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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
% S( X9 B7 E; p+ q( O6 X3 f9 LBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
6 x7 q: M1 G, c: `# @Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.4 a( \8 P3 T" a/ K
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that" m. _8 a4 O. Z
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
- u; A9 c1 z2 G+ Isolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.2 n) _) N. w" P7 O
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential/ w$ R/ x$ X6 S7 ?3 L+ Q2 I
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
1 r) O/ r+ I, |- ^' m( Y q5 MHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected& |& b$ @% D2 a, L1 A
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
) p$ B! M- K' O% I+ Y7 m: e$ \trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor3 j0 K' o* U! Y* T
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.* X& ~* r0 A- Z( F
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal/ [* m ~1 |+ @8 d! @8 Z
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
+ q$ R1 _( v5 F5 r* fcriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
. ]% w( f9 X6 S8 |8 mfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
8 b/ O8 m5 A8 V6 W- Y- D# fnot stop her runaway Lexus. ^/ Z' Y$ c( t& E1 d7 N: ~: I
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,/ K) E" P9 R6 ]7 c/ u
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
6 u" O; ]% z. `: O& y3 \; U# ?"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
. R. S6 a" }9 ~( u8 y o5 C& \Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
; l; k7 _/ U) aearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said) o3 b8 }7 T; F- I; e3 c
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has- v' r, x2 j% {2 b/ R i
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
% ]# m7 y9 j8 N* z, o: Hthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's2 a2 z- x5 \$ q& [: a+ h8 k
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
5 A% A" C( X5 G: z3 p: m6 ^Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
! m6 R1 a' v' V" q; y7 {electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
: Y! g" X' t* E5 ]1 g* Xthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a1 _" E1 P$ e( u& L/ X
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he# F3 J5 b) ~+ y8 ^, F, X% R$ Y: g
said.+ R6 S$ L& L& U# f
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
6 r/ t! R: [" h1 G( yhappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
' H) h/ |$ Q+ `9 xabout driving our products," Lentz said. a# Z" Q" d7 T- X, {5 D. S
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
U: R0 R# t* L1 w" o% v6 W+ vproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has% G5 U9 t' q ~! J6 r% Z# w
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6' n! M& k3 O$ p% [, ]
million in the United States -- since last fall because of) l5 }8 y6 O/ Z2 Y
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking/ J% H4 h7 N0 C p3 X9 o
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
# y1 \7 ~+ q' a! V+ vconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of6 _! r1 Y- b! r& w
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow0 L& u3 m5 y& f4 |$ r7 p
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has( Q! E9 f9 H+ h7 B( v
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration+ p3 u, a, h7 V" ^4 `
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.
6 @5 `* k: o) v5 c% N$ i4 z' QLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own q& L7 Y j6 M, ?0 ]
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
6 i0 U! x& Z, wunderstood the pain.
* ]! ~: Q/ T; t/ v"I know what those families go through," he said.! ^. E5 A% J0 M" x6 _
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
, B9 h% g' J0 K" K! |9 e% nfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.3 @9 ], \7 l5 u$ A7 ^
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman& ]0 c0 J6 u2 b+ l/ y9 |
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put' n! X) i* J ?! |6 j, l9 y3 u3 l
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
" h/ h1 p- F* @) X$ J+ ^: `& `6 SLentz replied: "Not totally."
# e& P, u3 y' H- a( T% P# }, q SStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were' B( x# h2 t6 q" `
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said; G& ~& M2 |* f7 P0 N; E6 d4 m0 g
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
5 `6 }/ H4 P9 c. G& Apedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its6 ^. \4 O% X( z1 o$ y5 N) U
vehicles already on the road.
2 Q. O( Z8 H# W4 GMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify! D6 k. h' t4 h! Q0 [) q
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full$ X3 X1 E: y- i' U2 B
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and. B( t( s) Q6 p
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were9 X" z5 T" d& ?4 C5 @
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
) ]: W: t" |5 E" C$ U6 S"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a$ t5 n. Q' K }& |
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony5 R+ ?7 G3 b6 ^, ?5 |4 N
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
5 [4 h6 u- F/ [# O2 {' t0 j8 X7 K! VCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
: I) {; f' p* @. v5 R+ j( i' [commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
3 a3 q1 ~! {% o' zrestore the trust of our customers."
$ `6 @: C0 ^; MLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
6 J# Q0 n! q" `1 @9 QSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly4 j+ b' ^0 r( A- B4 M) X2 p. ]6 W
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop -- K, J, |+ v, p
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
. v: Z7 K4 ^* g# Y8 }: uhitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough, u3 c0 P% R- |' b A" L ?
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and+ s0 B/ s. J+ R
turn off the engine.
$ z' }( F( O/ R! W3 n6 CFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
6 P7 ]! J- `2 B" k9 r* ]3 yOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."' J, B6 {8 w) L% `. B: \5 p: M
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
1 q( j- c% U3 `3 Q5 H/ R" h: Vsaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
n! l; Y4 K7 ato her complaints.' s1 K' k7 ~! Z2 U! P, g: G* |, j
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
Q. T% n" B( k' ^7 V$ D; Z" g3 jreturned again and again to the question of whether electronic. o+ i6 S$ m1 t, m8 p
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
5 [" k9 L+ c7 F5 w( X' \"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
' d' F5 i6 ~7 ^0 W4 Rthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited7 Z6 P" ^0 p' x1 H3 ^
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut3 L$ T; A" d. _: h# t8 C$ |
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
R1 y! p! t* K- U: R A6 g& PTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in3 A5 J- X, @. Y9 [" j
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
& f7 P# X0 d Z# Kbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
; j7 |$ A. K Lwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer. u! ^( @+ o- F6 E$ g
every question."
: o9 q l4 f$ o9 u8 W8 aToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
) t7 R# {7 d' H2 V2 m- B0 }electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
: I% e! h4 p& W8 I2 pfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
( s- @! T4 S0 K0 \committee investigators said the testing studied only a small, c3 T3 [: t. }0 F
number of vehicles: {0 k6 w5 b/ _# ?
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more2 o$ M2 b. E9 H5 p5 J6 u4 v
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
" t& i8 m) S+ d& I9 gmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
2 P8 S( I' [$ W" H v, Zsource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.1 V0 h& l' s l3 Y: ^+ Y
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
. w" g, a% v7 ~" W7 ?1 I" Hwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no& w" C4 `7 Z! X8 l8 M
trace at all.
" Y& W% S1 A6 B- d( R3 ^; \8 gHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
& X$ n7 w. `2 sdatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
! T/ Q/ T/ u4 l5 dacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
% T8 q+ z4 ?$ i/ o/ Y( ~recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
! H$ v1 i2 [$ f7 b! |' Q- YRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
! c5 N) u9 T& d. fsaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
# _% u' C9 M& F. X% u7 @other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
! W3 Z" ~7 z \8 t2 relectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
, z9 a# M% a; ^2 U- acause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only3 \0 ]* h' u$ C& r$ q8 a r) A
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained3 T# V' }! J! ?7 b
by Toyota's lawyers."" q! p- O* @2 d* K1 d
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
2 X* ]' a: |( m! J ?problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our H) L% h6 R9 D% |8 h7 ]7 B# V
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he" s& v2 t! q6 h; I, x
said.( c% M* J4 \& r3 j
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with/ }( L) I3 W+ p# x
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
6 O, `% r" d* v$ s. i0 l0 J5 ngood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
k5 q3 G4 Z" B" B) r+ I- B2 T( A' Cofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
3 U6 |2 O3 W" k9 cSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying8 d- g$ G" L8 X
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
' ]5 F) f) C/ ~* G; \, @4 hrancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the7 M/ U. t4 t( y, @+ J8 a0 ]! U
automaker, at least in part because of the government's# m. I# G4 m/ Q) n i& i0 n X
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and2 z$ {9 c+ j2 J1 D
Chrysler.) m. F8 T- y# Z
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax! |- o/ E0 d( `
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a1 O, \3 U4 a* a1 o& q& Q/ W
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also- F: C" B) U: s4 M/ V- S1 p2 a
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
* b' C! O' V" d ewith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
2 Q( t. z) b+ F/ i* j6 Vtough."
6 Y0 C/ P# C0 {) u) m9 Q---0 F% i) m4 F& Z5 l# B+ Y
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
7 G0 M% m% S' V0 QRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
- h4 V. f" t' y% X' v. Z Vthis story.9 R( M3 q1 }- z% [) K3 q# O1 `
- ^, C, N" ]5 i" T) f5 j-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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