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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
; O8 p8 p7 @0 f( L2 kBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
, i* x, S- r1 h4 FWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
; L" Y4 @, I w* w5 M# E6 ~- s8 Zoperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
5 b; T* M0 _& w( r2 ythe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally": e/ |: Y) x7 }# L' B" o+ G
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
$ U9 n5 x1 v* s. B& ~ ]"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
0 b8 Y! s1 X c5 K" F. f4 E, Rcauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
. E' g; I1 w" I: c4 R; zHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
K% ]$ a ~& P; A( pacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
8 Q/ C, {/ p: ytrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
' |8 s2 Y0 r5 I, k6 d6 \mats and sticking accelerator pedals.0 I3 q4 v& Q) V/ }$ ]# }
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal3 y, v" |$ `3 b: J2 X
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp5 A: y5 r/ Y6 C! d) g9 E% d: |
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be3 p9 x+ B: ~1 R7 A
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could n7 C8 T" i. ]. J* b* u
not stop her runaway Lexus.
: y9 T" P% w. G9 z"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
! B1 ?) c5 r! Y2 k5 Y! WTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second; b* [/ _: `: [+ w6 y* M+ h; B
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.' p* p2 U. M% d3 u+ W m- k
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues' d+ c* x" t1 o
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
% I! U( b y1 O4 r& `8 [# i+ Q"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
5 E' h# z; b1 F6 x2 `done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
% N _- x* z3 U+ F* f( {5 Y9 kthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's3 H6 O3 q+ q1 ~: Q
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
5 y# i1 F* F2 f$ [2 `! fLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
, C( _2 t+ S4 n1 Qelectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
6 c* ]0 u6 r% p {the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
4 K9 |' V( o; @6 W& Emalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
* C. `8 L' I1 ^said.0 N7 k( Z" @) E; {6 O+ p! g( p) |
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what/ G7 U% e# T6 _. H) o7 h1 }2 h
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
+ j2 w/ a% v) |2 \about driving our products," Lentz said.5 M @: n5 S V
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
+ ^) |# S0 Y/ T5 N) iproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has- E0 Q3 K9 l" l: ~+ V* Y
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6, ^% e+ u& N: `& B% j
million in the United States -- since last fall because of d3 X0 f' f- ?2 Y7 c/ B# q
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
! |' e- e& Q) {issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering* Q- R2 ?3 s1 A* P5 u
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of! a6 x9 ?1 p: a0 u
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
0 R. Z# s+ N/ P( ~ G- edown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has# s6 e& K3 e+ ~) k* p8 ?+ q
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration5 w% s7 Z# Y: v! O4 j% a: F
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.
4 r! l1 _/ V y5 u7 {7 v5 Y! hLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
7 Y. {# A9 j9 R! Mbrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
0 B2 p( L3 l c L; e, r- W! u: |: Ounderstood the pain.
; b' a: A; G- y; D"I know what those families go through," he said. Z) |* i* J! l6 |
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's/ Q U8 Y! v; @2 } s
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
5 u$ j& S, k$ S* }But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman6 n8 D+ x( V7 Q3 {# v! k
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
6 S4 U7 c( T7 x" _, c( F& Y1 Gin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
5 ~- C: [- T! i5 |" C& \& |Lentz replied: "Not totally."
; R) T0 v) g. c( HStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
2 ^0 I+ [! `( E7 c3 u"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said. u0 ~ ]9 d/ h$ P6 w7 n5 a5 C
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas5 U9 @" ~$ g4 k @+ m
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its; T$ ?' P6 X/ H! x6 ]
vehicles already on the road.: H' s* o# y: y3 T+ g, N6 b
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify* B; U3 K% W1 q% X) D
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full/ r$ O3 S5 X! D
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and) f4 c0 P$ }7 |) k
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
. g7 V. v1 k( A: b6 \killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
6 A3 ~0 ?2 b2 k; ^$ p" U8 N3 U"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a: E# @: t8 a3 G& f1 F) b
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
" @( O$ W+ p0 C' ]7 B& Lfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
! L) H) }) ?. i# KCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
1 A8 a g; g% v9 Ocommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
. \) O p% I; o, }* y* krestore the trust of our customers."( R) @' s2 N; t }" g+ v
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from- S6 A: c8 b" F; `
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly- ?" r" F% }3 H" F+ p
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --3 Y; y" P9 @! R! R
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
1 g+ R1 V0 a: j+ m/ Uhitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough: A9 G; I; S( P8 r+ e
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
! f3 N- s0 Q; k3 V9 k0 nturn off the engine.
6 I# ^2 S. p F2 V L/ f' z) p" dFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
. R8 P. k) B0 e0 H" TOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."% \7 N( m' C- V
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
' K4 R& S. S1 i6 @said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond& F3 r5 | t7 a' D; `" w* r# i' B; b' K2 z
to her complaints.
, M3 N( u+ e P# wIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
" ?5 O+ X$ i+ Zreturned again and again to the question of whether electronic3 p3 \2 q7 C! s8 }8 M8 h
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.7 Y& _, @( o4 `9 V, k
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
3 c) k! v3 m4 @; J" g' cthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
# [$ m8 k; L: ]( K% n! V3 n"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut1 m1 h& {$ j: P8 J: C
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."6 ^" V U8 Z* M
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in4 e9 Z0 t! e/ s: o8 ^5 D
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
/ l, C4 L+ @% a# hbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
7 B$ C3 F3 y; g9 ^# [were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
/ k: \: v/ w- g# S u/ }) Zevery question."5 C2 w& e* E* x2 l8 k
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether: _& k2 Y" y i1 D* p$ R
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
0 a& n* q9 D2 h* [firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
+ ]9 _+ ]. k" w6 U. J7 _committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
3 x, N5 y% j) ~; Unumber of vehicles; ~0 U4 ]$ O$ M7 q9 U' B! n9 q
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more
* b0 g I3 l9 x1 C2 ?) Y v/ Zdifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a, Q' P7 m7 S, u: A5 p! [& ? j& f" {: X
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
) ?; J# g2 E7 d/ a3 u" |source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
/ U) C4 |# r6 OMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
( i6 }! f& O/ V$ A' t* Z! iwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
& P4 u5 F3 ~* ]9 ftrace at all.% H) R5 F! ? l$ q' a
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
$ O0 T) T& }1 U, v) t9 Pdatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
2 m( X' Z2 G& g9 f) ?+ `9 Racceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
* l% G* v! @( W, L* O: nrecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
0 ^+ I" b6 Q5 i4 SRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
1 X1 |1 G0 W5 X) U3 Qsaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
- }9 E, M1 U! ~/ }' X& mother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
4 S! { O6 b+ }- ielectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
: x K! [: |# S- Bcause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only8 W" V( ]( s( ~$ A
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained* a, g3 _: o! i+ _' m
by Toyota's lawyers."
W! k) h4 C3 I3 t* qLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
: y: n/ ]* {, ~4 Yproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
" H9 M+ k' M9 U1 icustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he, e: h& f! X) C% }; b7 \
said.
2 l, k6 m- `, i7 S' ["Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
% ~& j8 g' v2 {7 y1 G+ da rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our ? {( D4 Q0 U2 M4 g
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
# O0 s3 g9 @7 \8 t( s" ^. i: vofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.& P7 y& [, ^' ]) @8 E% t4 M9 V
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
% Q8 @9 [$ v2 ], j* h$ pmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
$ C6 q- v2 I( ~( `rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
/ X( q: l+ u4 Y; `* ?automaker, at least in part because of the government's4 J, n1 H) ~1 C- u' t. N
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and" }' e/ b1 [0 k0 Z) E
Chrysler.
8 J+ O/ Y: k# A: v9 s3 y$ E, L"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax1 [- ]: E/ i. k3 Y6 J/ w
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a8 L1 |, _( B5 t: R3 r1 ?
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
s8 g/ n5 Z' K! A' fserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
) m; U8 w. `4 s4 S. x9 E* \$ mwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
: E. L- s R/ `+ `tough."
& x5 S& P0 r* _# _9 c3 h( Q---
0 F2 A6 Z( _$ S. B: aAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom% L: f" l% `* _# G2 ~2 x
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
: ]/ g* x2 [6 ^1 ythis story.
+ f0 K2 W: n' Z; N- `% @* ^) x
0 s" @- u7 e3 d1 f/ v. A: j( }: _-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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