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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
' y6 C& j/ l) K! h }5 VBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS g7 J1 J6 }1 \5 q* Q1 Z
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
+ z: G: L6 p0 }operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
% i1 _6 E" |: K# c4 p6 ?the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"3 @ d: c" E8 r4 U& T2 H! w
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
# W7 J# F" p" `, T4 }/ J2 Q"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
* X/ G- K ~; vcauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
3 r. w8 R& _: Q, }, ~" }8 hHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
0 _9 K: o8 N7 Q8 N8 Lacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and# U o A g1 |% u' s
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor( p, G. F) Y8 E8 b$ E
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.4 v% a! E% L. w. l+ a
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal ]! T) N# i* P1 ^
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
3 o) J. T6 H' _% scriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be1 z' u* G7 c* s7 g% ^, A
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
7 F& n2 [) W* D; g/ D- ?. x. Qnot stop her runaway Lexus.
5 c& Y1 z0 H; ], [1 M"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,( M2 g% r$ k# K
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
6 \* F7 W" V$ u9 o"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.4 e7 _% |: M6 M
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
9 F" d5 G, i' r% vearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said0 j2 g* A. C& Q& p0 n4 \
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
$ @( K% d4 a. S: ^# P% ]3 B" W& tdone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
* U! p) Y! L! n, U+ othrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's: E7 J7 I, X5 |0 r% f e) u
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."+ r% |' [$ I2 Q5 o _: _
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
$ |6 M/ l, d9 N2 Q. J! Felectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
7 x5 P2 m# u& J* ^% I: B. \the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a3 S' _! h4 b+ X7 T( g( U5 f3 \" k% v
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
3 P6 z! V0 t4 z( ^2 Osaid.
) H3 m4 ~3 q+ x# ~. E) YAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what# c' ~8 ~ E, `2 ^, k. N3 ]
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe0 e9 O; G) x/ I; r
about driving our products," Lentz said.
J) I+ i: C4 }/ @" MThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
$ C( y" h/ s6 n0 Sproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
5 F: m( o/ u' C5 Grecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
( y' Y% j& }2 smillion in the United States -- since last fall because of' V3 k& ?+ l- p: p
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
3 ^7 T2 w* d( Q6 rissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
: T$ l# Z8 n- s/ s+ fconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of% m) q1 Q+ U# g9 i6 b8 j6 k
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow. a, n! b; d7 C( R, `
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has' t% }1 [ ~/ H( O, c, q, \
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
" o" m% M5 C% Y0 wof Toyota vehicles since 2000.9 {% p- }# M& t6 t' t. v
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own4 |8 ]2 }) S4 ?$ ^$ h! m
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
# K/ \2 D7 _2 ?understood the pain.) w6 {9 E3 m. l) c
"I know what those families go through," he said.5 ^+ a0 d }& n$ N# D# D& D
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's" F8 Y2 ^' [: m& ?, s1 N
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
' c) L4 a* l2 B4 l2 h& W, [But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
* `. Y/ C4 b' e5 G' Z1 o' z- T dHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put8 r. f. v$ @0 @; r7 n
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,4 N# ] m% {1 O8 z* z/ ]3 @& R
Lentz replied: "Not totally.": b1 z# o% \5 O
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were1 z {) B D' m9 m) m% r% R5 M5 Y% x
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said6 A9 d! r: d$ I& L4 ^% ^- m: d
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
( x' o9 N. K# `- D5 N* Hpedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its( d$ R0 H" y. ?2 p# t3 d8 L/ a! c- x
vehicles already on the road.% G. F r" b( h$ A$ P% J9 F
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
+ y$ g8 e: i# K# s1 s4 _# Gbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
$ k: k8 M# k4 m8 R% wresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
6 ? U! U0 m$ Q% [4 S9 G" W5 noffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
V+ N: x! r9 n$ V: c z$ A6 ykilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
) x7 a8 z1 d$ c' q' e1 B6 z"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a$ `2 m, _& m' @3 J V
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
! @& E3 M1 H2 U# L- p* Cfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
1 C8 X. b5 g4 q: l3 a# [Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
6 x; A9 Z9 R2 ^8 l6 Rcommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
9 Z. v9 H- N& D L3 V+ I" m7 brestore the trust of our customers."
; \, U# V4 g; `) D* [& a# I3 BLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
- C( c/ h, l$ I# J4 qSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly- E9 L. g1 T- k } f% X; h
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --2 o: G: ? q8 Z ~' P% T
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and) d6 {* }& V0 Z3 y( U
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
) n& O: P, g# J+ S, C, Ethat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
$ u- ]6 q) j& tturn off the engine.9 d# ?5 w5 J6 l/ Q
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of. v" O' p+ a/ H
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
7 r1 B% _. [3 E3 r2 }) {3 c# L5 R"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she1 f2 [0 h E! t1 K+ D% K8 O
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond8 b' b. ^! n5 I
to her complaints.( a/ V/ k( r; z3 T' ?6 f1 z9 r, Q
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers& w. V- z m" v M: k8 k! n
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic0 L4 w; C* d, U! G
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.. a5 u* ?1 @( G3 P& A( R
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
( R% W' |3 f7 j2 U* Hthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited, }, q* g: M3 r1 \1 v
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
9 P! W6 [1 A( U. C+ noff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."+ @8 t- K3 Y) N, K- @0 b$ O. j M F
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
0 O4 h5 K7 w5 ^. d7 q9 o. gprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
# U, K, T% l' m' o9 Q) P" \being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls$ ~9 C, n5 f2 F+ v+ t) u% [/ A+ V
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
2 f, M1 O4 d; Jevery question."
/ n5 a5 J0 U8 m+ ~* ^/ WToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
4 P: H; C( s- F/ z$ G5 Y$ ^ m1 ^electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
# V: X& x7 p( I( {firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But @) |' ]: k. S) d
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
, v/ `$ p8 p" E. Dnumber of vehicles
" n: j9 a8 X" ?# B* n' T" f0 f8 TTracking down an electrical problem can be far more2 p( a4 ^7 c5 M4 J! d
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
) W1 ]3 p' [5 S, E; m5 Z8 D# |mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
3 c7 @5 T; i( |- ?source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.) ^' r' p! o1 D/ I
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
, ]& t7 E) X' g$ |3 @" r" t! Kwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
6 _9 X/ ~: Y) A: gtrace at all.) z* U$ {7 P4 i& S7 M
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call2 v/ D$ E" E+ M' v
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden! p! h7 z+ P: E! N& A
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the% T; n7 p7 k' ]3 d% n% Y r
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.! K" m2 R9 E A; b4 T( @( B
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,. u2 K: S Z/ i$ `2 J( O# {: \/ v( J. S
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
9 v# X; s9 P/ X' s3 A3 R) |other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the5 O. J& s5 f0 l8 v5 p
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
. B, w5 B: ~4 j' Lcause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only4 G) u8 O2 }& }7 W% g" {$ o6 b
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained$ q7 `+ O$ Z+ Q
by Toyota's lawyers."6 E" u6 t" P V! @ [9 }4 ^+ d& k
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
7 d8 }% D: ~; ~- }: Jproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our0 e3 d( V7 O2 d/ G
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
0 U& x0 i+ C. q0 d' q% E7 Tsaid.
8 z! p7 o$ Q U/ e. B% p: p0 m"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with! J' H* r. R$ }7 T6 {; u8 p
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
3 i# d) _0 t7 ]+ G$ bgood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating4 J% L' p8 t6 D. `2 h
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
% x# }* ~& ^( N/ g% Z3 oSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
# H) D5 u* _9 i$ S7 Fmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread+ {. O2 b. b5 C6 z8 [5 e2 D1 t$ B
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
# p: c& I! H. x5 s5 f% P Xautomaker, at least in part because of the government's8 P+ ^+ s2 p4 h
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
" J2 b$ K y- Z% K8 d2 FChrysler.
. P( c3 W0 H f# @! Q"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax1 O, i9 v! o( i# D+ @$ F x3 @) V r
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a$ ` K$ w# D& P4 u5 L8 t6 z8 r; v
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
) l$ e/ _4 z ?. x [5 Cserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
2 k$ f; p8 j0 T" c, o9 Zwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty, q( d Z9 h$ g* w
tough.": y+ s; u" {8 X D) ?: v! G: y# n
---
9 J4 a" @, B0 Y$ W7 c2 J. WAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom, x5 k" E4 @+ A# ?! o( @: f- N
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
4 S5 U( H; N* A7 s$ k; E( Zthis story.
: l9 Y% s. n' i/ ?) @* R: H& O: V$ E# e( N! Y
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