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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
$ @( H9 o$ K8 q1 I9 uBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
: S0 p& |% W/ LWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.% v x# }8 E1 Q' x! i. A' s U4 o
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that( ~/ V9 I3 u) u; O
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"3 x B; z' F6 t- }0 \( ?$ e' V
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.0 p- s! F' X5 F
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
9 s3 M6 r0 h* D# k8 J, ~- c* P/ J1 a" Mcauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
( K# N w4 G# N- c, q& B) lHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected4 W3 d8 p7 i, S# ^3 a
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
$ M3 y0 ^: {& \! V& E$ E( o& Ftrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor1 b; ?9 [8 y( x, E0 e
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.+ \' m. q5 M' r, P. M9 O0 d. x5 k6 b
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal7 g5 K3 [! V' @" u1 L E
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp1 N! g$ Z6 x% F: f
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be; a- K# D: _7 {5 j
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could. M4 [; o! s% T$ R+ ?2 k0 Y
not stop her runaway Lexus., ~& B( S/ A, Y
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,9 e. m1 c5 J6 c8 L, ]7 K
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second2 Z, |: Y1 o3 Y7 c
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
5 P2 d- M! W6 L6 f7 lTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues: M9 P* O4 _) j- b: z p
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said- F% q6 q6 b- V- V& `/ B, q v( N, x
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has% P8 k3 ` f# K/ P4 V: o0 ~- j% r
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
& q1 o9 h2 y2 l" `" Sthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
8 i! D" d2 G3 m# b& ? G5 pinvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
/ }( ~" u c% h* c6 kLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an: w* q0 g5 m+ r! X
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
3 E! T9 z$ v$ O$ n1 `9 Sthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a( N: T" c. R6 G: B5 F: z+ U& a
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he m' c" L. u; a+ V8 A6 v- }
said.
) f" z/ }4 K* t5 }As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
& d7 A0 `0 M2 Y; H% [happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe8 T- B! L6 N5 \1 D& e1 X
about driving our products," Lentz said.
# d& T3 S5 R `; M3 IThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
* B, C. d& ]) [! ^: i6 c" l7 i" }problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
7 U- a1 x# D5 orecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
( ^3 K) c6 C" K/ s* }# V r& {/ Omillion in the United States -- since last fall because of9 v6 b A7 v' T0 j
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
8 p0 S! M% O I1 O5 \2 B7 \issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering3 y9 m! G% b% l5 l' U
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of& S& w: F! s# x) N) ?9 u5 P7 `! g) `
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow6 c; e+ j k V! K W. K: e; N
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has L1 _0 A6 G" V/ Z" P; m2 I
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration! h0 R& O4 p# b# Q
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.6 _% k+ k, p- Y& k5 ~' d! U
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
( v$ r+ o7 l9 \) H- `* |! [7 ubrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he1 E$ E# C& u% U
understood the pain." n# u7 ?) D6 Y1 T9 w" C" J
"I know what those families go through," he said.
0 n, W5 R+ o# N$ D. u* VLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's$ ]% Y8 v9 Z/ g( e: y* [
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.: T; ?% l1 j# x+ K R2 h
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman. \: V$ i" P& B$ Q a6 \" e# N K5 a
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
* q- C3 z7 I/ e! o. m' p4 d: Nin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
; N( x3 ~9 q" g, K, f2 S$ sLentz replied: "Not totally."
5 F+ M% g4 {4 e8 I3 {6 BStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were& v2 Q( e& C% O* z
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
/ X% E2 H6 V( ^4 `. B; TToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas7 ^$ u3 D& N6 m& t, o$ g$ t) @
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its& D, H; j/ q. G* m$ x3 n
vehicles already on the road.- W3 h4 T) u/ }
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
! U8 G9 B7 c/ e8 n9 t- nbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full& d/ Z( V8 M# C
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
/ x9 j1 K& y+ goffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were. [- K/ L* {; D' ? U+ P0 [$ k& s
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems. [ p- q8 c" M' j
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a3 M9 g' M) l4 ?. Q8 t
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
- V% X' R- k$ e" y/ T0 L2 |% Tfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
) J8 T: \' H( k' A$ `% t4 J4 xCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal3 b/ J/ a$ A" Q
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to' V% M5 H6 W! j5 O& @ J: B
restore the trust of our customers.", Y# g) j3 \4 `8 d6 F7 g
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
& \! t w, K* w j: P2 P' tSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly. _6 p) a0 e P
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
9 D6 q+ r3 @. b7 Q2 Q) T; mshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and! c" i! K& S; r3 M
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough1 J9 u& w" d2 ~/ x# a, d# G
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and# w1 H9 H/ |2 N3 ` h' {
turn off the engine./ d1 r' x+ t D( A6 S0 F2 q& Z
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of$ \ [# @3 m5 n& l$ G: B# Z* ~
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
7 i9 x+ N2 W. T( j4 P" M7 b! S" J! |; f) A"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
' `6 r, ^. ?+ Q ?, }9 U- F! Csaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
- W* f4 K8 j% Zto her complaints. t2 h) Z& m8 O7 _" a: p$ c
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers3 z/ c! i* L! n; E F5 a& y9 h1 F
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
( Q& M8 l' z6 E( _& c5 X+ Z: o; J- ?malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
) G0 \0 A9 I0 s; \8 Z; _0 L6 k"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric/ y$ J, k- s8 Z" ]5 t$ j; @
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited7 D1 C4 O7 L3 i) ~) s( N& B% \5 }, a
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut5 M8 D! O. p1 }* F/ k7 H
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."8 E. h+ I" r8 N. c' j; ]6 g
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
1 u, B4 R" o+ W4 aprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
$ U8 N1 B6 c+ g( B4 \being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls7 @/ z9 L, ^+ i: q; j+ E" W
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
- c& x% {* T/ z3 G) V, i# @; ?every question."& \; ?5 t8 K+ z; g
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether9 E+ S9 G" H4 K6 ^& L/ g
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
4 c7 h5 l6 r4 f. f7 O+ zfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
0 t* e/ i; n' f4 G4 T# wcommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small
- p' R- K8 Q7 K0 Z: v' {; `7 ]0 Lnumber of vehicles
( q1 V: J! t+ l! XTracking down an electrical problem can be far more( r2 L+ l# o3 j* m8 e r
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
! t0 J, S2 I$ Y, }; nmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one' a4 P E: s+ A* w! v Q
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
: i7 P1 G. E, M, n# O; O- cMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
& p) ?& {/ O1 H) |0 j" c+ `where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
& T# L J* o' d! q7 o' ]# `5 Itrace at all.
" b# H% q9 s+ D6 H2 gHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call K# p/ I3 r* K9 A% H5 [0 R# U# i
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden$ F' P9 ]: S4 Q' h- J% y4 u
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
7 W* R! O: M3 V6 T7 O. B$ p; rrecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.3 {0 v% i+ ?& k0 o( |5 {+ P
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
9 J& U2 q. O0 F: a3 g! ksaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
% o9 B7 l, |" `7 G% |( eother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
0 q% H* y0 K4 {$ h7 ?electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
% I5 m# C" T7 _' G# a Hcause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
3 c) E9 x( J1 F0 Y2 Hsuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
! c; p l$ {6 {0 sby Toyota's lawyers."
% g+ l" ~# M' R, DLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of: w! I7 M% g3 R
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
1 U3 o% T L K- \9 J' z( l7 ocustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
% m5 }; x6 F1 u i: B$ Msaid.
% y+ ~# p, H: t/ E4 m% P"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with" {8 h% C, }2 @* w* X
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our# M! l1 h7 X V6 b8 M! P. x
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating: _; t: }8 X; H/ \# I+ \
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
( H) b0 X( U4 @6 E( GSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
/ K' X* `1 M" O. r& G- S; `members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread: C c- q1 c1 @4 J/ U+ Q
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the+ C+ s3 f! c7 w4 M
automaker, at least in part because of the government's: r2 i3 p3 ?3 k; J4 ?
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and3 P6 @; w; a: s
Chrysler.% u! G) m+ ^1 ^9 z/ N
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
) k2 M( G3 Q/ w' N8 I* u# Zdollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
. h2 B M" Q, U( _- ]6 K7 ^% E4 THouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also5 U( T+ v; Q) t3 A
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
6 ]- D# `( |5 g0 Lwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty8 y7 y- ^) [) C7 E: U
tough."
, J4 ^% E; Y( L( ~3 ~9 j---6 _# ?4 [; F4 Z) ~3 o1 a
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom8 [. j1 t1 }. D4 k! z( g4 k5 x
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
! _9 m8 }; d; W; j/ g3 jthis story./ m G; l8 T! p. v- x4 P9 E
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