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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
: O) H- ~5 C; ~; n. v! @" T9 uBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS4 u5 G7 I* Y. `8 t9 H/ N: `3 X% F) C
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.$ t& y: O# c, r& `
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that3 ]- y, S5 R/ y* }7 C# R
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"* W# C" A, P/ g
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.5 z: b! B4 S9 y- ~
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential& B$ I5 S$ N; T' ?. _3 _4 X
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel." d+ k3 C6 `- c" H" {; j, Q
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
3 v' p( j/ Q: ^acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
# ]& B: V" z Y2 |trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
: n2 {: t" _/ h) N5 Gmats and sticking accelerator pedals.1 I7 s% g& D8 K# e* E. P
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal6 U, q: M( q0 P
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
/ T2 h7 c% F2 mcriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
, D( J6 o4 T. H% ^; a1 P2 k% Tfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
~4 n( J% O5 ?( ]* }% H, ^& V3 znot stop her runaway Lexus.
) K& G* U" w0 {! Z) b"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,. t% S6 e8 c5 [
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second; @; F2 N% \: L7 f* R. W
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.1 \1 N. y/ m) d: H+ {- X6 }/ W+ ]) b
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
$ R# }7 b' G% m0 h4 N. L G* gearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said+ E" ]( X) U2 r7 i. o$ m* T
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
( ]+ @2 `; ]* s) N4 l, |# Fdone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
! ^ U }' L: H6 r, [' G+ L# H+ |2 m8 ethrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's1 i& c0 n' M6 v0 P
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
1 e- [0 j% i- ?* b& o& q7 {Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an' r: I6 A2 C* n; E: y
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of K1 P+ \7 l& q
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a+ P" K f: d% v1 e0 c
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
: v7 ?, _' s3 tsaid.! P: e! d4 `% U- S7 p" o# Y
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
f0 Q1 _7 u6 f/ Ohappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
! m7 D9 `0 F& B; {6 q# c } Habout driving our products," Lentz said.! X& K! \% n8 \% }& a3 t
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's7 s, ]9 ^- M5 Y' B( d0 i7 m
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
6 ^5 J. Z! Y2 t( N8 r3 J. lrecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 65 [. D$ y* H6 Z6 C6 G; L4 Q
million in the United States -- since last fall because of
: a: v( S9 n Y) \9 ]! V" punintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
6 Z/ R/ B; Y1 F r4 ^$ Pissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering1 F3 l- ~4 H+ u) E, J+ Y* D! ^
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
# H+ d7 r- D; L7 [7 r2 V5 z+ O+ Gtheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
6 y* A s" X3 {: t8 P7 ?down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has% G# v7 [# ?/ b. c
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
3 d2 ^4 m9 e9 p; P: cof Toyota vehicles since 2000.* X' u: y" d c( Z9 i7 `
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
4 G& W1 a! r+ ?# Hbrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he" W* U% r2 o! ]" }4 X, m
understood the pain.3 G( B2 k( m# g) \# _; a" C. b
"I know what those families go through," he said./ Y& [3 r4 S$ j2 n
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's* p& w4 x2 L5 c5 P( a. h2 ~/ E
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
' v; P5 ~& D X6 J! K. EBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman% m5 f: C* u; x: w
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
$ ^. U& w8 D/ t& \, D( [2 zin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
; S9 u$ u4 i H1 o- cLentz replied: "Not totally.". P1 q& M1 }6 `- M
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were. ^# ?+ @6 W( |& q
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
$ ?3 I3 V, a0 cToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
" p6 f, ~; R3 wpedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its1 H7 R3 K# ?. U& ~& _! b
vehicles already on the road.! B) e" q7 Y3 ~( c0 q+ I5 o1 @# U" k
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
+ M; z9 m1 z H& P/ Wbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
0 u+ v; J) g1 zresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and6 X/ f6 V% ?, C9 Y/ G
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
' a4 ]- M5 E. K, K# E1 K, Lkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems." l' w5 y$ r2 P% A
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
. L" b5 O, @7 ttragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
! f& G6 B( F5 H1 s8 Yfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight# l* Z/ f; }" G" g( y
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal8 O5 A+ P! Y& w/ ~5 H7 D5 ?9 ^
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to& |$ t# b8 a, Q
restore the trust of our customers.", n( _# ^+ F5 i0 E
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from3 [2 S3 n! X5 {7 ?5 {" N
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
1 w( ]/ X7 N) \zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
4 B+ {# y6 ]+ j% M5 ~8 Sshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and& z- D1 s7 c/ b' b8 [# n
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough% U5 h: _' T0 r. o. f s' p$ E* q9 G
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
' F0 R( ^) Z: `/ ~# h I( g( \turn off the engine.1 T7 `' e( X8 o/ s/ b6 o7 O
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
/ S4 Z$ g/ E7 H6 j9 V9 n1 |October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."2 y- g. k9 L5 x
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she( E) Y0 g/ T1 O9 y
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
5 V D7 U6 I: Ato her complaints.
6 t- W5 g+ N9 X3 a( IIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers- D s3 m" ^" X% L7 G/ ]! O4 v( ~
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic7 y7 h- d! \' W8 O9 K5 U, w* F) N9 Z
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
6 N8 L, T( a' @* E+ J; `/ L; }& c"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
6 C) t. l1 K, H/ n/ y" z! ^throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited6 M+ y. P6 M! G
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
% y/ J: E8 @5 j% |7 Ooff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
1 h4 F0 p, \2 D( x7 ~1 o% [Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in( h4 i' \) D. y' j
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
+ _, p9 O3 _ F; [* nbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
3 Y* |+ B0 I7 } u9 g; c) N" Wwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer$ |! M) m8 \( s6 t
every question."- p. @- G6 e& d
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether7 b( @4 B0 |: r' ~& B
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The! e9 o+ Q, A( C' `" }6 ]1 N
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
6 D$ |. ]0 {! ?! v/ {/ lcommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small
, `. ]: ^5 E# p, K* X0 x! nnumber of vehicles: G* C. f. r1 N; E. ^5 W
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more
; ~6 b8 M4 Z1 w$ c% Z- x7 {difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a, S7 p- T/ G9 Q) _( S
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one3 B; k4 X0 }5 r
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
# J9 O; z6 A/ _0 C$ S% n: ZMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,) g# r @8 k+ q7 w7 F* f6 A b
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no1 d9 X- u/ M$ s# O( B' J9 `! F- H5 ^) O
trace at all.% m# f% P: G# ^; ]" y+ z& D8 ^5 M
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
' j2 _) ?3 w* m2 \; D( Sdatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
. o0 p) |+ c/ f4 c; D+ t; s* ?& ^" bacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
5 h+ O6 r! \! [; b" R0 Krecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
: Y b2 `% H1 P' I! e, m- q; a" QRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
- a4 i# [% d% ^( h+ k& z: ?said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
/ N/ m. a5 R& h& H2 zother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the" P6 S/ h( J9 t4 I8 m) S" G8 y* c; @9 ]
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible" A0 R2 _/ V& [# R5 u8 f
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
* k. {3 f3 T+ T n; ~% v; vsuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained* O- g8 c/ U v" b3 m R
by Toyota's lawyers."# ]# u' S# n4 A/ D$ d2 g2 j4 A8 b
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of, Q- |. o; c0 T
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
, N: m8 e- Q& scustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
+ K% G3 d' e0 ^7 Z1 n1 P/ dsaid.
! Z* y+ w6 f6 f# G& m"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
4 j/ u# [& O5 q ?! L2 E( R# Fa rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our, a$ b' h9 o; H; }, W4 q4 ~5 ], v# h- q4 J
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating/ q4 p" V/ R; M0 E: p" E# _
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.. y+ K3 i( Z. b; l9 n* c; o
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
, w, q' H2 f$ l2 f6 Jmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread; H# s1 W6 y' M) d$ j
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
3 W) [5 X. b- z* Rautomaker, at least in part because of the government's8 d# g6 ?; |; Q) u! M
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
; z# C6 y3 H# t. |) i( fChrysler.
8 q! [' r0 t) |/ m; p"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
- H2 v* k j1 s, qdollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a6 V0 e+ b+ E+ E# [+ ^- f
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
% ]" F0 `$ ^* x1 {- T, |served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete l+ d: I( }5 ~$ y+ r1 ]2 @/ V7 N' x
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty9 m/ Q9 u2 h) e4 q9 i
tough."
3 [6 c, x( s5 k! U5 Q1 d- ?---& J; Z! |( r) {" L, m9 N! b" k- m- b
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom/ Y7 D4 U( B9 }1 O, J
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
5 p% N6 t7 K5 Y! Y. l- [this story.
! A& ^7 X+ ]7 y, b6 ^% a
! M7 S1 G; B" F3 ?, ]% {- i-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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