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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
3 {$ i; G; | D; o4 l4 {9 Z8 _4 _By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
3 q5 N! ^, L' D* M2 k% xWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.) y: y: X" ]7 Q; K
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
+ K6 c5 r2 J- ?/ Cthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"+ B1 m! J8 f% p/ d5 ^8 }
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.2 s2 ^! u' K$ q% \
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
8 D# D0 w$ G, w }# x9 S0 ^* ~causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
% j9 t! [7 k2 U* e" ]: ]However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
2 A% p/ y$ i5 Yacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
; e6 H( @9 U' dtrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
" R7 k/ {6 B6 ], {, smats and sticking accelerator pedals.3 |; B8 T/ v$ j0 l
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal8 U' e7 G2 Q$ W& ~% M
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
1 H4 c9 G$ g5 `criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be9 y; E4 x( v2 T; ]
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
% f. x+ K/ b, G3 c4 j5 y, Fnot stop her runaway Lexus.4 {# |3 @0 O! e4 _+ O |4 V
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
- c# x# N( [# A q7 `( y3 WTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second( Q2 z- G' V1 O! h- V) ~
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators. ^1 m5 V% P7 _
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues/ \+ V3 F3 `7 D% }0 A6 B6 M
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said. c8 X [* F0 P- E
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has! |2 e4 Y: R9 V1 {1 ~0 V
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway3 d& h$ L0 Z) ?3 t6 n
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
3 B6 p: p+ V1 ]- Linvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
( {4 f# M5 g) I0 `' h, W, C( qLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
: x+ [) Z) a: w# _5 @electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
\! ^) o' g9 R, {. E% rthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a8 L3 G) X# M2 Y9 ?# T$ [$ z. S
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he0 A7 u! J8 F4 y# I
said.
5 k) d6 e& E4 Z! uAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what' s' ]4 H1 w- S5 @, `! T
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe8 y$ g& O3 D7 y
about driving our products," Lentz said.0 U( S# X7 X4 B6 E! }
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
" M l- l F5 I' @) ^: e' o8 jproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has& N2 ^5 @5 b- k. z3 s! y
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6, @9 ] v/ \) B+ f5 _
million in the United States -- since last fall because of- |, D0 l e7 l! W& d: O$ e
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
- B e$ m& C# E( |issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering% F- P: E6 {/ s7 `
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of8 b. w" _4 [) F3 E# f5 ]* z
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow4 R" o' M( X4 P0 ]+ k4 }3 [
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
! j! u; t9 I: @+ Creceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration* H. b3 P' V2 s& w
of Toyota vehicles since 2000." [7 [. v8 V6 C: U2 p1 s2 Q: o
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
! Q* _: h( I. obrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he4 C/ H, u* `# A
understood the pain.; G2 `5 T7 f" O6 c5 o1 L$ \( Z( Z
"I know what those families go through," he said.
: n# ]7 m$ i- u# b4 FLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
" X1 L" s0 A# q; N( afixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.; c& {6 K+ w( L6 D" T
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman y, N9 U3 ?! T5 n+ C d7 d6 }
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put4 K4 e" ?3 G) ?/ F [0 N& s
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,2 F' @/ x0 X4 Z$ c8 P0 f! Y
Lentz replied: "Not totally.", Z/ ?6 ?9 d' s0 u& P
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
3 W2 b: e0 a ~! v"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said7 G" x" p: i6 m) K5 i
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas2 W! O9 A. I- v( V O- @$ W
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its# J- X* g8 c" {& s$ c/ Y
vehicles already on the road." S' T3 a9 l1 J% |8 ?! r* v; B8 w
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
; s4 ~# x0 D! Q5 z" Dbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
3 ?+ |( d' q# V( A8 F3 U* _responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
7 w$ i- g& ?0 c" s+ ooffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
: {9 U0 B! M$ X2 L2 zkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
8 a& |4 |. l d L0 |: e( e"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a/ H" H5 D% R p4 K7 _, g( Z
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony: k$ S6 B( g4 H0 d
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
3 M$ z/ A5 ~: V! G5 qCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal8 U& o8 \$ E- L
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
7 v8 C3 l- W; ?% w- |) Srestore the trust of our customers."
7 W1 ?4 {: _$ ?% pLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
4 ~# X; N6 d5 f. D' @& C6 j4 TSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
C- V. l4 ^0 C1 V9 n. ~! ?# Izoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --, e0 y# [4 z% w- y0 s6 Z+ \
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and. G @, F/ p* t5 F
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
- Z: _- e$ S/ W6 O- b f. Othat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and6 ~7 @8 e0 z9 i, J' U
turn off the engine.
/ q2 u& V! z% |) {5 i7 GFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of) J% I" D: a) u' K
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."- Q& Q6 A; f' l. C. f
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
# x$ ^0 W+ W! _ X: x& t0 n$ o0 ksaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
" s1 `2 R H) @, Yto her complaints.
6 W5 S% m2 y: C5 `In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
, F- [& [6 N F* Y3 r& Z7 creturned again and again to the question of whether electronic# W: Q( {% D5 d9 l& @
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.8 }* @1 y( \* p$ C: R& q
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
2 p9 T T8 d! ?throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
9 M+ D- d% K1 n"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut/ k; @6 f& S$ U
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure." Q% v! ]. W2 ~2 n x; k+ n
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
; x1 w. U, k: h; L; Yprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were1 q. O, d( f/ ~; V( f2 W
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
( ?! v: W+ \. Ywere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer _$ A; A7 c9 n) z: Y
every question.". l1 V% }& K. S# D
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
, t5 D, n. N3 H6 X1 I( T( z z- ~electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The+ O7 r) t' }* d4 k' X0 x
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
, v- `" `1 F& {, s. X' U4 Dcommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small E8 u* b o4 p2 R! u& G2 q/ q
number of vehicles
: X) s; o! w' u* e O- t9 U7 RTracking down an electrical problem can be far more) s! L( _6 p: y
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
" M* I: t/ r/ v; cmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one5 L. _1 _0 _* d
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
; g. T* @( j3 v$ lMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
( W X; b2 M8 v! G3 P+ q" mwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no% i( c; |3 Q" S9 ]3 m' \
trace at all.& C7 G6 N# t2 v
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call$ x5 r$ q& n0 F) ]6 e' u! Z
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden2 x& r& v! F' o) G: J3 G4 e+ q
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
: n& s/ I, G. Orecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.& }2 s7 i& g- g6 r2 x6 T
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
# O" t$ m/ I& G5 {said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
9 ?" b8 s" D! N% E; }other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
, E$ O# V; Z) O3 K& \7 v, `electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
; O( Q/ ?) z/ pcause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only; V! [. X" R8 b. C5 Q
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
& m5 |1 E0 Z% T/ {% J( kby Toyota's lawyers."
6 W- v! K [$ ~/ ~2 [Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
. Y2 |& |! a: m+ h7 @problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
. a8 q! A' }: A, c i! dcustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
+ e m1 }. q6 fsaid.
- t* X+ R+ v& O* _4 a"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
3 n$ r, w% g) A4 H) Oa rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
4 \. ~% _8 D/ s5 F) D" |* r. ?' l# ngood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating1 x7 d1 X' o8 n) ]3 Q& D6 V
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc." p* i% J) t! J2 a0 ~0 B' w! L
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
7 i/ y* p8 |% ]# Xmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
, I- k9 ?$ A4 s# f* e- O/ Irancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the* b7 N( r, _# O# m
automaker, at least in part because of the government's
& n; W& f; j3 g' zinvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and& f: P# Y5 B+ F6 c* Q9 a
Chrysler./ V: P$ X! R3 s% `% h/ |6 _4 g
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax3 M& b! u* ~ l/ z
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a/ A5 o: U/ s+ _! R' i9 j2 U8 u
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
1 W6 L8 N6 W% w* vserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
) e2 k: j4 F3 ^$ O3 }with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
5 Q) X8 K( b6 j! U) V- wtough."% f- o- Y7 i! Y. _# J% e' j
---
$ B; O+ d, H1 O2 Q* n5 l- ^Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
2 F( S w' l! V6 WRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
" V) O8 t( u! y( g- L& n3 a& W- Athis story.
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8 p! q1 K: N4 S4 Q$ F! _ o m-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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