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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
5 V' e5 I0 c' @. \' }By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS2 i1 m4 ^: l! Q H5 x$ E* w
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
5 t2 @9 P% X# I5 ?operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that. z' Y M; v2 O6 a
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
2 Z: h2 ? t m/ q* Dsolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration., i5 M* S( ]6 D$ {2 S
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
8 {9 t" ?- A# x. T4 z# Z6 J5 {* E" Lcauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
3 i b: h! V( ~* E/ Z( uHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
/ v- f" Q" D$ h% S- ?4 gacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and+ L9 p) F) D" ]& C
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor Q! n# j2 U. A
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.# e' ?0 N% \6 c8 c1 ^# E
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
4 h+ V; F Q8 V$ p8 |- T* Jand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
; j. m3 E; h& v* Y+ `8 W F7 S; Acriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be- |0 ]7 {4 T+ f( q: l
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
5 d, B; G( {1 L, bnot stop her runaway Lexus.
9 K7 h& e# M2 L3 M"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,6 |( m! @" ^( p9 C7 ?1 E. p% y
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second3 g1 i8 t5 z8 F4 x
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.2 F3 G9 C; g3 q" G' \8 w
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues6 S+ g+ L/ @6 h8 U
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said3 b, H, ^' M+ J) `2 s6 C
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
4 V: p1 ^( ?" H/ y, R9 z. g; k) ydone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway, X) b; @9 e$ Z
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
. W; a: S6 w6 B6 S* yinvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham.") I: n) c0 ~3 ~) a7 p) j
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an" ^7 s9 {* N, {
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
! r9 e5 ~& ^0 i7 H/ K* v2 Vthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
! \2 }4 n; p* v+ E+ d F$ vmalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he9 n4 V) z, [7 m, l
said.; a) O& {6 o3 s4 i1 Y' B
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what4 m6 H' J+ }$ y3 g3 V) b3 n
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
' @, m. f! E: ~% k4 j' g8 C2 pabout driving our products," Lentz said.' H# t' G. ~' e: m9 h
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's/ G1 O. C* r! s k
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
3 t, d" h. S+ A" `2 Crecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6- y% x# [( h( R2 T! \9 C
million in the United States -- since last fall because of
& x6 `: R# B& ?& _unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking, s) s% x. {2 u$ ?% p: O
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering2 e( y) c% N. O5 m, G8 N3 z
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
8 K" G* x# y; k' qtheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow2 t2 i$ p5 C3 d; f. I
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
& B4 I# G: I% c" F+ j/ treceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration! ?$ A; C: l4 y' ?* K' B& G4 ]
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.
' h, \$ v7 n" ]- hLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
0 q7 _8 m* D7 h! A$ Z+ L' _% wbrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he1 _$ A& L2 d0 W0 [
understood the pain.: Z* q6 |2 J& { Q" @( O
"I know what those families go through," he said.
/ w$ k0 l- U' i0 O. ^Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
# Y; |9 U/ G7 W# B. g/ Q" mfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.: S, o/ c3 B+ t0 |$ z+ E2 z
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
& X2 s; |* d* P3 oHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put4 h5 r& E4 }/ D
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
# X! k! K+ j9 L4 l# W" l9 ELentz replied: "Not totally."- I( t2 d. c7 C8 ?
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
' \/ ?5 X6 L) C8 Q# }"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
! W0 t1 s" a! w' UToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas ?) r; b8 F3 S" }( e; P
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its3 k7 W6 D. `: K8 l$ |
vehicles already on the road.3 m: i- A% p) j
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
5 v5 ~, q$ H2 v8 k- q" |before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
5 i/ d4 n. H( X1 U4 W$ H0 Tresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
9 x2 ?) y. |0 O# Q& o! K2 Voffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
/ R( @" G4 R6 y2 w) V% j& K( I. X* pkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
' z9 _4 z% f1 y( ?"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
& v4 |$ V7 k( I7 n) etragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony& [" S) Q! }8 r8 I p7 |: h
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
/ Z, Z& x6 k4 `" y, G qCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal0 K0 l2 o2 ]# q: _8 W
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
$ R3 {3 X4 D$ | n3 Orestore the trust of our customers."
2 e% z0 s2 \: E1 |' [/ {$ VLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
3 _5 G/ R9 N* r4 [4 V) K% hSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
5 r2 |- H$ @) W' i! B8 Azoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
. ~ c6 H( ?, Y' b2 u& k$ Sshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and7 s+ d; K4 M. T" ]/ U9 T
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough0 V6 H+ U7 ~ ~* t
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
5 s5 K" x$ Y! l& E, zturn off the engine.
# i7 X8 j9 t. j" [5 L1 aFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
& K6 e! D1 t1 f2 S2 AOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."( T9 A# \# X/ a6 h4 _7 |; T
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she4 {% }5 J/ y% K+ L1 r5 I0 H
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
A2 O" S' z* P5 q4 D% c) ^: {to her complaints.
; _6 R/ \( T' C& {+ @In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers8 s7 D; I* f4 z* D1 k: h' G
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic5 v, M& C7 y5 |8 O' Z
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
( V9 k, ?" j' L"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
7 K9 Z& P" U* H( R2 ^throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited! r0 |# C, h; }' ^1 C- M! q& S
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut0 {) @% W4 q& H. o( f* }
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."4 J/ P, X$ Q8 W; r
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
2 K3 H J! w5 ~7 f" r- Cprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
2 ^) X. q* x1 V7 J( m# B& `being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls. m! c0 B- t+ P
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
4 s& M; m. w0 ^& p" Tevery question."- F1 B1 S/ e% w3 e; q& M
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether( k" P# B0 u& O/ i: G8 c
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
, `$ o- ?6 T3 s9 I0 s1 B, ]7 D. Z# H2 d4 ~firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
; M: p$ ^: b' \7 |; t/ k; q2 @) lcommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small
: x2 m1 H5 S4 [6 H3 E# }number of vehicles; l# C+ Z: y8 a
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more
; J1 Z! d! [. {* pdifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
% w* w0 G0 a' A! {4 K5 ?mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one: U# D/ W- @3 C/ m# v* {! A
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
/ y3 ]' m/ |8 P" W3 IMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,9 x( S4 J0 L+ `: c
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no! ~/ Z* I8 i! @) G" Z, C
trace at all.- q5 U' q& ]9 `8 J O7 {
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call# ^* O7 ~9 Y8 h' U* s* Y
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden( G1 U2 W% M+ A
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
$ I9 q8 N; C! Wrecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.+ ^# l" b a. ~7 |
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee, t4 ]" c8 b3 |( d& s
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and8 r: r4 b8 L! k2 O
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
6 G8 o* o" @2 i% \1 D4 n6 Welectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
3 H7 L5 k5 x" g4 t7 ]cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
6 K5 v: ?* \; ^such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained1 k/ ]5 E4 ~! ]$ o7 |
by Toyota's lawyers."
3 w5 z7 q) U# D8 V! r! L9 FLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
; s6 H( F7 h( \, t- }& J% K9 ^problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our& Q7 U' t& s' ^5 X( x" K: B
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he7 r4 o) i1 n. N# z' F
said. Z" i6 r. a- a1 k7 n+ N2 z
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with$ ?. h) G/ ] i
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
; q! M6 G1 {! }2 l% Vgood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
1 X0 M" p2 _" U( ^6 v8 y9 I! N, Jofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
+ f! D6 g! K+ A: i( p3 kSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying+ M7 v& a7 Y) U- @0 {6 O$ ]
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread/ G- t+ K& ~1 h% S. b
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the: {0 y) ]2 s! d$ E; B. P
automaker, at least in part because of the government's. D* V% p; A0 l' _& T/ o8 _4 H
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and9 d c9 s1 W6 e0 i! t
Chrysler.
, D- K7 Q2 v& J; ]% j( g" ["That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
, F W0 s/ r8 P: G( V5 E! S6 Wdollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a0 k+ Z6 j/ p/ b" h4 p! h- m
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
. Z% y2 K! y! C+ a9 U/ t. O( _7 w: dserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
5 A+ k, ]" r1 h* ?3 z8 qwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
% z) t6 Q6 `/ u1 U0 R$ K# ], ltough."& B6 P% U1 A; ]( N3 ]1 g) S
---
- a5 P3 y6 Y5 w2 MAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
4 j$ p" n6 D# r2 k7 d" bRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to& T+ m3 |* r3 ^: [0 C
this story.
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% }" O; ?* Z4 s' s6 P r, V5 v" G' e-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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