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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
$ A! v0 m3 H" qBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS! v( t0 j# a0 z
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
6 i+ q8 F* H9 @8 F& Z( x# Soperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
' X# J6 D& k% \/ w* ]: o8 R2 [the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
+ w5 t" s1 u0 o" m& k* {solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
& B6 S, K, C* M- S; c: n; u Q"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
5 f& I1 c: P# F- C3 Bcauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.' c8 r1 v) `2 g* E- z2 D
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected* _. u# y. |9 T! I, a, e- G
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
5 w! o. t( R7 u" ?" {trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor- F" o' k; G7 E% T3 u* a, ?
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.! f% W" r! m+ _7 `0 E# L
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
- _6 ~1 V' l5 c! S) Tand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp7 }- B* _& ^1 @& A
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
4 n/ a, C" T" U5 @6 d- E" a" x1 Ffurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could% G: k: c, v; E% W* t3 b
not stop her runaway Lexus.
* W* m/ \( H5 L# F. D"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,/ T8 Y8 s+ ?5 f' J$ ~ s) \- [
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second; U3 `; I" W" ^! k6 ~- V2 D$ k
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
: t* C; D) d# ]; ?7 F5 S9 RTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues: l& M6 Y$ w. H* x% T
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said* V/ u( ]' a4 `- ]1 C, A1 h/ w# Z
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
5 t4 s: t+ m* ?done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway P1 \: w9 H; N1 L0 v$ c3 ~) `
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's) h3 V, F/ g {! g
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."- B5 w' O# F; E. S' J& G
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
+ @$ }) V' ?. d- J0 F3 X& Pelectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of4 a/ b0 W7 O0 h0 h
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
. i9 B/ \7 O: y) [malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
% a+ t. n! s3 v% t! Gsaid., D% f: R( ~5 E! c
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what5 F6 p+ {) E [2 }9 V* Q
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe; Y$ w. g8 s! M% b( W
about driving our products," Lentz said.
3 _) ~! l: V8 BThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
5 W* h9 w2 H e$ |" nproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
; W8 O; Z( E( d# g3 B% ?$ }8 _; Trecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
: q5 l; `2 z8 e/ O, {% rmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of
" b6 [+ d, U L' p4 Hunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
; _! ?6 R6 h( L; Nissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering3 `$ }# d) L$ M9 }
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of4 N# u) Y0 o7 W" Q9 r# t
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
) F# E. c5 k) p1 H( \down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
" F7 u, U% t9 s7 qreceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
1 Q4 \ H) E% v) K# r6 j7 ?of Toyota vehicles since 2000./ G+ P' o- ^0 F
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own; J5 w0 d( k, M" B. q
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
N; i6 C" G5 p8 funderstood the pain.
0 U7 B4 V) C; i: t"I know what those families go through," he said.
Y3 q' o' h7 Y4 bLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
' a/ j( ?8 M; Z2 ?# C, S. G$ ufixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
. b/ u e" A& C$ ~8 jBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
$ Z& C! r7 C8 b1 |3 i$ uHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
% m$ S4 J, z9 Zin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,2 ^* s& G* ~2 N" t8 z. }
Lentz replied: "Not totally.". _+ p* x4 M& x6 C9 U4 L
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were4 ^) Q; c& u( M5 f' Y2 u
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
& ?1 [/ i" D6 Q' U% o1 qToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
+ g! J8 g& b. Fpedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its$ E* y% h. F/ P* ]+ F% j5 H
vehicles already on the road.0 m# J- k* P, W! j
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify* }/ A2 A" [9 U) v0 b
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
! v0 I `" h2 e% w4 eresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and7 d4 c8 W" ?; Y+ @* r
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
3 c- G4 v: ^' I5 D) q; ykilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.# i5 ^1 Z, V3 \: q! z
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a# v- B* C( j8 h8 E$ x, X/ \
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony+ r) ^2 Q- b* l( X: f* A6 Q1 z
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
# v/ Y; r# ]/ {! i3 t9 [3 _" NCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal9 c, F) ^3 k5 M. m! j
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to4 E) _' d$ L+ X+ k7 G- a$ p
restore the trust of our customers."
2 F9 w2 x4 x) `: TLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
7 r7 ~( ^/ A4 v0 h9 u$ `Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly' d3 O4 Y. O5 ^, D! A
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
& u. m- G; e* [. G6 c* @: ^$ O/ ]shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and1 ] ~3 R7 K# g w# t
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough" A6 R( z1 S. }/ o \
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
6 {* {6 c# E$ t% U0 h. H% Kturn off the engine.* E/ T: H4 E/ y/ r) f! y" W
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
+ _! g! P; W* MOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
C: T% Y' v, {"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
5 _! X9 L. L* e. f5 lsaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
6 h) Q! E2 l0 Dto her complaints.
o9 ?( p6 Q' n, p. h+ K( d+ NIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
$ ]+ o4 j9 W1 d, [1 h) q7 breturned again and again to the question of whether electronic! ~6 f' H. i; B" O0 H& ?
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars. [& u; b* c/ ?9 M0 M- @2 w
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric( L/ k/ a& W; |: b' X3 ~. \6 I
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited. J( h2 C; N* T; W# Y
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut @1 H, e" _. O7 Z# \4 W
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
- y* N4 Q( A5 X; Q5 s) m) t1 C! }, ^Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
: Q1 {6 Q# T; H/ Z3 M# Sprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
( g& u x4 v2 Fbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls" \$ I/ i/ B) D7 B8 Y
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
; E+ `. i- g; n: t8 Y+ H6 Qevery question."- r* [# w4 d/ a1 F6 Y
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether2 ~$ ?, z: `5 v/ p% O2 Z# e
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The% ]# P# Z; T$ G" L! s
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But: @3 T8 b0 R/ N* h
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
& G: Z& t$ X0 P( e* ^+ D2 ~5 lnumber of vehicles/ W# T( g- T4 X- X( f- X& x
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more
H$ n( k; |, R0 A, M3 c3 kdifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a/ e+ G; [! A" x- B+ t8 @
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one# c1 X& }9 \; q9 I
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
6 T" K5 x' l$ D: @Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
+ g2 G1 S5 ^ k. U3 Y3 Awhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
& {; Z$ a, l- s0 H$ ]! t+ T# g* mtrace at all.
* @; s3 W p" `6 BHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
; Q6 \( J! D5 [* |0 J( d5 I1 M" Sdatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden$ O! A5 d- P! l) Y6 T
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the5 I3 t; f; B; y6 I7 S$ g9 k+ A; Z% |
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.) e. ~! {; R; `! q
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
- X; z) j+ U; C# F! Z0 Dsaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and `, b7 U/ t& [5 F
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
- L# `: _/ q# w" b8 q: J& Pelectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible% ]# k" T. z9 F* Y W5 L1 j
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
0 I! f$ n: q4 v7 W% J0 O# jsuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained: g4 Q5 Z7 u" k& }7 }0 X& J- v
by Toyota's lawyers."
+ Y% O9 W. Q# B. y2 m0 f4 @Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of# z3 e: k7 H/ V% P" d9 V; O8 L
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
& u! f4 t% l0 Pcustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
5 Q( U+ u3 N) D- x: M$ M/ X! E) Ksaid.
* t) K+ ]9 s, Z. W+ ?$ C1 o9 f"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
& V0 x. U" Z: ~9 B( M$ }4 I, ca rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our1 U& D* i" p0 P6 N) Y
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating* b8 O, }. \* T* n ?
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
0 H+ G' |( C/ v' q2 g. |Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying7 B8 a+ ^3 o" W& M7 b
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
: @+ g7 _. D9 B8 S+ W; _rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the$ b3 ^/ j3 Q# D: z8 L$ Y% L% \$ n* i
automaker, at least in part because of the government's
7 F; {5 f R6 z7 n; y1 f1 s1 ]investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and4 M0 N9 `. |& h* D3 B' M
Chrysler./ E- f \; R$ j4 M) n
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax2 u* i: z+ d9 U6 K' W
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a; H1 Q- |3 T7 R$ t6 i( K- G
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also" W+ R6 l& c. a8 t0 f* e9 A( H
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete0 w" C5 D0 ?& D- `7 L
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty& {$ _8 k5 d! l8 H3 ?9 w' q) F
tough."
) [1 `$ ] x+ F4 O---" k7 n: _7 i; B& P
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom- |% ? }; I; m. P6 L1 H% w
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
( \' d& @ E8 d3 @this story.! m+ d9 R9 J6 j5 B
2 q, q( C1 X% }; I) ?* M: m6 f
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