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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
. f2 K$ [5 N, Z' S- I1 b& d" |By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
9 M+ a2 C# F( v- s9 }Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.2 E9 u: }0 A& R
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
! [7 t0 v- c1 z& W1 ?7 {/ lthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
9 X6 w( _' A6 Osolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
0 L. d( m! s5 [& |; p"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
0 a2 G9 s0 e; I4 B7 Icauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
, [: c, T+ t, |) U- e$ AHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
: W& \3 `( k0 uacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and# F+ c! t( A3 l7 E0 c: D# @- v
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor" Y3 C4 {7 s6 Y) T: ^' f6 z
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.' g! c+ {/ G' V3 h0 A& R6 P+ _
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
. O# j9 x& q" a% Yand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp1 B3 F6 S# G3 y8 S
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
0 x0 b% s& M" C# l* d3 G$ Ffurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could- y. m3 ~0 X2 l. f9 [
not stop her runaway Lexus." I9 i9 P" J, F3 K( k
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
/ p5 N# l5 |8 a8 |Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
+ \1 K: R5 w( \9 I5 }$ S! ~"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
$ l& y8 q3 R- | OTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues3 H9 Z3 }1 }. `/ z+ U& j4 S4 g. D
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
( e4 D; T' R$ u$ z"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
4 E0 s1 M; o5 [done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway" b2 v, M; P/ j3 {4 k2 Z
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's- a0 _ Y; }! d6 \8 t
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
! h/ I( b! U! F+ i& o7 bLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an& J- j" X1 \. K4 O1 [ j9 U( z
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of+ A6 X( I5 s' N4 |6 j. P
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
; u' j* P6 l; K1 I" J3 Nmalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
) v/ B- e1 B( \. x5 ]; rsaid.
. p! Q: r$ j- G: o& W' ~ P gAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
]# S$ q4 j/ qhappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
5 X( [) L) I; r& V6 `6 yabout driving our products," Lentz said., o! r0 o1 r9 @" D+ x: h
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
7 ]! n( W! n' `7 ~+ J/ Dproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has; `1 n) I( h4 q2 _( B* }" Y4 ^* }
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
8 r: ]5 ^: k4 ^( ?6 M$ X, S( Omillion in the United States -- since last fall because of9 F' X! g% O0 I, V
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking p* M, E$ b9 M9 f/ l
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
6 K }% t0 z" x$ ]9 n! ~concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of+ U9 w6 [! w+ e9 j* Z( Y
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
( Q7 N) x N, ldown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
) A! ^, \# r, | h3 Z/ freceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration' |/ w3 D: P9 p( A: m) V
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.7 r3 o# F9 K3 o6 M) U
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own) A) C0 v0 [( v1 t- [7 V# g
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he& r; R0 Z, T" D) `: A- Q$ o7 W
understood the pain./ g% m- k& B0 [# M1 r X9 c
"I know what those families go through," he said.7 I1 _3 a2 C. Y$ |$ ?$ ~% N+ _" M
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's2 [2 a7 c& h5 U6 ^+ B& ~
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
( |- ^( M9 V) t: T5 W5 K+ NBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman! S$ M6 q$ T1 M. C+ E
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
2 C, ^7 M) B @1 Ein place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
0 ~8 c- o' x1 g- v2 xLentz replied: "Not totally."% Q9 p/ C, L' k) [# g
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
7 j9 w3 j# q, k0 o"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said! k) c) _2 A7 E1 D& L) J5 [
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas1 w9 T/ b7 w8 s3 F) M( I
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
; H" l; C0 Z0 E, j, M: K. k5 C. b dvehicles already on the road.) Q& A% |& w: U s( J: a; ~6 M) W
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify A& V: V1 g6 ]% n% M( h
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
% \ I5 Z9 Q4 D: w' j t& Z6 L _responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and3 f& S7 s( |! A; a
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
8 m! C: b' Y9 x# B& z/ X8 ykilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems. Y% R' r3 f3 a
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a+ S/ X& _; R5 R
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
. }4 U9 Z7 N, O0 ~% h& w+ pfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight/ \: r. S( P' H# ^
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
' c. w4 B# d0 E2 x! bcommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
( V: B& P: C c2 O; r, R! C" U3 arestore the trust of our customers."
- K' U% D t/ u& W% M" i+ J' jLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from' I. I8 Q% u4 ?+ L
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly6 Q9 S! s$ A+ J( R9 U/ t
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
# K2 o) a! Q q+ j4 [$ x; wshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and0 s# E; D3 H0 p+ Q$ D/ l7 Y
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
. J/ {* L2 U+ lthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
2 Y* M$ O; `8 t! X# Lturn off the engine.
7 @5 P5 _# f- s6 b H+ A5 pFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
2 p7 b6 t+ M% b+ R; ]October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
. u9 k5 d- L' m$ |! l"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she9 a6 F- {& Q0 F! H3 U) X0 p/ } j8 J
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
]( L4 x! u5 T9 z- pto her complaints. r% t. U! m! T( I4 q* X8 D
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
* B& B7 R) r4 Y" \! Breturned again and again to the question of whether electronic7 l" G% d9 t3 N! u$ n# v
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
) D; Q9 N" N2 D# B9 F"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
0 O9 z4 E1 e5 i: ^8 y& m# D# r* j8 mthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited) J$ u) Y0 Q& Z+ ?* R
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut/ X7 G# v: e" K0 ?& R5 Q
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."" X, \! v m0 g0 R
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in+ v6 H Q2 ^7 {1 A1 k9 P
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
# A! L( L. K2 c5 D. w2 gbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls- v# D% w- p3 e8 i5 r7 b, d
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer! t+ ?- f' O) B- v& t5 Z
every question."
" @8 n5 |7 ?7 k! f3 Q: qToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
& z& B/ z$ o( U5 p. v" @electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The' E' T/ J! i' Q* O
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But/ _( ^1 z" ~. r# l6 M' ~% o, P N& Y
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small/ j1 e& R0 ~9 p& d1 c
number of vehicles
% _5 x3 r9 t# ]0 VTracking down an electrical problem can be far more
0 E. W% t6 z. T8 ?3 S9 }difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a0 A: q W; t( l$ y2 c; o B( y
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one$ j+ U) ^9 q& b3 C
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.9 y7 I; A# ^! s: c) m4 D
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
3 M/ O. \0 g8 F8 jwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
* }+ Y& z; F: H' U8 Wtrace at all.( G% G8 E/ u$ w
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
+ M2 F! ^7 f1 D6 ?( E% M7 J1 ldatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
+ c# H) T3 S- |0 s5 F+ u5 d$ yacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
6 J& s. |( I* G7 K) F# }- Orecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.) M }$ g1 E) ?& h' @3 P. W
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
: c3 j0 r( ?' C( tsaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and8 Q$ `. j; W: L6 ]& d
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the. q; l" T* L. l' u5 h% `4 E
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
) G) V7 M1 G" V% H/ G7 qcause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only7 F6 y; K1 N8 ^/ h; D
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
* Q& j9 @' U, `/ t7 Eby Toyota's lawyers."4 V* S& U- Z8 h; P$ t: y2 u
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
0 h K& l7 M( u" ^problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
) n9 w' u4 Q8 T$ S' S! m. E0 o! b; Tcustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
' f. n v% F D* z- E& X/ Bsaid.5 g! \$ d& \6 X( u; f5 w& o, d
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
+ Z8 |/ f) x3 x5 P" J" ua rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
5 M. i8 F' H5 `1 E4 W- w5 }* hgood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
l; q! T, K# r3 g& r9 V# |officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.. p& h# Z9 m- y& v8 l$ l
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying) @0 A; `; `6 r' i2 r% C' Z
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread& x$ { B; P1 ^/ O- M
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
! r, n k& Q& K# N) B! Vautomaker, at least in part because of the government's
% }! D. L0 Q3 d- E7 r" Ainvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
$ C. h( L( c. k5 A4 p) FChrysler.
: w. \2 y7 z9 s& f"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax" u( I9 Q- C) X
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
1 Y& r$ `% i; q' N7 o4 `Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also4 E1 b# q1 y' `# R* i
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete/ s8 _: I# }1 ~4 b7 ]7 X3 M
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
* d0 C1 e4 J5 F3 R8 h4 W ctough."/ B5 ~( h% F- q2 r2 i G4 P, v6 z
---9 L9 w; [# }5 _+ N2 s2 B
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
$ Q# j$ L& y8 _) C' g2 URaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
2 k% v2 i H% C3 @- R/ Bthis story.
! j( H, `) p: _6 E& t- n9 j$ F" c& n
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