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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
) U% ?$ H* x ]$ M! O TBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS0 \2 c- ] g) _6 a
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
2 y' T8 S/ k4 L) y2 _$ Xoperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that; k9 g/ }1 o) c" N
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"& G& h+ y7 n; U9 S2 \9 v
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
1 m( U5 C! ^ p {/ U( f0 m" z"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
; \1 \& W# W4 L% c$ Acauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.0 K+ v5 y' _6 v6 q# Z/ z( g. E7 k
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected! c# U" C, k. N n0 Y
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
3 [/ _/ v5 Z( Q( [2 Z' wtrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor7 ]; _6 e i, a6 a5 `* `* ^
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.
4 y' G* `/ v( J; r+ AHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
, T% E3 p" Z6 Rand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp- q9 a) a& \8 g% G( G( Y: a$ l
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be4 V3 ^' R7 A6 F; N$ b2 q
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could% z$ ]; o2 t7 o3 @7 Y3 Z/ c" C' v
not stop her runaway Lexus. t+ A- j% i, S. C6 ^
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,* o; U) k/ ], G4 [! k8 ?
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second; _1 B6 I: P3 B- T S& t' X
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
6 }2 C& e3 q' O0 U r; {/ F7 STexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues) V# R& c* s# X5 | Q
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
/ G6 K) n. ?) ~+ o"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
7 q; L; W1 V) d* wdone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
" ]8 Z- Q/ P0 y- ?9 K! wthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
7 W, m' w+ D; ?investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."+ n& q D5 m6 U
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
, ~. P: U/ }$ `. Zelectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
* \# ~8 {) c8 ~# q4 W c* V5 cthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
; P0 E+ M5 I+ j& R! O) Mmalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
! ^1 h8 F" A' l& xsaid.
' G4 K6 |0 A8 M! N. w6 C \# RAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what2 v: ]; z& C! u+ z2 j P6 W
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe! l1 c3 e& a8 ?. Y$ S
about driving our products," Lentz said.
: z% Y2 R' T& R0 R. IThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
5 H m$ }3 y( |& V4 z* W0 Q2 R8 Rproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
0 R8 c) f, i) ]. R; Grecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
# r) j5 g7 d3 D3 j& ?million in the United States -- since last fall because of3 {/ E3 m6 M0 B- v) |% u& u$ z
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking$ P$ D1 \5 Z& E; p' e4 j% n
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
8 ]/ m7 e2 ]; n0 P% o2 mconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
3 J/ z3 T; `5 s: ltheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
! v; n: j# @& g, a7 Vdown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has" ^1 ?6 A1 Q4 W6 F
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration' L& z" t" ^9 t' G, s0 w( d5 `
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.2 l$ B' I8 Y$ V. z/ @! l
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
2 B! P. g" a: I5 W2 rbrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
4 O6 J3 G9 d$ ]understood the pain.
" u3 h1 [& E( i"I know what those families go through," he said.
M! ^& e8 q# P& M. N/ a' Z. _Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
" i0 T& P9 h3 t; Q/ t8 g- ~: H3 mfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
* m" _; ]2 k% A5 H1 }But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman) ^6 [/ _2 L& E- j& [
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
; E5 [5 H; S ?; B7 Uin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,( n6 w' F$ f- O
Lentz replied: "Not totally.") s1 q6 d& F7 f1 Q9 N
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
/ t8 Z6 G2 m# a) \' r0 c0 p$ N"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
4 o9 e- R( \" zToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
2 P! m0 E; C5 M3 ^pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its8 s& i7 K6 _( `2 W4 Q5 H! T" ]: n
vehicles already on the road." Y8 f( f; ^# Y4 d4 h- Z
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
+ E, F6 \( O1 z+ r8 q8 nbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
- l4 a9 \5 l9 F2 B# ^responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and2 k, v& ^0 x. r
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
$ o) V9 {2 ]) D- r+ J( t$ Q8 nkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
+ M6 L" ~8 {+ P9 P5 C"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a$ d8 n: F2 U! j* d7 ?) L# r! v
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony; O3 R; T* X4 G' X# O0 U! u
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight8 s: f2 c0 z+ k8 n% x
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal- i. S- P, a3 [& }- {3 B
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
" w+ b3 ?9 w3 l: i. k# ^restore the trust of our customers."* a6 }* X9 W2 [% @& [- r
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
6 }6 R* V: N1 v- y( w2 |0 o2 BSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly5 ], j# v& ~, _1 j& d
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --! E8 F: D }+ q: b- e3 H
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and) v) M, A5 j/ d, U/ ~
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough6 L* a& j6 T3 _. g/ j
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
& k* _" L, Z) h8 \turn off the engine.$ U- t4 u+ N, s8 l6 O. @$ U' q9 {
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of, D' z3 @$ |$ d W+ K
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
. _+ x" W, s3 }( z2 a0 n+ ~) u"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she9 i3 ?+ ~, H# I; x, g. e; H) f
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
, {8 ~. j5 ~) F8 i: _* Hto her complaints.
+ g, A: a9 h: _5 `% `In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers+ V0 ]( O" @+ v0 c2 J( L) ?1 G
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic) l; n/ U) z0 ~8 n( o
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
( a3 b. \/ M6 p& u6 _ u; ~' I7 ["We are confident that no problems exist with the electric& G2 u- Q* Z8 X7 J/ |! |, v
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited! u' z7 G% Q* R6 M3 r
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut+ m: Y3 ~& t7 ?" ~5 _' ?
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
- }1 C7 W8 a! [' C" i ZTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in+ W2 T3 h( L8 o4 \
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were3 M8 Q# \# c: m
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
$ a- b7 e" f4 B4 D: G* W! Fwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
: i( ~/ S: C, ?. Gevery question." R' _( d' S& k5 R2 E
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
* z( ?9 u. x. |; kelectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
" i; ~- _/ @2 H7 `/ Mfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
! S# f# |/ ]' _- v# y y: g7 W- Ycommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small
& t: E3 h) x' h% k" G, T- \number of vehicles3 l% C# F, h% `, P
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more4 J6 E; d9 m6 |' ~4 B8 u- Z9 }/ g
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
V) ~9 Q/ _% emechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one. f% f% m8 c# i" z2 @
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
/ R+ J# q# P, y& }; h s5 ?Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
) U& p0 J" j& r1 {/ S6 j5 L Kwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no7 ?0 K/ d; J: s7 W! e
trace at all.
) Z& o* g" @0 B( u5 G& i AHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call2 ]# H, F. A! a( k) n3 X, x- \
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden, G" A `3 j& ~
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
& f' V; \; F& H" T) ^- `recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
, {( f; ]8 q* N5 p0 ~1 b* U+ ]Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
( X" X9 e- o% b3 V2 V0 _said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and; V, k* I( B. }/ \1 z9 d' f; p# x
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the6 r9 I6 W! x4 J! u- w
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible; g5 g0 Q) H1 G
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
: T+ s, S5 C: d! L. g6 [such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained8 b$ g3 q7 H. s, m: }1 y% a
by Toyota's lawyers."- G5 v8 @$ Q5 y+ j
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of8 J0 l7 I6 p1 t& {
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
! s+ h/ Q- b* ecustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he' b: B3 x7 E7 ?5 N7 G" {
said.& Z0 i2 F' F7 j; M6 m0 o$ j
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
7 m1 C; Q" ^4 }; g% t2 M$ {a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
7 T$ ?/ L6 m& x, i1 Fgood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating! a* @; u+ O7 j
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
* G1 r1 P {6 e0 w% [; ]' VSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
6 F* c4 A; P' ]. H# rmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread4 X& L1 m4 I$ B1 D+ i8 c
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the2 B) |! m* k0 l% u4 t# D' o: [
automaker, at least in part because of the government's
" z. I- p% S* @0 n& Cinvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and2 K, R! U7 r7 a
Chrysler.! W( N) K$ t% d
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax. Z5 h6 _0 q- B8 P# l! `9 P
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
7 ~8 K# [7 [2 Y/ z' G( ^, I0 ~Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
/ K4 z# b2 }+ R2 ~served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete2 b ~: A3 p _0 g; i8 O9 G, x$ {
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
" n4 R0 }' X. j' j1 C1 U2 e3 L# Y* ctough."
0 q: q) ]* `# \6 n0 p) e; [$ [---
# R6 C6 t+ w4 v5 p! W! xAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
: \' x9 \6 N) t: ?$ U. pRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
% W- A; {7 I w, [$ J3 I8 |2 athis story.
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