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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
7 [! |: y3 h- {1 eBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
, b {7 V) z" c9 p6 o6 @Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.; z0 ^0 ~% l4 o2 G! _
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that" E9 f# H/ u4 W) k& _
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"9 g( O. o$ V y/ f% a
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.1 h( E! W0 L: R: u
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
1 C/ q: T8 w$ Ncauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
. K6 ~% _9 ?7 p6 d" _$ A- e" }However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected# S' {7 s2 p' T$ V* i7 M# v
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and$ c; F! y: x6 N( J. @1 U' o; t
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
" f$ I3 i) O: b ^4 Omats and sticking accelerator pedals.
3 D6 Y. k7 l( \) CHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal7 R; V: U8 d2 a) d. q
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
0 K2 ?, i6 {. k* m+ C4 Ecriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be/ Y) y/ R# I, R
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could# ~# b& _( R; x# f& \2 C' \; Z
not stop her runaway Lexus.
: `7 Q( v! `4 K) i"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville," J; G, Q7 c+ t* Z r+ y
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
0 s! p& _. }9 ^- C4 ]: ~2 r0 r* |& e"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
+ B' I! e G& f% ^0 wTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
3 k J J! ]4 n5 d' ^early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said9 L# ]9 m, x/ n9 U3 R7 j% f4 Q
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has; b; t" P, U% c Y I
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
- {# f! M+ N9 O0 a2 Qthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
7 ]' Q2 t: R9 {4 j+ K4 N0 N9 Jinvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."* f; Y( l/ Y! Z2 `
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
, x8 U7 j9 c# {; b; c r* R6 L$ Z; Lelectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of* h! D3 r) t8 f
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
# d" T5 `- X, U+ }- x9 H) @7 p% ]malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
+ X+ j/ o4 f/ M7 @said.
, w0 t9 Z8 v. G3 }As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
u; y- Q4 s2 Q! d5 j# c! zhappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
1 R9 c" w. a, W8 s1 A! k4 j' _2 X4 Qabout driving our products," Lentz said.3 U$ v0 E7 E$ q- R
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's6 `) `' Y/ G# z8 g d7 t
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has. N) i8 @. `" [8 ^! A
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
s6 r* `0 V1 W* U1 h" d% z" hmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of& `- q8 k$ M: c' f1 Y# k6 `5 H% {
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking% c. X: ?$ W) O& P+ S9 h" I
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering0 M. n8 c+ S. r w
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of3 V2 V. W/ l5 @" f6 W
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
7 e" `! u, k+ q! F6 D Q( L: Odown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has Q# L! G& X. e6 B5 Z$ x
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration! `) _7 ~7 G- f0 |5 V$ R
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.
& {+ `6 p, ~1 F7 S4 wLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
5 t8 b$ R0 z8 o& J+ e2 Pbrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
2 j( @" V3 M/ Z( `* u4 e* Zunderstood the pain.' L, W) w+ z6 G% B% ? n* H
"I know what those families go through," he said.
: N6 l) b7 {7 BLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
3 P! i t3 {7 I5 ? e3 ?fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.7 Z' K4 e" C; o8 l4 F h* G& ~
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman% C- J: g) h% S, _( L0 ]$ j" m
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put& C8 N( c% m: v( A( X, e' j
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it," j4 o% {- p" Y: t. p5 x
Lentz replied: "Not totally."3 a( B5 Z" Y' t, C. M$ c2 G
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
9 u) M! P/ d/ `" t" H"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
4 o( i/ x5 r. ]1 |" i- V' LToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas6 E0 m4 {- [9 c$ L% f3 P
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its# J3 ^1 s' W) g8 h: D3 M! p8 p
vehicles already on the road.
0 u+ B [. x# N3 `Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
! S, c; |, ^1 J0 b/ f9 kbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full9 D3 j7 K" u( y; Y; X5 k4 r+ o
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
1 i3 S, m z/ R- k5 P( B* E6 Toffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were$ T0 W& S! p# [- ~ `% p6 j7 }
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
4 S% l4 k8 F) r2 @2 O: Y"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a5 A ~1 y) |1 O9 N0 V U- E+ [9 h
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony! {; K# p8 v, _2 ~: `
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight J0 ], [: l; P5 }- P; {, c
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal+ \' [1 B0 S9 ? ~0 V- P9 Y# _; J
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to* r2 i0 ?& U3 W, }) E, y/ {0 I8 A
restore the trust of our customers."8 v3 g8 K6 E7 t& C5 Q
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
9 Q" O; k. N8 C$ nSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly |2 t3 S# q9 a7 ^; D
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
4 y. f" i: }8 l$ n9 T$ c9 u0 Gshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
' j/ D0 ~! W9 w( C r) z* o" Rhitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
% L1 K. e, m. O4 i2 \+ l6 D- Uthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
$ o$ c( T, j; c) |9 Lturn off the engine.
: Q- N, `3 N: Y9 P0 TFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of$ E" r, b* X$ l* ^+ {! e# `
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
% a% t# a4 u) n0 B$ I0 u8 D"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she! V" \0 x2 w& D2 o5 d
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond" A% o( f. n& E3 w- Y
to her complaints.
5 @; M7 k' r' D; u8 G: Y1 j8 M7 FIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
( Z2 B! [- U1 Y3 h. q+ f6 wreturned again and again to the question of whether electronic
; {1 }4 z$ M ]; L1 \% G% Z1 o% Jmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
! q3 c# o5 k) L3 {" H1 a"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
' l! @/ U% Y( V3 x5 M6 s2 ~throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited- f+ c# W' g+ [' A: t' ^* \% m
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
* a; j( z2 j1 x# |- soff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
( H+ U; ?" f) tTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in' N0 V# w: _" b" n9 r! V/ j1 Z
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
! ~% r" x0 i/ [! H6 kbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
; e7 \& P3 k6 d8 l0 i) L9 C Wwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
) l+ `; M: P8 l0 Uevery question."3 F$ k8 o4 R4 K! i9 Q& E
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether6 g6 ?9 m6 Y) W+ {3 ~
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
+ q3 C2 S; l5 ^2 [. r# a+ f* M) Ifirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
! i% V5 F( A7 w7 b7 N. u3 [committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
! j7 s8 z2 _' [) q$ Anumber of vehicles
4 U5 w* D3 V9 N0 C* y" oTracking down an electrical problem can be far more/ t5 \) a1 t; S$ ^9 G
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
0 O8 t. D& x7 H; U5 X" e8 kmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one- O# ~1 l1 Y6 x7 F2 L) |7 e
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
$ z/ Z8 M' u5 n; M3 OMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,- l! z# s& c, n: @
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no4 q5 C. t4 x0 I2 z3 ?6 W; u/ p9 g
trace at all.6 j4 |9 O/ i4 V' J
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call+ Q* V; S; h- a9 p: I! J# H
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
% A7 t5 z `5 M; Qacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the$ m" V5 y* | W$ ]
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
% q& p. K) X4 e$ }8 VRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
4 a3 S7 O# g3 L! n# nsaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
% C1 O# F+ ]6 H2 m$ r9 c2 J, hother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
3 i' f' q" m" Z- q; R' Yelectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
. j; Z0 n; ^* O3 g3 C, R$ dcause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
$ K6 u( k- K+ r3 @such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained% }; F+ l% V6 {( U% H. n- i6 p) A
by Toyota's lawyers."
/ N' `4 Y5 W" V3 a. [+ CLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of# X* M9 K B1 M2 B. X" S. p
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our. G7 u2 [: F) Y4 f$ t u
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he" H' R) f$ j# Y
said.9 A( N) }0 T% i0 N1 T! H# U
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
% f( O" ^- R& L; Q! s+ ]/ s+ b( Xa rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our$ U, R8 ]! }6 h7 w/ n( L! s s
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating! T% p# f: O1 P
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.3 w6 Y8 T2 J8 w. z3 O F9 y4 n5 z
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying. K4 [6 t/ i. {
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
/ V }* K7 V0 v0 A* V& ]rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the" j5 Q! `/ v) [
automaker, at least in part because of the government's- W" [) a$ V4 m1 h9 J2 I w4 `3 Z5 r
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and1 Y( \, t8 i6 ?- a- S/ |2 d* y
Chrysler.7 c( b6 c) E, T D5 f, y3 U% i. ]; a. k
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax' y- [+ K2 j6 a5 ~
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a; F [. i( c, @0 [
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
( p/ J( E5 z5 Y( Y" ?8 i) |served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
, U* l# @( z/ gwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty2 P5 [7 k% t7 U' g2 G2 v
tough."
* u' e" C% p" c' ^---# R! G; L1 g5 {( u; q( F( `
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
& m0 ~' q. m* b/ B1 MRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to( ~1 G2 ?% `, N! Q- u
this story. g$ {1 m* X' u6 R
8 `* ]" c& G# L2 u" y-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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