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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
1 C; w; ]7 w- J- e9 j2 I% B9 CBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
% N0 n9 y% b+ j/ {4 H- JWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.# Q! g M4 a; J6 J) q- g
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
/ Q5 y3 @. O3 Cthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"0 M" O5 z" W- ?+ i0 c' d$ h
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
0 |0 C: A8 Y8 Y& n2 ~) k"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
& S9 Y4 C( C. e6 W0 Acauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
3 j7 y" Z, \' H O3 I4 `5 VHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
5 l/ L# b* P6 S' I" k- ]; Yacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
8 O8 |! h m. D5 w( p* @' strucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor/ k+ K& g, h% m
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.9 ^4 a. |8 l4 F
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal, ]/ \0 r8 o) c; X$ S. s0 H
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp1 x& M+ k3 L* E }+ J
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
" t$ }. O0 A$ E6 _further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
' e5 M5 L) i; R' vnot stop her runaway Lexus.
7 Y( \$ c/ T1 }- z3 p' F. B' i/ v"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
% J8 a# f2 w8 }8 A/ STenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
" [" S9 {3 U7 c( p"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
) ^4 j F% v5 a$ @5 j0 uTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
: B& @# z) {: ?5 _( \* oearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said/ u- [" |# w2 n
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
2 n6 x1 D1 A% z/ i ]done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway: K+ K4 K0 O) z* E9 y, P1 k9 U
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's5 F1 f& s/ A8 _/ ?
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham." L3 y; D$ P" ]3 a6 }
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an, F, E! {! f' o# |
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
7 ^$ U- w3 k! z3 {the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
f z* Z& ^+ t8 E5 L# s/ dmalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
& H- F9 u( V G0 \4 j3 _* Ssaid.$ b e. a n4 m7 \
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
* m% c: x5 H6 e% t8 m/ Hhappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe* J+ ^( O3 s1 d! L6 `' P( g$ H
about driving our products," Lentz said. W& X/ w, B5 ^9 N/ l4 o
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's S. {9 I* v& G" _" k8 Y3 a
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has2 q( P: ?) Y5 ^- o! m
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
8 ^: b5 u% L2 X0 ~4 vmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of, Y% x. a+ V4 {. n
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking* Q* b8 c' P- V- p
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering! ]' D1 ^. f) M3 \7 V8 ~
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
3 l- v1 q8 r4 t$ P1 a' z$ [6 qtheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow9 s" h/ q' t! | m, g
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has5 ^* l% k8 Y, l
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration- c5 s4 d0 W2 p
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.
) O% m# s5 l$ C2 L1 Y2 jLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
+ f, Y3 H* Y0 n% `brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he3 H* h) H1 Q. R" i/ B
understood the pain.1 G; D T& o- D0 n' Q; C) F% a
"I know what those families go through," he said.! H9 `( q9 @$ N
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's) u6 l8 n& H+ d* Z/ H
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.2 H) w6 D5 b1 G, ^
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
( o' F& s7 `+ G1 Q/ O- I1 e: sHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
; B- y) w, k) }+ ?in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,. ?* S( B0 i: M; y4 s0 Z3 v
Lentz replied: "Not totally."1 z( @8 d& h2 V5 _0 E% x% E
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
! b( m$ W0 H& r ?. Q"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
( p& R3 m$ X- ]2 Q2 d1 e4 CToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
1 M7 n1 g/ Q, ~3 ?/ Rpedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its+ k, w- [) p, b2 k( c
vehicles already on the road.) B" B4 f2 Y9 e' C* s2 o
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify& d1 @0 n: O" ^: G' x
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full& S' E% a' w" ^( |
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
' |! w. J& k: g% Roffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were/ o. T/ \6 A3 j
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
I! A7 j. Z' u9 j6 J! u"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a- M% G: w. B* C2 v5 L, a* P
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony1 T$ e1 L3 y2 f2 w: P" e5 ]
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight- f; w& c$ B3 F0 a5 E* Q7 S5 N
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal6 V. g5 u- S7 o
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
: s7 @' j+ x0 ~; wrestore the trust of our customers." O* ?1 k# H. b7 M/ R3 i
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
3 F% Z7 A" @) T5 B8 c# s$ _Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
; P6 I; v9 e$ r7 o% M, f- \zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
. l- a+ @: _0 l N: Pshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
" d! v, Z$ ~4 X" V3 Ihitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
' }: d2 Q$ a8 K- Kthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
* ]& L0 G4 L( a3 _! Sturn off the engine.: L1 U) Y* @" a. x0 H f
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of* a* `' E: A: [
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."6 j( a$ d3 w9 h: U+ Z
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she2 i' A8 h9 `0 F9 o: k
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
# t+ ~9 T# F* l+ `9 H4 h( b" C6 ?to her complaints.0 q7 j7 w3 g: u7 Q2 z
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers: m. D$ ^8 |8 X2 P* B1 M
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic3 D* H4 V8 U. [) M& X
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.1 F. R7 k, X+ t' f" D1 i
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric3 X+ t4 f$ v( l9 u
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited2 X+ V1 _% e7 v4 a
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
6 I# O: j# `0 z5 H# B) @! Uoff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
! \. \+ _0 h' l* jTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
2 J& V( f& Q: C* ?/ I+ { v0 \) qprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
7 A" ?- T: |" w) A: f, obeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls8 s1 X8 ?/ i7 v, R) F# J: q+ Y
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer8 E0 N, n2 r( H+ f3 @- o
every question."9 N/ e( M$ P- S& G) A; O# R
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether6 i- J7 C9 M% K# f$ ]5 b- g9 Z
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
* o2 f4 B- L5 Q( n7 j- p& Y. Ofirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
' B1 A' O0 A0 k* |, w! qcommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small7 i9 G. i5 S" a" p3 b7 l
number of vehicles u: C! P1 N4 K/ F+ k5 i" N
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more
! Y: `5 v' M% odifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a3 r5 f0 J0 s! k9 d: i2 l
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one, g2 \ P) l0 T6 { }- f
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car., \9 V& s' v. B `% R
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
+ }2 i5 K+ b& c: ~1 h; o( }" q: ^- bwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
3 D6 W* X4 X* E* _trace at all.0 L8 v1 ]0 v; x3 p0 ^
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call( _2 U; s& ^) E, p8 ^. g* ?) [
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden: X- u) P. u4 @' M, G2 j' X
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
3 n; f( |* a1 z0 ~% \& u, |2 Hrecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals." z3 i/ u8 i! D2 J1 ~3 l
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
" }1 B# p+ Q* _( Z& f! T+ L! \said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and; s: l& y F; ^
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
% N8 M, {/ Z8 D2 k+ u4 h; \' M9 ], ?electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
) C3 h9 C3 d% Pcause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
* h! z. U9 y& C0 }& \such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained9 [: X3 U& {. ?% ]
by Toyota's lawyers."# K$ d/ G3 Y; T0 ~& G# O+ g7 V! f
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of/ v/ v' ^% g+ j4 O+ i" l4 r: `) y5 ^
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our, d* y4 w1 T5 m- K7 N+ @+ w3 t
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he8 N3 V- `/ t% b6 y# a& H0 e
said.8 r% O$ W9 l I/ s4 \7 E5 E* g
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with# `# c6 `1 V0 q3 g8 ~- |
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
! A- Y) X! X% f5 ], [good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating/ A! ~2 N$ `* }) f/ s- K! r$ k
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.! v# G9 ]( |4 U( [2 \
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying# i1 y& U' S, ~& X! R* R3 n+ T
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread; t4 v2 u2 h' h. ^+ n& C
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
& o" y' Z7 f+ u: {. o2 }automaker, at least in part because of the government's
. ~5 I- g/ E; w" cinvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and% h1 m! x6 a' F5 k, i
Chrysler.
: s/ C6 X, G; T7 e3 ] {; w8 o: s"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
7 V: V! b! j6 w- `dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
, F/ v3 Q; l" a: fHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also. o9 o; ?4 u3 Z# t+ h
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
6 L% b5 E6 Y* z: x! ?with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
$ D9 E+ i* U& i* D/ S1 S+ rtough."
& Q) r% S: g# v3 o5 H6 q---
1 ?2 _# H! N. J$ a' KAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
6 E( B$ ?* n2 R% `2 ^: LRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
( H; O7 i& i" mthis story./ }: ^# p9 ?! a" h0 ~
/ e. A1 g" P L4 S
-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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