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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
7 u3 _0 K& p2 l) j; HBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
5 V+ T( v% f' }2 l2 r& p1 _Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
0 y* R( ?/ A. F2 W1 D2 g$ W/ S2 qoperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
3 |! D* q. [' n# ]6 g4 Y7 mthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"/ X0 C. z8 M6 b6 z" ?7 X, P
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
$ p3 \- T0 N5 c"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
9 ]5 \( T; }- a) Y5 L2 acauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.' O& `9 O9 D1 F
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
3 V& u+ s0 Q( y' L$ zacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
7 Q% c. ]$ p; u7 @: R* Utrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor$ U$ _5 i* m; D& \
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.% M9 V& J9 }9 ?: y9 ^
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
$ J2 J9 \4 F# R: ?! g3 _5 Cand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
1 ~0 c0 G/ q/ O# G2 @criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
0 I+ a: v' d. W2 r& _further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
: J. V4 L0 y, D) t5 L$ Nnot stop her runaway Lexus.
5 b) I3 p8 H; \- d8 b"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,! T! y( i0 H' ^
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
# f/ y* e! G6 g/ ~0 M"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.: w% E$ E& b* e7 ]( ]+ c- S
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues& X$ ^5 Z9 }- T& j, l K# G
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
. ]" X, s# F, J* @' f5 D"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has+ R" ?) D# g6 L* l* ~: e
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway. o9 I& o% A/ X1 g- o. H. F: {
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's: T. H* E; {$ L3 s% J3 x9 |
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."3 d+ o5 Y! {' @9 c- `2 `
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an' g% o' @& n4 x" k- s
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of2 n# C- M; P' r7 C
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a5 U: {5 o2 Q2 C: ^1 x7 g
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
7 F [- Q& _& v- e& vsaid.8 U' _2 t5 M& u& t& N% ~1 Y4 Q; D9 P
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
& j1 ?0 M! b6 K! t- ~- W h* ahappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe' Z A/ w) ^) ?$ E
about driving our products," Lentz said." M- y+ q+ ]' Y, O3 u
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's% C3 b+ C# g0 l+ f1 x Q1 ^
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has% B- u0 `- Q' M
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6' m( E6 }' H2 N4 Y; B d
million in the United States -- since last fall because of0 u" U5 E( X- o1 l/ H
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking% A2 |: ?4 `( }& J1 ~9 H
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering& _" @- k4 r8 e/ _( d: a+ g# I' e
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
: \1 n+ n: {$ ]! x9 D& X2 otheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
* x" n' Y" K7 P/ l0 d; xdown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
9 o- z: S2 }2 B# O5 l9 `5 c% Wreceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration+ L" I b* L; s2 @' H# a; a' O! W
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.
! D4 T: ^' U/ c% U4 uLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
& o/ K, h p( ]% o( g+ J- P: Lbrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he7 n0 x9 M. h; { U% N! y
understood the pain.
e) x/ G* Y9 ^0 _2 } p5 o"I know what those families go through," he said.& @6 |# \' `7 [* W8 Q! G
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's% w3 F9 n# E; d! t6 P- W9 f+ p
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.0 B; K* a6 N* c% T$ Y$ H
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
, y+ [" H# D, O; Q4 v& E' X6 a% YHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put# f: E1 d! E' |1 F" R
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,: [2 F! X; N( I6 J
Lentz replied: "Not totally."/ V4 K9 g1 n9 K- w
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were1 }9 i' G& b9 C. F! U& Z4 J
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
$ u1 X- k, F" q) ?% L9 l6 ^( HToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas& M( C7 f( ?7 W' U
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
( @0 @& q: D7 J) p, T! _1 [2 Rvehicles already on the road.' c% H! X( Q6 p1 i
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify2 q0 Y) ]# v$ R) t1 y
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
, `2 Q' r. @+ r: X4 v: M& lresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
3 ^1 b/ P1 A2 J; J# ~2 o- Qoffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were4 L4 d7 q# X: V/ h/ u
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
. Y( K# H( O2 _- o7 ]. H"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a1 A; X s8 p m) ]# t
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
, G$ m$ [( J! S/ j" Rfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight- i. {* D) d8 V0 A: I
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
8 A: M; x* [; O; |commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
' L$ t; L6 P$ B" Y6 V+ g/ [" Krestore the trust of our customers."
7 u, K2 C( [" G1 }6 Z* t& tLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
3 Z/ M5 w% P2 [% q- _* Y# i/ ^Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly6 a2 ?/ E7 F( |7 g' N
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
$ z, {1 G! F5 ^. oshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and7 l- a1 n& S' \
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
5 z; _7 g3 ^1 t8 Xthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and4 O/ B" v" A/ ?# ~
turn off the engine.9 v) F; f$ x3 g: R) P
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of4 j! M; `% l* p% d) C
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
* f% ]& ?* K/ C* T9 m% R"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she2 y/ L. [* `+ {; [% Q7 @: t7 A, b$ S
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
) z* B2 K. r( ?to her complaints.
9 O, I( H: B1 M! wIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers0 y8 J% B- H4 ~
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
+ H i S2 O' a5 l' V, e: |malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
) w# o j9 z# C, m6 z"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
7 K9 Z4 G! ]( B- a+ l1 N. Pthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
1 n6 P$ Q6 w U. N* J3 A"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
- |. t. ?. `( C5 z5 R% Coff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
1 R h! s$ `5 q0 bTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
6 S! i6 n/ v3 X. P! V9 Y: ]prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were- {4 d: Z2 q" z7 K9 r8 Y+ D2 i# I. w
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls1 b; T' T* J7 f0 O
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
! W1 e ~3 x9 X( bevery question."3 {: s4 T% C( i( ^2 K* Z. t% ?& M
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether8 Y0 `9 @' }2 R
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The; N$ u4 B. x6 q- E' @
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But# p+ ~" D, F: }; ^- L. J/ }
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
1 `5 E6 T( ]1 H% ]' y) K7 unumber of vehicles; _ I t! v, O. s- l
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more
; F. ?9 v# V5 ?$ d7 d6 w: Ldifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
/ V- N! Y! H8 n. ~7 nmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
3 O8 g6 ~8 @6 msource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.9 s( v8 m% y4 c4 q2 }# l4 R+ l3 p7 @
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,; T# _2 V# g, v. }! { |
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no8 o' z2 o& e% S5 M
trace at all.
, c# s; n ^$ n5 L$ PHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
$ U* b5 {( H2 N$ W* bdatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
$ Y5 I% K; @+ D, s# N0 gacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
3 n8 K3 C0 l! _# o( ^2 G) Erecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.5 P" Z S' O( h9 F
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
8 i6 y5 }2 c8 e2 |( Vsaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and7 ~+ H. D/ Y: N4 r1 ~% T
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the; G' R# V; Y" n3 h# K
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
B E _9 @! t0 K; p- _cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only; v' `" V3 m) \+ b
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained7 M, _/ l1 r9 n4 k" p1 u% Q
by Toyota's lawyers."$ R4 d/ ]0 `+ ~2 y [
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of* R8 s) V) _( i+ P$ L8 O( ~
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our1 r, l2 ~! q# h% d% f9 n' y6 O
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
% W. ~8 T: F& x/ ^; r3 l4 hsaid.
0 d1 l6 ` g h5 L"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with6 b& N6 J9 U0 C8 }* ] n
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
, Q' B( q$ h2 r* |& egood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
) H* f7 c. S! w# T" K! K, uofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.$ U' F% m! O h+ x; M
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
; ?0 `! _% {1 ?: V3 [1 Z7 r+ |, Smembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
& O# Y9 \- [2 T* E+ g! irancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
* c- X3 O Q* `% W* C+ K2 }automaker, at least in part because of the government's
$ n4 c! t3 `: K2 {) q- Z# \" iinvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and" T2 g! F. t% e, g/ s3 S
Chrysler.
+ T' N& b) }, Z/ I% s"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax, R& q* Y+ p2 d5 y' D
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a( _8 w( Y# t+ v( M/ X
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
# g# v# `0 J7 f' V: _- ^served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete, `( t! L+ u" K6 ~
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty/ N, t' R: Z+ v/ z; h8 w8 T
tough."
* v3 w K) O7 H( V H. ^# L. a2 ~---
n& l0 T) D$ h0 e2 B. R6 iAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom- L" I! r. K: n
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to# x0 y* p3 Q7 K# I* x1 I* ^
this story.
5 G5 ]5 J0 ~& e9 S7 s3 W2 y& J3 E0 m" s( D7 c9 _+ P
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