丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题

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By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
0 M) t2 j4 j1 n  j6 F8 [% koperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
2 v$ P! m6 `5 @$ `9 O6 Asolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
) H* I* K5 Y( x  k1 P% }% GHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
# v3 r9 m3 W4 R1 z# {acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
6 s0 i/ `1 ^# {4 _5 Jtrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
! j. S7 V; v' umats and sticking accelerator pedals.
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
, l5 q) b. X) [. H! A4 Gand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
( B) q' r) F! F* n- I' j. Wfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
not stop her runaway Lexus.
: @6 Z9 q# W1 h"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
$ V& X# p& s( k( w% O8 ATenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
1 Q% c' c0 R. ^  t) L2 y0 Q1 W"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
, ?# W( `, V: Z0 bearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
8 c- b1 e% ]. N" j- Jdone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
$ V: `+ H, v3 g" D  `7 Minvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
  M% L: n  c  JLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
" x2 J* H; r( K" j$ T# t: amalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
, U: E$ l  J2 i/ wsaid.
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
/ g# q5 |9 E& K5 p2 D. {# Ihappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
# o- x5 S/ c1 m  L( @9 \9 n  Pabout driving our products," Lentz said.
- u9 F  O. P: EThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
5 Y+ H+ G1 _1 i9 G& l6 J" u9 Trecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
3 A* }% a7 H4 T* A+ I; H2 |1 kmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
2 Z( g: u0 ^5 c- M/ A" Dconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
7 o( K& T6 a4 r6 o# q3 \2 c; zreceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
  L3 M6 U( h' h1 W# Fof Toyota vehicles since 2000.
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
( B3 p* t2 F1 ?4 I4 G1 S' hunderstood the pain.
"I know what those families go through," he said.
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
. K. H2 e7 M4 k2 z/ u; Hfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
1 |. B; g$ u  a# EBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
% L( Y0 X. k" E& ?Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
  ?: w3 M6 o5 F8 }! }in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
. [3 I6 t0 q# u  m# z0 \Lentz replied: "Not totally."
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
" q7 `* z2 s# ^' b, \$ r4 |) l2 |"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
1 l: \' f6 e. q: lvehicles already on the road.
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
( P$ R( Y9 D2 a# ^, f4 joffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
! y* t7 I2 R' @' L5 o" S"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
- o5 B& }: P; L' t. {& w# Ztragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
- t+ R' i3 S- ~for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
' n+ L1 h/ g9 {2 b2 z4 s- RCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
" J( I. ~7 X3 Ycommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
restore the trust of our customers."
# ~9 H* \+ m8 Z) L& p9 DLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
* S2 P' @9 l, x9 azoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
* c7 v# T  p& r/ g& E, zshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
; Y. _0 P5 a9 G' E" H4 ^hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
turn off the engine.
+ R2 D" A+ Q  L! C' K3 P! l5 r) qFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
% h/ s6 t/ C* S  p0 S, \9 ]October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
! b  q/ S$ f. _! O$ X! P2 p% F2 X/ xsaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
to her complaints.
8 C/ G) f, z/ t+ H) {8 wIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
: R" ~" l7 h1 zreturned again and again to the question of whether electronic
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
4 Q2 K! H( R8 B3 k5 Bthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
- U. |2 \. N; L1 |"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
! T' x1 d' B$ d, S! X; t/ o' |off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
0 b! T+ {) H8 o; H: w! TTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
+ E- d. ^* s$ @" f  Yprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
1 z7 Z6 b" b  F) [2 `  f: y. hbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
every question."
5 q+ J7 c" G; G. y+ t; I5 k# p) ZToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
+ d! C; w# k/ \3 B" ]committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
, |! v# a6 I* |& N' Onumber of vehicles
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
" k7 W" u9 D- m1 ]Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
: y2 F5 M  \+ Z2 L; v5 Btrace at all.
8 ?8 f' T+ \/ l3 N- @0 o0 V, \2 NHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
  B) \1 i; n: {* J, \4 q( xrecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
& @" K6 j: ^* R! u1 l$ pRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
0 E0 p) A" z6 I3 R+ Kcause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
by Toyota's lawyers."
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
2 A( z$ k7 ?' ^* N/ J2 }5 ?problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
: G* I5 i+ h1 N9 C+ bsaid.
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
! ^  E) Q( U3 p5 H  \a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
, K& U/ S6 \/ }% g" A7 d' mgood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
3 B+ M. b2 b% o# U& P. F. M! rofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
7 U+ s' f2 J# D, }  P* d3 \members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
7 S( T1 ~5 @2 z* h6 e% x3 y0 ~rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
automaker, at least in part because of the government's
& Q5 s7 Q$ p( kinvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
9 }4 a2 }5 e2 M0 Q0 u+ C9 `Chrysler.
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
- i3 \0 ~" p+ @; J. kHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
  ]5 k) n9 v0 t; @# zserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
3 [4 j( y( D5 |( K; h8 m$ T4 n8 zwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
3 F/ ?9 t% T7 v% v: q2 }5 S5 Etough."
9 s8 d! O: J" s---
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
this story.
# s1 C. G4 t" C/ U$ f, n
-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT

shark27

本来踏板就不是什问题的关键，recall也只不过是对大众的心理治疗罢了