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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
( M, s: L+ S6 I9 i8 z2 @By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS& q8 D( }5 ^ m5 q) t- B/ Y" F, u7 }
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
$ Y; @. ^3 v6 ioperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
1 U( [6 K m1 G, D3 F1 P5 T3 athe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
`; k, b" A3 Z& y& R8 @$ jsolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
+ M7 E( ~: H+ y1 W+ K- i7 f3 i"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential, A# o6 B4 P% ]4 R
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
0 F9 K: {; ^0 t. Q EHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected6 }: r c, W: [
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
2 ?2 h% n$ K" Q: n2 Utrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
2 R3 p4 C J% b3 ^- p7 Z. L8 Vmats and sticking accelerator pedals.
- I. @# J! x. i! w3 CHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal* {# w2 ^/ U6 A6 C% G) _
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
7 Q% [) Y# k( D9 fcriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be, E+ O8 F3 {7 _. x( u
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
3 f q7 K3 n: tnot stop her runaway Lexus.1 \2 ^2 |' ^" s; c; _
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,, C# d& }2 b6 C5 _3 P L* ~7 j
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
3 Q' H4 O5 `0 w" o, Z! I6 F"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
1 k+ C& l/ s1 q( H9 f3 QTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
+ ^% ^$ }: \4 }" K* Cearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
2 E2 Z8 ?% Z) Z$ `"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
! g4 u# t* F6 s% kdone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
0 g K5 k# L1 pthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's; y8 N8 @$ N! s3 _9 ^/ S1 P, M3 [: V
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
& {8 V7 v. v1 e8 p* PLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an9 Z0 {# M3 y; a+ t
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of$ g! X; m& }( Z+ Z6 y! I
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
9 W) K9 r" P. |/ K; B; smalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he- O9 e0 |: |8 E1 c f& y e
said.4 |3 q9 x7 ~2 w7 Q: F2 F
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what3 J/ i9 _4 r- H+ a7 K
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
$ q& C# l, x- E% S% ]about driving our products," Lentz said.' C: h1 }+ A i/ r; u
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's1 H) N4 m. g0 i& l% i+ Y6 r6 k5 e5 m
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has3 Q% n7 a$ c( n
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6! t5 [' s6 S$ D
million in the United States -- since last fall because of1 d2 H8 `( B# `
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking2 V" H* {. V+ _2 d
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
3 o( {; T( T. b& m# X5 ]concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
2 J3 r5 r5 h, Ctheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow f. s5 W1 v/ ]. T. G
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
* j' I ]6 [4 m* {received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
, h8 m- K* @, }" [% [4 E8 b$ ~of Toyota vehicles since 2000.
& K$ o" i) x0 P. MLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
& f3 [+ |$ i- g: N3 t7 Fbrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
0 @/ ~1 ~) x5 w4 \understood the pain.
( E L8 O( h/ C; s( Z"I know what those families go through," he said.0 a& h# F4 h0 Z
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's- x3 U& J6 m& b/ A# j; i- p) @
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems." [/ c: |6 L3 |- h. L4 B( w# R% Y% B
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
2 r' M. i7 v0 t, W7 yHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
3 k$ L! u$ }( I: |$ I* c win place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
) E/ O+ {; m4 N% x/ jLentz replied: "Not totally.". i# x: g5 o. ]. \) a) w+ r7 C
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were! m% L$ f* `/ v) }! ^4 ?; J/ F( n
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
* Z6 \: E, p9 l9 ZToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
$ o5 V* r! J0 e+ B1 Z, o1 {pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
2 r: e# u4 o: O1 V. S' q( G+ @) ?vehicles already on the road./ ^: \3 _) {) y5 D
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify- a4 {7 \1 }' E+ W
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
6 |% o2 G: ^9 t Z Eresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
' I( p F/ s5 A3 }$ Z3 @- Z3 doffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were p. U2 c- K5 Y
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.! }# U. ^/ P+ }9 a
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
. r8 K6 x9 ?) |0 _tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
+ i( G/ D [1 B2 V( k. V/ g& Bfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
! [ ]* b% O8 | X7 e0 PCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
! `4 G, N. d5 rcommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to d+ z, Z! ?8 }9 N) S+ \ H
restore the trust of our customers."& w( `7 z3 { K9 E; x/ J0 C* S( l
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from; I2 z1 e* n6 h
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly' E1 `6 `8 h& K7 @8 ~2 b
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
3 o& _. K& c' G" n( \' k1 rshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
. {2 N% _& A- e+ g jhitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
0 }- q# C# n# y$ A; ~. s: \that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
2 k. p- o9 I1 o5 D# k& `' A1 `turn off the engine. t9 n- n2 ?# C. u) N+ ~4 E- J
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
: h! f& n% f" Y! T" Q t' |October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."7 u/ [; W& I; t G- Y
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she( c- T: G1 E1 o! L5 M3 Y2 O+ `; Q! l+ {
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
G0 Y6 ^3 a! R* eto her complaints.
* Z, }: S# l! x$ U4 N$ s- q7 i7 RIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
! C; V( c9 B C' I' r6 W" J. R* L' yreturned again and again to the question of whether electronic6 G& t6 F- W; V. }+ L' `
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
0 O; |0 K3 j6 o/ t/ }+ y; p/ ?"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric3 L' ~& `! p( h' C3 }3 A0 O
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
8 \4 g* j |' w; a"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
' ~: [! ?5 \& @/ D% c- Joff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
/ C. l* j! |. x( @& e8 ?) V& aTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in2 U {0 U- R8 c8 x- y2 M
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
( n. y9 m# q4 M0 f7 T: qbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls7 Z" H/ [. e6 Z% D" m/ i8 k& D
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
5 N4 Y0 N5 h: c) w d: Gevery question."! e" A$ i/ P$ X" V) P: {8 L
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
2 P3 q1 ?) r" a& yelectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
- c2 j0 P; t" `, a$ v) Bfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
, Q. j$ ?. O. o+ |7 hcommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small
" h! {5 q4 r' G9 n$ ~! _5 snumber of vehicles
4 @- r& Y; b; y0 V8 K6 b, rTracking down an electrical problem can be far more' _- ^7 N- A5 D1 ^" u
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
; c% B/ n. h8 e1 X4 Hmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one5 z) B5 E( z. \2 b
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
" C4 t: S5 W& N- bMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
2 I. p0 q- Q% T% x* xwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no1 k$ I. N. A# \& ?
trace at all.4 |5 t- P1 e: j
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call, U( R5 s" M' C6 M- r
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden7 k% f! I6 p4 b2 [. W* `, m+ _$ K
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
7 v: E0 h/ ^$ grecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
- [8 C O- o- `7 v: y* A4 q* fRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,3 a% [% d1 j* n x3 Y3 F5 T2 e3 Z
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
, H/ y! a8 E5 Y$ ^other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
4 R2 L& |" b+ r: _/ S1 ielectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible2 X( n. A5 Y" s! J9 |( d Y
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
0 z* d5 @3 E$ x9 ^7 Asuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
$ C* m7 S6 Y0 c Z2 I6 Oby Toyota's lawyers."
; J: G5 O3 s6 Z2 GLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of2 z1 `$ j5 H3 O: c
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our. }: Y$ a# y: W9 b
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
) x/ ?7 t; N& g$ b3 Ysaid.9 e u$ s' N1 v9 ~5 T) {) G6 a- H
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
! G4 E4 {& z1 p" B H! v na rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our5 V9 A& @# l; M+ r) u
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating3 p& u% L6 t9 G* @
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.+ P6 g! @% q' G1 t1 s& K
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying9 i6 A( I; h$ t* L# E; [
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
: S( s2 X$ N" n: s' F1 Hrancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
' V4 N0 Y+ U, Dautomaker, at least in part because of the government's t+ V/ m r5 B# w
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and8 B9 K) f) l. W! y) Q8 y
Chrysler.
7 K$ U D' v: ]"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax- Q$ b8 ]) X X# m& |8 f1 N$ V) y# A
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a* j. ]2 I" n( C3 r' }
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also7 }, I& q2 ^6 f8 C4 f& r7 a$ O
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete7 y- o z& ^3 G9 C$ r
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
) W( L( ^! \5 x, y9 [tough.", g& V8 {6 |2 e O- C5 C6 V6 _6 D
---. J E+ w# X! _$ G
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
9 X; E+ Q. B: M9 NRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to' ^8 j6 B* L2 t& Y/ m8 ?% B, E: r- b' x, C
this story., X$ b( j3 [, S/ g6 R' l
. a. l9 |5 T$ ~! J8 |-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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