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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
4 m, }$ Y7 h% Y- P( OBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS* _' ^- \! u( W
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.! v# x( }) {4 Z3 @; P9 d0 A
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that+ L4 y" v( [1 i0 T9 R* W/ m
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
. n6 o. V3 U& ~% Qsolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration., r) x$ D5 ]7 }2 `
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential; b& Q5 F* M2 E( a" M
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.$ c+ L4 g# s; F# V2 X, z4 I
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected) x/ v" D4 B; E) e
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and& P" ^. w6 b, W5 c9 W
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor6 }0 |$ A5 G4 S$ |5 b4 Z. w! B1 X2 s
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.3 a3 x+ P1 v& K p" N4 n/ s$ E5 @
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
/ X0 [: z/ X+ N* Pand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
2 r* [" n: O2 h0 B* {6 m' S, R `criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
N. z: C: ?$ y D$ G# @* [further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could2 G7 C6 p0 G, {/ A% o5 Y6 u8 }
not stop her runaway Lexus.
6 V. p6 P6 @; a"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
2 f: c# c7 N7 d- N( Y2 s% h$ ATenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second, s6 L0 C# O7 o+ A& |
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.% O1 i# g6 w3 S5 o$ |1 A
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues" {- G3 T/ V% o3 c& k2 c8 w% g9 f
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said+ @, i7 T# R' g! r) B" c7 M% b
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
! {+ a7 V: F5 t! E( pdone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway+ N- g8 a- ?) S- o W2 Z+ o
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
. H8 B1 E; f7 }; B5 Q! B; [, f0 Xinvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
O, {& ?/ S0 Z& W7 `Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an# c" T! Z# _" I$ P/ A4 c$ w) _
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
. t1 z4 y, E1 d' a( a4 d3 A' Tthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
1 [- o1 ^9 M4 k- x5 b8 `+ p+ Kmalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he8 j# }7 S. C( ~5 ^* p1 M
said.
5 ?/ Q0 W" T. ^: T5 HAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
3 B: Y) O/ z9 S$ {8 F3 Chappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
' L% Q, A# t& Babout driving our products," Lentz said.6 S8 t2 j" o% l7 k/ G, N* \& G
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's! I r6 l: U) O* B D) G3 }; v
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has% x# P9 S2 s+ z) P$ m/ L( @% ^
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6/ T$ h6 \ K% N' I1 i. S6 n% p
million in the United States -- since last fall because of
% B- E3 [ O4 L6 L4 Lunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking5 ?; D5 K" i. _9 F, i' P" |
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
3 T( U8 T: R; L, j. ~, u) @concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of4 Q5 d+ `+ Q, a) ?" X
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow" w+ J3 k+ f" S
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has. m: X, h3 O) A& H% f* \
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
+ Q# s& a7 s. y+ ^ G1 u# Zof Toyota vehicles since 2000.4 a. w7 q3 s) I6 N1 y
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
6 E/ u$ T7 z! k6 bbrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
. r+ ?8 U2 m, ~understood the pain.& \1 [1 d1 c# e, m' z" e
"I know what those families go through," he said.
* U6 n8 r' M4 t4 Z0 R, K g1 @Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's8 Z# X( z. |. [
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
. p8 l- l2 J9 S% S L# L" hBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman9 E/ C+ u l) f* {' Z& w
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
; s% m K. F5 U1 d/ G: j. Zin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
" H# Z2 R I5 y6 o& ?/ W% W5 ALentz replied: "Not totally."
( }- j9 v3 g) z& b1 ?# LStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
4 G" u- h! k# P8 s& f8 u"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said+ @, d2 j: [3 e' r- D/ l; _; _
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
# I& P3 d; X( K( C, V8 w% e' Cpedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
( T |$ K7 o F9 H- Pvehicles already on the road.; n3 h4 k4 K7 _
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
" K( ~7 \6 n% h- z" J2 B+ Hbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
) b% q; o2 b, ?$ p) X+ @6 Xresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and/ |8 Z7 A1 g' W& X% {3 ~# H
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
1 ^# {1 r' Y2 o8 g" U* fkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
6 Q- U0 B' {; W3 B- P5 n5 j9 b"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
8 ]7 t d5 @- z, a# [: b" |tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony& [; Z/ h: I' ]. B3 o( u1 e: R
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
7 _9 J+ P6 D7 O9 c* e; hCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal% W; ]% l0 y% }% K! C5 |# O
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to- K% p: L% T- f$ b2 O4 E2 Y7 a
restore the trust of our customers."
" B& Z; W0 c" |+ r5 W7 |: h/ d+ ~Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from5 s0 M# b9 L" o: ]/ K6 _
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly( A0 T" X* X1 q' H
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
: G. `/ G( ? `+ B& Fshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and% s- O- W# X1 ^, L K$ E1 L! k0 w
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough, ]# x6 F. v1 R8 P, F8 \
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
' G& F' I5 I. j/ N- L: t) Pturn off the engine." U, _: k, `; g$ u" @: f
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
4 R: P ~/ k3 z& Q+ |3 U/ rOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."0 q% P& H. E' `' R
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
' c8 z( l6 t" \4 Lsaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
( X/ t0 O8 p( n1 r) b0 tto her complaints.5 Z- i5 _& L# M) \5 |
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
6 J- b0 Q( n0 U# ^returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
$ D( n4 v8 K* X$ t6 r+ `: omalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.$ c" R/ R! B0 t2 N
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric% s9 y7 c4 {5 \) `6 b
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
8 f, A7 U3 c* A8 u3 m+ i/ k. m"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut; ?8 v5 [" o, m n
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."% ~4 b! y* s5 f5 h: G
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in; C$ k& b' S9 V! `
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were4 a0 h7 p2 J* P9 n! U" f
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
+ K. V3 H5 m L" u# Ywere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
, X2 z+ X4 Y! T4 N; N7 n8 I) Yevery question."1 w1 E2 ]$ E0 }0 y0 Z: ]: t
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether7 J8 D& G1 ?6 Y& s- V
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The& H! ^' w: q+ q
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But5 O/ p& ?1 S& H+ x( I
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
0 x5 ~ r, |: r4 J: O5 Gnumber of vehicles
# h) @3 D; |3 F2 ]7 {Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more
- e$ }. c) G" v" h vdifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a/ Z( m, ?3 ]/ y% s. Q4 ^ K$ f
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
1 h9 T! F/ R; i2 a3 Esource, and they can come from inside or outside the car. ?2 R7 h. ?) B+ o1 C
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
8 Z7 b! ?# ^; |7 e2 s5 a k. Ewhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
% C* a4 o4 z& |, E8 u: |+ Dtrace at all.
( t8 ^/ {8 P3 u5 {8 H5 b' mHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
2 O* N" C! y6 Cdatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden3 H' n* x, ?# h5 |4 D7 T: x
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the! }& @+ u/ r1 J$ @2 Z3 p/ [; f
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals." e5 p' ]0 B, `5 z K9 h. ^
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,& _; R2 m: x0 G/ T/ C$ [9 J2 j
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and' r2 S# K# w3 s1 d# j
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
, d' X" M# o0 B- F. R6 ~* pelectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
) C1 T6 j% @! {7 fcause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
* A7 d9 W" A- M! q3 csuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained, q" W' A5 H1 ~* n* }* `
by Toyota's lawyers."* J8 f9 y0 ?$ n9 l" Z
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
. r3 `7 y }& T+ C1 @; V' p+ @problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
# H+ u. d- T: s9 @, i: d' Tcustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he9 _4 C/ r% x5 ^3 K, k4 w$ W
said.& g# z+ ~- d( ?
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with- r8 I% c7 |+ _; \
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our5 ~. w' F1 O, ^& k5 b* o3 a/ S' Q( _
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating4 {2 A- o8 ~/ R
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.$ [% ~7 m$ D' o$ H5 c: f
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying: j) k8 m4 G; Q3 q. P2 a! C* ]
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
2 h5 e( t' F" S. i3 l* a1 f6 qrancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
% R N; l# n" J! ^; A! xautomaker, at least in part because of the government's0 k8 E3 N1 k! D2 V$ U0 V, ~, W7 T' J
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
! J0 N2 x( N. qChrysler.$ q% k0 H) L. {4 ?4 D
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax7 }& O! V0 U: U8 g4 O" s: |1 G
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
. Q/ H6 k: k/ kHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also% {3 u' n0 s4 i' U. r! `4 G
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete* Y0 `1 @1 ?& J, X
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
7 Z6 V6 W2 A0 h4 i( Gtough."7 ~5 v, ~* ?9 _7 b
---! m1 f9 E/ i( c I) A9 p" P
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
7 ^7 Z$ Z; W% b' ERaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to0 i6 f5 e2 P" n+ A- o
this story.
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0 Z. W6 O$ L2 B- \$ b) q-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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