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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
; K7 E0 D. b4 ]# BBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
5 J) F' u& C$ I# h6 uWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
2 E# @- Y5 [8 A& \' E! ~9 o% aoperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that A) Z& ?, B7 p$ e4 E
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"6 P" B0 s+ W: k
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.) O n' x- f z
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
+ G6 N2 Z0 C" {2 ucauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.) p$ O# |) c" b
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
! Q8 Y0 N5 W1 ?4 a& L% H; racceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and2 D# S" ?" q& O: _# _ o
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor. @! ^1 n/ s0 H$ L( w
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.+ S% a* A) M4 H f
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal$ k$ U1 w6 E$ A8 } w
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
$ F" [; n/ h( M( Kcriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
( _3 T5 x, L. x7 Pfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could0 ^# G* B- x8 J4 {6 n8 W
not stop her runaway Lexus.0 a' t0 ? X5 n N& W1 ]) `
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,4 J9 u! O! S% z7 P1 J: r. x: o
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
+ X, i. i. z" a. [* X4 a"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
* ~9 W* w' _8 c( r/ C. g0 @ L( TTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
. r& s! n$ r+ tearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said' G3 b. b+ \: f- n
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
& c3 i; }! H: ?: x* A9 rdone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
! |& P5 Z) D$ f* Z! k" qthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's6 D* x. u3 h4 K6 P: c' W
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
) ] L3 ?6 @7 U) D) ^Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
# j& }: v6 }. T1 yelectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of _1 u8 o) Q3 ]! W
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
, q$ E# O6 B7 k! rmalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he/ V* F+ Q' z+ K+ P. G: D( n
said.
: w1 [7 B+ Q4 Q6 zAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
( |; Q( E' m/ O* A, ~happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe6 f2 @' J2 W5 b
about driving our products," Lentz said." S( u& |, ?* @+ a1 @& G
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's1 R' p& i( _# T2 b1 y; |- R, U
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
2 @" g: l) N3 N; o0 J, {* H1 W" vrecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
7 e0 D" q" U: g3 c$ Wmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of! l/ K, H* f8 s$ V8 ^) }
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
, K$ y4 V3 }# t% e1 i9 v$ t/ |3 _issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
% C5 [$ q* Q1 j7 U" o& ~concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
+ _7 F) z) ~+ o% R ^their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow+ }2 v% G, Q3 H7 }1 ^/ D$ B5 ~; E
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
9 s7 k8 T' T. G% j6 Z/ K, u0 yreceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration& s* D8 t; Z8 P6 t+ t( X, ?& E4 Q
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.
- E8 g9 V; D* @Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own5 I! {' x! q9 i2 i" t
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
j0 d [3 S5 c) Z. Gunderstood the pain.0 w1 D8 w# u1 P4 ~, |9 O0 R+ J
"I know what those families go through," he said.
, ^- V0 d% c& E1 ^5 }( I1 ?8 mLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's: R/ ^8 q5 J, m- k. [. U
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
- K" i. u% a; u6 ]: g7 n4 @5 GBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
8 _# s4 g7 L! r. c* J2 O. K: RHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put) l. N8 H# O7 t# l7 U) V. I% _
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
4 k: F0 m$ i; {. ~( c: I$ |Lentz replied: "Not totally."+ A4 V- q4 n; B3 S
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were( V& G6 Z* X1 Y+ l
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
- e8 U) \. C1 X; n7 lToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas1 s3 |; W, q: G5 p" c' l# Y- O
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
8 Q+ V/ t8 o Y( C* vvehicles already on the road.% |7 Y4 Y. [* F1 }6 D% u+ N) G8 a
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify3 _$ Y7 S2 u: u5 i0 r
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full, K7 T( E* L9 `
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and6 b0 |' h/ j9 B# F& Z! e* K% H5 ?
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
5 \9 m$ y8 L7 M- Q0 k$ i* [killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
& k+ q: T4 j2 ]% D"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
, m- Z1 D" V3 W& t% v% I) a3 {5 ^tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony6 H6 P9 H+ e+ N4 M* z
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
: t J8 p# R' mCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal% q3 Z& u. S9 b& }) _
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
7 ?+ B% C; _* o% E6 X, I5 c Drestore the trust of our customers."2 `. s! U; X$ {
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
' V1 D8 s$ q9 a8 ]% t% CSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
' y* P, V, n2 Y' d; e7 [zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
& U' }1 Z; Q1 H; J4 \- A! d8 F! Vshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
5 ~2 p9 R6 _& jhitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough; g9 T- ^' p( P3 A1 Z9 b
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and$ v- h2 o0 b2 C7 ?3 l
turn off the engine.
3 |7 w' l) O2 o3 r5 |Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
8 x8 C. z! _9 d( I" H3 oOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
$ L# Q6 X n' x2 {8 M9 j"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
3 X: ~: X6 { R/ E* Y9 R- P, Osaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond9 n; f' r2 {9 ~# z* D+ h3 X
to her complaints./ s& ]* c8 k1 H: k
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
* q' b' P/ o1 O& _4 X$ P9 Vreturned again and again to the question of whether electronic8 J; m- W. K+ ~4 y
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
! C4 M; i/ A/ i$ D( t' H: N6 E0 z" a"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric% G$ g8 M5 }+ Z: {
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
' M. w. d' ?6 M"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
' }; D( k1 z% P3 s, N, ?0 }% Qoff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."2 \5 n! w7 a; Z: P9 r: `* P
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in4 v4 {, y. h9 |9 D3 c
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were3 D# U9 i" M$ U3 q$ s2 O
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls* R `! m5 ?6 F. Y* E/ A/ v
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer1 A+ V4 Q% k- b1 Z5 c& e, s% n
every question."
& f, c* A% z$ n2 r& GToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
. t! Y, _" `2 ]) \0 v! Uelectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The* V2 p) I' R- [ i- g
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
* t$ ?' |: d( ]/ Z( jcommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small1 f$ p" y, j1 V# }/ P3 F. ]
number of vehicles
( N2 x! E0 u) N. p( G) KTracking down an electrical problem can be far more% R" x! p) y8 I- L7 n# A" [8 b% N
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
7 t% Y9 m/ E. z% X0 k% w) E$ ^mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one/ J: D$ a. b+ b" s% d+ I0 G7 n
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
/ x. b4 @6 r! {0 V- n' YMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
P7 Y- X' \( N2 q# Wwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
: d/ Y" x; M: {0 Y) o- J, otrace at all.
: D3 D# p/ B2 D/ VHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call* k. T+ ^1 j# @" x
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden9 L) ]' B% }4 I2 ]/ i: f4 p8 [
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
/ }$ l2 |" Y0 drecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.( P% Z0 t7 A. X" v4 X# { F- r8 T" \
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
0 Y( B8 x( K+ r: msaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and. z% a+ v% b; q6 V; {+ ?
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
6 Z$ M1 a( c% lelectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
9 }/ K6 t* f4 W a4 t9 p# zcause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
6 Q W+ G# C- d7 h4 o$ O. V$ C5 `such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained- C$ w# X2 b8 `6 x# P& J& D
by Toyota's lawyers."
0 l( a* n0 I: ~4 p. i0 F0 u$ zLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
1 x7 n) U2 X0 j; ^! q2 a- o' X' xproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
, v: m/ z" d2 f4 P: y6 Gcustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he( H3 |) _; }: X" o
said.2 h0 J7 H( c/ f, F) V N
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with2 Y' R* L! q' U6 w7 I# w# r* c: x
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
" d+ j! ~! t; ]3 Pgood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
( c; S J1 A8 k3 H) W" B2 sofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.( ]! i* B' n1 p
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying# m- E6 K5 v! f, R+ r
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
4 G7 s" a8 z4 ~ urancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the5 W- f4 ~+ o0 ?0 B, W1 q
automaker, at least in part because of the government's
- v8 t" s/ B% H' s) y1 l6 Tinvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
# j( ]: I! n9 z9 \: |Chrysler.: b9 L8 K+ O* M+ ?. l
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
: K. I- { g9 ?; L& u; Odollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a& r; F0 P, }- b4 B
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also: x: K; G3 p3 B9 ]0 b% r
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
& l- `, {! V1 F$ pwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
. U2 f/ B1 O+ Q0 M! Btough."
4 X2 V) m" P1 [---; [" d* r% ^) }/ }' n8 d/ v
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
$ s- S; E- I, g. ?$ r" c, iRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to8 k7 o* Y( b0 Q+ _
this story.5 `2 V) ^4 e, e6 K9 h$ s2 L1 C
* B' f* B9 ?! {3 R& ?-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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