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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
" o3 q# V1 t) C6 {7 I% Y4 FBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
6 x, J: O) q$ m; pWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S. r+ t* ^$ x8 X2 e) Q7 N" P4 p- P
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that' }+ m3 D W* Q+ y* F- K2 n
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
7 Y+ r3 H7 R& S( S% ^" s4 g% }8 Bsolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.) \2 I% `; V: F/ O) G
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential1 R6 `( N. B# Q, c
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel. |) {6 B; H% U. O
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected8 C( q2 b! {) P1 W2 k5 d
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and" O' h# Q) z& n# n
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor; j7 c: v- T# y' ?3 v
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.
4 h; p, B% I1 b2 L0 v1 W/ T& }He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal0 U1 X3 |% w, K4 O$ i3 _& ^4 ~
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp$ ~, x( R+ t3 L* B k8 x3 F
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be# A6 K( n3 G5 ^6 A
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could5 y! t. m3 E% t8 g8 F$ t# G4 x3 d% j. Y
not stop her runaway Lexus.
) P. [: `& l1 q+ L& D3 |"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
8 \7 w5 f8 W! w: _* zTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second, N& h4 Q/ w' U# b3 t
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.& y1 T+ d" ~ I) C
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues6 z6 m, w, X0 Q7 \
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
7 |3 u6 i% `& Q$ v"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
2 ~: t5 q! s. W( qdone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway4 Q2 {0 Y Q* A# T3 K; _
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's: }3 Q0 A/ c6 {4 t1 E) X
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
' r! Z8 e F+ S* ^Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an" o8 z8 S' w& j* r/ d/ a+ {, m1 q
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
6 H5 J$ |- \& ~7 {& Z3 Ithe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a( t/ F% q8 V! [; k% x/ d" r
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
. k" [/ A" a- Z. a+ h9 E! b, y% |said.1 y7 h$ v' b2 G$ T6 S
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what& s; \- @0 a$ N Q% V; c" `
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe2 Z0 N. C/ [. t* W% u2 e, q: Q
about driving our products," Lentz said.
$ f y) ^# v, v9 g: p0 YThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's6 q, _$ u- f9 [9 }# { }
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
5 ^ h1 g6 i+ `/ srecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
9 l! ^& h) D: p) zmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of
" i+ P/ R% J! L* H( K* P& b4 Lunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
$ w- K( a" ^1 o _ h+ r4 {0 z; tissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering& o4 e/ i5 i: L9 q% |6 p
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of2 ~. w) [! _9 f: L, v
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
' o6 N6 _, F: }8 q! Kdown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
, [* N& S& {* |% w* { yreceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration: o z9 q8 ]5 z8 ^! H5 @2 p
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.- T2 M! ~- A6 a/ @, }2 Y
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
* b' b+ J! K4 w q" |brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he" g; ]( X& B* }0 f
understood the pain.6 T% N2 M6 e# ?( ^
"I know what those families go through," he said.
$ M& S. Y, c3 A4 [8 s+ x) g9 [9 TLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
) [9 ? G3 U# H& b! rfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.) F' Y6 @3 E6 o) O5 q. w& c, A1 _
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
( X) T! B! w4 l( A$ `: V" {Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put' y, V. [* _, L: M, j8 w) I
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
/ H& \: q( a" j( v1 u* T7 I2 qLentz replied: "Not totally."
- V1 p9 h4 r+ K J a6 e$ fStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
, I2 ~5 \; T0 H: A2 I% G% D"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said+ d- W# A4 g4 u+ t6 k
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
" Q3 O* _4 r% A, W6 m npedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its9 s8 f, k% P- i; e, @; e
vehicles already on the road.
) S* `8 h4 l* g2 RMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify6 ^- V2 Q) `$ B
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full8 ^: G3 W; @4 u3 F3 ?5 K
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and! \: R3 C9 q* e- R4 K
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were2 I$ }, G7 g* y7 I" M, S
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.2 m/ ]4 I, D8 ^
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
8 L) r4 f, \! }) r! utragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony' e7 j' E; {* a
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight. d! \1 S l9 ^- j5 c; N; B2 a
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal7 @$ P& N( j; ^: y0 Y
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
6 j- X& S+ c6 V; B3 {restore the trust of our customers."" T% a: p( p3 X; T; Q
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
9 T6 Q, _7 [/ ~: f' f" gSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
, w/ I* A$ Z& O+ {% \zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
+ C+ n" L& @! ? bshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
1 w" L/ J$ q' Whitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough% r" d$ }* P, C y: g
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and* w' B1 M& r' V2 h4 r8 m$ W
turn off the engine.
, v. @ j( T% W' P* ?+ eFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
8 P' d, A7 V @2 f! a% G# EOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
2 X0 i7 ~) _2 j1 L" V"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she; W+ E/ v* ]3 N4 G" W% d, }
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
, G3 l% F. _# pto her complaints.* C! G$ I8 u' W3 e* a$ Y9 `# W
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers ~6 ^9 C& W5 s, J
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
5 P# O3 k9 w; C& o! p4 B6 Pmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.- _. P3 ~" y3 W+ w+ R7 ~
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
{9 ?8 i" w" F$ x0 hthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited6 W8 ?6 |: p0 R" K/ {$ a
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut- e+ g% I6 X. d6 h+ }
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure." ?' O; G8 G! w9 ~% Z
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
$ h+ m$ O$ t; Iprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
" ?" A7 X* C7 N9 E! Xbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls$ B/ r3 Z D2 c0 l- W# ~9 {" ?
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
- D4 ^2 o& o; n- qevery question."
6 ^7 T# N4 i8 Y iToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether& r$ i6 w- M+ e0 n$ F# J/ O2 j
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
+ l# M" v5 I+ [6 K, H& Tfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
I |4 E) e1 @committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
! I3 k5 I$ }5 v! {3 L( c# p% qnumber of vehicles
( l$ J! e2 ^" K' dTracking down an electrical problem can be far more
3 E# e8 r0 [% x9 {difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a4 L+ h" R! k, b5 H1 S$ i
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one1 |7 w: q R* X
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
' l$ p: J, e4 m9 `Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,# m3 K! g. T& V) S d2 t, L
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no5 H6 z* W0 g! b8 z V
trace at all.
3 d5 a! g" B! u0 M1 m: EHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call3 }2 i$ b) i) v8 \
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden7 M4 }- S2 m* Z! c
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
8 M! [1 Q1 d4 N! a0 P9 b2 lrecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
, e) J/ S" E! P' g$ N- b# ?Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,: Z8 e- ?! m L! |
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
. E; v9 H/ C6 Sother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
; p7 z9 `, M4 R: I# @+ Yelectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
_% v3 \1 _9 i% {5 E7 ycause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
% e2 \( A' j9 k0 asuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained( o O7 N; n( O7 S( {6 H
by Toyota's lawyers."0 k' V* E" [5 A K
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
5 `3 M9 D) x8 [0 _/ }. ?problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our" M# D* F+ p/ k# g0 m
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
8 v! C0 k! M' ~/ s: g3 E5 Psaid.
& k$ G' Q) h/ c' n t7 p"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
7 q, d/ K6 T* \9 x/ Da rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
8 U* M6 k) q& k8 _' C* w0 Pgood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
- C: X8 P9 k' H' Z8 iofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.0 M2 b# ]+ ?8 q) K
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying; S, e2 A; X: J9 d- _9 ~ {
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
0 s8 T$ L7 [3 R- r7 Xrancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
n. A6 S& A9 C7 _1 cautomaker, at least in part because of the government's
1 y' N# v$ t) c* f( H+ O: G8 zinvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and+ {5 k- w0 \$ y
Chrysler.
( p" z; @' s% W4 g"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
; a! l! I5 \' S9 ^5 J" pdollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a9 A, T* l! i! Y4 _4 `: {% r4 F. E
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also, h |. h; d: d. u; S0 K9 ]4 |
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete6 D0 A9 q7 {& I* v- L2 g- s4 f
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty7 `' ?( ]) N% A0 c( p7 o
tough."
% [. i) k. i( n- `, h+ h---
9 M8 k0 h2 ]6 L S5 L3 v$ f( z$ pAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom# N; a; X' g! x& ]
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to. F* |: X/ R/ c: A/ Y6 z J1 f
this story.9 \4 x% d: ~- N7 W- K8 c
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