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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
' L" }0 D5 Q. C9 [% CBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
8 M( S9 ]7 j2 EWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.+ Y7 s3 ]/ j' O8 X5 p# Z2 D' ^& N
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
3 m8 \& \% n f1 qthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"2 a9 c) y) t' {3 U+ e4 |
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
5 H! C' T# z K. C' ~ T"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential1 J; k. |7 S' I8 c
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.7 E9 }$ E$ R0 N7 @
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected ^# {: Y, S/ T( _1 h
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
: u) d) {; t3 C I# vtrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor- A% j5 t, F% G) `$ b1 s2 C
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.5 `% `- P5 [* F
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal! R9 T/ A; o- H( `8 ]! C
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
: |* v" W: j) [: v/ b8 `6 `criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
# g& `# y: k/ E7 Afurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could* W7 j4 m2 [6 B: u8 s8 u6 d) B$ u
not stop her runaway Lexus.) n7 @5 j4 D1 b
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
' ^: Y) F) C8 P, e6 l3 V5 RTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second8 `2 {& E5 f; y$ T, K! S9 E2 C) W1 B( a
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
, O' d" R5 {3 G6 M( p& s5 Z$ Q2 p3 aTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
- o7 d6 e- b. ~ Iearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said) {3 ^: X, C% A
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has4 b8 V, c& c1 z# X! N' k0 C
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
, |% `5 k) t; J8 e0 _+ Ythrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
" r2 P) W5 E# r# }/ H) cinvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
9 {0 s' c( K! [4 s0 HLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an" E/ y6 F3 `$ `: D4 ^
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of% H! r& d4 Q0 F- m7 e6 D) `
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
- ~) {0 {6 ?# d, Bmalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he# L+ E5 e3 d& r+ W! r+ o
said.
- G5 z1 ?7 h% H% HAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
" B: F% z5 t# M# ahappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
" k' X j# Z0 habout driving our products," Lentz said.1 W$ `* H k! K* ]. G
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's- C8 ~8 m0 Z$ e5 E6 q7 U
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
: w" G/ H; w) T, M0 Nrecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6* q- p P: ]; n1 N2 d
million in the United States -- since last fall because of7 u; }5 C" b+ I0 {8 H
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking/ A$ @; t5 M8 m+ f. ], X; y
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering8 N; B/ Q ^& F; h5 a2 e ~# p+ `
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
4 c2 J! F1 M1 ]8 J4 G, G9 ?% ltheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow5 X z1 J" ~: E6 ^2 R' `
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has9 D& G2 `3 v! L0 V! L, n+ k
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration8 i& l. D9 t4 d# J# W, z
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.
( R! y, s6 p7 x2 C+ D0 d5 a" C5 yLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
1 f3 u+ d- _& a. m* ?2 u& ?$ k* ?4 Mbrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he6 A5 P" Y4 Y! o4 g9 v4 U
understood the pain.7 q0 g) b' t Q7 ?: z; \) D
"I know what those families go through," he said.
# n' H. F" Z1 H$ `8 PLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
' G+ w. L5 B) B. M+ h; Efixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
/ `" x& k f3 v& EBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman0 y r/ ` Y* J5 G0 y6 M: j9 C2 V2 U- F F
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
; W+ L! u% u4 l" q1 P9 hin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
7 |; M3 X% v! n7 @' V5 ]Lentz replied: "Not totally."
) D2 e" s$ f! G& A4 F# DStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were: h b; z7 O" J# d
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
9 E3 B) d! n wToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas5 @" t& `% r( l1 C
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its5 X( E% H5 B m. ^
vehicles already on the road.
f/ X$ l6 j8 VMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify Z8 I7 @5 f6 U. y. X
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
- j, l" [7 E% yresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and' e. E2 r) U1 W# y4 a& e5 r7 o
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were; l; R/ }7 t/ J. w1 F. h: u
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.8 h; W a# m5 A0 H
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a: o) m; N$ ?. i: b0 F% P$ m0 ~- n
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony+ D- j8 O3 y! Z* W
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
( s- ? U" Z% M( `Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
0 b7 F6 M/ a6 j: _. W0 v* a" lcommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to" z$ N. b5 T; _5 b, g- t
restore the trust of our customers."
' b9 O) M+ d" ^$ KLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from4 ] G' l* s1 x7 j, m& V
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly q+ n8 T/ ?2 x8 q) F
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --( X( n* D! c! P- C& w$ _# k" j: c4 `
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
$ j. [3 v! l( n$ L) y' S Dhitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
* K1 V0 P, I" l: J0 j! }# fthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
4 G# I2 y! u4 {0 q+ ~turn off the engine.
: N% e% T3 D( z6 eFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of( E9 U) X% k( Y/ g0 v; w0 m& I
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
0 b( O2 T+ v, P' v7 K"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
9 v, W/ ?: F+ g; Q4 M% j5 h9 G$ fsaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond5 H, j. @4 [0 w& H4 L5 p
to her complaints.& d+ x e- A D3 D; n/ A
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers; |4 `' x) ?# K7 u; |, ? s
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
3 \$ T# w) r* ?1 p- G1 U6 Pmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
: n2 y+ G8 I8 b5 t5 P"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric/ \1 R. U/ e9 C
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
$ Z9 T4 K: r7 d9 d% R& _: ["fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut8 c- d5 A' C: o# o& W l' f
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
7 r2 R8 W) E8 Y+ A2 wTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in! ^$ ^3 Q6 j9 b# @- J3 h' h" t
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
' B9 ~4 k4 H8 N, \$ Ibeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls4 S) Q. q7 k# P8 h6 f: a& I
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
' u) h& ]" e5 G/ w7 Q2 y0 Revery question."1 x. w% [$ v* i9 |3 `5 I: L
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether* C, s) E# U. |& R
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The* ^5 U4 `5 T, ?7 K8 W3 w" z
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
" h& v: C' S( \9 ~: r1 ]committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
+ @+ O1 o, L% Y" e/ fnumber of vehicles7 g( v9 o- S: p
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more1 V# b$ G6 x6 z2 ~
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a8 C4 @5 U+ T6 N; y
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
( ?1 O! k, T5 X$ r, k; A) j7 `3 r, ?source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
) l( h' M; i; P$ B. \! YMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
6 [8 L6 |' @6 e: H4 gwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no* D( o6 r& V: h+ _) _
trace at all.# D; T2 c7 u3 w9 H0 z+ W5 u
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call6 W5 S7 J: X- K& D+ u# [+ P- N
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden4 l0 c& \$ R* W- s5 b6 f
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
6 y& x3 ?* B3 b% k+ i6 N% C$ P1 Nrecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
& i$ ]8 Y. a- }9 N+ n( b) fRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee," a$ T% T2 U6 ]. d2 X
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
* A1 `8 `' D# t3 Rother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the+ b* j; {) g$ I, ~8 r" h
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible2 R5 G" [( R6 g9 @
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
& x D! |2 O1 V$ J/ `1 Msuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
+ c) b" K& @2 n* \4 C1 y& e$ W$ cby Toyota's lawyers."
7 W, g9 e0 I. uLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
" D: R6 b% b6 _4 ?9 u6 i, T3 ]+ ?problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our8 ^ t. d5 X' y) B
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
; N! T: W. ~ _; S+ g% a' Psaid.! j# _& p' _) g1 H+ h
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with/ e& K' j, p& t4 @5 r
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our5 L0 s% O9 p. b
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
' H4 F+ m" ^" s' ^; o; Bofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
" l6 J# c+ b7 ~+ _* ySeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
" s6 R3 W; L" G: K: } r2 u* j( U- [! Fmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread) D) v& S% S8 E& b9 C$ a
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the* [- y2 u, `& d1 A9 H+ Z; j
automaker, at least in part because of the government's
* |$ D9 p ?3 h; g( zinvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
7 o6 M) w+ S/ T0 U; d- LChrysler.; t1 ]/ `0 Y& H: |& p G
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
a# q; M! K; U/ F P, }/ x2 r& ]dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a* p2 d( X1 X2 R% \9 Z
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
8 E$ P. G* p- x5 y, K- L* hserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete2 c. k2 h, v, @
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
# o1 C% e9 b0 s n$ f( Y$ Itough."0 p+ O* \7 z5 Q: l% T
---) i0 ]' e5 |& S; ~: m3 A
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
K" l- b% q* R G% C! I" URaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to" r7 c5 C7 M0 B1 F D
this story.
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