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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
2 c! }' \. ^0 y" G5 d9 nBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
1 n8 l6 ^) |/ [Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S./ g& K, e6 s5 R& [
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
$ {: K; |4 v% p2 nthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
; S/ v+ W/ {' ]8 asolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.( {' V6 u6 O7 C/ X \8 G
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential6 l, d' P6 B1 d7 x8 _6 m
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
9 P( ^1 G7 l. }. \! F M+ NHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected2 P) P( d5 R$ X' w8 a$ a- |! G: H& f
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
0 m& p+ c# {- `+ h% ] Ktrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor, O, [ b& ^; C: w+ Z" d5 J; O
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.$ K% s* i. W" M6 R2 ]
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
( X' x- |4 o0 \/ g9 vand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
' `& s4 H) m& p( p4 }6 [% p/ Rcriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
6 L! U6 M E8 } D+ m: ~" B% w0 Qfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
: L" }$ c; r" _( ]: J. \/ \not stop her runaway Lexus.
; _* ]- \, O- L; ]% ] }! S"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,' q; y& N% D7 Z+ T; ]0 A6 w
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
4 \0 q1 D6 b; ]5 M4 B, ?2 [+ B"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.2 U8 l' m4 D7 L7 X: q
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
, {+ d# j1 R, }) q8 R( ?# k% Vearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said' l, [2 n- [* Q5 h
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has9 q% X4 }# I$ q- X
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
7 `+ S$ f9 r+ j) @ y9 T1 ithrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
; x; K+ d' R9 `7 w3 Qinvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."; f7 {. n0 H: {2 y9 z6 M5 S1 ]0 E
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an, P3 M& |2 Q$ N
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
+ N/ c! Y! _: @. e# \- ?the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a5 j% G; m5 |+ |' g" Y
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he; N3 F2 K" C8 H4 I3 Z
said.7 l# }4 U0 X, Y' v! c
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
2 x2 I: r$ ?6 u+ ~happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe; Q4 c1 E; x9 N- b) u5 `% b. E
about driving our products," Lentz said.
" b. w! E% [) s! Z) @Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
* a' d$ ?1 I1 }$ {0 q+ tproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has, A: {" T; T; G8 M4 }! w
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6/ b% Q5 H9 P3 S1 Q2 \1 ~6 s/ @$ _
million in the United States -- since last fall because of j6 \/ y/ s2 i |
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
R# [+ T8 v- o7 ^9 F8 gissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering% [/ @6 K8 u3 U% M- z. C L
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of4 z9 X$ u \! e5 z/ V
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow1 }! i8 h, V* ~9 L$ r$ x
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has7 t% X& |5 m7 [0 W% M
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration. u6 s: g {) U
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.' j% ]; g* w: P" {4 Y6 e3 h' d$ y
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own0 L [ l/ G7 P+ K2 i" E+ g
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he$ [" \: `, G2 [" i$ a+ k% D
understood the pain.& D' B8 q8 o D/ s2 J4 H, F
"I know what those families go through," he said.
! O' y; Q% e# T. S& ILentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's1 @6 r h" [4 W2 N: Y
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.; I0 o9 G$ L$ ?# A7 x: l/ r0 h" ?
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
8 N Q- j0 G& ]1 N$ ?* P9 w6 ZHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put: ^3 A% {7 X1 H% o4 p
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
/ [- d! h" j; }- gLentz replied: "Not totally."6 [, J" s, i# r, O+ E. u& X$ h3 I
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
8 o# w9 Q6 H8 s5 M# B6 M"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said% B/ l9 G! n, w+ f! H' j
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
7 y9 a9 o2 E; { ~7 J5 P% `pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
$ y# T3 }) @; Z+ ~* Zvehicles already on the road.
- i8 I3 h" B- }8 [- z ~Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify7 E2 X) }' [, b) z. e2 ?
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
6 m0 d. J0 t( z* ]1 Uresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and# |4 Y% B: T \7 a& h$ q) ^9 U
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
& z8 P# ]. @+ [( r0 qkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.; D4 \5 @7 w$ @; j9 s
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
9 U { l" G2 T! S- n! Ctragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony! x2 U- c) w% [ e; U! v8 ]
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight0 w) a7 Q9 [8 o6 X- }8 R4 \
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
6 K! m( F' g: s9 \commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to$ B3 F; x; I2 e0 S( o# ^
restore the trust of our customers."# z3 y0 ?3 [: k2 r
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
5 `$ i& f5 ]4 |0 A& ESmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly+ X( e6 R* g& N6 x* Z, A, v! ]5 |
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
% k% z I. ]; J. S( O6 F, Dshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
v; @2 I' C, u) C& i0 Uhitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough1 q2 h- |8 p6 M' g* ^ x
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and/ r' l; Y }5 b/ f
turn off the engine.. @0 U" K+ \/ q! J$ w
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
) e" Q ?$ [/ y3 S! tOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
" u2 {& u! B% d+ i! O0 X"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she4 S: X: z4 j( B) A9 `5 H3 b: j
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
5 z! @" r u: R" rto her complaints.1 v: C7 i; ^* I5 A( t0 W
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
5 X! m3 \/ Z" s4 J: qreturned again and again to the question of whether electronic: @- g( E/ O' h$ w$ ^# I! x
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.( h( K) H: U# R2 ?9 R0 [4 K! H
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric5 T2 A% u3 h0 G0 d o
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited2 t t: ~" s8 F5 O& Q
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
( Y; p+ M1 p- F C' C9 voff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
9 D2 b) K* E$ x5 g3 yTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
+ p' C d" o" m/ b0 x: ~prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were1 B* J- Q5 [' S- f5 t, l& ?
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls8 z: r# v* L: |! J
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
+ v4 Z2 t1 W2 Y# H) Wevery question."
$ U/ D/ o: T9 S1 M- a/ J- bToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether% W) ]7 I/ m$ _# L8 s; q# t3 \# Y
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
$ W- J1 ]; S' b& a! ?; Rfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
8 a: i9 j9 e7 S3 j( q. w5 lcommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small: d( e& g2 K- Z+ H) I
number of vehicles
* ~8 c( @' v$ v+ OTracking down an electrical problem can be far more
, i, \! x4 I0 p" d. M8 l% xdifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
# R# ^( m. q# s# ^% l; lmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one5 s- C2 P' }4 [& u" V
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.6 e$ D! y8 `0 h# S/ b4 y
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
" E& o0 x& M% w& u3 r4 owhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
" |; }3 v: j8 I. ~+ ctrace at all.
8 t- Z4 k$ E; PHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call$ j7 @, v# {* k4 w
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
. \: }4 [+ u- h% k# _ L2 ?acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the" Y+ d/ w, u: W7 n; q7 k
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.% I; F; i4 L* [! K( A
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,3 Z1 p& [0 M! ^* F# \1 T( I
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and( b( N: J! Y6 B6 |0 L q$ ~
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the$ h3 @1 C% F. {- U& `% A: a- a
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible$ ?( A2 O6 [' A4 J5 Q) G7 e5 s
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only A; i8 T8 G$ H7 |8 {: g
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
+ ~; B3 n) d2 fby Toyota's lawyers."
# B/ {' N; e; | dLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of) G% x# k5 a9 ~4 S6 A( C
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our2 z) m# q2 n5 M' M: |4 p3 @; _
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he) @/ \8 t! I) Q0 L; j( {% n
said.
* t9 ?2 v# M" F6 [! Y( R7 O v"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with/ s2 D9 a% L" J
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
8 z" @( f# W8 m+ B6 \! B2 V' |; Kgood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating: \& W' M) y$ x4 e/ I4 {( @8 j
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
) I5 t) m# w" ]8 x& Z) b" YSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
' J0 S0 L+ N% ]1 Y" Y$ a K# I% ~0 ?members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread3 L* W1 Q' A& l, X, C
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the$ j+ G _! K5 c
automaker, at least in part because of the government's
1 o' {; _2 Q5 G2 {2 k2 C4 ?, R, ainvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and0 r8 _9 \' R. b4 ]. b" m7 i
Chrysler.5 r' _3 P( d8 b
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
2 H3 R% W9 \. y- r, Jdollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
# _1 s- h* N2 G3 f* |7 n/ T: GHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also8 z% m. ?3 b7 d& L# L9 \, l
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
+ ~8 Y" W' T* fwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
2 N# x8 a3 Z$ Utough."
4 |* n+ ?9 C5 Y" Z- [) X# {% r( K: x---& B* F, M1 t C! ]! c
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom: |: p; w G5 K) }
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to8 j# c3 l3 q G0 E
this story.9 h& {4 P' t) e) g6 @; H
. v/ E& N+ k+ P& N2 h0 S0 w, q" \-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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