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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
: S: l4 h" @+ C( C& F$ xBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
' Q5 j: B2 u. ?/ Z- r5 Y8 K+ rWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S. K2 W& {/ {; b1 ?
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that7 q6 w2 \+ ]0 D2 z: @7 O# U
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
# s3 v2 q" s L% Isolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
6 i/ }; |; m7 o; o( x"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
' E6 o* x2 d3 Z# r) t& L- D4 x& ncauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
5 ]' S0 J- }; v- e( BHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected9 d$ [, {) b4 V' r3 g9 M' x
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
8 c6 t+ w, |8 a: U3 c: _0 {2 K* otrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor: P, ~8 {. n8 m0 P( w3 k
mats and sticking accelerator pedals." C6 a" L! b6 w! @5 o2 x5 ^
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
8 x( W" R ~5 c" G7 }& D1 pand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp0 F b2 C! I/ _5 o# t Q# s. z$ ~
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
$ r' W9 L4 o# R9 G2 Y: K% o9 z$ }further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
. P% s+ B- @/ g3 n# c: onot stop her runaway Lexus.
% i& X! E* O4 w0 f" f4 ]2 p2 T F0 O"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
" B/ G3 X! Y$ u1 F, M# j: H. ^/ @/ sTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second/ x+ ]3 ]! ]0 O) X# g
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.+ l( w- ?# d; c: d/ `1 a9 @
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues. z( q* j- ]9 k* w3 F5 S1 U' v3 v
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said M2 a( F, R. O! J; V% j" z
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has3 _$ c, { p8 K3 l
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
' `4 L6 N' W$ H+ E+ f/ D2 athrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
+ [& B+ j5 l$ [6 G4 M; Qinvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
/ ] E w U" {4 G* WLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an# W: D A+ q: q" Y
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of! `6 O2 s" ^( y# V: V
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
$ d* }6 X4 g- umalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
! g- t2 o$ t i G9 O! r: isaid.! P' U, I& F; g. C# O
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
% ^8 y' n6 H, ~2 s. P; o ~happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
0 A6 B: h/ e6 v! m# f# Rabout driving our products," Lentz said.
+ \; s) |, ~. g! f: k1 xThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's' C Q) a' j8 M- D! U* ]
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
4 h) c! S4 V z4 O- d8 grecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
6 u' B% C& v) O- `+ W* U% qmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of
9 B% j8 B; M, O: aunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
7 @" \ C4 A* T& K- G- {issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering% M, `( ?% e( T+ {! y7 s
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of- _. q( t+ _7 @! O- O7 f
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow8 n6 U) N2 G! r5 s- n
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
8 X; y0 |# A! ?/ M% jreceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
( ^# e' b- s" {- }( Pof Toyota vehicles since 2000.1 k6 I$ e1 H* L; z6 T; @0 h2 O* l e
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
1 W& w$ G" ^$ r7 Obrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
& Y0 q7 z0 r% N* u9 `7 u; Zunderstood the pain.6 v* c5 D& k2 V. }/ o
"I know what those families go through," he said.
& V0 U- N3 u q6 vLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's0 s* y" A3 ?5 Z+ |3 I* P; U5 Z
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.' p; M9 i+ X: H) v0 U/ I
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman% r- ^3 N0 v9 U0 O1 p. ~5 w% }
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
; _* W& g1 q& x/ b- a! gin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,7 Q, _( e6 M! m4 ?' R& K
Lentz replied: "Not totally."
3 |9 e, x3 ]& q& Z) wStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
. X% L& \. q6 |) D"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said" m3 Q$ Q% O+ w
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
' |. m9 ~: _8 H* t3 C, J' n: _! fpedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
" t l' E$ I$ ^* O! ~* J* f9 _* }9 avehicles already on the road.5 ?& J% V: ~9 k% {8 V5 }& x
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify& n1 u3 A. ~1 i/ s- f5 I2 n% [
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full# M, a' c& m! I Y) {
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
$ x2 i/ i$ A4 `% zoffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
k0 }+ s" H, e# S$ }( @/ Bkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.; a7 A8 t$ A( A
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
3 w: V7 j& V1 O2 ntragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
+ s+ m* o2 P* l) V* mfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
* T% X4 r% E, a) J: v8 @3 H1 _Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal& J1 i* _0 m% Y* W7 [1 B
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
% g V9 b1 \( Z5 m9 u+ P2 mrestore the trust of our customers."5 W5 g* N0 ?2 X$ g: g) s4 @
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from' Y+ }0 ]2 b8 M# Z# d
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly' i B4 M; m1 h% { i# D# q1 o" |
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --9 m5 U$ c# X) t4 [8 R2 e$ i
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and, l; q1 N: F9 o- a# p
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough6 t/ L3 G6 w+ I0 {8 }' h; f# j
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and& K* H/ A5 c% M5 D# I6 t: r
turn off the engine.
9 r3 J, P; U, h; t. S$ M) PFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of! A' U2 Z4 C: w' g
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
r! o; \1 m/ i7 @# y3 `" O8 ~# ^"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she& d( T0 @* U( ?. M- t
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond! F" M( O3 z+ I2 M, d; Q
to her complaints.
* }1 I! @4 a G! SIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
3 }6 f. C1 `6 f! H2 E/ U) lreturned again and again to the question of whether electronic
% o+ d( F; k3 A/ z* l1 _& Nmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
8 q; _) d1 o6 G" {+ W+ ~"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric$ K2 f* a1 O, e% Y
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited ]7 G; D, T6 F9 \, J# @" C
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
0 E. |- S. V$ p3 u" t$ Hoff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
6 _% R) b0 S+ K) T! P6 ^Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in; r/ F& f! v& S6 q0 Y3 i
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were# G/ j s* r: P" P7 F: d, @) _
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls; n0 [1 ?* r. e9 {8 {
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
5 k |6 E# g: h# V; R3 Mevery question."8 ?4 A. Z5 a" [! s9 |3 I
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
{1 g0 e6 C1 H* o- _- relectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
7 R+ H8 u+ s8 Y& [1 A3 ofirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But- b+ b: Z% `7 X7 G: _
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small4 y1 {& @9 _# r! t
number of vehicles& Q3 l H* Q* P7 {
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more1 t2 B& b' K( ~
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
7 v( j. P% P, ?5 ?$ umechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one" }" U; ~+ v& Q6 L1 o/ O
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.; N% J$ h# ^4 b5 F' M
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,: [& A9 W7 C1 o7 Z
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no+ d/ y, |( k0 E
trace at all.
" F) G) [2 N0 J$ L, Q3 c- T- L) X' K; j* PHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call# p8 a, y0 g/ h
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden$ m9 }' Z3 K; Y X. n4 r4 Z0 Y
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the4 k3 n, s) [6 D; E! p
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.5 \8 F) g2 U* A* q" S
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,! i1 |( {. g' ?$ l1 K
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and6 w. [9 F% @' Q' e, ^
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the; Z2 u# W6 |' l! z
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
5 M3 @5 _9 A! U; t- ocause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only& R) U/ S2 B- |4 D6 X; ]
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained; [0 e2 B5 R. s H/ K7 n
by Toyota's lawyers."
& \* K; Z* Q4 A T3 C7 E- f, aLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
: V, ?4 L2 i; K2 Z8 q! m2 z" R( ?$ Dproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our6 g1 h7 B. y* F& F) k l, F; R
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
& k2 R2 I' M0 B, h8 i p0 ]said.
! A: o0 e9 U, c, |% K9 t9 E/ S0 y"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with0 O3 E: S# ^% K/ R
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our+ s: k* P L6 N: [8 C
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
+ |( u5 |! V; [officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
0 g& E8 d5 {; m4 h Y7 Q; ESeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
" l& i% \3 q W4 J& L) X3 T* Gmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread1 H+ D4 s7 Y! X5 [; p: R
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
+ M! G1 E3 d3 U' D6 Jautomaker, at least in part because of the government's
' _1 n, {" E Jinvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and3 J6 F5 _, W* O7 }0 c6 o. [* O% s
Chrysler.
* z7 j% m2 a6 ~7 L$ w- E1 z; ["That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax& V' |( Z' ]$ P" D* y
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
3 F Y4 e+ [% @* r- D2 WHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
9 D; E$ G. G9 v1 A; |, U3 wserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete; a8 [2 \* a' x' M
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty% \2 M* m% ^6 Z
tough."! `3 n" V' z3 y$ D/ ^ C( T& D0 I) a! d
---
( `3 B, l" O9 ~- B! h' jAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom! o, [+ ]( E- ]$ P
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
W% h; K* N3 A( |' k" i3 y" \this story., \0 f; h* w! W) t# S2 j9 u( A
2 H( T2 | u; M; U( r3 J-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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