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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
* p8 C N3 \$ Z% h, jBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS' W0 z$ I! ^; G4 O8 B( f6 o9 s3 ?
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
! s6 U- i, p3 s3 H6 @4 o$ Uoperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that x3 |2 ?5 K& v9 {! A% n7 ?- ]
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally") n2 X. h3 U i
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
6 F$ ~$ L( r: E& i* L"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
) i6 M ]4 b# S% U" E; Zcauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.' q3 ^+ v. P6 u& @& {! y0 {
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
9 \% Z7 _/ | N7 C4 ]acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and) s3 E' U$ C; Z" Q8 t
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
( X& G# s6 Y8 U: Emats and sticking accelerator pedals.# l" K4 z/ l+ H3 A
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
! T* b5 z' m( M" W4 Aand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp8 c- u! b8 I- F9 T/ i5 E! P
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be2 |( Y5 s& X- J/ ^9 z& l/ [) P: k
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
* C6 d0 R- a9 S9 \% Anot stop her runaway Lexus.) A; W+ S7 G( @! i. X/ }
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville, i3 v/ K1 | G) s, ?* g
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second( C2 B, e8 o& l* N8 ]. R% _
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.4 z$ E# k' B# l$ G1 D1 S: B
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
" [( u1 z5 ^+ m9 s7 s7 i( Zearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
u, q* [8 _7 z, _/ }"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has/ {! F, {. c* S
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
7 o0 p* M) V/ r- ^% k5 H5 \through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
2 X& O( i1 J5 T# tinvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
`+ J7 `# _4 L. [9 i) tLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
: }# i9 R! j4 x6 s6 H' H6 f7 Felectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
, L0 A6 K) d0 H0 I5 i. ?the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
# ]5 _4 D7 A; ^malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he; R: `9 o2 S/ z2 E! \& f
said.9 E; X* \ ~8 `* F% V, _; M4 P
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
, W/ V4 o6 M- g" j* L! d. r9 Z9 whappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
" U3 W' O' s- b3 x* K' B9 Sabout driving our products," Lentz said.9 @* v( ~" s/ j$ h1 Q
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
* l$ n+ K: F! N( P/ rproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
7 j7 L& z* w2 jrecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 68 b" H q5 H7 {+ _6 X
million in the United States -- since last fall because of
. Y1 D9 o$ N' Munintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
: I: L0 Z" C) w& S3 P! s8 @issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
3 o6 n8 u: u" |+ ?( Iconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of. s* \% |: D6 x6 M
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
5 w2 R, U0 Y) t. X3 X+ y |down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has/ K1 \7 ?1 ]! r0 y0 M3 }& f
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
T. s% `6 w% v7 z% k( Uof Toyota vehicles since 2000.. L& M' d; c3 D1 C( P
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
) _+ S. _2 ]7 W5 Dbrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
+ C7 ~/ k/ Y# N, Z% I! Gunderstood the pain.. ~2 c5 F ]9 V/ { K6 _" |
"I know what those families go through," he said.9 C2 M% C7 L4 w. `9 |; @
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
% C1 D5 U0 q" t2 a0 Ofixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
: @" S) s2 ] g" Y6 A0 CBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman- F) v( w N# v2 i
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
9 [+ n7 W8 r8 K( ain place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,$ k4 M8 r; H9 S m! m
Lentz replied: "Not totally."* y7 V q/ C' d9 k* l
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were/ k% Y c* O1 r* I3 ~; j8 w4 ~
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said% h( z$ u# g9 v& ~! {7 V- t
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
- \. T2 [, c2 X5 P' Qpedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
3 [% h' Q/ t, [; q6 kvehicles already on the road.
* M8 f; x/ R3 h4 V% f+ C5 B( AMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify* A" _0 |- m" }9 ^8 ^
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full, f" _9 \ v# s) V( E) T
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and h0 b6 R8 g- s) _6 `: E6 @
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
9 E5 j) E" @. f5 qkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
9 f o) P* d* W"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
' R. Y3 _# y% f1 b/ ftragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony+ f" q* d) S: z5 P R
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight6 W( b& s0 N M2 |
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal$ }0 r6 d' d4 r. ~+ i
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
1 s# q1 L# z; T4 f( krestore the trust of our customers."
; i9 I% P g9 sLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
; i. I* G% k- c% p* [- Q: B4 l: H0 JSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
4 j: B( j+ m( [- r: N- ?! {/ {1 k, U! nzoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --; ]- A9 _+ ~& f6 X8 ^5 }
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and/ ~7 W/ h" Z, a0 p7 j0 h& q
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough- J$ j/ \5 p2 F" C h
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
( t6 _# E4 M! V2 uturn off the engine.
& U t( u# ^0 j) |. u- Y, OFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
& R$ A9 z) ` tOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience." G4 |5 o0 e1 Q; i% h: X, {
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she5 c2 u7 J( o" Y7 D, G' {2 s# H
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond) @# I! ^4 [0 }5 h3 d$ Z: y
to her complaints.
7 x4 U: M! _2 i+ ~, @In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
4 r; W0 }" b o9 Breturned again and again to the question of whether electronic
6 g# Y. f' z" X% {% s# [0 fmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
/ _+ X. K( D" c2 M6 L9 t1 a F"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric5 b9 R5 S* Q& C
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited4 a. P8 J7 k. H; V
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut$ f' T, `; a1 L4 d# b
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
: T/ C! \7 W% KTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
9 a( w' k/ O) A- q+ ]& F7 [prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were+ y+ @ i" ~ W, z3 H
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls8 F2 e. T9 S- w8 p
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer' Y: I& ^) @; \2 {
every question."
/ g: i' ^8 Z0 H A7 x6 `* d$ iToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
- Z h+ M* \7 G" ?electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
6 y: D4 \7 H8 T2 D1 P9 S: C( }firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
# I! F. h/ K" p, Jcommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small5 C2 U+ o* r% R, W1 s
number of vehicles
: q4 M8 \. W2 uTracking down an electrical problem can be far more
9 p% ^- Y: M2 i8 W" g0 {difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
( ]) M0 A7 J3 K& T3 U3 `mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one, h# e# A2 t6 `3 I
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
- H6 |0 |3 w, ]$ @Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,. h+ a+ }8 s9 J" A e, [. A
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
0 M% N4 b% q: y! `* ~' Y* j9 z6 ]trace at all.6 {& T' @' m! L, z
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call* S0 }- |% R$ _: N' x
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden8 x) B3 ~: F. C+ `4 d
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
: H1 |( W7 b3 I/ U* z, x; crecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.5 s# U# ^1 s) G, \
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,6 O* b" L" M% J7 L; i" ~! h3 L" m
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and+ l$ \$ \2 _5 V6 q6 G/ [1 X
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the1 C6 K2 K& e! R1 n! J; N2 [6 W) N
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
* l; u" o' G+ s2 n6 i( Tcause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
- H9 L4 ?# g Z z1 qsuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
X% j k8 \3 K- ]) T. y) ]& J6 yby Toyota's lawyers."* A2 i$ a4 ~( t1 l1 _3 S6 |
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of7 Z. S) U' I% a( v+ W1 W9 | B
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our# x P; @6 P; O8 W2 L( ?
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
4 j8 T" I! K" f9 Fsaid.4 [1 s. y8 \) C0 d& ?
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
1 Z5 q/ R- c1 sa rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our" d/ Y, P t/ }) [8 U) {( \
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
0 @' ~/ b- @. F% O( {% tofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
$ K5 M, C, ?8 y- |3 O6 x3 |Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying( d% o6 t9 q6 N. h& ^
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread! i! i. M# _' R! ?
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
6 n! I# d7 \5 [0 K( D' `) x7 Nautomaker, at least in part because of the government's
' W6 o- ^2 v, `1 J% K2 ^4 T& c# L1 Vinvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
6 _5 ^% V$ @9 F2 @# o& i' O1 S& VChrysler.
! K) H: F: P: O- v( M2 a"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
0 H7 G3 i3 }1 d5 C P, Tdollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
; {) P' d2 Y8 y! a6 CHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also7 Z/ e: X7 r( w- y: S1 Q
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete7 n9 S/ p5 \0 T6 E* ~# N9 H# O
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
, ^2 d. _ _2 c: n$ Btough."3 Q2 Q5 g* ^. U* ]( u
---
9 y4 t9 H4 z3 F6 R' }Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
9 G8 y' [3 ?% YRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to2 }3 b$ r) f6 C" L! K6 m7 A
this story.
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