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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
- [7 {- Y7 K2 J* |6 m NBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS0 S2 N& B' e. @) }' F
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.4 Y; J1 j j7 z# B6 |7 @
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
( v' H- j( s" q+ c, o1 @4 {the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
& X! ?; H. }, W5 X. M+ ]7 [0 Ksolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.# V+ m3 y4 g4 U% _) d7 `- I+ a. d. W
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
* N' L# i2 Q3 \5 J% r6 [causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
) S1 m# v' }2 @; ~% v5 vHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
. N. v* X. N% j2 _% k L- Y# Nacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
8 |' b- f( h! j9 v! mtrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
, Q# Z6 p7 |: t: z, ]- S" @, Amats and sticking accelerator pedals.
. W: X0 o5 J0 xHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal4 ^4 K8 x# N- Q @" g
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
+ D6 x7 e* O& b X; h. H" L' K, Acriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be% k8 @+ A5 m( j% a7 @. S( e1 g+ @
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
3 U+ Z; Y# Z3 c" N# l0 Cnot stop her runaway Lexus.
7 Q2 p. }% n; K1 p0 i"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
+ c" E9 q. d% f' |' zTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second1 o$ B; e( i$ ~" H9 U1 @) y
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
4 ` D& {4 ?+ fTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
+ i$ O+ h5 F' w$ Qearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said/ q8 U3 d0 k. |* [
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has$ g/ h7 K" n) D# L2 H9 p, w
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
0 q* z* ^; Y2 J8 s7 Kthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
6 f& k' a/ ^; ~investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."3 \4 u% z8 H% `; w5 x
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
- s- l3 x2 p) X2 Melectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of0 E, y! s9 m) E6 D6 n
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
( W: J; n# H" {- d' h8 L. Umalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
& _2 V0 w% i; O0 m& Q$ |5 psaid./ u; @4 `7 x- c, A) b& }! [( `8 o
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what, R" Z$ I/ f: b. Q" b
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe; d X, `4 p7 R5 z+ t# S( g. E
about driving our products," Lentz said.
0 B: H' }3 Q8 A. ?Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's, [8 A& d* a! W: x8 Y, m9 n
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
C- m; i1 s% ^# Krecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
* \# Z% B5 d8 G- Fmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of
0 o) z% x/ p' ]2 S- F( O- A s. lunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
0 G: `, l, N* d! Bissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering; A! j; n i+ ?& v
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of) \) @9 \6 i5 k& s
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow n" h+ T4 f2 J2 V
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
: w/ D$ Y2 [3 T) rreceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
2 X. ?; M8 |( D0 k' L; |# l) Uof Toyota vehicles since 2000.
; ~( o+ k! o1 b2 ?' I, H( GLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own* ?( V0 I* L* }/ j& S# c5 h1 ?! K
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he" i; ^: |1 M. u
understood the pain.
3 M. W7 v$ [( x9 g \$ l: D" O8 u; Q"I know what those families go through," he said./ G/ h1 A5 k; \- v
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's& ^6 {* u7 x# X3 D
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
, F# H5 }8 v2 E! d' eBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman) S+ H w: `. Q- U* x) ~
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
/ j0 L D6 l5 N# k3 f; Bin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
; ]* p( v/ w' k. H5 tLentz replied: "Not totally."5 |/ k$ ]. ^8 m4 S$ P' c
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were5 h2 ]& d# W$ |& I* v$ u3 o& T
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
, O; W) B7 i$ B/ ]Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
8 m- S) L! W' P l# a8 G' Z6 m7 gpedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its+ r% b; T3 [% g
vehicles already on the road.
( k' P; M2 |2 `# V0 ?1 B5 B0 O7 \Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify, O J2 A D: b& M% M8 F
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
. T* l" @7 k1 e3 presponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and# \8 A2 Y! w2 H6 W6 Y
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were+ @* t' O" {6 Y3 n9 a8 d* `
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.' |5 ~' T# T# a8 Z
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
2 h5 M: J) E# ]: N+ otragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
3 W4 W" `( q: Ffor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
& |- C5 t) K. l8 b5 ?) R. jCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
4 z: i1 o1 a& \4 ncommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to1 Z6 p" b b+ C; E, M
restore the trust of our customers."8 M5 b$ ]: L- g* B0 x
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
$ i9 M; y3 [2 k9 LSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
3 |( I" d5 m( }$ rzoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
. B p* |7 z+ E# [! Lshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
/ G7 K: I6 r& Q9 n& G& @& chitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough) o' M! L4 B, J4 c5 u& V$ u3 L6 d
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and% d) N, Z$ s$ q
turn off the engine.
0 M6 e' V. M( T. _2 ]Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of, o1 H2 y4 Y/ y# F5 B4 l$ J
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."- t$ f: X' w4 G7 X
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she4 C( S% g3 x! [8 V- U
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
( @ ]+ s: l3 G3 F* c, P7 v# Eto her complaints.
( A: M8 j- M ]* A9 E NIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers: @! U( a& T6 G
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic3 h8 R7 s2 c9 s2 J1 k# p
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
% P) y v1 Y+ q0 d"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric2 G, B9 O* w2 o `- I1 T
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited$ t2 d3 x/ \* Z% w
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
7 U' e. J* `1 n$ w2 s0 K O6 s4 Poff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
$ v8 V6 r4 K; M* W5 BTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
) l' A+ D* a3 A6 c; uprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
# Q) K8 O; D k1 S) G1 Abeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls3 ^$ X/ s d6 @! f
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
F: S% ~! D8 X. V) j) z. [every question."
3 P/ w6 d( ~$ dToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether% Y! c3 l4 V% Q3 O
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The1 e9 f% b7 l" P. W5 v2 `* Q; `
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
3 p! @! @6 [# o8 A9 M" Lcommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small
# P- G" u+ O, a% y* `" t' x/ Gnumber of vehicles$ @) Z2 b. d! z% ]: h; g
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more2 }: \* U0 F8 m+ h" Q& K, ]2 j
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
Y# t5 B# S2 m- Gmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one/ I- N1 d! q& E3 [: n
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.8 ~8 A, a5 F! ]4 ^( h0 B% [
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
8 S P7 [. m- S' h" `$ }/ Mwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no7 Z7 ?9 O3 ~% T- l9 {) g
trace at all.
: R" m6 y' i& aHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
- B4 m1 Y0 E T7 M$ C& G" r9 p7 Mdatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
1 Z) Q' n3 C+ s3 {- l1 U: l3 {3 g4 xacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
" H" r, p# a3 B# K* n+ q' F2 brecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.& h6 K/ }& A( q, B
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,1 a7 e; t7 W: K( r0 Y5 ^4 @
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
G6 I5 F; X5 p4 Z7 o% p3 Zother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
7 x2 {& e: P- O1 G2 Lelectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible7 W1 ~( d I1 L' z% k) |: u
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
) ~, }$ s. R7 p5 d' Q8 bsuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
* d1 T5 A6 f3 X8 T5 y" U4 h3 W( Nby Toyota's lawyers."+ ?9 ?3 A4 s/ T' I+ \
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
4 T* O- o# {+ ]* R4 M' A6 }3 \ Uproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our, T" P# E! S, h! y6 z! [3 F2 Z2 v
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
% e* v$ ]# G9 i1 t8 |& |said.
- ~+ D2 `, H% p1 Y$ p"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with" ~# o# `- [& \- j% E$ y* V& U
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our, ?8 V5 f& G- X' f8 g
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
# L# d, Y% R% A- ~* Q' Vofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc. ~' o/ C+ b R/ a; p7 M
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying! s3 d( Z1 m( F5 A3 O5 y
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
( y1 s+ W, M& f, i6 \" z5 B6 ^rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
7 e/ S/ l. K: k) e' p* jautomaker, at least in part because of the government's
: F. |1 `* _% e5 h/ m1 F) @* pinvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and/ V, Y+ u( J# O7 J" Z; t0 B
Chrysler.
9 z2 [0 d, u) J$ ~: q"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
# Q: t9 e9 s. Sdollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a( F5 b1 u; {, @* Y
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
b3 r2 a8 u9 ^served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
: @" p) j% z I' ~/ \/ \- Mwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty% v4 ~) G' V1 M: }( X8 e
tough."
0 f( Q2 Z( |' }---
/ y$ J3 [" C; ^ ^9 r% ~/ dAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
+ @& h) C i. [$ `* w" BRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to5 V7 J& E/ v) e7 A) D7 H* B* Y# L
this story.
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