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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
C; T0 ]- ~6 I% E& V ABy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS0 t y* Y# @& u1 e: B( H2 f
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.9 P- e) H5 A6 W( D8 L
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
. p1 i: v* Y& V" Athe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
+ O- {6 v; x i' msolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
- Y4 ]- w0 H8 W# [) q"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential2 j0 v1 |4 A* r7 ?: q0 v/ ?
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
+ {; c0 J( }9 n& MHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
+ y) U7 P& h' Y8 V9 o. j) Vacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and0 D; W' Q% x" S4 L9 r; V0 {
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor+ B) J3 k- }: t9 o
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.
, U1 w# U O% z- P+ \. rHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
* V& v. s5 [6 f) F/ Y5 t: Nand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp3 s* ?' U/ a, B2 s8 k9 X4 {
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be, f. S0 E4 j! N4 b
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could. Q0 ]8 I& r: j9 W/ p2 F6 `
not stop her runaway Lexus.
: N r& b% ?) Q) ` x; q"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,$ k- L6 H- z% @# N- j+ k# B
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second+ H- c8 Y2 W! Q. Z
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
& `. z6 L: u+ g8 h: ?# pTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
0 ^* d l" W8 o7 X) }5 jearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said2 ~3 [- g4 b9 M) S
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has9 B) o' ]/ m' p: k
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
4 l2 R# j( i$ A& D3 othrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
4 D7 \! H8 u: x1 Ginvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."+ d! _: z, R1 l s2 u. u
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
- Q5 e- u! R* `& U( b8 |8 l3 a. @' velectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of4 l B; X; k/ _
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a7 K3 w, z& F0 s+ K" C' N8 H
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
# P8 N5 m+ `( \: G% lsaid.
- t: A, l/ ? b; N# l$ I5 O+ S I0 XAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
( u" @; ~; ]2 t& v Lhappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
" C; |; D, U7 S) s, b2 [" [about driving our products," Lentz said.
4 w4 S4 J# \4 u9 L4 p5 PThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
/ ]% u. ~" p. o! S. j I4 Iproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has8 V! z T$ T! R8 c* v
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
3 V7 E, ?2 i4 O2 s- q! umillion in the United States -- since last fall because of% {' u2 a" y( t; P6 \# ^- n1 g
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking) j D8 {' k8 H( h6 a
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
' C" x3 C+ }0 i p& V4 fconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
7 y4 t, H5 _5 ftheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
: U* b9 t: I$ k4 H0 F% W& I3 x; r" [6 edown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has" A& A6 s5 [( O, l8 C
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
- m4 d* f& ?( Fof Toyota vehicles since 2000.
0 w4 }6 D+ @9 B3 l* F; U! WLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
! \- u3 w- Y5 {9 K6 [7 g; @brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
' b" i4 n. v& ~& ]; |understood the pain.
# L' L) T- Y/ l. R"I know what those families go through," he said.* l( V2 ^/ v! j
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's' ], w& @4 |+ g! M! H# o& ^1 ]
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
5 y0 _4 P% N \: sBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
0 E7 e' K% U4 S, }& F8 H/ W; DHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
7 W a" P+ k) L/ j" w# }) O8 Min place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
7 Z# }$ \3 F+ C TLentz replied: "Not totally."; G- I3 m. n% o, D& o+ | f
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were& D2 p9 g f4 ~% J% H9 j1 Z- G
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
4 p- J! J2 N( @+ QToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
8 Z4 m. k/ C- ~% l& Rpedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its% g' Q* S: q/ B5 f( `
vehicles already on the road.
* ?" T/ z+ M: }0 m5 gMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify3 }; b: u/ ~8 M6 s r) B. k b
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
5 U6 U- z6 M" R3 v- r3 @$ i* dresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
* o1 j( A- b2 H C. w; ~offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were/ z4 q# S Q" M) _5 v/ F
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
" M5 }- h# L0 i, r6 z. d S"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
& D9 u2 @- e# Z+ \& k3 W: X, }tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
& v, V% [/ a6 |for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight$ g& V/ U1 ~0 Z- q6 |3 [
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
- V: u% w+ c2 ]* z; ]% Mcommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to/ z D' f2 O* P0 T! K7 Y0 F
restore the trust of our customers."
y4 z" \) Q) gLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
. Q$ n+ V" d. S4 s' O" [Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly5 Z2 o- A: o; B$ A: ^
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --% d* I1 `- U% }1 }5 \3 Q% l
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and6 N. i1 u+ v. _+ _6 t
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
/ l1 i% ~: ?" D6 `8 P+ jthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
6 c9 R5 l: |7 O! i4 _8 gturn off the engine.
5 C/ `4 o- z) w- }Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of* K! s8 }% N6 \4 o' G, p
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
; H k* ]% \) F5 G! q" U"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
% S6 |& S0 z5 m0 O- ksaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
/ M/ W2 \4 T6 B" Jto her complaints.9 W# q" a# s) g" Z# K6 ~
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers: }% p9 c" q, W
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic" j0 X. q# f! f# }
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.. q- {% f U/ o2 n' y! H% l* R
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric* d' I+ v, U9 r P J
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited. H# P. w4 H5 _7 j/ `5 k
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
, q9 o4 H% i( @! m L" goff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
! C$ p0 o; x1 s+ X/ e( w1 ~! ?Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in5 |8 Q4 V4 J0 ], q% R3 ^# t
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
5 ]! ?+ L+ ~9 F1 \9 t5 Wbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls, \9 A8 u3 H7 h& R2 ?; M- U
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
0 X2 w: U N' Q& ?every question."6 ]$ ?# z, Z X, ~" G/ |
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether# ]6 u2 m% k( x6 c, A/ y3 |
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
# ]) v% \7 E3 ]) l$ I: a3 X6 ufirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But$ @: c. \3 s+ ]3 o6 `
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
" k4 x! |$ N l# d U! q8 I! Ynumber of vehicles, I1 Z* \' H" b/ J q A. a8 q( f
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more' U6 y! c$ U0 l2 w2 i8 f! H
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a2 u' v+ J# ?9 o8 a. F/ G5 N8 M
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one3 G3 J$ @+ E$ T6 c+ X
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.+ n( L0 k, s" ]# K
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,4 H1 Z0 J2 Q4 u
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no" u3 B! H/ t* E6 j$ D1 R
trace at all.
8 A" k* w0 [/ R; V" w- S: T3 {House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
% I- M9 p* S! _% S# X& ~0 A8 [database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
8 c( O( U6 {; W( yacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the' x" y+ N3 L v3 z+ y
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.! D% y% C, m! m8 C( Z7 C7 t
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
2 {! R; N! u+ i; G' c2 _said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
( q+ e }- o+ x' A' |other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the" b2 ]% E8 ~. v; R0 y0 b4 ?
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible L& M% K) g$ F u+ q' w
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
4 Z+ C9 E( k& R6 Q* Rsuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained* n6 p+ g$ z& ~% Z8 \# x
by Toyota's lawyers."
; z" }) }1 D4 R/ N. @0 NLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
% V7 O4 g+ U S2 O2 o% L+ y+ ^ n! bproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
: d* q- {+ ?& Q2 D" i5 e4 z5 P6 Acustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
4 K8 B) Y8 q; t( Xsaid.& _! T, A! ]3 u. O0 S r1 `5 ~
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with* _2 K) Y( K0 K c
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
8 M* X' S: F: F8 `6 L) vgood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating7 {: m- x% J2 r) Y! }
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
. U3 n+ }7 v4 E+ n3 @9 @2 m0 eSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying3 G. S3 k* l$ J; `, P
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread8 |9 y2 Y/ n: n5 ]. P7 U
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
- W9 E7 o$ m) C6 ]$ iautomaker, at least in part because of the government's
6 t6 @0 x& y9 e, winvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
7 s% p4 U6 b, P, xChrysler.
5 q1 ]! I( }8 a; [7 U/ ~" ]"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax9 O, o) h$ q0 v
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a% b3 U! j/ Z" o7 n; {
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also5 O' G( e" M8 U
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
1 A' w6 K. O$ j% q. e! I8 swith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty" r8 [7 `4 I4 ]4 u$ d7 w
tough."& A; \- }4 ^$ v) Y
---
1 x( ?) D. T+ A6 e& R1 g; cAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
+ y9 v1 C9 j: G5 k6 e5 ^0 z' jRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to0 K6 b7 M( i! D/ b6 N6 T! p& H
this story.
5 d* |* {; R! k/ L5 Y& E* C4 ]1 ]9 g% S, _, x
-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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