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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
! _( q8 }) g8 R' u$ F RBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS8 C0 I/ k) A7 i+ ^8 W3 L: y4 K
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.; H2 x* f5 d+ D7 N
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
/ v7 ~3 M4 o7 E4 R; {$ j hthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally" c0 e/ g4 G4 ^
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.8 n" g+ [3 a2 z. N: Q" \. |0 G' Z
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential& H' y! a5 M) T' {1 U
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
3 Z _( d; l% `- E7 wHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected4 Z; U) \4 E' W9 @
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
- n+ H; Y `/ k) btrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
' m# m! } m7 z* b# gmats and sticking accelerator pedals.
3 ~$ o `; V( l& \3 @' PHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal# q) h: z r2 _) R
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
1 P8 ?7 T1 k4 jcriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
- `) ?8 u* i$ [' g) p% O, yfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could j2 L% M; r* v u
not stop her runaway Lexus.6 |" E2 Y+ {" R3 ^
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
6 G. [. z9 r& k& e _3 w8 _$ f& L; tTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second' Y8 W6 @) @8 U
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
& @& s! z, E; \; VTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
- A6 a2 ^& W8 e2 f/ s" \7 `early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said- f- V2 w( }& S/ r0 U7 d0 i
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has" A2 Q" X3 i6 @$ C( T+ `
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
& M# U/ E* P( vthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
- X( F6 A4 W4 a, d9 }investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
# y3 C" x/ V0 O f7 B% e: ~Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
- d% O% d" ^. P% q- R; l3 z5 b: zelectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of6 m; J. I. F# ?9 H9 k2 Q
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
2 t- _9 U0 B2 E! z4 `malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
5 R+ K3 a% k6 d1 Y( m- z0 Ssaid.2 h) o& Q) C9 D' F
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
4 b% k. R8 O$ O. @: Dhappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe2 @5 H/ |7 M. J' P8 H; ^1 }. w- `
about driving our products," Lentz said.
7 h* B0 _5 R' s; A/ A9 o4 ~Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's7 V8 A3 H U: {" B) Y) R( G
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has% J( n+ `0 X! Y% ?) e5 I
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6. k; A0 T. C' ]5 y% |, f5 Z+ `
million in the United States -- since last fall because of6 x* r( E& o5 o1 b+ }
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
% h5 U: e/ t* ~1 D2 e. r3 Y- bissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
( p7 I9 e5 |) w' n! t& _4 v& X% ]concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of" i) F$ [; U) ^0 |4 Q8 O* P
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
. p/ x0 t+ D9 j1 u& }down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
5 Y$ `( s% ^- U3 W: @! d7 Greceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
$ q% S! Y& u& |$ a6 {. r }$ xof Toyota vehicles since 2000.
& V! m$ c" R# A& f7 _Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
. L8 J9 x+ T' O0 n" [$ Wbrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
+ ^: n3 j. M$ S h% x' S( `understood the pain.! b. @, u! O* o2 o$ T/ z7 O
"I know what those families go through," he said.
! {6 R4 I3 q. J- l% [1 W5 LLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
, p# D) @* C$ V0 \3 R3 L" T7 \! `fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.4 G8 | N/ t$ g$ B/ \' B
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman6 P0 u" _' c3 q! e$ l3 L+ Y& L: p- L
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put2 c# q! X0 z+ D' a1 l4 ]+ R
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,( c) z) m2 W& `# M' G
Lentz replied: "Not totally."
% Y' A- u6 ^) ~4 I' C9 CStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were+ v4 g, ~% Q1 w" B. b
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said6 i0 j/ S- X0 A/ B
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
- b. k+ K# V# I" [; }0 c! _pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
8 Y# `0 F! [, D' Avehicles already on the road.
$ g* m9 I0 G4 j* EMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify' f) A) b5 k" u) `
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
1 x6 B! ?+ Q( x: y, {responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
9 j! f0 G& P- V$ x0 F/ E! doffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
7 n& h( w4 l. r( W( S& J4 ?killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
" ?. t( d: b5 l0 p' L"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a* y* U+ \7 ^3 d' g
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony# ^0 T* _) l0 \
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight. H! V& R0 a; t. t m9 Z
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal: h5 W1 L1 i5 l+ n" H' q( ]
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
* }) T( }0 m+ C0 Grestore the trust of our customers."0 z5 F; p$ [/ D6 ^! p' v8 u6 F# i# A
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from. Y9 F+ {& c K) {: ]6 f* ?9 ^+ w
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly0 j3 t7 K& k( Y& H6 B( U' j
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --. o) w, S# ~6 q7 H
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
# H# ~1 b$ `" l$ }5 ]hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
7 q$ Z( e4 T' q' ]; n; Mthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
$ p* n/ S: p+ u/ X! ~( p) ]: }turn off the engine.. [/ l- P: d7 A( m- c2 i
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
) t) J0 e9 S% POctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience.". A' @. e/ T6 q% a) q$ Z2 C7 ?
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she& u" y3 v7 R/ A u
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
( K) l; v; m8 V3 Xto her complaints.
" [8 y: h5 d1 W5 `# X% S) n( ]In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers7 B; A% Q% e6 _; V0 I8 s% C5 F
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic5 I0 x: X" H: I* x) X g
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
+ I* a& |( E$ L% k3 ]7 K"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric) s9 o1 F9 |+ M1 a% v4 n
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited* U9 z) G# `& H$ W
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut/ s0 a& I. ~* d3 {' C* q
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure.", L6 b! Y: T7 p0 b3 |$ X
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
g8 I8 e2 j8 k9 ]) R/ G7 _prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
) l7 E; t' e4 {# j" r% Y+ S0 bbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
- c" F$ Y" K" s1 ^$ Awere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer5 p$ J% I6 Z' \7 g' c
every question."; V9 _4 b# S3 ~5 H' M! f, j
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
- W+ d) g0 b. I" }. W& N+ }( qelectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The5 }" b1 D$ R$ y- K0 l& p
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
5 e4 p$ K7 c% |( \7 R% Z- C8 X+ C+ Lcommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small
* R) D: X; }* e* _number of vehicles; [* H$ F. \7 C* }) V/ j
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more) v% [, o0 [# \" E! d6 ~
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a+ R7 d/ Q+ B$ k) i+ f1 Z7 G+ I
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one0 G4 f1 N P4 ?" h/ I8 S8 J
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.3 ^; P1 @$ V" G% s. w) c
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
% ~. R: G3 k5 R% jwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
8 B$ W% X0 ]2 E8 ytrace at all.2 }+ ~3 X0 h4 P+ B" b. l+ P) J
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
+ [. z, [3 Z2 X) F% n. | b) Edatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden, u0 p! m3 A# U$ }- A- g1 C2 x- u: |" r
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the3 @, ]9 R. d8 B% j- z
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
- N7 K6 z7 g' @$ t+ n7 V1 _, k2 NRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,0 @5 L8 I3 g8 A# a! r6 F7 C) w
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
; A- x. |3 d/ o6 Y/ Iother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
+ l' Q' j# e7 F, Y! u; }+ Kelectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
, e0 H U/ N) z1 ^cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
& c1 t( p' [3 {: Gsuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
/ {- e0 ]% Y m3 P0 p+ e$ e. mby Toyota's lawyers."
; j9 p( o/ d: s* u' j& WLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of3 S3 z9 E# h4 K; `, U
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
K* C+ w8 Z' ^4 G9 kcustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he6 X% t& J' O6 E& m
said.# T1 L; d2 L U- l- U
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
. R d+ g0 o1 k/ s5 C$ P ca rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our4 J8 h/ E7 ?* I2 w2 d# H5 l
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating3 K8 L) v/ r- \4 \+ Z$ U
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.2 n" Z: D/ m9 M4 F% Z
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying# S/ C6 m9 x/ Q: j: V
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
, l' I" X; O) L; l7 x* \% u+ Yrancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the; y! D: {1 d; D$ U
automaker, at least in part because of the government's7 N7 J) A7 O2 K: B
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
# O& h) E+ v3 q2 G6 H( \8 Q# }Chrysler.
6 n5 E4 v6 {8 t- X% i! f"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
$ _: n. i, e! m% Zdollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
/ J3 P7 |6 t2 n! u* Z6 q; s# `! x( n$ _Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also5 X5 k# Q9 w; Y! v; z- U8 Q% f
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete, A! Q# ~- y4 e3 _! m! q
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
) @% q7 p) z, S& K6 N/ T) t* Gtough."
0 a2 C3 U, ? v5 T6 W8 N---
$ c7 P( @3 Z+ `1 p, f8 KAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
: R3 `! ?/ |: P# X, x. v! J1 j0 XRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to7 W! k/ t$ a1 {7 n& Z3 }3 [5 R% }
this story.
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