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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
) y1 Y$ b% V- l# i7 DBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS0 w( p I1 b+ S! @9 t R6 }2 n) g
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
4 e; P, }% z! L( Coperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
2 b) n+ a0 Z& t9 {0 T* uthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
) E- n: q' q0 [/ nsolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.- h$ K0 Y1 C# o1 W& W$ E$ }
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
; l# ?3 J: ]0 e: l( T+ }9 p/ }- Wcauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
2 k- l" f$ Z* A* A! u2 E5 z% F+ DHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
- _. g' K' g; X1 {( e2 I4 K( b; ?) bacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and* r$ G# E3 z, V8 |) N
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor8 Y4 [1 z" B3 o9 Y
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.9 B! n% m. r F
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
; S) b' G; o: p# N" Zand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
3 y @0 q" P; n& U+ Vcriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
. k3 B! S% q; P; |! ~further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
+ U2 c) k1 c2 e# l ^not stop her runaway Lexus.2 P5 _1 R* z3 c5 j; T7 g
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
9 _ D/ ^2 u* N/ o1 ~Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
# J- T4 @; V% ^) i"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.4 O7 i9 [" t2 V! p. n( U1 i
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
7 y) U% n6 r' @. h/ P% Hearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said6 L6 L7 N% C% i" U! ~1 C; Y
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has8 V* S: v8 S, b- t
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway4 ]' I1 L* J5 K' O. T2 ~
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's1 E: D& A4 I6 F& Q+ Y
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
+ J' K/ s9 x# G& j2 D8 \Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an- i4 E, |5 R3 J% P8 o: P
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
& o* d4 u- l" c1 Nthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a1 L s* I$ K- O5 o
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
# h! @6 i$ K6 q" Z isaid./ ~; b& \6 q$ Z P2 o9 ]! f e
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
# ]" B5 Z, @5 m/ |3 r& v* [* zhappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
, }6 u' b# P4 z1 M# `2 dabout driving our products," Lentz said.
* T8 K0 E' b- o3 q# R& |Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
9 A$ K: F$ H+ E) G8 yproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has' c: J$ u3 o- U* u
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
7 ]0 k& g- J! `# G/ Pmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of4 z ~# `6 A8 p/ \
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
/ ~" B7 y% B @ iissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
, Z" H6 t. Z! a$ Lconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
7 a( d- K/ {( Q2 h5 R3 h! ltheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
, ?0 n" Q4 V- l0 m8 @down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has3 G) F& h/ R# W
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration; Z' K4 Y8 a2 P6 ]
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.7 P/ h' {% Y/ s& ]) r0 v
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
" G/ w5 h$ X, J1 ]5 Wbrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
( Z+ N( d# }* F4 H; }$ Z4 K; c/ [understood the pain.. J L$ J; m' x; o8 R
"I know what those families go through," he said.# p) m' l9 ^6 E2 L9 j# Q$ K
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's" y! m0 G( Y) z7 \( g" R& H
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
! _ {% D/ [" u2 hBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
7 v, j W j! @; `Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put4 C+ ~6 H1 ~3 z- C. Y' }
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,( Y1 S4 ?3 X% t# y
Lentz replied: "Not totally."
( G/ N/ @5 M6 p5 v. ?Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were) W" m' V5 {, K! J
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
- N; {, u5 m2 i$ ^Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
" u! u k+ K7 k, k1 ?$ B F. vpedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its0 c4 \% M- g9 `' X
vehicles already on the road." H2 b; @1 y% |) \3 Q/ G
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
3 u$ \# m0 v j+ A1 kbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full8 X9 J2 {( g% `4 N
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and# R& g- q3 `5 A$ {/ k. D e
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were4 K* u3 B) n. w' N
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
2 g) V% l% Z. N# r, e"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
) h5 z7 f7 z% M6 ^+ a2 _tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony" z' i; f7 g6 y) j1 Z2 j9 }
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
: O/ u. `' t0 A( WCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
( R9 m! w) B, ^, f# y3 ccommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
V: h% K% {1 m) ^restore the trust of our customers."
' E- \! m }4 g# h7 I+ J' l4 @0 sLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
) V+ {" \ L( b& ySmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
) Z1 Y9 q3 `1 Qzoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
! Y3 g1 Z: e8 [* Q* H8 `shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
- n y) ?) A! E( T9 }: R3 w; Jhitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
# v0 ^) l6 N" H9 k2 Q" p8 H. cthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
/ q k# ] y8 o: W: n/ I9 h# Z- bturn off the engine.
0 S/ X/ ?1 D z7 YFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of Y T0 Y) B9 L. ^0 |
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
5 X! P" e2 n* }; x6 e- ^"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
7 @; A: Q, ~* S3 lsaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
0 i7 z( \/ @7 A, b6 \to her complaints.
* c' B" E! }, a3 @' D* [+ ZIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
9 K1 a* g* N0 [returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
( b `8 a f- y$ T' Y- @malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.9 D2 v" n% \) y% B1 f3 J( m# e
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric* R, A: x3 m' r. L
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
; J: o2 Z" @1 [/ ^' m5 K) T; }"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut! ^% ^9 @: D/ }- y; W
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
- b: O( N- g+ T; Z' I! \Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in3 t: R4 O2 Y$ u0 \5 [6 z
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
# ?$ H7 J8 D. z2 ~. @, gbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls# i- s* ]4 d& U# c; m0 w7 M
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
5 G9 F1 W u# Y* i+ bevery question."
5 z& h6 p. o5 B% i! aToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
$ U/ B- A5 i. t- x9 W; N2 c- Z9 Oelectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The. V! N, F: h2 H+ d- G) Y- T
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But9 M( ?: j% r' {: ?3 Y5 N
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
. }8 o6 j9 u) U! A: a4 _' n, Fnumber of vehicles
: @" N+ U9 `$ ? _" eTracking down an electrical problem can be far more
0 N5 V" p6 ?& G, {$ ?; zdifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
' ~/ o8 V' F1 Q# Mmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
0 B- L! Y3 p0 m: `source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.: j) D' j9 ?! N0 n
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,/ L3 R) O% A6 x0 M" k3 I* V4 _
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
6 C$ x/ f3 _+ @9 k A) A& B% i/ Qtrace at all.
6 L+ F$ S* s/ dHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
: g# N; t+ }; m+ udatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden1 q& \: S! {7 P% T$ o0 S
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
Q/ G# z; ^3 C0 rrecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.- R; X( E4 e( C% N4 ^4 C
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,+ M- a9 z& ^; [ r a) q
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
! V5 M1 [+ H' U. s: Z1 H: eother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
+ ^7 W& O0 [3 m: J& Qelectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
7 {: Z' V, F8 f$ H6 Z5 rcause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only5 K8 O, k8 [1 O
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained; m% c4 H8 O* n
by Toyota's lawyers."
' G) [. v- x7 t! \ m0 tLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
- }" d7 V7 x9 |problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our9 m2 f. N' D0 N1 J7 q( r7 d- s
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
) L) X' B8 D! q/ E0 f! b! jsaid.
# ]% \3 Q9 @# y5 b5 a"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
, P: q, b6 U6 t6 M& Ya rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
9 w/ I6 d8 V- G+ ?& m; Dgood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
4 o* q3 b" Z6 @6 g3 N% k, W2 Rofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.- b" c; S# R( F P/ D
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying" }" d3 @) V8 P% t- i4 T" h( ?5 }
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread3 |4 {/ D+ d9 ?- L; o7 w* k( }8 ?
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the, I- u$ {" ? [, }0 r1 T# L+ m
automaker, at least in part because of the government's Z3 J3 j" H8 d3 M! U
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
5 _! P' q3 H2 [ TChrysler.% H' i, `3 W' o) e9 o0 ]
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
u4 `4 w% f' R" R" O" ddollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a$ J$ Z; d5 B/ o0 Y$ r4 T7 |6 D
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
( d( J( a1 b6 f) u2 E/ }served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
) @+ A; c+ r( f5 G( H7 qwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty7 a v o1 R5 z6 \+ A
tough."6 C @8 f3 e6 u% ?+ M2 u8 B
---* v& @) Z4 e) J0 ~/ J# c5 i- F* Q: h
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
+ o ^4 ~$ [0 S! ?+ r" h1 QRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
6 S' Y) j0 t9 G6 K7 rthis story.4 X0 ` t$ }' {# @; R: w# Z3 P
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