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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
D2 W: _' s9 V. j" y2 YBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS1 }4 v a8 q4 |! q F3 v
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.- q0 U% s4 ?$ C5 y0 K
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
1 E! @' B7 X) r) cthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"% u$ [2 L' L! o" V5 u7 }" ?# D
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
0 j# i9 a4 H+ D: Y"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
, i) f0 _, Z6 R& i# ^( Z' @causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
% w4 z9 t( c5 o! G& dHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
$ j! u7 n; |% w5 _' Bacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
1 v( }4 N4 C) r7 B- S1 a8 u- mtrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor& Z5 R& h! g: c
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.
! M/ j# K1 l2 N1 p: XHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal0 K4 p# X- ^4 Z2 _0 H4 V8 m: M
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp" G: j- g9 h' y8 }4 O5 G
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be# x8 b9 T) n& o7 U
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could8 @8 }: P+ F2 w8 r
not stop her runaway Lexus.
1 h0 v2 L0 d5 _7 N# F, n"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,: v' E U7 H( s2 F/ a5 j8 `. w
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
4 Z" V" `! A! n5 b1 ?0 @"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.( K$ k$ n0 w5 N) I* \
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues |0 |) N5 X1 ^$ T
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
/ A% m. w3 y$ M( S' G! c"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
+ v2 q% l7 N* @6 p+ b6 F& ~ ndone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
g- T2 y( [' Q: W- M3 s7 f6 rthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
) d" M% N. y, N4 I+ k* oinvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham.": S- I" L- F- ^9 X0 K- V. L8 e
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an1 B7 d) t- ]+ o5 _# l! L; |
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of9 h& i+ `% j1 g" M: J: j+ L7 \
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a @4 d+ V+ P. V# f
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he4 f) D! M8 o0 J5 ^4 ?# z- q
said.3 }8 \6 v/ x) k) X
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what$ F) d/ }7 b$ Z& H0 Z6 L7 a
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe, Z3 n4 A& N, Z/ b& L3 Z" ^0 x! C
about driving our products," Lentz said.
; f' c6 f5 K# cThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
1 @, m6 ]) N3 Lproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has8 [" l. N' |( D! E0 b1 |3 F% \4 {
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 62 m8 B# F$ b3 ^3 f' ]
million in the United States -- since last fall because of* L" @- K8 y; M5 N' ?3 }
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking B8 O: F0 y3 T+ C7 U/ C1 s1 l
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
2 m- h1 b8 F* N$ n( }8 aconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of. u$ l9 l5 h) y9 Z1 O
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
2 V/ O6 H. z c! Rdown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has6 T& D4 l8 ^* J/ O3 C$ T
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
! c7 Z4 O0 z Y- f' Lof Toyota vehicles since 2000.
9 c5 m1 @# }0 ^, o/ S4 WLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
9 B- f: k6 B! Z! f( C( M( ybrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
! S# _6 V( B* `) Lunderstood the pain.
. h% I# O# l) w( Y: J"I know what those families go through," he said.$ P- A4 q6 }! V5 O0 C
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
7 h9 x# }, j* Q' vfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.6 C8 `- g% s' G {
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
: m, v6 u) o# L3 f0 Z$ @Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put5 g3 @- x% e* m- U% {/ e
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
( o# n' G/ v6 ~1 s* s% QLentz replied: "Not totally."+ w0 R& T. _8 S) A! ^
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were4 _7 ^* K# h6 M& ^
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
; C0 {7 w8 k2 j+ D" [Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
) ~' a. V3 s$ H, w0 Wpedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its4 o; S/ r4 C- v7 u- J
vehicles already on the road.
8 J* D4 P! j& u( \Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify) N1 h! Z s2 q( H) u0 g
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
, F' j4 ?3 K* a6 ?5 u1 q* Y. n5 u% Zresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and; `8 F7 i- n5 i1 ?& i# _# r
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
0 e% O+ l+ Z% Q, j/ Bkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.. R) B0 P1 L1 z. m! V; V+ F- [! m+ [1 W
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a, n& y' F- K1 i: p+ V: a( P
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony: R- R6 u8 T) `9 J. z3 c/ X! B2 W& y# o
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight; o, ~9 U! v; y* h* I# R
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal Q: B: O# n( j/ K) n: L
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
! a. F; S4 Z! `restore the trust of our customers."
3 s. _" t2 x/ E. @4 F' T; U k* LLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
- r, s: E$ a( YSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
0 i1 Q! P/ A4 d1 v" fzoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
9 S( h( Z! S5 c, ~shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and! e u% d# R; w) r! F/ k7 z# W3 _
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
# K% b" ]( P7 O( T: rthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and' g9 G+ N2 U. H
turn off the engine.
0 W+ a! b3 T1 F: T* C eFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
. n+ d; |" u* N+ P. E: ~October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
4 u' w+ G/ S/ c+ k- q! @"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
8 @! @" t) l; j/ y5 \# u: N/ esaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
% W" D' y1 w3 Q5 g j: ito her complaints.! Y0 f' H; f2 Y. s$ g! X V- Z) a
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers( ]) ]) S `/ j2 C1 S
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic s' p5 v# A7 R
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.& y ^, d; e* c( `# c
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric" \* ^- S: N2 d: g4 a2 J# o3 W2 k+ E
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
! v: l3 f! }& w9 k1 W# I"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
+ p! ?4 B7 Q8 s) Aoff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
5 O. L2 t) i( Z- |Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
7 V5 k8 P# \% k/ B# m. b/ zprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
9 ^" n7 p' G; F7 [3 W' jbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
6 ]' c% m. f% v* B) G1 Jwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer0 k/ I$ W; A, O- s0 j2 @0 F
every question."
. E6 F# p# R: T* D8 WToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
5 \$ r) p* J6 ?4 d, Aelectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The8 A. n; g/ c% V% e* i4 j; A, b5 G/ |
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But3 y$ W# M1 \$ B* M& }! w
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
' A: j0 H+ Z' x, G9 t. Snumber of vehicles- Q% s X n# p0 P1 s( a; E/ b
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more1 g$ u9 [0 U- W6 v
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
% `, t" M. a1 ^6 Vmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one3 Z" ~: @+ L, I3 A2 l
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
7 {# }8 d9 M: e6 t% Y" |Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
6 J8 v: ]4 c5 _3 i) c, R* ~! ~where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no2 j1 A* z! g0 }" N' I( C! g
trace at all.) L& [, g6 g+ E* A
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
0 Q- J4 M, }$ k) h/ odatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden7 k7 p7 z1 `, B: S
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
! q. [) p) S0 b2 U+ w8 M, s! Y) Jrecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
' _/ W; f% ~& J" g9 YRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
7 H' T7 W& X9 M* g, f) C2 v3 Xsaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
; i$ L: w- ?/ q+ o! O- v, m' xother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the. t/ a* C; I3 j# Z! \1 V/ _2 D3 P& E5 V
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible. }5 ]2 g- X) t& T& O& C3 R3 h5 x
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only. F( w2 `! }+ H" K7 F
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
/ M6 E8 b8 o6 x3 [by Toyota's lawyers."' m6 H( z _& d$ ?* z# N0 Z
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
, G% \2 H- ?; j1 l) `problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our0 j. K5 i9 k/ K' A, _0 Z. l
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
! R. j. v* A8 ^: a% Esaid.
7 D# t1 `7 ]; g) J"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with6 q0 u4 ^. Y1 a. g1 S8 F8 c" t
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our& Q* ~9 v6 k# R: ~- N6 h$ V
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating9 s" M0 M5 B2 i3 A
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
* m8 ?- t/ R1 V# ~Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying1 Y1 x4 H# M0 R+ P' }
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread- _+ d/ N7 S+ m! l+ p
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
; k9 [& U1 `% Aautomaker, at least in part because of the government's3 L: Z& v" I1 O. C# A
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
D" D+ N( G7 ]4 y: } n( xChrysler.& b8 s" s6 ~. F S
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax( Y5 w; x, r8 E8 n$ v
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
5 [0 [% G& e6 p' I( }Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
& }7 r8 k& p! g; wserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
4 q: W" D3 P$ J- S( Nwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty7 C5 ^. h2 q4 _4 d+ x# R# B0 A
tough."+ N. t. f, Y) h) Y1 y
---
! s" ~/ v& I: R& BAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom$ x# W& M4 n1 b3 b2 i; a
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
9 A- t# z, u# x6 D1 Hthis story.
# L! q8 s& D" Q0 k
' R, K" P6 f4 A# C# R-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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