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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
" |# M1 @* F( M$ jBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
) K% d7 y1 u" e2 _: aWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.4 e, W0 y t: X) @, U2 }$ N; N
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that2 p1 l- z, H% x- Y1 a* Y2 B: `
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
0 V! w6 F3 k: r6 Z. |* _1 j" c# Msolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.6 G7 u7 h: U- A6 z& C9 u' y
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential, v0 D4 k! p+ _$ `. l9 ]/ n; g
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.; L F- X* o4 S
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected9 E4 J1 N, n# h. S7 ^, e ?
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
; a7 J, W: F* s( Otrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
% j9 s( R) Q+ S# g0 Hmats and sticking accelerator pedals.
6 {' J! L$ i9 U# \& c2 f. OHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal s/ T; L0 a" ^% y7 {9 Y1 j* g
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp& {/ `0 a/ f, D7 t' r0 C" x
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be: u4 r7 Y9 K; L# P$ [& b
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
7 U& N5 ]; g+ ~, @' d3 Xnot stop her runaway Lexus.
6 F) J: e* ^, _"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,0 ?% @0 W6 v) ^$ p3 G/ [
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second6 ?* b- S* ~. K
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.* Z9 B3 l7 F7 z' @
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
( f H) \, ~6 A& Z2 eearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said; Q: ?8 _" ?, U1 \+ U' h5 \
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has' ]# a& i" T- m3 }
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
1 S; h1 x: I6 a6 q6 W1 z% U gthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's1 W- B6 q$ y! u/ J
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."# ]( g7 f0 Z2 A& L
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an2 F; d8 X& D) W- ?1 u: h% c
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of2 p/ K2 C1 L' b# R, o- Q7 b
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
1 Z+ n l- V' l2 M7 C5 M! mmalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
9 J, C7 e+ q" O8 p/ Ysaid.
) W8 m, O; j* Y" B) Q' IAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what: u7 q+ L2 K `# d. m# D! r) T
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
# r0 y- | f7 r) Q: R4 fabout driving our products," Lentz said.
. N4 a6 I; |0 V9 ?9 N$ Q8 dThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's/ u/ [6 o* B* z8 d8 o
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has- O4 _5 g0 T; [# J3 Q
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
4 l: {: H) n2 @5 F6 v- M6 Wmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of8 B* y( P+ j; o' N
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
, t& e& L& y2 P, J7 z7 bissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
9 }+ f: S, j5 x7 R0 {concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of" S c1 e2 L7 y; m# K
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
2 K" D! [5 `9 }% n* sdown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
X* Z. W6 g/ F7 ~6 G* r+ ^received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration( d& y( K/ ]9 v/ t! r F8 _ U
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.
( S7 e- g* X" A/ _: @- h( XLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
0 B( j0 v: s/ G3 \* k+ ~- L. Nbrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
! X% v2 s( C2 Bunderstood the pain.* v( Q) q: O* e s. Q
"I know what those families go through," he said.
O S. H& _8 N8 q' K$ w dLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's* L4 C. I9 b6 K5 _- q6 `7 N. Z
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
/ K, z8 T U0 K7 V: jBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman" U) W3 `, r+ c+ [
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
+ X: {/ \' D R% g* {0 Ein place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,; ~5 c9 Y2 Z% a( j& H, Y+ ^7 T
Lentz replied: "Not totally."' i) D6 F' A/ k. i
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
5 x7 h1 Q7 T- z3 B( ]6 \0 e# c1 I"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said/ {/ u: U! d: `0 X2 J
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
% j: X" J v* f2 s$ Rpedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
2 _+ t' ~5 Z6 p* c* Z- K- I* w0 ~vehicles already on the road.$ x- F9 b' g, g, \: ^- R, w
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
" P! x& y1 m* B. Lbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full$ L0 n1 ~; _3 J8 p
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
) n& b, T4 |( B* M1 L7 e: zoffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were+ B1 q- y& Z8 Z5 R+ ` A
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
: v! L: I! S! z+ F"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a1 J, a3 c% e9 W" p
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
1 w; \& `9 S2 s) v' O; Q6 ifor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
( e o0 {' L3 o, v6 \! q3 LCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal5 F4 y7 H8 P3 _2 f; _1 u5 o1 f
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to: s m$ {7 n B# W# ^; ~! ~
restore the trust of our customers.") @+ o, }2 }+ g! n! X+ W+ M
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from& z, `, [- z6 {3 H
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly& T4 f6 s x' E7 R4 k5 u/ B- s- o
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
! {6 ]+ @5 y0 T4 Mshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
5 U- ]& U1 T1 h5 ~; u5 W9 p* Q1 Hhitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough: h% y& F0 `# _: q4 I9 @
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
$ y, p7 Q9 D, x8 z# U `: dturn off the engine.
# t' j, ^ L- B0 J2 YFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of0 |6 ? p% j, V
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
, l# m' s& a5 {1 f6 Y+ r"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she) }5 z# g6 s0 g- Z
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
' K1 K8 L3 w+ D4 k9 k) pto her complaints.
( E! x ]9 A$ B' u4 V! eIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
8 z8 g0 n1 b0 C( Lreturned again and again to the question of whether electronic1 t6 @# p% `+ V" j2 {7 \% n9 D
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
5 c9 U- W0 C7 E6 V, c"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
# ]( M, M) w7 s8 pthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
3 w; J* V. z! Q: f! \% }4 B"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut9 b& V4 c* m) X6 q* A# x" c
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."5 D$ W; W; W3 y M! w
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in# K$ |. G0 K" U. M
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were* p5 `1 K ~. b: T, T, p' C) q
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
' I$ G9 P1 S v& D# I! n; z6 Owere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
& o! x! S7 y: U: \1 q. u0 p! qevery question."
5 l8 j& W( c0 f# A' S5 b# WToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
/ ~5 ~- V* b" A$ ]' A! r0 d# uelectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
, g. e- u/ O) z4 O g! Y Nfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
3 j. s: H( I) H1 s2 ]. \" mcommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small
; `3 E8 e& [% ~$ a2 |5 C5 Z4 f6 _ Rnumber of vehicles2 Q- _8 ~% l6 c2 k3 i
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more
( b7 e* l, A. ~* _# ?4 X6 u* h Idifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
! |7 a, J+ Y n4 Amechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one: k! |! @) |) p$ X6 F8 F* `3 _
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.4 d2 X# y, d: k; F$ Z
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,' ?, S. u/ a; j# l
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
; ^- ?. K8 g, c" }/ Q: ktrace at all.
$ l$ A0 D7 ~. s: X* dHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
9 p: {2 ?" `( e( M2 |/ D8 K' X7 G! cdatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden8 \9 [3 r Y* J$ q( w& A
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the, B, F3 L/ Y4 q
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.0 p6 {: |/ J: }! Y! I
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
) T8 Y4 e6 l# a% A! X. Dsaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
) V8 l* @7 ~8 I- ~' Y }# @other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the" T# ?- s5 x) l. Y
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
/ ^3 v5 U* I6 }/ ^" ?* X0 Lcause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
/ ~0 }2 @" g8 ^+ D1 }such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained! t# a8 g8 V: [) v1 S) e; C" F
by Toyota's lawyers."9 {# A7 u/ T% R. ^( T
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of) T! k3 k* Z: p9 F" r1 Q
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
% N% q% {3 j$ a( Qcustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
D1 f8 e9 k7 c6 |8 q; b: esaid.2 F6 s. t4 r4 p
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with. K: O7 l0 J2 J/ ?; j- D# r8 I
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our: T( ^% D# F- p- B8 G
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating7 r5 N3 t: P$ ?4 {! @: l/ N
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
7 _, G& O2 ~9 b( eSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
9 _8 v1 u- k( O: A4 L" lmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
% Y5 H: c/ t ^& K! Xrancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the# W2 b j& q* n1 C0 o* Q
automaker, at least in part because of the government's
9 y' W4 b, @ D: T! g* Jinvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and, \% T% R3 D3 `( i" }# V
Chrysler.
; U# t2 {" l; J# }) u"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax* f6 {& k$ m$ y; M
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a. ?7 G( l) C% T
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
" n" P" Y' @/ q4 h6 t- ^served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete6 R7 C# E2 S: V' n* s: {! ^
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
( T+ b+ V9 P/ @( _5 n, e- _( ptough."
4 g5 m! ~- w% j9 ?0 ?. B---9 T3 [& _( _* O$ ^7 t( V
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom) t, {0 |9 n+ y9 G: Y- O8 g: ]$ N
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
% c/ l7 m( l, u6 s, E! c% ethis story.
) t& d, [2 e# b L2 K; y/ f! |2 v+ [
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