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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
" Q' p7 B; J! P' j cBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS9 I! O- ^3 w4 p; U! U
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
4 U! r7 C- K: g7 E* Roperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
[; `& N- }: o% kthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
x2 v2 m- C- `solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
$ q, U: t! n1 N+ |3 t$ {7 u& h"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential- H8 F, C' l( m& _
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.! X( C! w+ w# H+ g( [! _' t
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
5 N6 v- x( I' X$ i5 w% m3 Sacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and; R: K* r0 D) L) @4 l* Q+ ]
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor3 c& b9 ~' t; T+ P1 p+ g4 W4 \
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.
: T0 ?/ c( |1 `6 t0 SHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
) `* I" Q8 a- m1 fand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
+ N& l7 s2 [/ P& w$ c5 A! z3 E! jcriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
9 S/ k$ L8 p* v7 b& ^# Dfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
* u- M" l6 s$ [& z* ^not stop her runaway Lexus.8 T' r$ W* x3 g4 \5 P) e0 M/ F, y
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,9 ]9 [7 ^+ E1 K7 y3 G
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second& k; L- e; m( I7 `( X" O5 e j
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
; `* u2 _1 a1 TTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues" S% W, N) w2 v3 T
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
! q& B/ J) f" q1 f5 E9 W! d" ?1 v: n"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
4 p* X5 p+ n" Adone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway: r" B4 H; W3 t) d S% U" R, a4 {
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
: S( U* C ^- a. Rinvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
* p4 W8 z3 ]% ?) W* O, i* C) pLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
- L" b" s4 o4 D: S8 f3 s& O4 Selectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
( u5 L* j% n4 Rthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a6 D& O4 I* N7 L; Q& b- u
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
S8 E6 H( T3 w5 Ksaid.
8 a! x ?+ Z3 G7 j4 L& b# SAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
v; F2 u! l$ y d* S3 R$ lhappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe& t" z; ]+ v; ~5 p
about driving our products," Lentz said.
& @0 G: b2 }' mThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
# k# U" ?! A+ q+ wproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
8 M8 o7 b% B) Zrecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
/ L9 ~. Y$ ~( tmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of. {( w2 K6 V: Z' E7 e
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
5 H8 [9 u# t! O5 a% v8 L. oissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
& O2 G( R5 y: S, l; Q# S# X Kconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of$ R! \6 ^- {' H; z8 t
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
3 U2 y: [; P6 F0 c, W5 a$ sdown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has* K1 x0 ~9 f% |* q
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration$ g( P- T4 N% C! c
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.
0 o6 r8 Z0 {7 d- D4 _Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own& l& D3 @" C. W5 K" e( \
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he2 P( {$ ?7 J" O
understood the pain.1 x0 w! |- K" i
"I know what those families go through," he said.; n0 [5 k9 w' y0 A
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's( S( Q# `3 a1 h' m3 j3 N) g4 U2 n
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.9 [9 O+ c% }' C3 V
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman: ^% m- w1 \% S, U
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
1 R# u C9 V- O# n0 q- ~6 r& nin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
% `" _- x. U [8 L! G7 D8 VLentz replied: "Not totally."
! t' q! m1 t! [( J( |8 jStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
( o. W: n4 h( [$ |# {7 m"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said1 v$ J1 {2 g9 U. W7 u
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas9 `5 @9 k2 W% I/ Z. Z6 @8 b. w) d$ {
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
4 T' K4 C) ]) E, x9 d& _vehicles already on the road.
2 g" P9 N1 ?, ^: k/ b! oMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
/ @6 c5 G3 B0 W9 Wbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full2 D- m* ^' S# `* \" n: }
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
g$ p1 Z4 P( J/ f& V/ hoffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were7 E9 k& ~3 z, {7 `: n% ~% }
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.; ]% V9 v" L" q) m1 A7 q, i4 U! m
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a- d; U2 [# S% t9 ^5 O1 i/ @
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony6 M4 ^- `$ ^8 y" g* ~6 ?! h
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
* a5 u9 q/ ^. rCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
: w/ M* y2 Y. M$ {: }commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to! x4 l! s7 l9 C4 \
restore the trust of our customers."
1 p: {! {7 q) }- k! g2 I0 h' k# T5 |/ tLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from) i' M n( ]5 K0 \
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
/ c: [: V! ^# m$ |4 S$ c1 [& {zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
$ B9 `1 @6 m& q0 k+ kshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
7 i2 J3 ^3 F ahitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough3 e& ]' a6 Z# R& q' W+ X
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and0 }) E7 E( P# E; N+ w
turn off the engine.
& y- N! i4 c ^9 OFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of7 e" w7 Y, J/ o1 B, Z" [
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience." a' ~, `9 T. A7 q' s) x; N
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she- R& A. @: Z- H+ E5 m# f9 T3 Y( x& A& p
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond* C b) Q0 `9 W3 g9 m, s
to her complaints.4 `3 C3 F* N- e3 P4 _9 O
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
" h/ M+ b! @7 Lreturned again and again to the question of whether electronic
" v: f/ O6 \ \+ b: F% b9 U/ emalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars." m0 h8 C9 U- t
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
1 E% f" C- {4 S9 | k& Hthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
' y* }" e. s9 f. K" g7 k+ j"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut) t2 A% w9 i2 r/ E0 ]
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
& [- [" {& r7 T: Y+ |& pTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
" h G2 h+ u4 e# jprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
, C. l6 Q' |, R! K: Z {being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls0 @6 g* L' k5 W- p3 s' y$ [
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer8 Z8 L4 P! z8 G
every question."1 v3 I5 Y4 Q' c. u$ F
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether' k9 l2 @3 Z9 x |3 ], {/ e4 Y
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The4 G% h/ W" o/ v" {& o6 @( ~
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But4 g3 h2 ?, K& C9 `% Y1 ?! W z
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small I# m9 E. g4 @/ r: C1 V
number of vehicles
/ |; B2 I, B3 K* ]; Q7 H; ^. xTracking down an electrical problem can be far more
7 n- s+ w, K% j1 Pdifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a; Z& b( F& y. b/ T7 a* {/ x; i9 {
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
# p9 E/ m) b! g9 o4 e Hsource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.# P5 E+ l& K% c% i% M; G
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,; f7 L% _* ]. T5 V3 w! c6 v
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
0 n4 Q2 B& p' l- L! etrace at all.
3 A; _5 \* h+ jHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
' @7 ^; J8 I! ~ o; P) \! V3 ^: [database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden2 j1 J' K: s3 h7 d" C% [
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the: V1 { f7 a: X9 l& z
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.+ n8 r/ A" H& k3 Q& x! G( c. g
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,* t! W2 b% G( I! O3 U
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and5 [3 Q% C0 s Q/ T l
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the& R$ Q a Y$ o: c& w$ u" \
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
7 ]( [/ d1 N# l7 Ecause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
$ F( G* ]: Z& n5 o9 R6 D7 M; @such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
& m8 F$ U' d" I" {" f9 \# Xby Toyota's lawyers."9 K4 A1 f: R& _0 _" b0 }
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of) C- s7 R! b9 m: g- V
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
+ K9 p3 s% \( f3 jcustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
$ S5 E$ `. X( r3 a x; }( D r1 {said.
$ P% B) R* u" R3 V"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
5 ~4 K$ I& y! S) w' n# Ba rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
I# x7 h1 j' b1 F2 h% @9 J5 Xgood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
; U, M, \0 n5 O% Fofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.$ x+ W7 s& K7 W% P* ?, i2 c$ V/ I0 S
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying4 R) i4 I) g3 S2 Z8 ?4 i4 y" ^
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
6 X, O0 q: C0 c2 t8 e; m7 P* E2 G9 prancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
/ a R- @0 L3 ]- w M& @$ Aautomaker, at least in part because of the government's9 s: O: j) `5 H
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
4 s1 m1 }6 T% h7 G6 |Chrysler.
) x1 V3 S I" h; G( ]"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
( R7 g! ^2 i- j7 S9 y3 i' o: _dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a$ x. T) M. E0 o! U8 @" g
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also" ~9 Z. @ S; j
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
1 e/ M& m7 s8 X2 b2 ^1 Lwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
% B) c4 H# k' U l" }' f) K! qtough."/ H8 A0 P5 V" @; ?0 T# {! [& n
---
6 Z3 Q+ C9 p9 T4 r1 J% N2 bAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom. a6 Y- u' f. o8 m
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to: _; I% g3 t& X2 a5 X* I( e
this story.
4 n& [$ Y% F& n7 E' B$ i O: q$ [; ^# ~- _/ o0 v5 k
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