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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题 L9 h2 K8 K; G0 H6 O
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
* E3 h' b5 r) S; b3 j" XWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.9 @! O; C3 \! x9 `7 F
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
5 l" E: i2 B& ?" b( nthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
$ l4 L9 `. X6 q' `- W) d: fsolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
( _) J% N, x; w! \, K L"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
/ H, p' t; L/ g% o/ g5 ncauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
: j" J/ F, W( ]0 y; vHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
9 p4 ^4 }0 Q$ j# i# dacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and# e, L' a, ?. M
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor0 a6 S: W( Q- o
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.+ n: V. p8 U, D( y9 Z' e
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal, |7 j' Z" O2 E" ^4 n% l
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp: Z/ e2 ]. v9 C
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
% g+ Q4 y) X6 k, {! Mfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could5 M }0 j' V g1 f$ B% h$ f1 Z. E
not stop her runaway Lexus.
9 F7 R2 T- l7 b: D" E* k"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
8 U4 @# t0 T ^! u& v- nTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second1 {% O6 b0 T% B) D2 G" z
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
2 e. r S8 y' [% F( p( r1 KTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues2 h8 C/ z- J! a# w4 a3 v
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said# t- ]) M, F' U# C4 y# W
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
$ r7 y {# F* K1 M |done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
" |$ S. u/ B8 r4 P7 Xthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's) ~: m9 d$ ]8 Z. @) x5 D1 a. t
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham.": B! W. n. z9 w/ p- J+ W
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
. E, v! l F" F+ n! n% ^" Eelectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of# v: I3 Q6 \" g
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
# C7 ~' s( U* s, j* ^- ~7 rmalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he+ K& K8 ?# q6 P. f7 D
said.
" H; j" _! k% b# zAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
7 a7 W+ r+ k a9 P( Xhappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
/ L1 q* z* c" Sabout driving our products," Lentz said." N# M4 i& \5 P( ?) K7 \0 `; t
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
, M( y$ S3 C/ b# Dproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
0 o4 h- [% O) f) @% nrecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6* w7 h" A" p; M' O$ b7 d: w2 f! m
million in the United States -- since last fall because of3 m5 d$ p( ]' Y( j
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking3 A }+ d$ M6 Y* ?! y& ]& Z
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
! ?- X6 c# A! r; N C- h4 y Hconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of- x |$ p$ z9 T) u0 G0 o
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow, ^/ x, V# K' l4 S9 } W
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has. Z1 q( k. a% v& R1 Z ?
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration( Z5 \) o" X4 c+ \0 J
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.
+ p$ X/ _0 z2 X8 ]Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
3 Y1 N- N# Z0 i* E) \( [brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he7 Y7 |/ a- V; H/ g
understood the pain.
1 q( K. n" r7 S5 l. P7 E4 S"I know what those families go through," he said.* q/ H, s x: ^; y- v7 b; ^/ e
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's+ p. m, D0 f. y c3 V3 x% d
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.7 b. u; x) d Z0 {
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
4 p% F1 \6 a$ E ]- r- rHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put4 i; N3 D% U" P2 h7 @: {) Q
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
8 k" B* f& s3 O0 n7 p ILentz replied: "Not totally."
0 B! c6 G: n \" ~6 m% b4 j9 uStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
" f* ]1 ~& N2 ?, t. C* L"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said: ]/ z7 Q$ P( c- @( p) R3 z9 M
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
7 U( a! A0 t1 ~) hpedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
7 x) V; Q" ?! k7 o" E- [vehicles already on the road.
+ u; H5 g- b9 ^. Y2 dMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify% b! i4 T* m% R: i
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full% J1 a; M8 ^ u$ x. ^' \ [/ x
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and" G9 m( A* i* X, F- ]& T; F6 H
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
W) T! ~9 P! l$ akilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.2 T. f. i+ r6 C$ x2 B0 V7 I P
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a% L/ P; \. S5 s- |
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony( i6 D; {; M1 U
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight7 J# L( Y' L1 {# P. `5 k) m
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
9 Z2 \/ r j+ B4 Lcommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
* W9 v; \6 @1 S: C) _ h; C2 r C6 _restore the trust of our customers."+ y) r. r; [; F" ?, F/ ^- W: d0 j
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
( Z! n" _% h( ]; q0 HSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly, r9 v# o# |9 q" d; g
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
) T4 J% v c; Eshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and1 @" ~: |) b: D
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
6 k! w5 J3 ~- F9 P* Y0 Athat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and& y$ |) C; j$ F/ Y( x' r$ b
turn off the engine.
T9 x- g8 x% |3 \1 cFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
1 e5 R$ d9 a+ t. }3 o! I& m& lOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
% y, J' A& J, v, S+ @2 _( b"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she, }% D& n/ p! X& ^; V5 `; F. `
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
+ W) k3 [5 Q3 x; N7 u0 eto her complaints.* h( J' ~( w& P- d, K6 z6 f
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers# w9 C$ S. N9 M5 A2 `+ i
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
$ l; W1 ~9 n2 tmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.4 @& T H1 d' J
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
4 E/ s+ N3 v) D% j; F3 R% Jthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
- e ?* C4 K! s# c! g"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut3 A+ r/ }- Z! _ N- [9 ^! P
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."- S( N, @: U/ X
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
, U7 u$ m" Q! A% wprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
& c! D! L, M2 H& P4 Q2 z8 mbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
0 B1 J* D" ~' Z, U8 U9 I7 V- r0 Z/ Zwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer* ^; n- A1 T" B+ K" }, M
every question."
2 @, w2 m3 ?" u' eToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
; F) q6 J0 c I: T# s8 A6 E+ felectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
z+ x# f5 h1 z) P: Ofirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
( Z0 A7 @( J: ~; i0 |6 vcommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small
3 |% x; M7 c& Q3 Y7 u) unumber of vehicles
& g6 j& Z% W7 C5 i( JTracking down an electrical problem can be far more
* G' B* O! n5 H* C2 ?$ B& t( Q' ?2 idifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a. m% W9 c( ~4 q7 [$ N( x; R
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one8 n8 e: i& P) x2 h' C$ S
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
% H w- \" s) g) AMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,% C6 _& |1 ^5 ^7 a) Q' I* f. `6 z% I, ?0 D
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
; m- a: s/ B: ` i$ S1 Htrace at all.% K. y$ Y$ o7 r! s- t- P: d2 f
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call/ ^1 }1 q8 Y, I1 L3 @% @
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
1 `" T- l9 a2 c3 L3 a% }acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the- G# b0 ?7 O$ c7 {
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
. p1 [- U6 `2 z- B# P& @1 XRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,' s4 H3 k1 w; p/ F
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
, u1 b5 w! K" fother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
6 @- v3 e6 }1 ?electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible# @3 a- Q$ X+ |3 ]# ?
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only8 M" x# w4 y) m: d8 M! X( U( w7 ]
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained0 q3 k& _ [4 j# b: a
by Toyota's lawyers."
1 ?( H% i8 X5 |: b: b5 QLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
. D& {/ t" F4 U1 d8 Kproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
, q. g( `( D2 D$ B/ V( ?customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
# n0 I% Y3 J3 `# }/ i1 F3 Lsaid.- B; ], s5 @) l! V; ~2 t9 L
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with. U* m, I. p3 S+ S/ e
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
5 r" c/ a. W6 @( W5 egood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
) Q8 o! y+ C, V- G" D7 |officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
9 l# r% P+ S" P- MSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying- d. \7 d& E# I* [. A
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread( ?* f+ B# C) |/ ?% q
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the' h( s S8 `/ p0 n: F7 o9 [" `8 r/ F
automaker, at least in part because of the government's, w" H( Q+ G5 S0 O
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and% b" H$ r$ l7 k9 `
Chrysler.
/ g. X/ U6 x* R% b5 g: v; `"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax& Y3 q8 e" _6 o( {" n7 l/ w# u8 f
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a/ {* ~8 N8 @! c$ G8 Y7 M% n
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
7 G6 G5 L& P. H/ ~served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete0 Q5 s5 f5 w5 ^( k3 _% j
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty1 _$ R- D. [+ j" I* a6 i
tough."
9 e5 r6 w4 e) a" o) t& f2 s---( [7 e: B/ P% e( l* |
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom8 Y. z- X; k: W7 C y/ e
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to- _. O( u# {! N/ J- ^5 `7 d' R3 m) m
this story.
7 ?) f7 H$ A6 n' I3 c0 y! T; O; y1 S7 Q7 S* G0 v
-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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