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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
* J1 S4 k6 b% o- VBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
. ]% V. ]8 z2 l( b! ]$ n4 {+ AWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
. _7 h. z. _3 Y5 i& }, c4 R& L: qoperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
# q* k& b6 [5 t1 k- D+ \. w' ithe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
. y% V" E9 A8 K0 N9 }solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.( \" |8 h% e/ q" P4 H' T$ f! j
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential( f& X5 f2 B8 m
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
' f$ Y0 o8 y/ Z9 L; F8 |$ _However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
3 V* y% B. a' A5 W4 Wacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
- w: c- X5 G; Q/ T) Rtrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor \3 N& J; ?' |6 Q, o% X0 [
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.
- y- P1 q' @% z$ N4 O0 {He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
8 b; M+ V5 U b0 }) ?$ Y6 Qand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
& U' d( |& \- _criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be2 f2 z4 j- q$ y8 a
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
1 j! U2 a% q' ~ @% i% {not stop her runaway Lexus.4 q$ n$ d4 k2 Y7 E6 O$ ]% ^* Y
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,9 m z! E; _/ A
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
* V/ F! t* ]6 k u9 ]4 J& ^9 {* k7 s"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
* B% O& Z* L" e: C6 g9 X {Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues" I; `6 o( m' N
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said" N/ p' ]4 T. v/ F" `7 b
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has/ O) e3 P: w5 K! v7 e: y8 z
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
! `/ J: i8 ]" Ythrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's8 E1 _/ W. {, w2 \4 T3 s1 |& ?' b
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
8 t) J$ r) A+ e7 ~% |1 zLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
2 W" e5 u( |: |' O5 o* r6 lelectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of7 q7 o! P0 q7 K' N) Q4 \ ]' h
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
0 p6 W8 H( G5 ^+ i2 Smalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
/ F' O; Z8 |3 j+ @said.% s& i" n a1 W
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
5 A; h8 C- {; p8 [( u C) Mhappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
' B% ?2 r- F) N4 z5 labout driving our products," Lentz said.
- I2 r6 _: {5 I8 p1 UThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
6 g# m( k; l( A) ?problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
7 {3 ~1 ^: G, G9 S/ t2 f0 m5 erecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 64 O& Q4 u# m9 n# o2 ?# E
million in the United States -- since last fall because of
: s$ P% M; B1 c' }0 d0 O; W) Qunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
9 w- I- O- c! A2 W5 f& ?. J% Xissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering0 ~1 J, L: K% D g
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of6 G0 H5 e: h# B
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow- e: j' }+ A7 z4 H- c5 ^
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
; H4 V; Y4 e% t" M' Qreceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
9 ]* h; P# J/ w- |1 P; @, `* Eof Toyota vehicles since 2000.
! _; w& m$ Y% f( P" j8 w4 uLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
8 _5 o1 L$ J8 L9 O$ b/ N1 Zbrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he: H# S* }5 o3 i& q" I
understood the pain.. m+ u" Q" f. H' E4 N4 e: s
"I know what those families go through," he said.
% w8 s9 Q" x0 s6 L) L9 XLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's% }9 R( b- g8 ?) O" }
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
: U. s, Z. k3 F* e4 jBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman2 d7 G6 i2 @) ^) X/ \' L+ z
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
9 d/ r( ~7 G- Q2 H- ^, pin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,; H$ f5 l4 b9 y2 u% d
Lentz replied: "Not totally."( G0 f/ \) U4 O. u: l
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were( z: j$ X( W$ R# T- L! h
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
2 o2 V( V m4 {+ Y5 `, i- @* bToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas- g0 m2 ~* S) x8 Q5 y
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
3 a) s, F; M" I; i$ S9 uvehicles already on the road.3 Z/ |) C, s9 j3 ]# q
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
1 U& m t% a2 Y5 qbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
4 o, P) b5 H3 c) R! l& M6 |/ ^responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and9 ]2 p1 l2 {2 k X9 G* R% w
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
# I: _/ Y6 c9 b# M) F2 Pkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.) D# L: {4 j' s( D+ j" s
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
$ `7 b) x4 R8 g* e# F- I0 m; F( Wtragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
# n" p1 V3 K0 }+ H {for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
& w6 k( h% B' V* a lCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
! S, f; v S, c/ F& Rcommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to, J7 @2 G6 [" C2 @
restore the trust of our customers."
3 M" ^8 z$ x: e0 \" v& S6 oLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
! F. k' w, m% zSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly" t' R& y( _% t# I
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
! H2 S2 {% }* i/ e% R" Sshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
6 B& |, n* x. {hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
4 B" }- |2 H) q0 M' A7 Gthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and2 O1 `9 \; X( W+ o2 m
turn off the engine.
& e, k4 |9 M, S/ h2 u% ~! O- ^Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
. w: \: w: ]5 l/ T' G( j! eOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience.". b: H6 g4 h7 q0 Q
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she- }6 h9 c6 A. m( j' y4 h0 z9 a& f
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
9 {- ~+ R) k9 _2 ~to her complaints.
, H# I- u1 k" P) ^. n# w. {) {) ] cIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers. q9 W7 \5 r+ U0 a2 j, z' u, S
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
1 X9 ?. x0 o1 _malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
. l* k l( W8 P9 p6 E"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
. F1 J3 ^; R# j* J2 g0 Gthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
. }9 S$ x4 T. H- h9 D; ` z"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
1 Y: L% k) _' o% A b. loff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."& G6 R0 o; c3 Q2 p4 N8 D V. B
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in9 D3 T) E, o/ s; q3 M- p0 g$ X
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
% ]; i4 }5 }; F( ~: d' h. {# Tbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls' c U0 t+ H G! I
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer S3 L0 l% K8 h4 W
every question."
% X4 \9 u9 @2 [1 e* F; s$ V* vToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether9 Z0 r8 V# }" F" a, a* z; s
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
, [# h" y8 X% j; Zfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But0 o) v9 z8 R0 w/ I
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
3 d% C) J, B( bnumber of vehicles
, t/ d3 q% q- h" i. X. e1 oTracking down an electrical problem can be far more$ R7 c9 p2 g+ n
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a; K* j6 w8 [; n
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
) l4 H, X& T8 I4 n' |6 N, }9 v! psource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
" ^2 p1 I7 ~3 @: I7 D C. g qMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,* z9 `. B3 t5 \ M
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no9 X4 A7 F" O: H; a7 b6 s
trace at all.
" x2 ^1 G: i3 E! Q3 H0 N4 AHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call/ V5 y# R) z) ?' c" ?0 y
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
6 q% H0 \! `1 |) e/ X, N) {( O2 Macceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
! {$ n! Z" c- B5 g5 precalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
1 G0 o2 k' a" p! LRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
- s4 O. N5 q; ] T& Z0 \$ _' _said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and. t* {- t: @& e& @- p& ]) n
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the. n& N. h' G6 n8 m
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
( }: K2 E1 r+ Acause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only$ _% @2 l4 {& P2 f5 P
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
4 e# _* ^ h0 L2 |: B4 [by Toyota's lawyers."6 W9 s( E% s% o# f+ v
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
! p/ a/ b* A! T; y/ E1 jproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
( i% R: l+ J, jcustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
6 _4 @. g3 M) \( v, V6 p$ a0 a% Z7 |% rsaid.
4 t* q& J. l- V9 q" E( D"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
3 y6 n/ s3 Q F1 U; Ha rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
2 Y) T) t& ^7 U+ ]- x \$ u9 hgood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating G6 F% f$ V! w) o t, U4 j! }
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc., e5 l) H% z; M$ p& n# L7 N1 M
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
/ W+ T/ G' u8 h% _- t6 t4 J8 \members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
) c. d% ]5 M5 h5 M) Z8 k# U0 c# nrancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
) n9 _6 w9 B& }4 d E$ S2 O' }5 vautomaker, at least in part because of the government's4 _/ y6 b: M1 y* Z, g
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
% \1 I: s5 }! |. _. x+ XChrysler.
; D9 x2 `& k6 Y- e"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax# R1 l& F# g$ B: E( Q
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a9 l. r; s9 l5 s; \0 p3 S1 X( o/ x6 r, W
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
% M& V8 r; A' f3 I$ B8 U" Dserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
' U" ~, @, b7 f# qwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
1 N' c! k2 q2 A8 }$ g) _ g# F/ ~tough."
; j# c; l* O" S2 J6 D# F---* X* k$ ?( l% u1 V
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
, X# R# p" }; B6 p4 ?3 }: r, oRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
4 ?4 ?8 ?' Y: R' |this story.
2 `0 |9 k; }- n9 }" v( ?
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