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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
7 O+ j/ x' ^- H$ FBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS" C' H7 s! X( A" Z2 K$ _6 G
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
; ]3 e% t- \/ c) M$ doperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that# i! F \, r' [
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
% }0 C5 ~) P3 L4 S6 qsolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.2 i2 {! e8 t; ?' I- M
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
; B- V& D- n7 f/ [2 D8 f2 F/ B6 M, Jcauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel. u! D3 I5 C/ z @% t6 a# L
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected6 v# L# M* ?/ U, v8 V; L
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
5 ?5 x! ?( R/ \/ qtrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
5 M! e$ m+ f ]7 U! Wmats and sticking accelerator pedals.
1 C# ~& S: O3 y1 e/ B' xHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal' O/ O. Z% z, t* ^- q
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
# E1 ^0 w2 _+ X/ r d9 T7 kcriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
. [7 U: E' e U* J3 Vfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
+ I: N8 z: O* pnot stop her runaway Lexus.
1 C* v# _7 L, h/ p% j2 B) t"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
2 [) ]- D& U! D# T8 Z, DTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
' f! Q5 f' B0 M"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
$ G( @9 c2 {) n5 ]Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
F0 Q3 @3 ]1 j7 {& v# qearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said6 G/ U2 S0 W' T* G7 ?
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has8 R3 L" Z+ F. o/ e6 Z+ G( d
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway& ~% u' x/ I, g
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's. s" x+ d. o3 K2 u* C/ Q6 V0 p
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."4 k# ^% I; P1 }9 ~
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an9 |7 e8 E- f4 h. i! c) R
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of7 k! W x* _7 A
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a9 u" ?% T( I) u9 h" M* Q
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he& |) z5 i, z* T2 ]# q" z: _" J) ~
said.
' o, u1 k$ l0 N# b( F7 WAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what* d' y) I# n2 B% }8 I
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe9 {* `" r; \/ Z
about driving our products," Lentz said.) `& _- A0 g: H2 H' o2 s
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
; i) L- W% G) w5 e5 \0 W( Kproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
* [6 F% |; v7 Z& ]; |' Q0 l! {recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
4 a j @% d& e+ l0 S3 o9 imillion in the United States -- since last fall because of
# m2 q: ~+ l$ H# }1 zunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking( O9 E! A) L7 r6 F. F0 c4 `
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
V1 M4 c" J2 m/ H9 hconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of, W% v. p8 \' M1 ?! T- l8 Q
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
& z3 f9 l; r& n) M0 e, Odown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
" U) a& g4 B6 Dreceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration v5 p9 e- ]# q5 a
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.4 B1 f+ z0 X1 o# \2 \. a
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
; o M3 O N# J; m6 f: I* `$ fbrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
1 E% z9 ~2 A8 V, e& j0 m* w) runderstood the pain.
$ P0 y2 E: u; L7 i! W8 b"I know what those families go through," he said.( ~/ m. l; m, v/ g
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's% l% ~# a! \3 J, J9 t1 ~; `* P: I, Z
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
# c, L; i; ^4 U* J+ v& w: `But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
+ [# Z3 _# n4 m; t8 K4 JHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
9 K/ f1 a! |+ {0 W5 g" bin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,; I% G+ U7 }, b( d, o! n* G, y0 J
Lentz replied: "Not totally."
. x. i, V4 @! j% `( HStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were, X3 W: N" g( B9 L: Z( c9 w; g1 `
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
[; i* T3 N3 v6 O% G8 DToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas# W, y3 g( o$ K" ^+ T% V$ [& Z6 Q# q
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
3 K6 c. }, i" {! ?% ?vehicles already on the road.7 X' O/ E$ c8 b3 d {* Z
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
! U$ M" G P: {& |( }- ~before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full- S* f% I$ c+ g
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and2 O7 K" O" u9 J( _8 b
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were: I! D- Q' ^$ m. J) ~
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.5 v- [0 B6 O5 i
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a9 [5 l9 i: W, M* } F
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
% V) O' ]. v8 t& n, ^2 ~for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight( v5 Y; v2 }$ [0 e% c6 d7 u2 I
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
( H# E+ n* k! M3 I! Z3 U; W' wcommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
9 Y: Y( t: B4 Z2 Drestore the trust of our customers."( X, a8 E: ?- i8 S7 X8 u- `! @
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from5 l( ]+ f7 J1 T3 Y6 i% J6 c! U$ G
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
+ C M7 L5 f5 V j3 r9 _% ^) g0 Izoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --* H j; x6 n, p% Z1 A/ x0 J
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
( C' B) p1 ?. V- rhitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough6 ~& U* x' [5 g6 o
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
- ^% Y7 ^& {8 V0 c4 n+ i# U# ^turn off the engine.
* v9 u0 T" }; ~; C5 Y- QFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of; c+ g9 z/ C S1 P' f) Y( W9 @
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
& g% c, e% i$ z6 P1 ?. e ~( I% Q"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she* t+ h2 m9 G. ~8 x2 D/ s
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
* ^5 A$ y9 d _* z0 j# ito her complaints.5 o) d, z% m1 Z. R2 l" L
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
O$ J/ D9 q7 R7 Ireturned again and again to the question of whether electronic) q# N" E \- p& r8 c( Z
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
$ ~2 i- z) m& Y"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric& A) H- T X/ c6 e* d
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
- {1 c7 v- A( T"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut* o, l3 a8 u, p8 X! @
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."" @( d0 ` \4 o; M [ j. N% }" `
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
% M% u8 t/ Z* n& Sprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were3 ^! I" ?3 E8 R! h' J
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
" `. |) V% c8 t$ f6 _& Twere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
0 _9 `1 t2 B! D4 f6 `0 b# bevery question."8 G/ H s i0 }3 @
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether. w, L$ p1 @ q4 K! M6 S5 l3 o3 ~
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The1 B0 d5 B2 d1 J2 u8 ~5 |* g
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
$ N7 U4 h V( ocommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small# z3 B( v7 a# ^+ b$ m' I
number of vehicles
7 S4 k8 j t- Q9 ]/ ^( }! |Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more
& m a4 ]; Y: Udifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
( W! b5 ]2 [! B5 {) B$ qmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
) t; d: ]; o( C6 u* Dsource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.% @! O7 A8 y# d5 @' E% r- ~
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,! ]$ h/ J9 B8 t, ?! H
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no( a6 L) h0 s/ ]- @
trace at all.
" p2 n7 U# E+ u0 B% UHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call. P! J- H+ R8 M
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
- @ _+ [: e4 U. {acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
S; W6 v! s6 B" V9 R3 precalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
4 a& s( Q+ u# u2 A" xRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
5 }; i& S, P' i+ G6 `said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and9 ~) k, a1 c0 F
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the! `& d. m) ?8 w+ R0 W, \0 ^* U
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
. f+ {7 P3 {; ]/ S, ]cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
3 [9 s5 _% I: F0 X$ V% Lsuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
( Q' t9 L/ t7 p; f. A+ r2 r8 sby Toyota's lawyers."
7 j2 M2 q( W6 V O& i; c& H* ILentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
) [4 x; x) i3 u* tproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our0 \8 W. D' S' ~/ K( z( q2 b' P( {
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he- [- m4 X5 [4 R" u, ~
said.
" |, m4 a4 f. r# S"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
0 w6 C* A2 F8 S( Ba rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our: ^7 A, y: T3 b* S4 _
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating! {+ l' w0 Q- X0 i
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.4 [2 y1 a2 K B" f$ D$ w
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying$ \, b; F1 b+ |; R' j7 {
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
' f! U5 _% `/ {- erancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
s7 x; G" W6 J# t, q% |" jautomaker, at least in part because of the government's# A# I B9 G1 s' ^# m3 T- k& R
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
/ {1 t( i6 _- N3 F. G" n+ YChrysler.
\0 n' P5 H" k+ j"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax0 H3 ]1 B G: e# s% e) [
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a Q+ ^4 l0 T; h; G2 E
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
! f2 i0 X* B' |5 Y7 }served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
1 E9 H! C2 F4 o/ fwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty) h- I }% M. r8 W/ t: q+ l! X4 O
tough."
5 O ~' r0 X% m7 _---6 ~3 y) l% y9 f8 |# k, t# W0 I2 |
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom/ u, ^1 X. [. g3 Z, F& b% C
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
5 D1 y: q0 c. s$ n$ gthis story.
7 J" h- G2 L6 x' o1 C# g5 S0 M# [) Z" b/ o- B
-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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