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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
8 s' ?& \; b' V6 J% P& |By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
$ \, Z2 O. m/ [% O2 _) q# r- O* NWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.0 m$ K# Q% @2 N2 ?. D- Y% r
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that+ I7 C% I6 R8 {& l9 A
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"$ Z; v K5 B4 l! D) t6 N
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.7 S) ]; C- F& a
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
: W/ A& y) D, Kcauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.- {% F5 w* s6 m4 P1 _
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected& S4 y% {& T5 ?' ^
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and# J, W0 z- l2 P: _% G5 _. l: a
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor! \9 [( ]; R# o, Y: X. a0 A
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.
* u( H' W) i/ |- V# C; C8 |He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
% s9 ?7 T' v1 F, q, f1 p3 d land fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
& F/ R2 C) F1 m1 Bcriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
1 b+ \: M2 A# Kfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could& i. }) s: H/ e+ o) ~
not stop her runaway Lexus.
! T) j+ b' Y/ D# Y2 U s6 K"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
0 ]% m. i2 d3 A: Y+ P( ~6 fTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second. t8 T% \- s% k; S; u# Z: J4 Z
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.5 I& b2 y, j, Y6 s
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
. J/ W: a: f c' pearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
7 R) h$ g# N2 q% Q"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
X* \: f5 n7 W! H4 l/ Ydone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
. \: n3 U! o% }' l9 Vthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
& L0 G A& F% T) J5 kinvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
4 j/ @, d/ e% r- \9 o% ZLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
4 {- R9 U, `' g/ g8 c( b* kelectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
' v& ]7 g+ `! k2 e% N a1 Kthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a5 \7 c$ K/ v# L/ d
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
; M( N% o: `; Z" V" g" W/ ^said.2 S. M/ k: }% s \+ Z, }
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what" e5 F* L% M# o1 {( y8 t5 f
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
" Q* E5 L" F% h, X& e Uabout driving our products," Lentz said.' C% ^) @4 u( U) ?$ X1 ^
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
+ p- n7 A, z. w, dproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
) X, ?2 V' w# S1 ]3 y( R% M% vrecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
4 L. X5 r% J" S# fmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of2 \" K, a6 M% t
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
8 h X. T4 a3 missues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
) ~1 P! d. e, J# \concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of8 o+ I' r4 c9 H7 \
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow% `% f) ^# K. ~
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has$ O m1 X; f/ E/ l0 v0 k' o6 }# v V
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
* W# @* w8 g9 B2 t- w0 Z4 Bof Toyota vehicles since 2000.
% E& R& \( G$ \0 e* @Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own G* T! \! [5 l+ ]. x! U. w, e6 ~
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
- b" A& R9 L6 X( r: c5 `understood the pain.
# p. G& v1 R$ W( B) w! k"I know what those families go through," he said.; W9 @" r$ y _7 e" C1 Q
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's0 S6 X% e1 i! H
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
/ v, b# P5 S ^1 S0 K1 X+ N. i9 v# N! cBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman0 [" D0 n& T; h: y( M- X: ?2 t! M+ _& q
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
% b- i4 U6 Q9 d# @7 _! E: A. Zin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it, p& Z- D8 c; q, N
Lentz replied: "Not totally."0 ~3 K8 ]" {, o
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were% D& w# J' [& q, @/ ~# V
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
8 d% @1 o) w& A) z) SToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas( Z% I7 s+ ^( Z& _' u4 r" b3 `
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its R& m: F5 @& B# K! F+ T: {
vehicles already on the road.) Y k. r9 {6 @
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify7 R+ A4 O- R: M. o% ?! M
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full, e! m% I) Z! i" H
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and4 H) [: w D; D$ e
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
# B8 U& n" j+ f$ o, Q) d* } {killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
, W; h1 W1 e) ?/ X" }0 f"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a( {$ E) V/ u# `: b" R
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
# i! \3 W8 G4 _3 R5 d% W9 k) Zfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
+ ?9 X* k: r, WCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal" d" e, s# g7 L* R& T# W
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
4 i9 `7 |6 {# x2 b# c1 |restore the trust of our customers."
x5 H. |' i9 S5 w R2 NLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from( ]1 R0 W1 }9 L, O1 ?
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
* X* r# e4 L- q- H0 \8 Kzoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --: R* x" e! m s
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
8 |; v7 T/ p9 w- Jhitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough; m/ Y) }/ {. o& n
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and% u* b- E1 Z( F' X& M+ O" v, r' u
turn off the engine.2 r$ R- y' K8 t: L% ?& n. m6 ]; o2 B" t6 _
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of8 u d9 J# a( ]' a L' B7 R- R
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."! x0 o, t& f. W' I
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she! l$ A' L- M9 d2 ]
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond$ \! _; H( h, Q- A2 O
to her complaints.& t, v7 \6 H7 ^
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
+ E: r: |1 H5 ~1 d% E$ t+ `0 H7 Dreturned again and again to the question of whether electronic$ J8 i. j+ L# D% o$ x7 ~; B! A
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.9 c1 t! o, R9 |0 y
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric! f8 f& k) B, ~# G! b: u" a/ @
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited3 {8 d* a7 ]) u' B; `% M
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
; q8 C8 k6 v" a# G. yoff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."! w& Z1 u9 t- V$ E3 y* n/ X
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
/ Z. k6 w) Y0 ]prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were' q! d% ]3 n8 F) v5 t
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls5 V+ r0 g0 \4 }) ~# N9 Q
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
+ R: m7 D% Q4 r9 m+ j. t) F5 Levery question."5 M7 U5 ^( s. _1 p
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
( ?+ v' g8 c2 U+ v- Melectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
2 {! z, J# E& T; f, h5 Qfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
0 q4 \0 D# O0 @& M n3 jcommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small6 g7 O: r. @3 w/ I
number of vehicles
8 {& k- o+ k, K oTracking down an electrical problem can be far more
4 n3 B3 d, B2 r: udifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a; B' m* T/ D& b8 D3 \& `
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
* t d) ^. T8 a( W" N$ asource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.8 [& n; r( Z, r- \
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
# O% s7 f+ n% J5 |" E; jwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
0 Q: o& F0 _* [trace at all.
: N7 F: n3 N! m7 u( ]; WHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call; n8 y! [4 E, n1 p7 n, q+ R
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden6 _+ @+ u3 t/ R" K! H
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
8 B# a# \ [! g+ nrecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
' j" Z# F8 e0 M% W+ ^, ORep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
6 t* d' o4 L- G+ ~! S0 p5 Usaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and" q7 H/ w: S. ^) w1 t8 P
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the- W+ n- S) c9 v' p) k7 K
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible8 [9 F7 |8 E7 A" H* B3 q& l
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only* C4 f6 m" k& Q4 W% U
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained: o L" L2 b, s: I# m. d
by Toyota's lawyers."
& x8 d5 L1 Q8 f: ~& eLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
) F5 F/ m7 t# ~, `problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our2 |' e# T' s1 x) k! S
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he4 l; Q Q5 p- }1 K) ?+ K) k& m& |) g
said.7 w6 Z" Y4 {+ T' S2 @0 R2 x* ~* Y
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with/ f M# y& m- K. ~ ]0 Q, Z
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our: g' e) B& Z4 C5 Z. {
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
' ^" P- ?. o4 |3 \; `officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.% |4 v r8 o& G. }" h) F [
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying2 O5 h1 N; P/ r# z- F* S
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread; g/ d" q$ ~, \9 d
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the" x& l8 M8 k5 m& y* B3 j9 k
automaker, at least in part because of the government's
$ n! t5 P2 p+ {" T+ @investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
+ M8 q' L$ `( H% DChrysler.
4 m5 A$ J6 S6 x% \) P# S"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax+ T4 }$ o2 f1 p) g4 F5 Y
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
; g# {! f1 G: p8 }$ uHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
" L" `5 f/ D; j% k9 eserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
- L0 E; E9 R; }. j# Nwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
# E$ P+ K F0 [' Y1 Htough."; w* p5 n- s' @- [8 a/ X
---" ~. m, e" g( [5 Q! Q) H3 @
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
4 F' d# @, E* p$ J7 X, GRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
) i1 j5 a! H* [& _this story.2 @; D7 u: ?4 z5 |& j
& o2 l4 V _7 ~9 D* g/ P( l( T-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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