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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
3 [: f$ f- s Y+ a0 q* S7 I6 KBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
, p7 u: q7 _$ O2 f' {Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
5 A3 h- W$ R, A( i: l7 D+ voperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
1 G; y2 o; ^, ^% H0 u4 d9 [8 Q, f" Vthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
9 g/ R" J. r, m7 Dsolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.! }; X- ?& c4 t9 }2 X; [8 v% t
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
; a. V3 b$ e2 L" G, S$ mcauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
* |& i' X& t0 O( k+ bHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected. r h* c9 q6 H$ Z6 K2 Y/ G9 C1 J/ b
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
4 j* @, ?. ?4 J* d- ttrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
$ n6 z% T7 E, s, z* Q8 R- emats and sticking accelerator pedals.& Z; s6 S$ v: F/ H2 V5 [8 e$ s
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal9 a) K, h: x5 l1 i& d" x6 X
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp) v. t" n( d' }9 H9 T
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
, b7 B& `! B' u1 zfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could8 t: K1 z5 c9 o7 k N% Z+ s; ^7 U( D
not stop her runaway Lexus.
, o2 T0 u# Q: i y2 N) s- ["Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,+ W+ B- S/ A4 d y
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second: q1 N) A/ D$ [' ]5 G% y$ }
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
/ m8 @1 I, A1 U. J/ k T. bTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
8 Z: [' y" j6 F! j( Q% bearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
2 P8 B# @6 B5 O+ u) M7 e"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has9 [5 P; }7 |. l# B6 H: t( W* }* M
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway4 s% N# y: }% ]6 F& w* c* {3 S% j. S
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's- ^3 s9 y8 P0 z. u: g" x
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."5 Y5 N2 \% K% r' e/ M/ f$ \" f5 z
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an7 e; Z& d p- R p
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of' C( f, B1 O0 }" n3 G- X
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
+ h! U. X: G5 Y0 M) ^7 umalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he. R$ J0 U+ ~# A8 H
said.+ Q- U+ N3 G, ^7 s; [6 @) `
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
& N- p. s3 Z. |- ]. r) M& D+ ihappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe n! o F E$ o' }0 B
about driving our products," Lentz said.
7 P4 s; ^/ k. J& f- I( iThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's% D+ g T4 I" y5 ^4 ^3 z
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has |0 O1 E r7 K" n3 j
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6. C, s8 n6 A; j c- c) h4 c
million in the United States -- since last fall because of
8 u% T7 C( S( l1 d% F& Vunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking: f- z, k. P5 @
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
4 m) w$ j' {: v- \concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of7 d5 s# k& J( K7 C w6 k. O6 P
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
+ T% f8 o& c1 |* c" Qdown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has' R" d/ J0 t! h. R% ~
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
, b' n. W; N+ E1 m; Wof Toyota vehicles since 2000., J0 F2 v7 A$ L { D( [
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
% c+ c9 j1 |- j+ w1 l! Tbrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
6 x" {8 }+ L, [8 F; I. Xunderstood the pain.
9 @* ^' p( W" s9 s. V# @"I know what those families go through," he said.& u( ^0 M; j! w8 `
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
0 o! B1 V" _1 l4 C0 { ]fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
7 Y8 A# V2 F! l; v2 vBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman/ L" c4 H% y+ c
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
' c% _3 ]' x5 b4 P" g! p# e) oin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
9 F9 i6 {* G: BLentz replied: "Not totally."
: ^$ n, _7 Y& H; B" o+ UStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were; s+ ^' R/ J4 [3 s& s
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said/ R5 X" r7 N; x5 c
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas8 m' V6 ~+ I; z$ Y4 O' |
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
( Z) E" W4 D$ c, e) Jvehicles already on the road.
; m( I$ p. s/ K8 ]Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
/ }2 r' {* Z; @- N. }( J) Z$ Y+ Sbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
4 I* P& V% l1 ~/ L. d" dresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and- s/ A5 V) _; {5 d
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were8 ^8 V6 K* v" Z( ^- c
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.& E* e" g# C0 o
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
& z4 \! a: h2 O. d3 n; r' r, ptragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
" W0 R) D2 }! T4 \7 ?4 Cfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
0 w7 J; o5 T3 i5 F- ^/ x7 j6 \Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal. k( C0 o/ p. a; D$ R1 |( @+ W0 J
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
' T5 z6 s) u. P% S( |$ Arestore the trust of our customers."
" f& ~! e/ o2 k3 V$ jLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from( F6 A' _& w& O k A0 I i% e
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
% f6 {8 N" L0 P0 f+ b2 Lzoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --- h# b9 ]# ^4 q( A* d( z
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and D, R9 V# N6 h2 \0 ~
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
% w# @+ P8 Q9 w: J- q0 C1 cthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
* O/ M2 O9 k: C% x4 P9 H/ fturn off the engine.7 |5 U; t7 J2 L+ V
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
6 v. j B8 u9 \4 b6 h; N2 xOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."' n+ _5 h$ w9 l# u8 |0 x
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she/ `$ m3 Z* G7 Y0 t
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
) q# Y( r5 U" B4 V1 Dto her complaints.5 h; U$ n7 m- x$ l# Q1 h! g
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers; V- s, x: k7 @
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
9 { J( A* n# |8 y/ \- n5 t4 U5 k2 ?malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.3 L; L) _0 }8 |/ e% u2 a& M
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric" R2 X: a6 d B' ]( m' ?; W
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
+ s" k. a; x4 e6 J$ K( A2 l t7 G' c4 Y"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut$ [- L% Y8 r/ q$ D
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
, I) f4 n8 u* i d. P% RTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
4 O: H3 {0 @, K" r) {prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
$ J% e- o% s# z! ^being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
. m6 D* E7 U8 Jwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
) {- ]7 K# z& b5 h4 e3 Xevery question."
+ h9 v: v# L6 V- WToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
* ?9 \0 d' ~, y6 m" kelectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The( t" @* ~4 g1 L
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But+ q% Y v' R& Z$ |. E; Y0 b1 Y- ]
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small5 c6 g) l% k: ?9 S7 ~! g
number of vehicles3 h# f+ w5 n) q8 \* N
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more4 m7 ?; k' n( I- Y" B. I% M- [
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
5 Y0 x3 n. H2 w7 m, _mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
) [1 N/ S, G; G9 ^$ k# n$ esource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.; ]- b. a* ~( _1 ~+ L+ W4 f1 ^
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,6 @ x3 {& E# D! s2 t: W& l- g3 v
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
# x4 ], j1 R* wtrace at all.
% H. q; } } f9 D1 ~, o1 WHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
- E7 }9 K% i6 I: adatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden. D8 e3 C9 Y0 [9 _) [5 L6 O
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
1 y1 G3 L- {/ Y( D0 f; g! }5 Zrecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
; g- o5 h# J7 m0 L0 F/ K/ FRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,2 e, h j, b$ b
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
9 l; q7 d9 l* [- ?2 X% _0 xother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
& g* K) m p- z& w/ jelectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
& x4 A# A; D3 N. ucause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only" Q; i" f, J- R# l8 `
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
9 m% Z' z+ W* e0 a" }by Toyota's lawyers."
o* W' Y) l" \# O: uLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of; T3 c; T5 e2 v' A( D, [& X
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our! ~3 [6 j" }; v- l) n. s
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
8 v: V. O5 W4 f, g' Esaid., e. x2 Y& ^4 U; z) A
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with% \/ e/ M$ C: ?5 E4 X
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
& O3 {' O# j# ^: u: _good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating% Y' x2 P# x R. O2 r6 E
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
. N' y) `0 g; I: X9 T, XSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
3 u- R; Q* c3 f9 H$ w# W0 Umembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread8 k& I* s! o6 y: _
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
. p1 o6 X; E# T2 X5 f; rautomaker, at least in part because of the government's+ y `- C: E5 h, b
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and$ X8 `: C* @( p8 Z/ w% Y" }
Chrysler.* n/ x" |8 L# c; F/ I# C
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
' [5 T, W' a/ C+ Y2 Vdollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a0 b9 t& Z( J/ N2 o4 M
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
! H/ B& _* F; Y5 D, x4 Sserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete9 r9 j) p2 J, _* ?1 |
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
4 L! d4 A9 K9 c$ L; Itough."& b) G' ]8 e6 N4 Q+ E; m( C
---
. s, W, m' d$ t" \Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom8 M7 ?7 k7 C. Y
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to, \ `7 M: R2 C5 X
this story.: G/ i. J4 _, p$ P" Z; d) o
/ C; L- C: C4 C* N. X-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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