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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
' D7 a; {# K& TBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS) I8 `8 F% P. P' T
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
9 V y, y$ S! t; ~% |operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that) z" ~. j& B7 s5 ^
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"! H+ k+ u2 R9 W. x* l+ p4 b1 J; o
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
A% N+ P# f) ?- S' R' ^4 z5 W"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential' N0 E" b' t% ~' [3 V9 f2 S: h, Q7 O
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
$ m) v6 }* F( j Z: v* tHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
# N7 e9 @: W$ x' ?1 a+ }5 Hacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and* m5 H9 |: A- H; M6 G
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
; Z" @. ]5 i8 G! x9 v" tmats and sticking accelerator pedals.
Y( r' q2 G$ o8 p4 R7 wHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal8 U1 E$ D7 d3 r/ i
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp/ }8 T, U2 Y' T" ~# }+ k1 R8 v% i
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be0 u& l2 k* M3 K* j* e/ U
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could% J# l+ ^( P r5 D3 ]/ N' T
not stop her runaway Lexus.
7 q9 P# z0 P+ A2 V7 o* s# D"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,+ C, D& g8 x; o' v& t1 e; M) L
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
7 P9 u: i2 v& e! W0 C% b3 u"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.2 ^7 A: U r5 }6 X3 {+ f5 p" y
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues! D# _2 b7 h3 Q) @- w6 ?, ^
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
5 |! n ] O- |. M9 m"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has/ n) I2 n; a: i) F% y2 m! d( k
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
; @9 J9 [. W2 u# K. R, c ethrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
& u9 `- L* g, b4 N0 Linvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."' r9 ?" A% E8 j0 T3 `4 C
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
0 \" @- E4 q8 ^$ w% |0 M) e' H) U& velectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of! ?6 G6 u& a: o" x
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a; }: x5 m( B1 o- _5 Y( N0 @
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
+ Z9 Q) Q" Y) W, Ksaid.) w2 T0 Z: }, |5 S, c$ M; K
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what( @8 @4 V9 o3 i# l: `
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
+ q9 ?: W' A F( S* fabout driving our products," Lentz said.) j: T6 [+ f; C" t& p
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
9 n9 _5 E; A) i: Tproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
2 \ V1 k/ V- {0 {recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6" d8 k8 q/ q' z4 ]
million in the United States -- since last fall because of
, K! o/ W5 G8 f4 m6 H9 Qunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking l6 X1 T+ G7 d: l: u7 |1 P
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
7 e5 t# ?# E$ {, L. @8 Y. K+ n6 dconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
% t: |' Y- _$ g; H* c1 R+ Z3 s- K$ Q$ htheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
+ [- ]9 _8 O0 l& Z; |+ J9 e7 udown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
! d* h3 H( I; b: a* s! Yreceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration" ^+ ^* |) H8 ~. M
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.
+ Z4 }1 I; F6 aLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
2 c O; l' [* O4 F7 \# Dbrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
+ U+ l1 ?3 i1 `0 j |+ u# ]understood the pain.
9 a4 R/ E9 B& p7 \, w9 L"I know what those families go through," he said.5 m7 p) o: b$ c8 @. _. v
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
, Q. {" D* F$ K# h6 n Rfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
' c) A6 S/ M( G3 r) V9 ~But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
9 V8 b6 n! @4 F4 o6 V! c- gHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put, w2 z% |2 O% C8 L; F. Z7 X2 }
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
" ?9 \( O [2 \9 D4 } ELentz replied: "Not totally."
. ?( z4 j( O/ a8 wStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
2 L% S, w3 v! I) k1 ^"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said1 a t- G |8 u' I2 G
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
; L- v) S% r" Q1 gpedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
! ~+ L& h4 \4 }6 l) Avehicles already on the road.1 e% k# G& W0 z' V' R, ?, B7 w
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify- T8 p, j4 \' T& y
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
" _1 D s$ b4 V8 Z3 oresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
( }. i' C* g) h/ Soffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were# Z' D/ U: m3 S+ H% h/ t! `! ~8 \" m
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.1 }8 Q7 j# I y4 w9 ~0 v
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
6 S9 M9 ` i* y' \& v; g% U8 a9 n( Ltragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
' v4 }# P# s' \3 Ifor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
, O, q6 M& C: @) pCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal4 G g) P# q r- g, ?8 @! ~
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
^" ]4 J- a; {restore the trust of our customers."
, ?8 d3 u4 X: dLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from" q9 ?: `" x2 ~! ?! }$ J3 }/ n
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
! d; k& K4 I; g+ j A; zzoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
0 q/ }* D# @/ ushifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
3 F6 E% J* P# G3 z8 F0 dhitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
% s8 q4 v$ C2 S$ D& i1 m% Rthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and& Y% o' L& j W8 S: _; g
turn off the engine., p5 Q6 k$ H, ^* f* f' \7 S2 y
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
+ u# c1 K) i, c& K- W; A: |October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."8 ]4 M' a, A% I8 q- g* E- u( K7 J
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she3 W* }. y5 E) r0 S) c
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
, B0 j$ u1 Y/ ]6 B9 F& y* K' Cto her complaints.
4 F7 ~( L4 X. f- J2 R) _6 }, Y- @In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
3 \6 ~; ^" g5 r- v& v' d- Creturned again and again to the question of whether electronic+ L1 r% y7 g6 t& z: E! f
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
! E, X2 @8 O: R+ U"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
+ U$ z% {; d" s7 sthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited" F- r1 s _ N- q8 [
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
; X* E& J' Z2 r* N; @off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
) B6 Z# l( f& J# ` |. Y8 _Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
' ~9 U3 k! W8 i7 [) _prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were- V0 @& P- z( o0 f, ^
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls$ j* ^1 p9 C$ M+ d; j
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
- _& q$ Y9 ~) ^% |: n( k9 tevery question."
) \) R1 a# l( I* B" x8 U+ MToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
+ v6 B" ]% B2 f, ~! t! Uelectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The& J& d% o& Q: V3 Y
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
. `+ V8 c8 i7 u5 Gcommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small% A2 b& O, Z& P$ `0 e
number of vehicles
7 Q0 o- i! _ v9 w* y( TTracking down an electrical problem can be far more+ D% v/ n4 X) H' G, D
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
, l* H* ? D& t* Y: b& omechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
6 v! @- R3 ^: c6 u6 m4 v4 Gsource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
. @7 [6 [: c* V+ _" `6 PMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,! |+ _# M9 ?- Q
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
- w/ p4 T9 O' _trace at all.
4 {/ c' L" n$ r; t/ r7 S8 I: lHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call N: u$ z( ~$ n! [, h, V
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden w6 u9 v; x& h
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the0 a% f& G( o+ @, {1 w, ^0 |6 D6 P! X7 T
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
4 s! F( P6 B. s4 d( ~ ~$ H" k6 MRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
x$ u4 Z6 C9 V! e) r& y* ]said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and( C j1 ^) S7 A/ }4 S
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
+ ?, i+ }7 f j! j1 @electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
. ]& G1 j* j% p! |: a1 Ucause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only% k J$ s& y! l* `1 P* w; Z
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained$ g" `3 t, i, C0 g
by Toyota's lawyers."- ~! b5 Q) }2 S9 O) ]% K& @- y& v
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
0 s- h% m2 ^ ?9 A1 }7 X' xproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
* c, ^" w6 M5 [. j# mcustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he- L2 l, J/ a% k! K
said.
9 v7 i6 B3 P" B7 }- D9 h1 [0 R"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
" Y. `* Q1 Q% B1 u _ S8 ua rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
/ E4 q+ j( }' D8 zgood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating8 y! [; E* S5 Z& t4 c; V( J9 S
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
1 P+ ~0 V1 F2 u" X1 XSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
1 k- W, t# S% F* H; T" Gmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
/ a! D7 L8 F) q; w& h% ?rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the* a1 `6 n+ l3 r+ b/ W
automaker, at least in part because of the government's6 ]! A4 x) ~" B2 K9 V; @0 @1 a
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
& F/ j5 z: |1 V( bChrysler.
8 h# f* i" `+ I1 u# [; x$ B6 C"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax$ I3 F+ q# v/ M: K# b& r) n
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a8 W V: s! Y9 y$ L
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
8 {8 Y& ~( |- L. S" q& F0 ^served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
5 _" F2 u% p" _4 mwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty, }) `6 D/ x: B. J6 g# s3 q5 L8 |
tough."
2 R. N" J1 R" e) Y) S---
, A/ Q0 i, j: X* ~8 N! g: M5 T4 aAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom8 J6 u5 f* B4 y" E
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
) {! I5 E# e, ~7 C( uthis story.
1 N/ r0 L' o" @& h6 n( W \) T: D$ ^, T3 C* h
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