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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
; D; b1 Y5 a k; L1 I! Q5 v5 {By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
9 o$ d3 [0 S7 S4 ?6 E! YWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
# [) k$ ~' F5 e+ j6 n/ Woperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
7 y' e$ l3 {" F X% o ~$ E/ A& m0 Nthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"! u9 R. {' t9 t3 z' e6 B. _$ b0 r# z. {
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
9 {, \( C4 J6 W' A/ Q7 t% S0 M"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
; I7 w# g' u7 R/ Y- q. o8 c% Wcauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
+ B& k, I, z+ Q8 m t1 YHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
. N- D. ]; x. S Y0 R# j* V( A# ] ]acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
' t) C$ Z: u4 y7 B' g& ?4 Dtrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor! f& k q, j! A- H/ }
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.
k0 P* ?* f3 v6 J; q1 kHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal* C+ \. z* v0 A% Q
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
/ p$ l t6 c; V; c9 Rcriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
& o* y2 ^) P& Y8 I+ Vfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
8 i; M) e4 q6 anot stop her runaway Lexus., S' L% R H- W0 l# l s3 X& |
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,8 K7 Z) ]1 p" n$ N+ V
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second2 b6 O6 M/ o% q3 D; b- |3 }# s: L! c
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.6 P8 j1 l' A) `5 `6 Q4 T5 b
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues2 }2 H- X) }9 d
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
5 M2 I* G& f+ Y5 O" `. J$ u"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has$ w! p0 c7 Q/ b: c/ ~! T. a' ~! y
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
" M. W4 `0 w) l0 Vthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's z$ J) O5 Q2 J3 [: T- H3 `
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."+ _0 C. l$ O& V+ k0 i; N
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an) z0 B4 O" p: q0 G
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of4 x0 V" {8 N( }7 v& k0 s
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
/ f+ X8 l( y7 V- R0 }9 pmalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he: Y g: U2 t/ h, }, }
said.
( @* G. N) }* M6 l2 y6 dAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what" R2 j+ {% k1 d
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
1 \/ S/ f ~/ X- Q: z/ Vabout driving our products," Lentz said.
7 z7 N% f) [. A8 u3 h$ l" Y& H4 m" s yThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
\' H: N/ k5 q, i. ^problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has* x5 j7 Z* l8 D/ l c
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 66 j. @+ D7 g9 U+ t: ^
million in the United States -- since last fall because of: [/ G$ K. R* R3 `* X2 R) `
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
q; p- t" n9 _9 m. b6 k8 ^% j; Dissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering. ~9 A! ]' B% B" g# s, t
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
% x+ K: G4 f& Htheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
$ C1 |4 Q0 Y% m/ }; D. ydown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
9 H( \; u% J8 Y# Y6 |2 ureceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration, w" t5 G4 }/ ^& ~4 D5 v: @+ Y
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.) g2 B* b( u; [7 ?
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own- I% o$ r/ X$ L* S$ S2 V
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
* D8 O# G) `; \( @' V! zunderstood the pain.' E& Y6 m, p1 J7 `2 d- M
"I know what those families go through," he said.! G9 y! ?: U: Z) m. _
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's8 Y ~- X3 ^6 a. y
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.- C0 x; k* w; l% z$ C* \
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
- u1 Q$ q: K, \/ |- n$ }* @) ?8 H% C: YHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
6 B6 H( O @: Q `6 }2 _$ F; b2 kin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
3 c( Z: q% B H& ALentz replied: "Not totally."$ n4 h, B) z* P& X! I1 L* C
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were, g: ?5 x( J p
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
/ B( t3 T; M' ~3 c0 g+ Z8 DToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas k( H4 [, p; L% ^
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its3 b' n L6 e$ d/ P4 z3 M
vehicles already on the road.! S. t9 j5 O7 M$ \5 h% C
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
* Z& D& V. {. Y: M) D4 K* dbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
+ f5 q5 Z% ~; w6 w ?& Mresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
+ [; _/ W) }% M. P6 B4 v doffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were8 b7 E, w+ o4 g" H! d2 U
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.$ Q4 O; {. b! g9 k0 h
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
0 K T. Q" B4 b; Ztragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
* t x3 L- U1 ~, ?0 v* zfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
) _0 d( E4 q$ L6 lCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal4 _, A7 i- \( K V
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to' K. l2 Z) w2 z) p! O, `- f8 [) i
restore the trust of our customers."
) E% }3 ?* c6 [6 c1 E5 jLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
0 W. p6 z+ Z6 G6 ]3 k: e+ a0 x3 XSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly1 N1 ]! v6 ~2 r
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
; y: n: R+ M8 M7 z, wshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
2 \, F# n! p! \9 K Q6 ^hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough& T1 A$ v0 T3 Q" c8 u% e" x/ ~
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
; p" t: V2 W: h2 d9 }turn off the engine.
- m, n6 K3 p: B( m8 K# G* iFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of) \" y, X3 m6 Q! A( s" b
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
! u# c' z4 n, I"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
- w3 e6 v- [3 O7 P0 fsaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond2 L g4 ^0 F0 r. {5 r$ }8 q0 {
to her complaints.$ F- u# w# b/ N+ f* g0 M
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
; W/ L9 B9 y5 D" G; ]# {) F7 lreturned again and again to the question of whether electronic' W3 _: I* `4 N2 n! L3 T, B2 [
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.! R+ z ?3 H5 Y* e4 L( A
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric7 J+ c% t7 K' j, R$ j
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
7 a; r+ ~) r- k6 K; B"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut3 b8 J/ w5 n2 a4 ~2 J5 H
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."/ m) T- ^/ {( c: _2 @! ?7 f6 W+ y
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
/ i& O j& U: H6 r/ Hprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
l' P `2 c2 [; b# M) G- J, Y* Ubeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls1 Y# |/ V4 g2 {
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
6 r u" f1 L7 @" w& ]every question."4 [$ G9 G. r3 Z' y1 \4 \. h( o- p( v
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether2 q: f% g) S3 w8 {
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The9 U& K% H/ I6 ^; W. Z- \
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
) K4 _( K' e! ecommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small
& C6 G& J9 z/ r6 Vnumber of vehicles
- C& F$ S' \; P8 r3 \) hTracking down an electrical problem can be far more: v# o- X( `( u0 O/ r, W
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a1 `& y% F) }& v% z
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one! Z* p- Q7 n. P- ]
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
+ Z' W; r4 d/ A; }4 ~Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,+ _! p S" [ q1 O
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no; W9 a8 X5 r* i7 @ C9 H
trace at all.
- i- E2 N6 r1 w3 NHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
0 t1 S5 C- s: O3 ^( w8 N fdatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden+ |) `: i% P# F2 y$ J) W
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the; L8 x Q7 Y' \
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
! C% C$ `9 _( ~1 jRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,7 ]. E O3 ]/ ]6 X+ i
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and! p. h3 [9 f+ l* c" d9 t8 ^
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
# x% E: _9 G7 f! R/ g1 \electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible, S9 P- N! ?1 W" B' x2 E" V/ s
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only7 E8 h7 m' |# f
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
; f& E& w0 F9 f4 o8 n! Fby Toyota's lawyers."
: ]9 G1 h. e9 Y, O. |Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
" g4 n* a, q8 ] k- Y/ ~2 tproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our @) N; I$ S* M: }; k: a! d8 O6 @
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
9 U2 K' H ]7 Lsaid.
$ k2 S N) W8 ~"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with% P( p% [) v; P& V3 K% @
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
" u" D8 T. V* Igood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating8 Z7 F' C7 ^. m' g
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc./ |8 }, \$ e- ^2 t o
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
7 H7 v, ~% n% s0 i7 Dmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
' U' Y2 p5 x5 r# H: ^! a% Srancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the* |& w+ n1 ^8 c7 d
automaker, at least in part because of the government's
) p: e* ~5 z1 v2 j2 Sinvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and7 n- u! n1 ]$ v1 e' x6 b
Chrysler.
* G H- e) h8 ?3 j5 A, z"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax) I H0 Q/ }$ I O6 @" @4 o" I
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
) J: H: T* K0 ?2 `" B! ~/ B0 z7 t1 dHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also0 `( |: v7 V. M; S
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
e& \# O3 ]4 O: f- ~3 `, Fwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
3 ^% F3 Y) r; Ntough."& ?7 b: i1 S# t3 e
---
0 r3 Y, Z9 Y, \# b. }" c7 q1 nAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
6 _+ {2 O' ]9 ~! J5 hRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to& e4 A* X& b. v; \0 d$ f- V
this story.4 d5 J& u' [1 j% o U6 m# e
9 m( B7 T: j* Y8 e- d4 y
-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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