d4 q3 `
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
. }0 ?8 ?5 A3 q( E# u5 D8 _"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
' w/ m- R9 }, A& r; o$ i, ktragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
8 G% t T$ ^' u) @3 W" \for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight6 J; \; `; H8 d' V7 r2 {: E" l" L
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal. g0 }6 z* `4 T9 F! Z
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to2 r9 {( v) t! k2 H0 I5 v- Y9 x
restore the trust of our customers."
' Y$ W6 {2 x9 p9 S: oLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
" H4 n; m \, m: d; CSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly- K( ~$ z# C* O! V5 o3 n* m
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
) {9 x2 b) H4 E# }2 n' P1 x* Jshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
9 q4 p$ p9 E. e8 M$ p; S' i9 yhitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough5 R5 M z! q+ S5 z- s1 }# Q4 ^% {
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
. s6 }% E4 k; l( Yturn off the engine.1 I. f! V. p4 v# n
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
4 C" z' S! m( x4 NOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
! j {3 ` w0 z"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she' S. C. k9 {. U& M; Z' _0 U
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
( }7 @$ k3 L6 ?( ~5 _3 F5 dto her complaints.
i: G( D" i) J7 t! L t6 vIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers) ^7 }7 x* E6 Y" D/ ?& U
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic+ ?" N. R' q! A d: \
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.$ S, p+ y8 L8 Y- {* n
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric, T K9 M8 ^) P9 }
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited- l% M4 I b2 X3 X/ p
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
# o$ ^/ X( `/ b$ foff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
- @+ `8 z- u! {# L* d1 a1 G& A. W$ {Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in" A) W6 _5 H O0 L
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were. W& S+ |( h* ^( @
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
5 E, u/ X. n; i0 Kwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer* Z" C0 d0 M+ ^( E+ [3 F
every question."
; t* T3 s: t; |( S2 oToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether; @+ c( Z9 u3 P1 A: V
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
; F( W8 J/ w) q8 a) B: \firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
+ e: O8 G" J+ h! d2 f) ?committee investigators said the testing studied only a small: S3 C( C/ G( m* s0 y+ @( ~5 _
number of vehicles
* c2 s0 z9 y9 x3 v/ Z# r+ F# r6 mTracking down an electrical problem can be far more# B# _! E' X- O. }: v. M* |) ^
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a6 p7 G+ f Q! |- a' D* P: W
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
/ b& C# i' q [- M9 _8 y" V- B7 H7 asource, and they can come from inside or outside the car./ A' E8 B1 X, k9 `7 U3 S
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,. w0 P5 ~/ F3 ]7 T {! R
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no& t% I. I j6 T+ k
trace at all.
7 j* y' }: t/ h8 S$ V1 C8 ~House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call m5 f6 G, S @7 _
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
: P1 y- l( f! E) hacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the" x3 c% l2 S2 \5 @2 T# e3 I$ \
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.3 ?7 U- d$ Z; p$ z4 K6 o
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee, |& y( `) O% @7 t) ]+ n) n% j, W
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and' J% E$ ~0 w6 L3 a! ]$ {' y3 v
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
5 P( C S& @8 Q1 Velectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
& E5 `5 ~& R0 ?* z% Kcause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only. W0 a1 `6 K9 s8 C8 {1 E! d
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained2 q/ R! z( R5 I2 y2 b1 ^( N
by Toyota's lawyers.". p- ]+ x s9 O' G+ w
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
' c2 W) s' m; n* `) J) `' V$ Cproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
4 q" P" y0 D0 j. D! n+ a1 ycustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he y/ P5 a! p0 K( a
said.
8 e$ e9 `9 P& V6 l' Z- p"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
/ t/ _1 p' a" l2 z- Na rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
6 K- f% b; x, r5 v1 W0 P- e/ ogood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
4 B7 Y1 u" U+ ]1 ?$ L2 g. L) c2 S" \officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
& R$ z/ O" B' K9 @% P7 wSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying; N8 ~: X y3 A- o
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
" v# @# U" ]* }1 S: grancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the5 N/ q1 A- `' ?* E
automaker, at least in part because of the government's6 a* z! O( G$ S* C" P
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and) ?1 j ~, b0 L- r! [
Chrysler.9 x8 x( o% Z5 G- i* s& W
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax* u! W- E% c( [0 d9 G
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a E" b9 `0 I5 |6 W
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
: S7 |7 K- z# m |1 M/ n; lserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete& ^. D3 S0 u; A* y+ Y5 q7 U+ I2 V
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
: K, s% b: k. h( qtough."' x8 S$ G" P) @4 V$ ^! s
---+ c# W) ^6 A. i/ A3 S) u5 V" u& @
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
/ g/ a( f8 f/ D4 y- RRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to- Y- h5 \) i9 n3 _# n+ G+ b3 ^0 h" z- l
this story.: E: Z0 \: w( h( g
0 ^% _8 H, b1 |$ Z7 ^
-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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