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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
7 V) U) e% v2 c" W S+ IBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS, @+ |0 \/ s3 ]' {9 y, J
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.4 j7 s! p$ n- w! Q* }
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
0 b! h% U, q& othe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"* w/ r# e. O& k# Y. p4 ?
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.; F7 W, u+ V2 H
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
! }& U2 B1 n* Z6 }3 m+ Vcauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.' l: ?6 z% N& S8 \9 L" D
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
" b; G6 J9 i% H0 ]9 H3 d. |2 r$ P0 Vacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and6 n, Z+ e q% p7 A6 O; W
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor6 V6 @5 I9 l( O7 ]4 |5 L& _, I, Q
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.# b* }# d' [" G/ d% z! V. j
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
8 t. G5 q- d5 B3 D; n0 z; zand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
" o+ s5 K7 ?. w4 h! mcriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
7 y* u" e' q- P5 z: l |9 H2 X& xfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could$ P2 q. V5 |7 }% C5 G5 R0 |1 P) C
not stop her runaway Lexus.
; M5 S; W. W% s5 j+ q/ P"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,0 \0 {" y* Y" L$ E/ L( k( [, s
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second$ T: E9 @. k+ y8 h( g
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.7 G; M5 l |' b$ Z% _, l
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues% T3 f" F' [% Y0 ^. x" t
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said+ O, `+ Q0 k! B; c* D I
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
) |% W, j* }2 w. b7 wdone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
' h) M* n) T- \through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
4 `$ c y! g- b3 [0 ?% ninvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham.", J( d; R- |1 X/ n$ S" N0 p$ z
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an6 i! a) c& f2 A6 r! F# h6 k2 M
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
$ P& @3 r* G Y3 s Vthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
( `5 b) j$ x. j5 @/ j6 b$ ~malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
( _& i% j+ u8 K9 Jsaid.: Z4 x" N+ Q" C) N0 f1 p& S
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what1 }/ \1 M. X6 M+ w. x
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe' h. d6 q: U; u$ C
about driving our products," Lentz said.% s5 v' {5 y8 d/ \
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's; Q+ \5 Z C, \$ K
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has H7 ?/ O. k, {4 K" U ?
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
& L* t" E* t! S% G! jmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of
8 [, }2 @; D: [8 T, V$ Q# @unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking3 d2 [0 e7 h" `# G: U
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
5 h2 K9 G9 B: Qconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of( U( B4 C+ U% {/ B" [
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
& ?" |9 s' n% A Idown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
. G. x; L: e4 r3 j2 m8 a3 |# Zreceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
3 b$ _( f s% ?5 Y- C1 Tof Toyota vehicles since 2000.0 o* E9 {3 K9 k
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own2 v7 T/ Y3 x5 `; ]* y" J
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
7 s1 P6 T; }; m; Punderstood the pain." [3 @! F! v0 d; t
"I know what those families go through," he said.* c( e7 [) f9 }
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
( ?0 m5 D! L& U9 V$ w' yfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems. d6 H+ q; T" i: T4 P
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman& v! c( x# p* U
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put1 Z) C. @6 S2 h3 P' |
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,+ f6 c' O! \. [( f4 {
Lentz replied: "Not totally." X: v. K3 m L# f: q5 e8 V" u9 v
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
2 l. D! v& M9 E& G- a5 P"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
# L7 z) {8 j3 ]1 ?Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas! R; g8 B: e2 b# J/ q
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its* g/ L* j& ?. K
vehicles already on the road.
* [. q" `0 V& i; vMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify; p2 q; S- e( U, e! r- h
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full" \. { Q$ V( Q; ~# F- w- C# f
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
. J# j& c$ ?7 J3 Coffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were% P4 X0 K; O, Q; P
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.# r2 \: [, G% c* C) Z7 X
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a% S4 W" Y# }8 _0 Y, t3 e* \
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony* Y9 a- d1 u9 ^/ o5 ?/ ^& Y7 a9 `
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
# R) R; L: U3 j' xCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal9 k- a( W# h6 Z1 d3 `
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to# z% f( U4 m* a8 _" m
restore the trust of our customers."
W: m( a2 _/ X. P7 FLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
8 {9 X: ]) ~6 c6 |# WSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly8 w0 g& S7 X. [. J
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
6 i3 l7 b) S, M3 @1 C- Oshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
+ S# U- x6 p- C L7 Phitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
1 i9 U2 H6 o s: @7 C2 p4 i( |* Ethat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and" k# V* I$ y- P, o8 e; [3 ?
turn off the engine./ T0 {/ I( e$ Q
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
( T" I* V- Z& z- A, \October 2006, calling it "a near death experience.", m0 M4 _' Y% P `6 V& n
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
9 E4 O( ]+ n! N" \said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
7 Z; t5 }/ b% A/ |0 b) M" u( w+ Xto her complaints.
, e3 A- e! n+ y. F7 {2 \3 sIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
4 M; k, h7 h$ G6 D- r. S+ w8 _returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
9 g# N! W. {1 X! L( K8 ^/ @malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
; Y5 F4 {( X6 W' F! z"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
" l. Q& ~% b- [throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited+ P/ Y% ^6 L: l# C, Z
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut; X9 l2 E8 z; ^$ a& Y
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
; Q7 X$ R) R: p2 J) I; z# k6 Q7 ETransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in" L" E3 b! Y9 V2 h6 @, V4 H
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were. }9 c* T& ?3 _( }4 m7 O0 A( }1 O6 y
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
* g4 b: x. M3 P' F3 S& dwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
( {+ s H* J% _! A: h/ [7 k# \0 tevery question."
8 Z1 N' p9 m8 ^" bToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether H% I* C* \$ g) r
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
7 H/ U' V) a9 ~6 P/ t' Tfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But1 B9 D6 |- m$ C. D6 e
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small9 ^3 F1 S. e! W; Q( j
number of vehicles
" m8 k! J0 F* H, q+ t. dTracking down an electrical problem can be far more% S. _& b% O' z! ~
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a7 G* Q' n2 m5 G2 g' y; m9 _9 u. e5 A
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one3 f3 Y. a9 j; ^3 K! l
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.; [$ x0 |9 [1 N% G- `
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,/ j( ?1 z7 M4 v+ K) }* b
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
# \" t+ D6 N' v1 P. utrace at all.
4 P# [: @, s( S2 MHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call3 B V# i S5 z) E2 W
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
8 `7 {9 b3 H* L/ h- Eacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
4 N- k: {1 q0 ^# Z3 J$ drecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.' J5 b3 x% D3 x% }! ]" [8 B$ q
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee, N% G0 g' [! d5 [: e; M, U- [3 F
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and$ K: u# V: ?- |% X4 N$ K) b
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
4 q8 H0 o5 m9 h6 j! E# D* `& lelectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
- Z5 F0 [. m/ S V" |' dcause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only0 V* ?. |" c# B9 m
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained8 J0 q( L$ i* u2 t1 p% m
by Toyota's lawyers."
& M) ~; |2 m8 qLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of2 ~. T% C3 A+ \* F# k# m* g
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
, a! u- l; [" Zcustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he) i5 g6 \3 `/ E* J5 O, Z6 U) L1 N
said.
6 o( B& Z- r" u6 R& z! a"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
1 x4 h9 S- u7 M9 E$ B9 Ua rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our2 m) Z2 G; [8 W+ d5 G9 Z
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating3 `8 j2 G" t& E4 L% d6 M
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.1 e. P7 T& E) B3 C- L2 t8 ]3 k, b
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying8 ]; i0 Z4 A- ~+ A1 r: k
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread: d" q' ?0 E% P8 z5 b" }3 O& }
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the9 |% H( A, }0 j
automaker, at least in part because of the government's
2 J T) r4 i! K, g& Minvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and8 [0 g- W3 `' M7 Q6 t' D. P
Chrysler.
" _/ F& ^, q5 M% f) W+ n, K# o"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax. V; r: S: a/ N
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
6 ~ d" o/ K, r2 |1 d9 `) ^Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also: t7 O( r, G2 H3 Y
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete. y7 f$ }. o1 J3 E
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty' I+ L+ X* ~6 k) c! |/ M
tough."$ H, M* T! }( E" e U& H
---4 j# L' v% ?: @) M& M
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom) E, K" [# P9 p
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
' a1 g! y- c* U M3 {- ^this story./ H' p0 R: R" u3 P7 n2 D1 a: Q
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-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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