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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
$ P/ D9 i: ?+ u% IBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS5 O; y1 ]1 Q9 t
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.: h( P6 p d) f! n7 i) C: `- J' F
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
2 H* f0 V H0 K( d/ cthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally" {- B1 L: G$ {6 g2 L) D8 `
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.3 T$ G& M" `& Z
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
' ^+ L' e' E$ [# f% c X _causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.9 `. A5 u% F8 o. f* v( U
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
. b+ o9 |6 h0 ?2 s( `: R' x- Vacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and1 M4 ]; n9 N& E( @" n9 V
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor; Z) P! t4 E# P5 a* |; M
mats and sticking accelerator pedals. M2 O- D, ]6 T7 I
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
+ }; G4 r% V+ L% Band fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
; |) D9 q D8 O0 Scriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
# T6 y* y6 B( v; b3 mfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
' N8 x# i' N& a P6 \" inot stop her runaway Lexus.
3 n {2 v$ H+ G9 R A* w3 ?5 Y"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,: S# o% t3 ~+ e r' E
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second# q9 p8 \- F# d7 a5 g
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
- |2 k. h& j9 uTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues- r6 C# k5 _0 j' \8 V( g( |
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said( l; a( h$ n% b+ J
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
5 i. R5 e, y v. @% B( a+ wdone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway/ y* v% f+ M/ x* |" a- ^
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's- H O7 I9 b, [& W' b) \+ ^
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham.": Y7 Q( u6 S' g1 h! @- @; z- x
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an4 k7 P$ c( F g4 a
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
. r' Z8 f( @! N/ C Zthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a% @* Y6 d5 D. b$ c8 ?6 h# X) L
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
) A" z6 E! W& ^' h1 U0 I! M; wsaid.
8 p! n! s8 k5 B- R5 q1 I) dAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what; E+ o7 u' Z' f4 _' d( ], O' `9 W
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe0 p" J7 Z0 V* l5 L4 p6 p ]
about driving our products," Lentz said.
1 ~7 `, _4 v5 i( \7 \Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
7 D2 n- T w8 W' k p0 U9 }/ ~problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
8 l% _0 c4 |# N+ u' Zrecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6/ G: Q" m0 u, ^
million in the United States -- since last fall because of! n8 v5 q j# d5 i
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
3 {- g- H" U5 g; I. w1 K0 v" Zissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering1 o2 Z. a2 c( i* T6 V9 n0 O; o0 ?
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
2 l! q7 X+ x5 t" t, g$ ~their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow- @2 B, X# I# q$ s# W* q6 v. B
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has/ W9 B) N8 a/ ?/ f! H1 @% Z
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
+ b5 W7 M3 L) v, Q% ?" oof Toyota vehicles since 2000.( Q) w* [' B8 H" c
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own& Z. W8 i. v/ @. F; c# ]
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he) D% ` L. o3 v4 t5 S
understood the pain.2 ~6 r( j: P7 v! w+ n0 u* W
"I know what those families go through," he said.3 g" X7 b: |: m3 ?+ X$ n3 i
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's0 _, L+ q6 d9 ]/ s
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems., `1 {/ G" w6 G' v, P4 k) S
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman5 a0 O+ w" X5 P4 K0 t6 M' d" B8 S
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put9 T4 U5 N$ T! w3 {- h# e
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
5 W) J t; {2 ^8 b$ ]Lentz replied: "Not totally."
* {5 I! o, N& t ^Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
3 y; F1 t6 n8 [9 b r: U4 i: g- z"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said: k$ u5 s# u5 b* e3 |
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas$ q9 Z5 x/ V# K
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its+ g6 f" K0 k& i/ U1 S& ?8 l2 n
vehicles already on the road.
8 f$ X$ B" J( A6 G' t3 j+ cMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify- }; ~2 ?, l' G/ [7 G; H s* w
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
2 H2 e0 [+ |1 F. G, c6 oresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
' U) Y5 C. E3 d1 J' g* coffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were+ V" S: ]# Q7 t8 h$ d/ q G
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
' b( p. t% k X. n! U, D"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
2 U" @ i; \- g/ jtragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
. X; v- P; j; A8 ~$ r! I% Xfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight1 c% _; l% ^. b8 _3 U! a" V6 h
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
' t1 d" S( D( X- ccommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to, s7 Q! \* J9 S& P- J
restore the trust of our customers."
' h- Y. f& @0 X/ O7 x/ ULawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
0 F0 C3 J2 D r" ISmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly1 \ T6 U2 r; C& C3 }) C
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
l& }& m) B0 I* C# Gshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and/ W5 A, T( I& S+ |
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough2 ^0 M1 n& o7 b9 X; L
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and; M! k3 a6 a9 ^$ |$ ^
turn off the engine./ {2 ^! J5 ]9 Y4 A
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
$ K+ B4 T6 ~; a L, B5 {* ]October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."' z4 F H# W. U& I$ n) {
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she4 n* P. v1 h' {4 g
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
; z8 S4 S- u! kto her complaints.( I3 {% P3 A) g% C% V' y
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers' f( [) r% o& I" i
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic2 c1 y- ^8 k+ Q2 A, W* z1 T$ g
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
+ K0 d! b$ |, Q5 u, h' U"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
! c, ^+ X5 p& J3 K6 C, Kthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited5 S" s, ~* ~8 `4 \; ]' b
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut( l/ H: d0 \$ z, p' a6 |
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."# I' N' U4 q9 G' ?
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in! F9 Z/ Q$ {8 H/ W. L+ j0 \; N
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were+ d$ d1 f9 i5 V5 W
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls( X6 Z9 \; u6 ?& ]
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer V/ o9 ~; q+ Z* l
every question.") j2 X8 r5 P$ N4 u/ h% E. F1 }
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
/ l9 B2 ?0 u# q& V, o7 Kelectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The0 \8 E3 k5 B0 H5 U) x4 E% \! V
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But& n1 W1 J8 m# S- E5 u. y* n
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
# {1 ]! h$ z3 w2 H2 knumber of vehicles
3 }/ ?5 ~. a' h8 ~Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more1 T' h, H: I% ]5 i
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a0 M% \# A" d+ y6 A4 n
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one0 |) C5 K- Z3 r% J1 z! t# c
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
. u+ f" m2 H4 r0 F2 uMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
: z" H7 ^2 H/ L: ~, uwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no$ _* p& T! {" x7 C( _, u, `
trace at all.; x' L" W- M! o% w# F" B8 l
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call9 s1 |$ v4 U9 m2 S
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden& d9 O& U: \/ {* P0 B
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the8 [' l6 ~) X6 _* V
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.: P( g2 r2 @3 t" H, h% H+ P
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,% o/ o$ s# F. G0 F1 \
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and* l O/ Q( y0 `& z4 N. \) ~; c- z' r
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the6 J& o, b0 ~" w9 V3 B4 B. g
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
/ g' ]' u4 _- icause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only5 L7 X' R" g6 c0 J
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
* b' U3 V2 j G L* w( p5 O1 Wby Toyota's lawyers."5 L2 E8 O7 T7 b( r# i/ x; I
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of8 C% N* p+ ^$ O4 X- L# r S
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
6 I' R+ T8 j% j' Mcustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he* a8 Q& A% n+ t, Q
said.
2 C& w" y2 ]' h) p2 q- V* e"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with ~* H" n4 z K) a0 x
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our- j$ ~2 C+ M/ K& Q: L
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating0 Y0 M1 K: J) {0 ]( o9 i' P: P
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.8 S! ~* W% y' P+ a
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
6 ~6 J1 S" ` Q# C" b4 Y& }# Tmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
: x* C1 O' T7 E8 K2 V2 r+ g* Jrancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
$ ~" f* z' @9 `) [4 H4 {8 Sautomaker, at least in part because of the government's( i" t4 O2 e. R" ~2 d8 D4 u$ W
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
# X" M! j, \4 S2 b5 Q0 m+ k0 iChrysler.7 r w: F. L9 s( b/ X
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
+ o8 Y- |+ `, X$ d5 Y/ `3 C: cdollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a" s. [+ S. o8 F
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also+ M! I$ k4 X0 D0 H9 y1 r
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete" h' a8 I# K3 k) H6 R
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
/ b. @% ^! B7 Y- f% Atough."0 _. ~( h# r8 b8 ^0 B; v0 ?) W7 @
---
# Y0 T7 E2 k+ V0 zAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
6 k1 [- k% y: ~) ZRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
& u4 d( x! i$ Uthis story.
% b. r) u; `. ^: U3 l! L# v1 U$ o- w7 c& H7 S C/ L# o
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