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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
q% D6 r* d' x @" ~: G9 ^# CBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
& s. D0 y- b; W! [Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
- J" x2 |' g4 R' x- ~operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that+ S0 C" k" T* b8 x, ~ B: g
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
, \" z; N7 [9 ?solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
+ l; l3 J+ E+ M& X* }* O"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
* h8 u6 K! }* k8 ]/ U) }causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel." i! t. }6 |$ G
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
7 t/ i+ C2 g7 Q0 M! Cacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and2 i1 |$ ^: P. x% x( u w) U, M8 L8 c
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor" C% D- L5 F9 N9 |
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.
0 F" B8 j+ c& tHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal. y; i s, w( M. a6 @
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp) j; M3 N" b: ]3 q/ R, p+ M
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be* G, x2 M0 u6 [
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
& P% n; z% C: z4 I: G8 T, g' E2 hnot stop her runaway Lexus.# w+ z! y( k- i) F; {* J) j
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
: {: d0 `, X. Y. X5 o0 s9 c3 |Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second/ g9 u4 Q8 F. @; o" p
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.6 U% \. I' q& O) U
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
% N* ?* H k' [0 r4 Jearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said5 C: r: \4 U" B1 p
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has$ ?5 p! d8 C: x; ~0 ~- h
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
8 L$ z# X1 J7 c9 |6 y* [% fthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
+ q k& Q. u5 B2 }& x+ ginvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
$ \% T8 X- J( K7 H! N) X# @Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an: A# g% p' j4 B
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of6 H0 m" I0 H2 s
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
$ c2 n& P) M3 @: _, M' r/ o0 W# w* G. E: ymalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
6 o$ [$ [4 n+ _1 E- ]said.
8 [4 G( l) D% ]1 W* N i" _As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
* G% ]& G4 h( ]* \happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe+ v2 H1 `8 Y. y6 _. w1 o5 b
about driving our products," Lentz said.5 Y/ Y" o2 O1 |
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
# t6 C* E6 ^9 }5 n, Z% A. D! Jproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
( Z: K$ g* ]- f1 T& l4 c- p. N1 {# q/ grecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6' ?2 \, A9 r1 s+ \8 k; ^
million in the United States -- since last fall because of
6 F; H/ ^4 J4 v7 j7 Nunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking- J1 ^% e9 T8 L* s8 n
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
, U0 A" ]& U& ^& \" M; Sconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
5 n3 U8 X/ E% Otheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow u9 q7 R7 x/ N" S5 T
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
8 k0 k" Y6 R0 O8 `; [- w( Jreceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
2 M4 ]4 }3 N/ Xof Toyota vehicles since 2000.
* m! s( a G! ~Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own. X& w w) G& R" h
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he6 ~* Z3 A& l! F% @. g
understood the pain.
3 @+ A* s. z2 V2 }6 a# Y"I know what those families go through," he said.: Q) K# L/ l0 X6 s
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's! s, I! N, U( h6 M( b9 S% p: }2 n4 ?
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
" e' ^1 _/ K3 B& [+ e- sBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman6 Q8 X6 Q/ u( l4 l( u
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put: w. |! J6 q2 x2 B
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,+ r" ?& t* _4 x" k' J8 E
Lentz replied: "Not totally."3 l! ^4 o" A& q8 Z: l
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were6 y! r5 ^* p4 n
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
( i7 ^% F" z6 C+ ]Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas, L5 U+ H# K4 r$ E& S
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
% }7 i* L n# @4 u1 [vehicles already on the road.
, b- D* C. M' H. [Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
& Q; D; r- t9 j5 a* k% nbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full2 {/ z9 k6 w6 b; ]" `( u2 t4 F
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and4 y: c' r- L4 x& _
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
: e; X/ B8 o& D) r: x7 F0 p# okilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems." R: O* n7 j5 z' l) j
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a6 n8 Q: \9 s6 n: j
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony8 Y; C$ i: u0 [- K1 b# ?) a8 c
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
8 W+ d i K, B7 K' k. E/ ]Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal% P8 i* h8 l: g5 b1 u1 n
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
4 x/ g# o% B: X/ ]' W- R/ t, Brestore the trust of our customers."
, O9 C* i+ x( U$ T2 T1 y$ QLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from. ~1 n1 H. E. _4 }/ x* M
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
& g" X$ X: A2 l0 Yzoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
/ { `* S( n+ e* hshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and0 o# h- Y7 q' _' k- M' p0 S
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough; X _9 t+ S3 B; C
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and5 j2 ~5 S1 |. I2 P
turn off the engine., p8 J# y- C) @0 N
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of. n# G0 z( a. _8 B
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
B0 K8 L1 J1 t3 K F( p, v"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
5 `: c' R- @: A) O# k% C% ]said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond* Y2 @, {1 W' Z2 k
to her complaints.
, v ?7 ^$ I6 {+ m" x u* n5 K+ g% IIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers! h( q2 R! k& f0 O" Y. c
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
& u6 K+ c) l' g& i# G0 u2 o. [- f' ?malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
1 P; Y7 I2 @+ w/ K/ _0 y"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
- D9 A0 t& }) G/ e9 othrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited. M7 @+ h' a' b( ?4 w
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut" |" @; t$ e O0 m" T7 t, y5 p1 ^
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
5 t& f& V/ z% [/ ]8 F1 {) NTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in" K" F6 |( t. @. M
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were& m4 v% c3 Q8 F' b6 D* ~6 ?7 w1 ]
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls3 d+ l/ z7 |8 g$ X6 k4 O
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
) p: h3 M5 {$ X- W8 aevery question."
% e! S+ v9 e4 u3 F j4 ]Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
9 Z a6 {" |# i2 ~1 Q* e, V) {. Jelectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The( M2 w* J+ a6 F" ^4 V# V! W
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
* @2 F% A8 g# c: Kcommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small0 q5 H* j# h! C) }
number of vehicles( z) X- M2 _5 T6 U
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more* U; a4 B% {" P/ x6 J5 \7 f
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
' Z- W2 V" M6 f1 t. {3 I+ Ymechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one Y% a5 g: }8 g. c2 r: u
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.' Q0 _5 l) K* U: v
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
9 c0 P8 a7 ~3 M: Xwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
% ~- k; Q8 {( qtrace at all.& q- E; Y8 y" f# O
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call. q1 C2 _' b4 s, Y
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden& Y% l* m& ?% |! Y5 C4 q2 [+ ^, a
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the8 w. I+ @, c% Z. x
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
- M' ~! c# \, z3 X; X( x. qRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
r ]+ b3 b$ V' lsaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
& i. C; C+ V9 h0 H. ]8 y9 c( Eother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
, @; h, G, i: ~$ m y4 xelectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
$ X) e! X( p9 S/ j- p3 A* Ycause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
6 w# X8 `4 H" Z ?7 v* V/ }7 Z# Zsuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained2 I$ _! W/ S; R; A- y
by Toyota's lawyers."
! @4 A; A+ }- A4 Z% H) fLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of6 J) J% [: n* H5 @1 e- x, N$ K
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our+ w' v& O" k' V! [) G. l, q$ V* J V
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he/ [- T: k- V9 z
said.
7 T1 W, k4 g" t5 X; S8 X& A a$ F"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
+ k/ n6 v5 q' K" ~) a( ~a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
7 S' A' R4 l$ e e/ Xgood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
4 Q) v, A8 k1 t( X* l# `1 @: T0 G+ [officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
9 E9 a1 W3 V. t& K. _ g5 GSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
% m4 p+ X$ j" v! C, M8 A. u, Y+ Hmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread! r& n; U, x. P/ t9 J' H) u
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
; h( R+ I3 T8 X0 H- sautomaker, at least in part because of the government's5 m2 B6 t; X: }3 K! z6 q5 q% D; P3 Z/ a# n
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and X( d- A, h& j, @; U9 L- l
Chrysler.. o6 s" R+ J9 e7 D. R* A2 u
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
M1 S8 a1 e& r, A4 a! T6 Cdollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a/ N1 f- x9 B* c+ P; g0 K1 [! ^
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
, B& a1 e; }. {' [# R4 f7 N; kserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete4 F( s: @- A% x& d; g
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty! {* t/ B8 n4 Q. s3 ?
tough."
1 e- i8 j, A" A' e# {) _2 E' @---
E" N9 d% D" H! u- FAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom! @( T6 r( H$ s) |3 W! q3 Z9 A: J
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
2 u; W1 A0 U$ X$ Dthis story.0 `* V; `; Z. F' t( ~. D0 A" y
% o0 L" z* B7 ?% c: J' D, t
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