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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
5 G+ a# W+ w. o, P- OBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
* @4 m6 r6 I5 U- F) dWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.# E# L. n6 I% W% p% R+ U% H* j5 W
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that1 z9 L! l/ N1 C1 L) t9 U. `; M
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"3 {+ Z; v- G$ k% W" _8 s
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.* E/ v( M& l% Z9 F h
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
* w) S3 b- m+ n) ccauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
# W# ^) S+ c5 zHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
, v. I' z' T9 P B% E& O; Eacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and8 ~! S8 P# y$ W
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
1 |4 W$ O3 B* @5 o0 nmats and sticking accelerator pedals.
8 c3 |( X6 D1 Q$ C, d8 _2 p, ^He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
- F/ T3 Y( Z4 ]# b9 `( \4 }and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
3 ~; ~* H5 X6 p8 ` U; u; V3 N ecriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
3 ^7 h d. [0 x6 Y1 ffurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
) J n4 |+ \1 Nnot stop her runaway Lexus.
9 [8 ^7 s5 G$ g' k% k2 f"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,4 z: S X0 ]3 r; f
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second3 |3 i6 c& W* Z
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
. h$ O. H' o$ L3 mTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues) Y3 a. Q- I! r5 u' f& j
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
7 [' {8 @; ~8 G8 U8 U Q8 M; `"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
2 ]' X( l: |# o4 G5 L1 s$ I; Qdone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
, |* w* P0 p8 B/ P1 ^7 g8 j7 h$ j* uthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
4 z! F9 S1 G# Oinvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
7 C. f d$ a; NLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
{2 G0 D, Z, a3 u& D$ Melectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
) ~5 X) b1 @# N5 B7 Qthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a( ]: P8 e, D, ?% a! ~
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he& }% B- Y7 ^0 J6 N; E
said.9 U2 b- x2 E6 D) U
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
4 v- D4 W5 |. Ahappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe- ?( D2 C/ a6 x3 @9 u
about driving our products," Lentz said.
0 k% V1 B/ b. b! D' h1 xThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
- I2 J7 w, k4 F" x; ?, w2 ]: L5 Fproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
# k; j( L$ N; |' V8 p8 u8 f! G" jrecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6$ P9 | F1 c$ _0 F/ N$ u: S& ?
million in the United States -- since last fall because of
! o: h3 J& a0 _/ ~- _* Y0 zunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking: a. i7 h9 B' {, C' |, N8 Q. |8 O8 F
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering: w8 W- ?/ p5 `8 V4 T1 u
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
. c9 N/ ]# R# E. U5 Ytheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow% D6 f! C2 X5 J$ i1 @
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
; d; F ~2 l( ^& jreceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration+ I# q" u0 @( a5 A( K: a; e4 ]" U
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.
; ]4 s& `0 F# @) Y8 s( @Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
' A, H8 j6 n0 v& w7 obrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he, B' \# Q. F- i3 p0 |/ K/ i1 V9 Z" Y
understood the pain.2 x$ m- m$ F' O) W, S
"I know what those families go through," he said.4 L' S' k( Y$ {" q1 i/ B P _& l1 ^! Q
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
5 x' P. H$ N5 `# `4 {8 rfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.6 i5 f% ^6 U4 \9 g( _
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
: a% x. {. J0 F3 W1 S A4 |- vHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
8 C: C" e3 M& b6 u2 \$ y }2 x( g: Qin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,/ l$ O# a: z: r/ h9 e# v: Y
Lentz replied: "Not totally."% G; _% w" r' W
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
& A1 c# @$ L, R) n& E, D"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said$ |# a0 q2 E6 W$ Y
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
( e. o9 j2 t! S1 ypedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its: Y/ }( t9 O4 w- d. [- R& G
vehicles already on the road.1 v/ X: U9 a- b* d' w9 ~$ l# g. P
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify4 M6 ~0 c* @5 B% A
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
' n2 s/ B6 R& y, [: L; Eresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and8 `6 \0 }! B$ i6 t- q- U: s2 W$ n
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were1 D8 J7 r3 \) k: l# h
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
- h2 m6 i2 X( Y"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
& Y# G2 ?* h5 `% c8 gtragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony6 f0 v' F5 e+ q
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight$ E3 n' ^; p$ n6 P" V
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal. K; H2 q2 u) I; P
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
8 q6 P ?. ]* H2 arestore the trust of our customers." ^# a3 K" I1 q% }# q' e" G2 G
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from$ X) [' P7 O, |* V) |8 t$ V, M
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
" y, l/ u. D( }' zzoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
8 o! l; P, |: m' hshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and2 ?- @) I6 B) N4 x. Z0 h
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough! k' @) m! T7 Q/ f" S' n" E
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
7 X+ [) R: H5 t3 O" y! ^turn off the engine.
& O! ?. Q/ N/ h( J- J1 LFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
. ^, j ` A* L& l" yOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
9 a" _. h p0 B0 Q0 R0 o& O"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
8 F5 X, G; O0 K! D( bsaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond1 n: }, Q3 ~& I( m
to her complaints.
- C: d2 W- b0 D+ u# `5 J: h0 j5 \In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers' k5 v" c5 n, X( x* ^3 V
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
# V+ F, W U1 H) w( ?; {malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars./ [/ c$ O) P( l2 w( Z7 B
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric. z9 h) H N: F5 K7 B! m6 f7 P
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
; c$ ^$ Z1 J% C( ~( m9 d6 @"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
5 c. {' Y5 y& woff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."; P. e; ?& f' T: K; `- g
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
4 b7 D* D$ T6 p" Uprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were6 m. I6 z- L% P, k4 i- `, o
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
: M/ l7 `! F3 C5 wwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer/ b' w" F, v0 A& h& ~
every question."
7 Z7 ]# a9 W" y, Z. s- YToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
1 v1 n N6 x: f/ A! X* ^: y8 l( helectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The& k$ F" p* o& e0 a, A1 d
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
$ l# Y* Q) `5 O* a7 d8 @committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
) t3 q+ m: U9 A0 @5 {+ ^number of vehicles
( U# K1 I( ]( F5 }, D8 V' ^3 ?' [% s4 LTracking down an electrical problem can be far more3 y, W2 R4 w* A I3 F5 V
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
3 A0 w: S H* R, q' Dmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one6 Q/ b) b3 j2 L& z6 }2 r3 r
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
1 R: }" C K9 P* S& ^' S) zMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
" @- o+ i1 g- U. k+ ?where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no' m- Y" W5 u# ~4 F: b* J1 H
trace at all.5 W: @9 f: U( _+ |5 G0 s, N
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
y# P$ K8 s+ R) c! @/ L1 Mdatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
0 a& m# T1 W/ ?0 `0 Xacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the# u; W6 E8 p& [: a2 H
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
8 a; N K Y/ r4 u* e. SRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,, b$ X/ P$ m2 d
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and- t9 C' q3 F7 d
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the z& n* y3 a7 e' t p4 L
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
# ^# r( n. H" ucause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
6 y; p& d2 D6 D/ |$ ^0 y1 ~such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
; m% C7 `$ y4 @1 L) Gby Toyota's lawyers."
+ H. |! m5 t5 z4 M0 eLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of7 C# s' u# h& o: {* y8 m) U
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
3 n) q. `& Z0 U- V( u! g/ ~4 q& m& Ucustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he* z" O3 _* ]" H g
said.$ J3 H/ w" G( A; K- R/ i
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with4 H8 k. z" ~. Z( x5 H( @
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
7 S, |% H4 l+ f( Ugood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating; n: z N% o. X! e* ^! m" R( Z
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.$ ?: G( M _- D3 ~9 i- X" D
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying6 |% _$ J; @) F1 u! L; g5 m
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread, t5 Z" E2 D8 i
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
( U9 S- ~6 v3 k4 X/ Oautomaker, at least in part because of the government's
' `; O+ E* Y0 p$ l. @investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and. N& H3 m$ h5 ~, U
Chrysler.
4 W& V3 O; V! S Q& T/ H"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
$ q2 A6 a3 Q( ]: Ldollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
; c: r% g% s% ?) pHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also. _* r1 s D% Q6 ^
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
! @: V1 v1 {2 l) Y1 ]with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty5 @: {/ V, k- y3 O G
tough."- X5 a% y2 \8 t- g* }7 V
---
6 N- o# W+ k' o8 c6 f% B, B# c) X0 EAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom ^" S0 \ c1 c5 v
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
* I7 _+ A' |8 e S, P3 ~ xthis story.( L+ U9 C6 x7 j" l
* N+ s. G$ {! F* w/ t
-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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