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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
0 m+ X# z: C8 n& d% ABy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
! e/ b9 C& _$ _# F% b aWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.2 J7 j( ?& {5 _& e6 E9 P
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that6 E8 l. V/ B( u6 }8 E9 B
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"! X% z1 b! |( x; M% L, Z+ O0 i% [
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
& q1 M2 K2 _# ^, T) |/ g) u7 \7 U' d"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
7 v! j9 L2 H6 U- J1 E9 J6 n: pcauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.9 q" u. d! X4 ~8 @; J- O- N
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
; {! b3 w4 r, U3 Dacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
& c3 _2 p; v* ]& O; Ptrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor g O7 m) {; C6 z8 u7 R5 n; b
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.4 k9 @1 M/ N! Q( z/ q) c& `& v- J9 T
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
" |2 \! O4 V+ e' Kand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
$ [# X$ J$ M' f0 s, jcriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be- p% }0 _! Z4 u2 ?/ w
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
% A1 C7 h$ m* w T+ j0 vnot stop her runaway Lexus.
0 J' @& F% Z- V! ^5 W! F* B7 J. S"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,, ?5 [8 ^2 J3 G. N$ Z1 u
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
6 b: H& r1 ]! \ W6 M3 s"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
# m0 o: V1 t% [8 iTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
8 v; ^" F/ K6 j$ r+ t( |) rearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said- ~" m5 [/ {' u1 d/ i2 ?
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has; Q7 {7 a, V) C/ W+ Z
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
2 O- d4 y5 l0 E2 N# p# ~5 Athrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's( I t4 T2 ? K* |
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
1 a' L: L, }) T$ `" R' nLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
7 p3 ^% z+ M- N0 ?electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of$ q4 G# H* U: d, a- ^6 Q: ?5 n& c& I
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a% z, q* a! n5 O
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
% R: G- }1 E& Y& W7 csaid.
: J; A% n# b0 AAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what3 [& k5 A4 K4 P+ q0 Q& x
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
; v, i0 R: ~2 ^& v$ P( {8 {$ Labout driving our products," Lentz said.
" Y5 [5 G3 {/ I: o, QThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's( o, T- b* H- q3 w/ o# `( X+ i
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
/ ~4 \0 U) v5 o# E! H" A5 o# V& Frecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
7 o. p% r" `+ v! z6 s1 Gmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of# S6 @9 K. _4 | c' l4 u3 q
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking2 o5 \; u! t5 @# h8 I/ U! }6 g' C- T
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering) l. `1 ` T, T+ \$ `. F: v0 }
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of" m; m8 i3 D1 s6 l/ y4 |
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
6 A5 e" ?7 @: A6 \# Q+ A" Idown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
* G- e9 V, J( \8 T" lreceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
X3 S y6 V3 \; mof Toyota vehicles since 2000.5 X" Q& [) D+ h1 j! \
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own, j4 x) c2 n; S$ R, G4 H
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
r* A+ [; j) p: r0 g! y+ y6 ]# Z. H+ q( Yunderstood the pain.4 ]3 G1 W( V% P& w, F5 {
"I know what those families go through," he said.5 T7 R0 L3 C( V* ?6 J6 T
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
, Q3 o+ p$ G' O7 @# ?fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
8 M0 H% e! S2 f/ }& z6 SBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
, g% a1 e2 @, T* h+ Y0 K PHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put: A6 L; U5 T) e, T1 d6 h
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,( J$ @5 x3 l. M4 s
Lentz replied: "Not totally."
m' i' S. \& u0 ^) @Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
+ X4 U/ @6 a6 S* a! A& n$ A"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
2 n5 Q2 h5 r% ^* Z8 G0 ]Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
+ A2 p2 P ?$ V. H% t* N$ C* Apedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its1 T, H3 X0 \3 @- }! Z( a
vehicles already on the road.
# D" h: D! G8 g* U; G" w) h# R8 AMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify. J& M% F- k$ y( Y& v
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
/ @3 }" }7 `3 n" [: ?responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and0 |! c; m8 Q" \; u6 @! n& s) A
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
, ~9 }8 U0 t/ Lkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
$ M1 e! ?) R- T7 L1 B. Z; n"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a$ Z) S2 L5 }2 S
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
6 P6 X" _, H- tfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight( C2 Y2 S) F% f5 a
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal; Q: P( r7 v: W$ P+ ]- d* I+ Q6 k
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to# c: n; O+ j r' r4 d8 } {
restore the trust of our customers."6 K+ r; w/ b6 G7 C# J% E7 E, U0 e
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
/ v$ c8 l' ?" `Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
5 O: J! \/ ~3 lzoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
- S1 l& l* \- w# u4 j8 ishifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
$ ^4 G- u+ p, a8 M3 o7 rhitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
8 v E/ Z; @0 y% Ithat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
6 I& y5 p) a, R. }+ H4 o( B+ ^turn off the engine.# ^7 m6 l, M1 I
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
: G4 C4 R/ S6 A, ~ s! j, t' [October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."" i3 \/ }' O& k* c6 V2 @
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she6 z$ b$ S( F& f/ E2 }0 _ @( \; w
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
" f) Q/ ~4 s$ c% Hto her complaints.
+ }. y. q4 J0 S8 A, zIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers+ Y* x* ~, C& N% _. I" ]0 ~1 g" Z2 s5 ]
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic2 [/ f7 c- s+ Q% D2 ?& M3 R2 Z
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
# N E2 z3 ?& m8 y- Z$ U"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric! S7 s' H6 V2 t4 P+ T, M
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
& V' b# p9 n0 V5 U+ v7 _4 u, ["fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
9 h, t. Q7 h7 R- ioff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
( y& G! X7 D2 eTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in8 _( {( S9 y' w) [+ Y: p5 |
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
* P0 ^8 B& h+ p9 o) b" M }being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
9 G5 ~( [& }; D+ Awere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer" b4 U* S2 [" G! |
every question."% f9 U% Z* }) ^# t6 q, r7 d
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
0 L% U! k+ O) m! n; T2 Telectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
* q, M3 y$ P2 ?1 h7 @, ?; vfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But V$ [6 \+ O0 q2 f; g i( R1 h5 g
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small# ~/ c$ Q/ Q) o4 e2 c% w+ G& h
number of vehicles
1 L6 k9 n \) X! s8 \; y& L2 iTracking down an electrical problem can be far more! z5 x6 l7 G- b( L1 h& V( i
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
1 `1 x* I E' pmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one9 o9 X- u1 A* l* |# v1 m$ d
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.1 J+ E$ S7 _% f9 ~4 L" L- _7 Y" N
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
5 x( [8 x0 @: w- C& d! [8 _where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no; l* h4 i; _, ]# ~6 Q) Q
trace at all.
9 e4 z P) Y* n9 n9 d5 RHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
) t1 I( |3 W% v" vdatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden- j, Z- \3 D2 v% s/ n
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the: X9 U! `/ i; D
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.* R: Q# x4 q) [, s3 X2 m
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,$ k7 p* E4 m" h" y" W4 w
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and* X, N! T/ `9 ?% O# K" i, {7 i# g
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the! |! o0 Q4 j: F
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible! W! |0 r/ n8 W4 ^# \" [- Z$ l
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only! e7 w5 U, W7 O9 q3 O5 H
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
. V5 }9 T% Z: |by Toyota's lawyers."
& J+ Q7 h% D! i0 J9 {4 \5 U0 p: e' oLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
! v& e1 H4 R7 H0 _) y2 Mproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our: s" {+ Z$ v; l$ N( x' a3 C
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
5 M- L6 P: _! l" ?said.6 L6 m: P$ E& n7 V' ~! l
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
0 l8 @5 b3 N' b" p, ~# d- `6 Na rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
5 T1 v; U8 V# Q1 e% ~good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
9 v$ w6 R% H4 }4 kofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.. y4 g) c2 I& P7 V3 h( \; K* L. H
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying1 K1 c B4 V9 r$ }! `7 O
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
: _7 m! H) J3 Z$ r' a) Wrancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the% O$ }5 D1 o3 C% Q
automaker, at least in part because of the government's I" q" G- ^$ ]1 x% e- H% o
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
$ t0 T# p: p$ VChrysler.# E& ]+ e; d1 i( _+ I- _
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
% ^, J% z9 ~9 k# ?4 Bdollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
% Q0 V' K) x5 j; }( U7 ZHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
1 U1 ]2 c V+ W: N( U0 kserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete1 u% B! H; t! y8 D- |
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
! b2 B; T# ]# d$ Q0 stough." n5 O; \* P3 s% O1 a. d
---5 L; S$ w, v, a- K o! W/ Y
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom* O+ Z( e. T+ _ t9 p; ?
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to7 C! G) w$ w: o+ M
this story.
1 A) L& C! W- Q) x# m0 P0 H# k$ g' Y8 J5 ]% F; ]0 t2 U6 M* ~# a
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