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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题) z) p) T* D8 \
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS4 G5 O4 I8 B z3 u6 P
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.( j" C2 q2 k8 `6 O2 ]* A& B& e, g
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
$ J2 ]& ?$ b5 x6 x/ V, M! Xthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"- b* [' m, ]3 F% \* C( C/ c
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
' Y! C3 k5 t- l% Q7 j& v"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential) z r5 v2 n$ ~4 x+ A
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
5 h" ]/ f, _0 s. Q& ]3 f. bHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
) f# a/ s0 B0 \4 f/ u z6 t: r# L2 Cacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
. s! r# ^) F2 ?0 O, Strucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor2 O$ C0 r% ~ u/ q/ n" p9 Y* J# F
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.
: O- y; d$ Q- t- ^He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal' g+ l8 j7 s: l3 Q- f. B
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
/ c! B. K2 _) {3 l8 n. Q2 Ucriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be T. P1 q; ^5 y3 G/ i
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
0 h9 R* N5 x8 }: I. lnot stop her runaway Lexus.
8 @* G& o5 ]1 E8 F* N i1 p"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,6 f i/ _8 w- ~
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
5 t: j! h% o1 t8 K"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.4 ~( G: q- R: Y; y; X' `# Y
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues% p0 K% O. m, I4 R) ?! K9 N
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said+ s) X! c- l4 q7 r% N" p3 C
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
/ N' I9 E5 ]; o; Ddone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
) m5 M- j5 {8 kthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's. T( E2 @- ]( l
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
1 I: ?: k+ i" E3 h& jLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
8 P, r9 m# B1 H3 G9 N1 M! p, m7 qelectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of8 `5 P% a+ C/ m: q+ ]2 C2 |
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a# c* Y. s6 L `+ s" v5 Y* T$ Q! l% ^
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he. Y. r$ z# N" z2 j: }, M2 Z3 \
said.$ o3 n7 b q1 q( O& X( d! c# Q
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
8 y1 n8 D, ~) [) ~9 Yhappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
$ i, B2 f; b- f ]& vabout driving our products," Lentz said./ g9 u9 w. Y& _
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
; @; S! v5 Y1 ]3 b8 Fproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has" o9 m6 K* N, K$ @' r1 k2 `9 B/ h5 m8 C
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
' |$ k& X6 m- F6 Omillion in the United States -- since last fall because of
% m& A% ]6 d+ }9 C& Lunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
q- t. F4 X0 ^/ @8 Missues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
, R, _& m3 K5 @( F; J" B! o0 x9 oconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
3 U F [& B; Z; F% Stheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
) I8 y; I* `' W1 _( O+ K! u. Gdown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
' M2 b! w& z; \, q* z- x' \received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration* w/ g" ~; B$ l2 K9 l
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.
' G; c& j2 N, |/ {5 I/ fLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own* g% U( V1 V3 n* z+ g0 s$ `
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he x% G, I" z- {( F
understood the pain.
& S' c: ^$ t; Q" x) f"I know what those families go through," he said.6 {0 ^4 m7 ~( \; k4 n
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
' n$ _, I/ E( F+ t5 s0 ~5 C- |0 kfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.9 `8 l# Y# V. \, P9 q
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
1 m# @- j% k! Q, w& h2 cHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
1 ^6 a) M( ?; y7 @in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
0 d7 B+ {3 J M/ u, r4 [6 r( {Lentz replied: "Not totally."9 m+ F) h' T/ s) m1 x A
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
% H6 w! K" l+ _ B ]! V/ A"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said" v. g( {* j+ C! ~# Y
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
* f/ n8 U+ i& [pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
: ^% N( E7 w, W/ C svehicles already on the road.
2 p4 F2 Q; ~2 o; F: pMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify+ j. ?" [# m0 o8 C |2 q0 T3 A
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full* {2 i6 N6 G. r: u7 [2 X( y
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and* P4 i, Z) |7 a
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
, T7 G$ r4 S1 V. }& ~: Ikilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.( z6 H4 n/ w& T6 A
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
( K. T+ @- |$ }tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony' o. F: o1 D* S" [" c) s2 y
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight% T5 u8 r, H( D$ w* }7 v: _6 _/ k
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal7 T. M) |, o5 k- Q: B
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to0 h3 |2 M, k$ S; n8 K7 [) W) U0 m! b
restore the trust of our customers."* D5 O. g) q3 }/ L5 |
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from g& n" t: P7 {$ ^5 c$ }) M
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
9 X* U5 E! L! n0 w0 |1 Azoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
, f0 y9 Q9 J& D f# C$ Rshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
! N& X3 L" G( Z7 y" Khitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough+ r5 Q* u. s! D2 w, o
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
, @( S. n& t* z) ~turn off the engine.8 x! ?" N- H+ K3 Q* [4 y
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
% y% Z+ {! B A" S7 AOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."; T: L) D+ }1 O; D k
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
* l# k( R9 d) `" j7 s% j, f; wsaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond' @9 X' y, ~/ N, F0 h
to her complaints.+ A: q' m$ m& u5 W0 M) ~
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
, s, ]% Q3 i" L% j- r( z3 `4 i2 @returned again and again to the question of whether electronic% X- ^0 b! I* [* ^
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
$ {& a9 f. w2 P ]4 `"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
3 t5 S2 S6 ]4 @, mthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
9 L$ c. O: U* n8 m* f"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
+ N( s) [7 I* O: K; v2 Z* toff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."9 u# X2 s4 R! X
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
' s/ z- Q* G! gprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
' T/ N* T, {1 d2 \9 C% k( \being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
( e, v8 W) k# P6 ~& vwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
+ B' k0 N7 n: ?. Y* i' y. |/ g' v1 Devery question." `1 F" I4 P; i+ W& ^
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether9 H6 Y- e8 S4 K; g9 o
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The ?3 ]! I8 ?: }- w
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But" l, V& V) e. F/ [. w b
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small6 c( u6 G4 F! k, Z H" \
number of vehicles
3 v) @" N) a cTracking down an electrical problem can be far more
9 O9 C, T& f6 a! D |, Xdifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
5 ?. z/ g; y" z. ]6 h& o% |mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
# T' {3 T! c; w+ \, Y8 Asource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.* q! V" U' n6 I! F1 S
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
1 {8 h z$ X% Q+ r2 |3 V+ v2 i1 pwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no) `9 h s, N l0 F' H8 d0 G0 u, x
trace at all.
n0 i* A' W8 s2 M- J# GHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
9 O9 ]) K* r0 V% f; h+ c: Jdatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
4 D, q2 K; T6 ^0 N& i* L7 m, Jacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
0 }" S! i# s" X0 K5 }& ^7 ]recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
. t, V5 e6 X! d. l' VRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
7 f. o$ t5 O- Z9 |; N% q8 s) osaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and0 F( z, T) y' I! [* N
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the$ O5 s+ Y l# p' S
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
2 D3 K) `: @. D. k( xcause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
: P; X2 ]7 Q+ W! z- ?) [- @ |4 G" Dsuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
% \& X* ~2 q6 yby Toyota's lawyers."
. b) d; H; H w* A8 ^5 C* GLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
9 }( C; H5 ?- [2 i0 m5 ?problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
; J' N- w8 p3 d3 L* Qcustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
6 v9 u R& F/ h/ xsaid.$ Q5 z/ K. N* d' R. W6 N
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
$ `& p/ T$ g- M! D, @7 X3 I$ ~a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
1 Y! ]5 O5 j; [! C" o$ ]3 G+ S4 ggood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating3 O# d: q5 o3 ?+ C. i9 P; ]8 F/ y
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
; u6 A4 e6 f9 y4 V4 P+ ]Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
/ v# s! g! y* w b+ ^members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
" B! Z: M" G T) e2 E# k! vrancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the8 p: e2 ^- c# I6 E% U
automaker, at least in part because of the government's
9 _* F" c$ g0 u) j9 O8 O$ jinvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and) X9 E1 o. A3 l
Chrysler.; u5 N1 V, X( \6 ^. Y1 E) D0 x0 d
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
$ o9 o# H8 |4 T% r) vdollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a5 p/ _* r, y7 a
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also1 }3 w- \* e# L% ?
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
! V" b |" V# K* V, Bwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
. }( J* @! A$ a( A" Ytough."
' }1 R' q7 m1 {$ |---
# |2 c; O% @; d3 n( I) MAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom$ H; n5 G; Y. l. v6 c# v9 H [
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to+ s8 }% y$ |9 B
this story.
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-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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