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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
( G3 u3 C) ?+ t- i1 Y: \9 lBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
# w' F( m, k, }. R5 N4 _Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
( ^' r r% G# j+ {. Foperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
' Z6 x9 ]; Q/ E5 S6 y- j6 A) hthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"$ L6 r/ W8 z0 r6 Z: A) x4 F
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
4 p+ R" J' h2 `8 g0 c"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
0 ^5 X! g$ t. y7 P" ~) scauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.1 v0 g7 |/ N% |$ T. t: R" z% u
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected. z, U% ], p- f' q
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
+ t. o: f* ^4 a% ftrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor, \/ s+ k- b" ^2 T
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.
8 H1 O* `/ k! `' wHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal8 x& o! ^3 p: o" V& c7 V
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp3 g. k0 }( w/ z/ A5 L( Y7 N
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be+ ~* e. S1 ^ ]; k9 B8 Y( H
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could0 r7 B3 M9 w9 Y7 P
not stop her runaway Lexus.0 Y3 r; i' ~0 W9 M& C& q' W
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,+ Z% y6 L+ P1 |. ?
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
* ?4 V5 ~* B: |# }$ y"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
/ c: q, s* b+ s% STexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues3 o3 P! |( `8 {# {' p9 y0 f `5 O& l
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said7 h2 G7 @+ ^+ A" P/ D& m
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has' d6 ~; P; Q! R
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway1 V+ e( z& F% H. G) ]
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
) f0 F6 E9 r- ~( o" Ginvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
, ]- H) P; J+ t- uLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an* j; l. b& ], d; I
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of- R6 o/ U0 o+ ^$ Z* H, Q
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
- a0 V/ E& L) i smalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he4 E" m( v; ` q9 b2 d6 o4 j$ h
said.
- ~& L2 ?' ~% M4 ^: I) j8 c' OAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
: t3 }- C+ G! q# Yhappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe8 J% A b! x+ |9 j- n5 [+ N
about driving our products," Lentz said., G4 I# S$ C1 H( q
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
5 J6 d' [' z' X8 l7 k+ B- qproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has q( A+ \5 l9 v& l
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
% |, W7 w: Z5 r4 A% amillion in the United States -- since last fall because of
1 E$ F) o4 Z; Q' Wunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking6 g. v: S- T. g& A, b" N: g
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering$ F8 f; ?3 X( c9 q
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
' q- n; |7 X$ Z% S; }+ o. xtheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow4 c2 L* G0 s- _/ u
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
h: d/ g+ R2 H+ creceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
! Y- N3 x2 i/ f/ zof Toyota vehicles since 2000.
) o) V6 d2 A# q- \# h; y* gLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
, @' D5 g0 h0 e; c$ M4 [brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he/ i9 w* \* ?5 w' \/ J: Q
understood the pain.
+ e$ a# z) t! J: B% O7 L"I know what those families go through," he said.0 f' J% P2 F+ M! y
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's( z3 |4 i4 O; @* e: |6 L
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
3 N5 K5 Y) t( C$ o9 C; P, oBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman5 w4 n: N; C- G9 \8 G" S! G
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put, i( H) F2 I( Z( T1 O& r
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,( s: }: W: L+ j+ t6 |: [9 L
Lentz replied: "Not totally."- Z1 |7 w) E( P( N% K' D0 F/ N/ e' M
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were& |+ c, O( Z% A( {* C
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said6 k4 {# ?# [. _
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
# o2 |3 _% c4 A% [8 }( g1 ?( A' Upedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
* B; A- w" m1 K1 V) H, M q nvehicles already on the road.
- B$ k* R& I3 b0 ^& x5 d* C+ }Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
+ b4 T( M4 S8 u2 o# [before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full; S* W0 G, f G( i9 I( V3 n
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and K' k; i# i- h& ^/ | ^
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were( D; v X" q1 O# S" f& N
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
/ x$ X+ M' c2 J, L0 H6 g9 B# k"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
: `' F, V; ~* C4 ktragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony8 r# e/ [2 O$ g* a/ I; Q" N
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight0 _. {- ^1 R0 b# k: G( {
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal# [" |% w5 ^/ o( A
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
; T& }1 M, J& i" t8 irestore the trust of our customers."3 F; j4 r; g# I* ]9 B
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
$ I, Z! x x! H% O! G) ZSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly4 r1 h6 k0 k$ o) m2 {
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --: y F* n. L ^0 r* o8 m2 I
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and/ {- P9 R8 [5 R- y" V
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough$ I# l# H ~) J% T$ r, K
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
8 _5 G0 d! B; ^8 Zturn off the engine.
2 n, r% R2 G% B# gFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of0 [8 W; ]. d% u- N; M$ g
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
9 J4 u# [7 T( g& c"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
4 o! Q+ _" s7 Q6 i. v% x) Esaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond. Z! `. u+ Y. m8 T
to her complaints.5 a8 N B. W$ b, l; U
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
7 U L) w0 m3 o2 Q( @# Vreturned again and again to the question of whether electronic
5 |# {$ z" p7 C1 v! Smalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
- U2 p4 [/ R# \"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
! p: d9 B9 E0 athrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited3 s* f; `. h n* D$ ~
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut, M4 m7 U% p/ c6 W7 c
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."9 |' p# ~$ o2 Q+ B
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
4 a4 h$ N& p+ l5 k/ I3 ]prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were5 X5 ~ I9 ~. U" M7 v3 s
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls9 [$ F) k4 r. Y" L1 L# Z0 ?5 Z+ m
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
) ~# w# i+ i1 h9 Q; ^every question."
D8 u# P8 e" _/ x q* zToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether e$ S' g. r% a/ O4 {7 \7 w p5 [
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The8 m6 e! r$ l( V) T- ]
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
8 ~6 T$ M* Y* a! X/ h0 ^committee investigators said the testing studied only a small, O9 p# Q: j" u
number of vehicles; B9 j1 X. s. s0 D/ t4 T
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more% j2 }8 ?0 G; A
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a0 @# Y) X8 A% j" {6 v
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one9 y H& j1 L5 B
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.* ]+ k1 q, w* P3 g' a
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
9 g! M, G( b# k& k2 u7 T' ^where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
T# J' Z( q! \( h0 D- Jtrace at all.
h0 T4 c5 t z) H5 q4 [* E$ xHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
# j% w/ ^# l- |1 }5 d# K' [9 R5 Z( zdatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden9 G- M4 \* {& [/ t. q- k' J
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the; f: d* `9 v' d3 I
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
& g/ [' e! }/ [& H6 i' rRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
4 v& N+ B9 w3 `1 ?% c% Q$ Osaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and: }& Q0 |3 C6 _- x# y( `8 q7 g' f1 K$ }+ `
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the1 ]5 `5 U+ l G1 @& @8 i+ U
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
: R5 F: ~ g4 f- E/ o* N/ Scause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only. I5 |8 j9 i4 z1 L) l
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained) k1 C% H g* P8 a
by Toyota's lawyers."
3 \7 f+ a0 g& iLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of; h7 M" X H2 g! s0 L1 C% Q
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
8 [. K; T, F: _8 n, Scustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
6 S4 T! K3 [$ z1 Esaid. `3 P" { j7 M$ P
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
" z6 j2 [ j/ B' l3 Ya rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our) f6 ~; F+ Z6 M% l" y# Y
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
; g: k1 ^5 [$ B2 S' H' c* Sofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc./ v# e+ z" F8 [0 e6 s
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying8 ^4 x7 R. o; \0 o! {' S( \6 w/ \
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread) t8 f" c1 R/ k @& n
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the( F6 w' b1 m! ], E* T) s8 Z7 o
automaker, at least in part because of the government's1 c* _) \8 R& J2 i, C
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
; }; `" O; d& u$ pChrysler.8 f& g9 m$ @, Q3 V+ D9 p G: H' {
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
. W$ s6 J' r$ }, [* T4 j' wdollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a W& _2 m1 J0 P3 Y+ ~
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also" O% Q% T/ ~+ R7 s! v' s8 }' i
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete0 ^( g5 w, H. k. N' [" R* w+ |, P
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
8 o6 M; o9 O" g1 H3 t& r6 G6 gtough."
7 ~) \; x2 X4 N1 J4 D---
# E" l& m* l1 B2 OAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom8 t5 ^. t5 \+ h4 {" v
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
" g, }) N2 W3 _6 d5 Z d$ qthis story.
% j; F! K6 f, M* r* Z$ N2 v2 h T0 B0 L _* `) o
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