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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
4 _8 p8 @. R: n* @- _ WBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS* I, `! {- h( ?
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
4 p. D# `4 D- m1 x' [6 ?operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that$ Q0 k3 V; ~6 t- |9 Z7 G
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
6 T0 ^! X$ [, g1 Q( c" ^- [solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration. s4 b* S& `1 h! C* X
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential+ _7 m# k! f3 e
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
, m5 W' K1 X+ h2 X3 `) A4 m" mHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
, w) G8 \2 K0 }* K4 F$ Vacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and; T" s, L5 d. s4 p. H' ]
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor$ c; V* G* j' ~8 r* e- `$ i$ \1 y7 E
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.5 }# Z9 v4 \: B& S2 }* S# U& r& ]. j
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal. n" ~& _ G1 ?
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp- [. }) L' n, @& f4 `3 V: Y' s
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
$ X9 t" w- t8 I1 ~" Lfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could t% q/ E" l) q T' N9 u1 q& w
not stop her runaway Lexus.5 U, \! o3 h5 B/ p
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,; z+ y O* x, m3 E. S
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
, [! O' s+ q0 s) N) ?; c$ _5 l"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
. ]) Z' e% ^/ eTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
3 } _0 E9 J4 {4 Tearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
F7 g, U6 c& a* |1 E"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
7 e$ m2 e3 e; n' y& n. q z, adone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway% s/ d z) t2 i2 l& C- I
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's7 y% E# P O0 Z$ ^; |- [
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."* ?; Q! @- ~1 f3 ^+ `- b- ?& s! h
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an1 L: u9 H/ P: p) ~
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
' [1 ~6 B: f$ T$ Fthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a! C' O! ?; ?& \0 l$ X7 y
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
: A. ]! A2 W" csaid.
0 g" f% k) x; {1 O' m, QAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what5 M0 C+ x l, D: e3 i& `: B8 x$ c
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
: y. m/ J9 K; m( ]& `- K5 iabout driving our products," Lentz said.
" R& Q* {0 N$ M# `6 j4 w) zThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
7 _9 K% a L2 F- u- l# Dproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
! `, C/ T. P# Z7 }) G- @! ?recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 69 a% Q: M5 T8 O" C2 F8 F
million in the United States -- since last fall because of0 ?4 i' z' L8 y( B0 O8 |
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
" N4 e( i* e2 B& m: b, [issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering7 g/ S8 m& ?( o+ ?0 ]' s4 Q3 y
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of' o. [5 N/ c0 e4 [+ o) b1 H
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
" g9 Z( v2 @- _$ H* vdown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has2 u5 z) w# s$ X$ D k3 e
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration' a6 {+ A/ X$ o6 j! A% ~+ m, m
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.
2 z9 j! v' E- O& o4 C6 L' iLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own! `, G$ G) w0 ]" {7 H6 c5 N
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
2 C/ I- }$ x) i* B; \understood the pain.- T. t4 k( X/ e: y% t
"I know what those families go through," he said.
+ t4 f, \2 z9 e2 LLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's# w8 ]8 F1 R% M8 \2 P
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
. E9 S% t# _, O2 [But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
. t2 N; u, @& T! p+ pHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
- s4 F* ?$ W8 p7 U' jin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
, P: ~; c. \ ^% ILentz replied: "Not totally."5 X9 x8 n }6 ]& K4 z
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
% r) ]$ o W6 h* ]$ s- T"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
# E# o, L5 @- W8 ZToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
4 r5 t5 J( a4 P$ H* k ~pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
$ h/ ?: _4 y- |vehicles already on the road.
6 _1 q5 z1 Z9 d$ T0 X) F# lMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify0 ?4 M3 \% [0 @
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full. ]0 S6 ^# U' [6 F' w
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
5 e6 a/ g2 }' E( C4 q2 Joffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were" ]3 r. \% u. @, u3 \& ^% `" u
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
* L q. ~! a4 n! D h7 O"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
( |$ g; a4 i3 P" }4 Etragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony( s" c/ r; e8 E9 } I
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
, @5 t, e, x; S3 iCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal+ H/ |# [4 [5 l+ J: ^2 i/ A& y, ?7 v
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
4 j* i- t! r" l4 f) T* frestore the trust of our customers.") {4 _, C! V; \* Z; k1 Z
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
: G x6 A$ V4 ~* O( l/ Q& f( a. sSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
) j" N! p+ E: _" o9 e& \zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
) _( O0 n! A$ oshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
/ s' O/ \7 A2 shitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
/ k! v0 w7 X/ s, X2 vthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and! ~$ b* l1 h$ l$ l/ A4 Z+ a
turn off the engine., r( h' K1 V3 a' t7 E
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of; l3 f' S9 S: X, p* I) Q& _0 T6 E
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."9 Y4 k4 \! @& ^, k" d3 P
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she/ B" o6 [6 [% g) r* G9 t
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond: c3 c7 Q" d: d( V
to her complaints.
8 e2 v4 I K' G/ i6 E1 F0 }% vIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
4 l7 C8 g/ `/ {. k2 U2 Ereturned again and again to the question of whether electronic$ t1 v0 y0 J" U" f( n( ^
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.- x: K `; x3 y0 b
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric' E4 N. ~; n" _
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
t" G! N; I& ?. M% \4 {, R"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut0 {* R/ T! s d
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."; r& a% z" {% S; Z0 @! A6 S4 Y
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in, Z. ~' s; _* Z4 U0 R, y0 z( {! x# U: E
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were, X1 w/ r1 U2 X8 s6 l8 b0 }
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
6 D1 ~5 h; m9 @! g a" ^were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer- S( x2 F) ^) e
every question."
; k- O( K8 |- @5 s SToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
/ L6 d9 [8 Y! d; b% B2 Ielectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
* ]9 g- f( d: E) E2 R! dfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But3 U1 B l6 d0 t% X" Y' B
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
& Q( a8 g: ]; ~6 [3 n3 } u/ Y- Bnumber of vehicles; e3 }1 Q8 I6 D( m8 L
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more% F8 w! [ l$ N2 F
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
" R( Y/ p% ?- U2 Ymechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one# W; G7 h+ @$ j& a2 V
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
, A5 z ^% R9 \% P; PMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,- n7 X" m4 K% w6 g
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no2 J, u: j3 Q' O G
trace at all.* p& l' |0 x% f# c
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
) Y. K3 I% s% @6 h3 S6 ndatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
( u5 U' x4 T& c* N) s9 ~$ Zacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
: a: {4 R$ F; g7 a k1 s1 qrecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
0 j! h' a9 b! V3 {6 C. A6 I1 B* CRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,3 M B1 D* S7 B+ C! A* H
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
r Q9 R- c2 M3 q3 }& N; V: k* [other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
& O* f$ u$ J9 M* selectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
; o! _4 @" y' m0 t! ucause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
4 P6 u5 B {# z; y3 ksuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
1 A4 n6 [3 c' L# w0 xby Toyota's lawyers."0 \8 ?- X2 T" H# B! f. h* @- x
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
( {# B' F: d% x; s$ Nproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our. K! S$ n8 m% G( C4 P3 q
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
' _* o, U/ P1 N2 Ksaid.5 i& Z( |9 Y* x1 A3 O
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
' U' t6 D* T$ z6 Ba rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our+ Z, F, v, ~- }- d. P* D
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating8 K( x' M+ p& a7 G0 d& |
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
8 g; V9 }! V" [Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying- E3 V( }, m6 c
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
. F- c. k1 I9 R' c6 h8 ]/ `/ irancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the4 W; t! y6 O) k; i' v3 ]
automaker, at least in part because of the government's
- X4 D+ e2 a2 c# k, T" tinvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
4 p9 i9 I- r% F. [& PChrysler., y) {, ^9 O1 [% _% I, O; F
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
7 _1 Q/ I; Q* k4 Y5 Pdollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a" F4 l; g l/ D/ V
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also, j: h$ y1 S5 c% S; a
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
$ w' e: t. g. Z4 L, Z& \9 swith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty: e' E; \1 n- A4 ~6 ]. y# ~
tough."
0 o- x2 B/ y; k+ \% H9 v---
$ i' H' p% u, N0 _" FAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
( U- |% L1 S. f$ P) u0 Y4 K; eRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
( {4 G- Y2 g" y1 W- mthis story.
; g6 ~2 [9 G" Z" Y2 E0 w- W1 N- b# N T2 }
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