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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
) a l8 M' T# V2 {- NBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS+ T" [) J( N% I- M
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
0 n. ^: S% k! y. F0 V( Coperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that7 P; Z+ F; {* e5 l/ P! Q4 [8 o9 r
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"5 @0 E: P% v" {: ~# c0 q
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.3 G' @3 y' A$ E# h! b6 Z+ ?( {; t
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
/ W! V, P. S" J. y! b; Mcauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.; r+ R3 V* v: i& ^
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected* @8 R- j; ~* b
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and7 s" T- S' i& m' a5 C
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor1 V2 ~0 R3 Z, T0 s* ]$ \) |, t% R! F
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.
) p8 a" P9 j3 R( c, y) NHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
0 @/ R( T# W7 P6 c) M. U- Nand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
. Z: b# x7 J! b0 p! F6 b4 R% ]criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be; N. ?9 ^ d" Y( k. z
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could$ A& T4 I9 B7 A" ?$ \
not stop her runaway Lexus.: q% A; Q0 D" B
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,2 x" s E2 |$ A9 V( v# B4 v
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second, y* O% W0 e* G6 [
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators." B3 \* T1 l7 B1 b3 Y$ s; t
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
% b" n' n! ^+ Hearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
& M2 Z4 _( h" S1 l- d z0 t"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has/ y- e5 v5 U0 y
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway# v0 z0 d; V! Y! f* v
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's$ A; _ C7 R( V2 d6 A3 r$ ~; G
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
0 T- O) g G* Q/ d. g" @9 ]8 nLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
6 Y3 \) k- f% N( ~# Helectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
# ]: h+ e6 N0 ethe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a) ^- E" J1 [9 t4 G
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
! M; h' `( V. u+ w5 vsaid.
9 s9 g0 y6 | w4 }, V& gAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what, \7 Z7 ]& T" K& X& Z. s" J* f
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
9 ~1 z- L' ^! ]9 c M/ C0 @about driving our products," Lentz said.$ d+ G) q* p- j3 \. o6 A& W
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
" p: ^9 A, C/ l. fproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
! F- b( c* B! l- arecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
9 n+ D) b" T5 C+ Imillion in the United States -- since last fall because of# t0 B) P1 R8 M" `
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
# G+ E- g7 P+ uissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering+ x c, T7 ^6 K# _
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
3 n, \- D6 y% ~* [4 C+ a, Htheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
! M5 L- b7 y# j/ [/ K, Qdown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
3 ]0 D+ y" l% v* ~( Oreceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration# s. I* R) F5 i2 j
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.
& N% \5 V0 v/ g1 e* S- GLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own2 K+ \0 J, M* U0 P; `) E9 t }: G
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he5 T" U" o0 z. T% F- L5 @, I) r
understood the pain.. w! V5 Z4 b+ x" U, H
"I know what those families go through," he said.
6 f% {/ `% ]) O8 e8 SLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
2 z l1 q2 r9 V3 `" `9 _$ T, [fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
: E" f$ ?+ m$ t2 U* }7 [7 SBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
, a( e2 b7 p; J8 jHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put$ E9 P6 C" o6 Z' ~! ?& O2 Z
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,/ p; C! E9 P; L3 P& k2 o9 M
Lentz replied: "Not totally."9 @; p4 l& c3 K: V6 E" s) v, F& {; D
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were2 f0 B! X$ k$ d
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said, m! R( p6 l3 i. _2 {% Y
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas% s3 \ J/ h2 Q9 ?$ y
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its# {, D9 m+ |& c2 \6 Y2 a$ O' e
vehicles already on the road.+ L) y9 Y& k2 p+ R0 |+ Q/ e: B
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
$ t1 W3 Y' j0 w' t( z# x* \before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full, k/ H: [6 J$ G3 |# L! @4 o- i1 G
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and8 G- U q: d/ h
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were2 O+ t- H8 Z, {
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
8 e& x c _5 O"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a6 Y5 |/ b( X2 _) w. v2 N
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony2 J' A' B2 \' F& o! g( A% g
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
0 w G) M/ J) }% X! B5 P8 ZCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal8 v3 N, I: ]5 K9 b, u
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
0 `3 Z# u; b0 o, Y7 ~) urestore the trust of our customers."
2 D0 q- l( d" ~Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
( w+ Y( @, Q$ R! T/ ]6 ~3 ]4 cSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly2 j; e2 p3 E/ G' |8 q
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
% w6 | ]0 M, X* M9 Kshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and: `. O4 Q% M. o$ c8 Y& G# Z
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough: ~' S# l/ t9 \1 @! b0 t L5 n, z0 j
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and {7 R6 N& ?8 ^ [8 E, D, ]4 q
turn off the engine.# N6 P$ l! v, \7 e2 p9 n
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of5 r1 k2 q1 _7 x$ ]; N
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."# W( X* ] |+ {3 r. E2 l
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she) P8 |; z$ n2 \% B5 b, H, S$ N
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
1 C& h, Z5 {* a4 P2 i4 ?. fto her complaints.# Q# H* D' t3 T: b! f' ?
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers; `+ H0 b7 X- J+ L' \0 m+ L
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
1 o- c; Y# [4 p7 i& y( J8 Qmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
; m2 V* u5 @: j"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
" ]8 E% }/ e2 ithrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
) m9 e2 K1 N5 d# E' `8 M"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut7 y1 M$ Y/ a# q" ?1 W5 ?
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
" B: C7 ] v3 [5 O* Z4 r2 cTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
. B) ^1 k. |% G+ [0 Dprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
6 O& b3 n+ S; D, o0 Q, T5 Tbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls7 F/ p# l1 b9 O8 R
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer1 @/ w1 V3 B9 e) n* J2 d$ d. e# q
every question."
: `+ N+ U& y' t P3 d3 XToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
6 A2 u, I# i" O* j1 H) melectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The' a: y; {" [8 \- @5 n7 c; g5 C0 J
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
7 d# u4 K2 t; o# a# g8 lcommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small: |3 z' G6 V# M# S$ Y" y) v
number of vehicles7 ]9 A8 g* F+ G" i0 U
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more2 @ f) i7 G& R& t# ]) e
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a8 H7 s8 b. b; v) A6 t0 m
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one; v( J" d* P7 w7 S7 ?
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.! g1 O) l# @0 L" n3 @4 t) U
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,+ A, F% O6 u) A* e8 ^6 H- J+ X! G
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no. `3 Z F+ y* n" U' c6 @
trace at all.$ u8 f4 o( @4 J! D2 X; w+ i! H; z
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call' u! B- J8 g3 ~6 {
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden7 C$ G( u+ ~- c% h8 d0 F
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the$ \6 ]1 B8 A& r5 h
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.; S( M; l T3 W1 w9 I
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
% p7 ?7 s- E1 _ w# ~said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and, p3 C9 o/ O' D2 Y' ]1 i% q& H
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the. O: }" e3 D" L6 Z6 ]* h; l
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
0 d9 l2 I& ]# ^8 u' Acause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only' u, B1 ~6 Y0 D; I9 f: ~
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
! d, Q) ], L6 Yby Toyota's lawyers."
1 f, T( R9 C+ M, I' G. tLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
) Z2 d/ v0 H3 s/ aproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
3 H7 L9 I- O' s) ecustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he+ T% C n; L* `$ ]
said.
( f) Q# N& S$ q- Z: @6 Q"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with$ D0 d( r) D, O, p% S M' F5 B
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
, B: F, f& v# X+ P" b& z9 ?; _good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating0 q% z- }) I( I( C& r- ?
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
, a8 C9 Y8 }* }# U+ [3 @; m& MSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying i" l3 I9 Y# h% G
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
* L: X- y" A- `5 P/ x8 m. grancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the: v7 |' I$ r1 d! Y) k
automaker, at least in part because of the government's. M# }$ d) d% w! K! t: d% {1 x7 ^ X
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and" b( `* s7 N$ {8 u' v+ {
Chrysler.
+ {" V6 H+ o9 v$ H# f- h"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax Q' N) i' M |+ W, l$ M- a$ a3 N
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
" P0 x Z+ C* {% `$ qHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
# m0 f! Z1 j$ K4 [5 R; m8 [1 Gserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
! v% o h& i3 I/ {with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
' F9 a1 N% A6 L7 ?% ytough."
: o' Y$ K/ ? c6 c: N---
* \6 G; _/ O# j. {) b) {. _Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
: A( v' ^/ y& L# dRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to% p5 T4 t& ~- e7 q
this story.
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% a6 }8 T* P! i. l-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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