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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
: T! |4 [2 \5 ^8 mBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
0 G: Y. s. v {6 P2 @$ ^9 tWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.0 J9 t3 u( P* M
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that) k5 W9 x5 t6 h1 ^2 q( k
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"& d" m# H9 s3 ?9 z0 Z- ~0 ^ t
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration." |; R1 _" l' P0 N; t$ l3 f' \( C
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
3 f/ Q6 }* v; O9 X5 s) a y; {) N* T9 ucauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.2 ^+ j' b1 k9 J6 I8 `- @" y1 \
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected# o3 m) |5 F+ S
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
- A: d. Y8 w; z3 ltrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
K; {6 ~% {$ G8 k! Q! @mats and sticking accelerator pedals.
- P/ a7 m, [4 G! S; }8 hHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
3 \6 _. J' X* @) z: B1 e$ E& aand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp5 g' Q7 f) a( \6 K& l- B
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
! i& g' d! y" \- U" k/ Q0 v$ tfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could. y) Y! O& m3 P! h( L
not stop her runaway Lexus.2 I. g- p3 ]' {3 V8 Z; s
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
, `# E5 {5 ]. O5 q1 Z; i4 { FTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second2 q6 l9 [& S. V
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.; I6 @) k5 n. g
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
! q" i! q0 U: i! u4 b0 pearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said( ]" j, P( x A, ]1 o- Z
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has. _9 [. J! Z5 U R! m
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway7 } @8 f: E7 ?7 H
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
. M8 L$ ~5 u" |investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
, j$ ]6 t. h% Q" nLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
, s& i3 M- ~- _3 `7 m6 U6 Velectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
) ^0 i3 I" W+ G; I7 Ythe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a1 K% E! v% `, Y* S1 z6 V
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he9 b# h- N8 _3 B/ Q- g- C% Y( t
said.6 u1 `0 ]5 U: B+ L! z+ u9 ^
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what2 {0 i; K2 z5 W: m1 I+ u# y, D
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
" {0 N+ |. L2 }# m; E+ x. aabout driving our products," Lentz said.
+ t4 u$ Q9 a$ HThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
0 D! Q. W9 d5 L' u" s* F% Cproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has1 Q! y) E! h* U X0 |# @% |9 ^4 K
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
% m/ s1 I/ @$ ^9 q# `million in the United States -- since last fall because of
/ a6 ?8 Y$ s/ y4 k* T5 F6 Gunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
, g2 D7 r, w9 k: Vissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
2 G4 _8 q; a8 G* q$ k& sconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of2 @: `% B# ?5 r
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow$ s6 c; m# A8 N# X+ O! u6 i
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has5 O# c4 S1 ~. H: Z( j6 @5 ]) K+ G4 @. b
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
' U7 x8 X+ M* F. M( V; O$ dof Toyota vehicles since 2000.4 x4 _; [# ^$ T! K- @
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own$ C9 e3 ^. f) }6 Q- }+ @+ A& A
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
H9 N/ w) ^0 kunderstood the pain.
0 j. K* L* u: U6 h' D# J"I know what those families go through," he said.
, {8 A/ W" a5 I Y: D( jLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's& r2 I' K" }9 Y0 G1 Z
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.' v3 b6 v1 ~! K3 H' u
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman9 T# K+ @9 ~5 A! a, x7 z1 c) q
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
# r; f$ _" L7 V: |3 b+ c* l5 ?in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,6 M+ z( e6 ^! Q( h
Lentz replied: "Not totally."
8 c! u" m( P: W0 v7 h( e; wStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were0 j, s( H, w* D0 }. F# ^ I9 _3 W
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
/ I. w; a- v# |5 SToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas/ ~" h' V A& n1 K1 m
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
# M9 w: e, L! g7 ]: N) m. w2 |vehicles already on the road.$ {8 Q- U2 w$ v7 C! |# m
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify9 i/ l' e5 v8 ]/ s
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full' b! |# `6 J& W* R7 `
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
7 h) q$ ^2 \, U6 Roffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
D. W7 G6 A2 t, akilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
0 C: q$ |4 q8 w* W: B& f"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a6 v& i6 V, p h5 v# j/ {
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
8 {; d6 m# c7 @: n" H5 C. tfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
; ~2 x3 u, X0 k4 ~4 DCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal- n1 x5 y' c8 M+ ]
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
: d" j0 M, U: k) p# srestore the trust of our customers."7 d3 Z( o+ P4 n# T9 s& U
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from8 m% a! k) f U" h$ L8 }3 h
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
4 `+ C. ]0 T. g+ s6 Lzoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --4 ]0 D5 U/ X$ |9 Q. t
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and+ W% k( c3 L4 A) z8 ~/ f' `$ `8 F1 D
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough+ q# s K! C( ~5 t. H
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and* Y& n- J8 U+ f" s9 n' N' m
turn off the engine.
( ]0 e- e( n2 v) R ^+ ?$ V4 ?Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
" K- I# T' [, E6 POctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
" r1 `8 D2 B) h) O* Q8 A9 o( W"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
# w' a. v7 ^, xsaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond/ I4 z0 q2 ?' _
to her complaints.
1 h( R$ N/ _2 n- E" j2 b* M2 U6 e( ZIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
" b0 |5 O3 {9 |7 J7 sreturned again and again to the question of whether electronic
2 ~% _8 z5 G' p1 U2 `$ I1 m/ Nmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
. A) C3 i9 m* A. b9 y4 k% \"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric) p) Z2 Z2 E- {5 s* D2 g- F7 h
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
% _; W$ L3 d; G: j' X/ H"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
8 p6 d/ n1 A/ v U* j+ X, j$ xoff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
7 U& Q% k6 x/ B0 |& kTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
+ Q/ E3 H$ Y. ~4 P8 i" B1 Rprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were# b* A6 u" i* z5 Y
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
5 E5 O$ W8 V& k! qwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer! e+ f: J4 D2 g5 H' e3 E
every question."2 P% t; D- T- H+ X! v/ {# ^9 G
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
+ r% ?: C& [ t0 b$ N3 V" `electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
# P( ?# J& a( i& N1 |1 q- d. v1 Sfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But5 x0 d! U9 q( v; y1 v- E
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small6 E' F6 @* O. t ]
number of vehicles( l5 p8 E' ]6 T2 ^2 ]2 m$ s/ H
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more
3 l: h# Q3 t) Y( R3 r. vdifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a6 j$ l6 T: Y. b0 e' [
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
; A4 q& O# N2 w# h/ L9 q9 Dsource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
" W* f) _2 T0 D0 v5 u$ L7 u% {8 MMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
; _2 S3 v, {8 ^1 P; C( \where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
5 a0 `9 o s- m% P. ntrace at all.6 O. ?9 ]) }1 ~! d
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call7 S7 r( o) p- n" E
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden. K7 x% Y* m+ W
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the7 M! V6 P2 i+ H$ b0 v- j' E4 o
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.8 l2 R' }6 ` a) Y- K E! o
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,$ Y2 \( L) q# T
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
# s. J3 ~* y. J" E( W& I! qother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the' l' J# R0 P- _# i
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
( X+ {# h0 w4 e @cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only- y# U; _4 c! H
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
' i4 ` S$ Z6 L; X: v& ~& {by Toyota's lawyers."
/ D: a% ?4 V' s( nLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of" i0 z: L5 ?. c$ A- q
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our# o" @3 G( _4 Y* z+ z
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he3 {3 u7 K* z2 p- j) ?# _0 d& g+ A
said.
0 O& [% D' e- G- l) x5 \"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with+ ]4 @4 _8 W ^. M
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our' Z8 h7 S1 x- H- ~
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
0 P' R- ?$ v I' T# |8 ]* xofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.! ^+ Y; j5 ?% J( k: F
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
7 b/ w, q9 `7 K; S3 P- k& \members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
. Z1 ]* K% P) w$ x* \rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
- ]) ?. ]5 {* h) t* Nautomaker, at least in part because of the government's
& h, g& e/ |9 k6 vinvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and+ J# }7 H1 _9 O F0 [# m, b2 v
Chrysler.
% f5 [- P) ^8 p& ~9 F6 Q"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax. A8 N; o- `4 X; T7 R2 e( T6 v D
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a" i. J. m* ]; }, r
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
" p, g0 i2 B& g1 H7 j( hserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
+ J4 v5 c: i- ?4 K4 o6 h& Vwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty _% i" U/ n$ w2 Z
tough."
- `2 C6 T: j. E( `---& i% V. V" `# O* M7 C
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom, @. I v" F# h9 K3 i) v }) `
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to) y' A" \; C; m3 v+ Q) C
this story.9 f; V8 H* {8 O, N
% z! a' ?; S6 o5 f- d) g0 M- n-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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