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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
! Z* Y' Z% a, `# z7 o6 S. B; m' |By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS! y b& l2 p+ U" X/ K
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
% w4 |, f# }8 ~( _operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that z4 _/ B6 G" b/ t: g; Q `
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"+ }0 k6 b. @9 h i9 v- ^
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
& |) K' d7 Q% M( @4 [& j"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential# X8 O6 M, Q" f. T4 y; {1 b9 }
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
+ j8 C+ E2 T0 D! o+ A2 \1 b3 B1 THowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
0 ^4 L# B. e# n- v1 t3 q0 h! `" Oacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and% I1 F: E* ?5 |: ]% g) N& ~9 W( F
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor+ x" x2 Z9 y1 Z6 q) @9 j0 ~
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.
# ~" G( s' Z4 h3 t' a. N A1 b- C/ [He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal4 t4 @# R$ g: B' k& N' l6 [& H
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp* r) o! d- ]( x
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
) }5 h, G" F& nfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
/ @% M, |. O1 Z& A8 Tnot stop her runaway Lexus.
! P s- H4 f( n- _"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
1 L% _" v% C( M3 N3 ?0 n9 wTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
, n8 i" _4 V7 Q8 s3 E X"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
; z, }8 s- E1 B2 y/ O% a/ BTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues! y5 l" L0 ?5 V
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
; o: E7 o4 f1 Y"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
; m; C+ _/ k$ qdone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
- }/ Y8 F" V( t/ Ithrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
/ N( Q5 y& |7 ^; R; Kinvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
5 k/ A* _: t8 x- F$ c, k0 mLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
, m" }# Y$ a9 }. {9 eelectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of1 n V W4 F# ~; T# t% ]4 k* z6 f
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a+ ]' n/ e4 x- a3 R1 O
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
/ z; b" c* f2 c( I4 Csaid.( J" Q& @# ?8 p/ |) ]
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
: E2 L! y9 ~. y; r. Ihappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
* ]" w) N+ P" D* t: |1 _- oabout driving our products," Lentz said.
' M8 t. X1 x) V0 Y9 M. zThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's, R; t0 J' u7 R4 X- K4 T' h' u
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has+ O& e A6 D8 }! D- W9 J% s
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6: [/ y0 \5 N, A! }0 R! D
million in the United States -- since last fall because of
- M: \9 G6 g% e& t2 |unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking7 \/ R( g/ I" g/ A, C
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
. r0 Z5 {; G) Hconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of( I+ E0 d2 |( u! W8 E
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow$ R$ l" p4 Z! D
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
1 h5 K* d) M0 | Y3 k+ h, p" s2 Freceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration/ m1 C! c* R& F U
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.
' W5 F, }/ Y0 |# YLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
4 F4 l3 T. w3 E c* rbrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he" g+ S) `5 R+ n2 w3 s. i
understood the pain.' `- ]/ j. F7 o3 L
"I know what those families go through," he said./ s6 K! ?7 P3 v H: A: o6 y
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
+ D. f3 a, s1 }: ^6 y* H. ?$ {) ^fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.- o3 D+ ~% I" ~2 N; Q
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
) h( N' C$ M( Z d. ?, OHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put9 ], a; a5 C4 K8 _9 b
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,2 H7 T; M" A" d% N2 }
Lentz replied: "Not totally."* f. w6 _; \- y; O& Y- B
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were- e4 P8 j/ T3 Y+ E1 w o4 m/ A( m
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
4 o0 q- U+ E" S s" d0 IToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
) @8 n9 h: Z$ R0 @( ~$ k0 lpedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
9 O; z$ [, J) {/ |5 L# z" hvehicles already on the road.
) m+ B) @2 {# wMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify3 i3 N3 S! `3 w$ n
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full5 q- a. s. ^4 w& d# o
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
6 f& E% R: M6 i6 soffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were; m3 b- f& y- E: J# l" g
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
1 z9 m+ l% S$ O2 C- P. _"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a) d0 b8 \ E. l+ Y$ y/ i
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
( Z( Z* }2 T2 B0 Qfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
3 Z7 ^* k) l: ~ B% LCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
+ C4 K8 }: F& n* _9 K' Ocommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to: N& S3 x+ g7 d1 z7 t7 P
restore the trust of our customers."6 x; O7 E! R: P& Y/ g7 V* \# d
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from; ^3 ~9 O! q" b$ t) t1 a: W
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly2 n; b" j) s" j) h
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --/ t6 m) t% N: f! `) _/ {6 | Y
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
% b3 J2 }' j2 T; k5 M0 ahitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
8 L* \8 R, j2 A8 Z0 K2 H' wthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
) d4 p* l* d i$ Y$ K) Uturn off the engine.3 g& M8 Y, W/ I, b; `8 E
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of6 L7 V5 b u( b1 O9 j9 U
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
; e# W8 H2 o3 A"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she4 b8 o! g1 W# o" H
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
* D5 K' D# c, @7 d$ Fto her complaints.
( Y1 N/ z J c6 h5 Y* gIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
5 A( ~* f ? Mreturned again and again to the question of whether electronic6 B: ], b V: E, S& G% v8 [- V1 G
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.4 `+ D3 q8 a- ]4 k0 f* A* `
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric' ?7 I( y3 C) z
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
& O% ]& i5 x5 W' a9 |"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
9 S; y! r- _7 V9 f1 goff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
K$ g8 p8 b3 r8 u3 B5 v" PTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
4 {2 Z" \) C. I" o& zprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were( J7 r+ \0 e. B' j
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls& O8 c% K) [+ P0 ^! v2 l x
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer: `3 B0 R8 l3 h4 F0 G
every question."& s/ ?- T+ l. F, A: ?4 `; g
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
% Y" L" m- o' V) Ielectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The7 T" `9 \' K% P( \7 y
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But" f3 S! f @" i6 m0 R& `! f% @& W
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small3 T8 W+ \( ~* A0 x4 j$ o8 T) @ i
number of vehicles V! r, H8 M" s2 ^# g: q( M
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more8 V w8 t' R: M
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
0 W" I4 M3 \5 E4 b0 k3 d2 umechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
2 d. h; X1 N) _7 @7 v9 g" Esource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
$ n3 C% `: {. f1 R/ `! V( q7 SMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
4 e {* L" L9 Y7 |, X9 }7 N5 K( ^* Cwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no3 B6 N# l1 V; q5 \5 u
trace at all.
) L j6 q R( S$ j$ `- K) ]House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call# N& ]* l# @5 s! ~2 t: v
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
- j! p; z* @$ v* e- R) D9 S9 l( a. Facceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
- m( T! Y/ T6 l, k7 Arecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.! I: L& J6 c2 {# W4 z1 s1 o& a
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
E7 H1 ~+ p& D' p" B6 Ssaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and! R$ \; P7 I1 _; l
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
( ?6 ~6 p" q/ o- _. _3 c9 c$ Relectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
& c) s) Q. C' U6 K7 s4 u5 dcause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only$ ~1 m) ~( d9 Z3 l" t+ G
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
7 M6 R2 J0 |$ q; aby Toyota's lawyers."0 a7 M( V* n6 M6 _
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
& Z% v0 H% z: o$ q& r. zproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
$ D5 _8 |5 u4 d: Q) s2 ocustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he$ C0 H1 U' f! A, ~0 u1 u- u
said.
6 v7 P1 e% G) }; M) a"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
3 W1 M! @/ h, }( Z7 R, Va rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
. e6 W/ A% O5 B# ^/ |: Q- l" Y ?good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
) Q7 j: b9 k' F7 m9 e+ k9 ?# Gofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
+ o+ e6 J* n: L' ~( FSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying( w" a5 e h7 M$ \6 d
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread4 G) Z! L% ]" w9 k' `, N F
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the; a0 E8 x, \5 U
automaker, at least in part because of the government's
# {! m1 l) s% e7 S! Binvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
/ Z# a4 e3 \" ?9 xChrysler.
) x5 H: Q2 i; _: F+ }$ v: G1 @"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
% z- `* u' K) }' _% b# H" ^dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a7 u2 E' [( ?3 G) h
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also1 r% `! g C( I( \$ A
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete) S( z1 j. j0 H5 I. G
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
/ V- H" v& I% ?: O! A# ?4 u. `- H* htough."1 J6 Y5 R9 t$ h% n* q
---/ b- U, ~# A: o9 L, O' g
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
) [8 P6 N( S% d g( ]( X3 _2 h; gRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to% Z9 X2 Q" \* D7 D6 o
this story.3 \8 Z' _+ Y9 Y7 ^8 ^; @/ a8 t3 ]. I
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