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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
: z5 w: A/ @' g% U h9 WBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS1 ^9 e! o' {$ O/ T8 ^" z" S
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
2 x' ~1 n# V" @$ o$ |operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
5 y. d) P* p h8 Hthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
/ B/ H& ~. w9 [ A& bsolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.$ \+ y0 _) `9 z6 D" C
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential5 O# _# C* D1 P7 n) K0 R- p
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
6 d! i, M$ ^- N" ~3 y+ zHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
% E9 K( ?3 p/ S/ I `! P( lacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and- m8 m" P4 G- X* c: W: [
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor) Y$ y5 F5 {/ u% F: [' `; N$ i8 i2 u
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.
3 @# S' j( ^" l. U CHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal! n8 A" g* Z$ }7 `" n& T+ E- x5 d
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp3 S3 S2 ]7 w+ _+ t! y8 g6 t
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be/ z: J7 ?6 r6 Y/ T& N
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could# q6 I0 V9 c) f8 q/ ^/ z, o% B
not stop her runaway Lexus.6 k9 \* j& c D9 ]; V- Q
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
9 w( a* a1 `& ~- i! C9 U: V2 \Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
: V' Q/ ?( t3 x) [" E! {"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators., a4 ?- i9 M4 k/ P' z4 {) R
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
. [8 ]' Q7 h5 Qearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
/ \# G1 R+ i' y% W$ h+ {) i) g"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
8 V9 c' [( r( u2 ]8 s! Edone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway7 I. h5 j5 Y5 P9 U. k% _
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's @0 w M. S5 u- b( |+ b* Z
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."1 }0 Z' v# h8 r* S: P: u# W e6 e
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
9 K5 u7 Y) n t% b* ]electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of. O3 F) L' f2 I8 e
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
! z5 {- ^7 E) z" k6 z, Bmalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he( C; n. T( x+ E; @
said.
" `+ x$ }# z3 C8 p6 BAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
v+ x* {* T- n" P: c) u* D! I; \happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
+ L* [! J+ ]$ {3 rabout driving our products," Lentz said.0 \' J+ D4 @! p. Q6 t
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
8 G. c/ _! g7 N# m+ g% }problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has) F9 O t4 u, d# ]3 d8 @( e% Y. t8 K3 f
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6& U" l; g) a0 p% r- r5 x+ i6 V8 G
million in the United States -- since last fall because of
/ B' h2 M, m! L* P5 j8 aunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
& f2 }, F8 v2 Tissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering. w& S5 K, s4 P( B
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
; F% e6 t3 n8 T9 X$ Btheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow5 ?" \) Y4 @$ B5 Z, R! [# t
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
/ C" }9 P: ^& h4 y; lreceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
1 v5 B! ?& }+ ~7 F4 Dof Toyota vehicles since 2000.
0 \ e- k) P6 TLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
3 t9 @- G1 [9 S* }0 Hbrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
& V8 M! V5 D8 l5 J! ?* `understood the pain.# F) Z8 \- z: B+ p+ o7 ^
"I know what those families go through," he said.4 _3 r2 d! _7 A- v! N
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
4 w' y2 M4 o. i5 |5 n4 P& ]0 bfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
7 B2 S/ K2 H5 D% i# d" x' hBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
( `( P7 a$ U* u, j$ G& \" jHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
% ]$ W0 U r! T' F$ m0 ]7 M: Sin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,0 E& V. e, m* h7 ?6 ^4 {" K- a
Lentz replied: "Not totally."8 O6 {5 x1 R# y" a2 x
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
' L% F- @2 e w6 ?0 I. C"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said. {( w4 F7 J4 l
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas8 F8 V9 x3 m$ _3 i
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its8 `, n, J7 L. d' g1 i$ Z+ A
vehicles already on the road.2 j8 D3 S( J2 t$ _6 {
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify# v D( V& g+ Q- p, T
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full% T/ u* \, N3 P4 e
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
7 ]+ w) ^+ \6 p( Coffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were1 ~$ v1 c _# o
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
& Y! h7 I) V* R/ z3 u2 l"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a( }8 c: C2 ]5 {& @$ d
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
& L( F/ u6 h( h, M% x5 ?" Q; ~for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
8 j8 x( V) r! _0 j9 u3 F. kCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal' p2 d+ Z s5 v$ P3 x
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
, I% l/ \4 E$ Z7 W9 {restore the trust of our customers."* ^; w) T) Q6 I' w! f3 U% j8 W
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
' f! B6 ?5 X) FSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly' [% k/ A# P8 s/ h ]
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --" c: M. E9 N% _; D
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
% ~2 D z- o- S4 j$ Uhitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
, W5 a, T: J+ A( M. j- \& Zthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
! T# a8 U5 T$ q3 x2 ^% N6 x' Cturn off the engine.
" T& k- Z" M! _: f- mFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
) g; F, p" Z: y; C6 d" mOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
$ A2 a! P5 b2 V"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
3 f( E* E7 y2 rsaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
, v: i3 G# o7 R1 gto her complaints.
$ |: |1 G0 t4 Q2 f8 V+ vIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers% _7 v" l" D$ S7 j7 ^2 D
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic- y" R; A. `% L/ V
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.) m* r, F) A$ C7 r% g: P
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
6 Y; K* }/ ^7 L. ~throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited5 t) o) b, U4 _" O/ B( p
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
% p6 o$ r+ {, soff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."3 o% X) J' s; j6 X* M* H- l Y
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
, ^6 q& t7 b( X Pprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
# |% \8 N, h* p- q6 f) abeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls& {. s9 H% n8 F* D1 g6 J
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer! F+ k0 I: }6 Z# k
every question."" C0 B& w$ \, W2 M4 K
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether5 L, w& w/ i1 M3 z6 |, v" u
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
& j- F& s+ {5 W+ Z$ `( zfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But8 F' V& o& Y* A) O
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
8 _) i) n+ C" O0 k% ^+ `$ j& wnumber of vehicles3 q# z' A' S2 L3 }( L0 X
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more2 [) v6 a' b; z9 Y& H
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
5 v; e9 k0 y, q9 A K* i/ Jmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one7 P9 N9 @" p. Y$ Z4 H) Z3 `
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.+ e5 D% f. f8 j5 [
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,5 v; n1 Z8 i" a' \7 g5 E9 g8 N
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
. E. j* N( L2 n( V/ h; N9 itrace at all.
/ x$ D. ^) w% dHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
4 i) u! P. ^: L9 e; L# x3 Gdatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden7 R; J( @4 Y4 N: y+ |1 H' e/ x* f
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the ` I2 ~( H$ \ S; D% m
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.; }- u; u" E4 F _, P- n3 T
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
B6 r' I8 b- {said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and/ V D& d2 b9 s2 @- k
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the# S( C1 v; |4 x$ H7 K
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible( j6 n& f3 C$ @3 ~
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only' w' ?. m) ^, g& U; ?0 K/ a% Y( B1 G
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained# ?. a3 t2 @( h8 i
by Toyota's lawyers."
/ @- x: h4 |* G, s8 w! O$ R8 ?* XLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
6 a4 @ L' t# m, I; ]8 A8 Qproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
2 X1 I$ ?$ s! j Kcustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he: s/ j$ r5 t; O: [
said.- s; y/ d- o3 S4 f |
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with$ S& l+ J* U3 W( x" I
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our; K& A) l k" t/ X
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating) A( q" h9 E9 v9 ^, T* [; a1 n
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.4 q) K, B7 H9 Q7 L$ @: c; j
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
) l1 X9 S# U; w1 R- W. d- [& ~3 nmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread5 O/ K( D/ _ K7 F9 T& d% |% B
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
) Q, Z" U, p p7 P# B( `* T$ n2 X7 fautomaker, at least in part because of the government's
9 ]2 X9 l( [6 ?6 x+ v) k2 @investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
- T" k9 p) c p7 i% b+ c+ \* i( SChrysler.
6 a& S2 f- w9 H h6 m' M6 t( R"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax, j9 v H) m$ O' Z& ?6 I
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a# ~9 p8 V2 y" N8 v/ a& p) }/ h' p8 u# G
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also$ L( s8 z4 D, l N
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
3 O) @2 [$ N* {& g9 Iwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty/ o! B: [0 I4 v6 @% K
tough."6 P% g' h0 P4 K7 c8 N
---% N" X/ S, v; ]% H+ I$ X9 P: ?$ {( e
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
& h2 k& t3 s. O6 B6 R/ RRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to7 q' w6 h5 j) ]1 h4 T1 j: P
this story.0 W( |! I$ X- f, C
5 V& i) B8 G) ^8 T4 D0 _* z-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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