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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
1 y. Y4 f9 }$ J* f5 i8 |By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS0 X, E. r! Y w% Z
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.0 |0 Y" V8 R, Q6 O/ i& g
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that4 o* h7 T. b6 O5 S
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"6 R7 }! c l$ P ], b
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
/ {4 B8 C7 z2 r( y [* f, x"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential" T8 C& D( ]6 L4 p7 ^* |
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
/ o) V& L5 @. SHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
+ t* r! a$ ]3 z, t T9 Z- m1 Aacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and1 t! ?) A: f+ O6 @2 c
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor5 p9 z0 v+ D. q9 H- H3 r* D' v7 {
mats and sticking accelerator pedals./ Z+ L4 Z- M6 k6 i& s4 n
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
5 u5 E; K; ^9 T( `0 Y3 ]and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
6 A! K/ x r) t3 i5 b6 _criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
4 c+ K ^4 U3 V2 z9 b0 F/ Nfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
9 ^$ T! ?1 Q, h& t; [not stop her runaway Lexus.( }; l* v6 ?. s
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,/ N# p# P+ g8 m
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second, |/ N6 j4 q8 v: `$ o+ g# C" P
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.. k% t9 \; `* R: B* K; r
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues+ t: |6 I0 ~8 \! K6 m' A/ C
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said3 l; U7 c' k, h1 t: Y
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
6 @" a+ C( K1 ~& |" E0 rdone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway w1 N. n7 U/ f, t- g6 l+ _
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's" s$ w" D7 C. I. t7 x1 _
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."1 U) u7 `$ `- b4 f0 t2 n
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an/ W! P' H' C7 z$ p- I6 ^# Y9 ^
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of& L/ T. E3 q8 T) }
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a/ g: E; [7 M5 ^/ U6 ~0 s+ e
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he0 R( F( b8 ~' a
said.
, e2 J3 ~4 G8 v$ h' r, g4 mAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
$ G! L& ?/ [0 F! h2 e) Mhappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe U$ f8 j2 J, G/ {2 Z8 E L9 z
about driving our products," Lentz said.
4 V* Y2 S5 {, x' |Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's0 F/ h: t/ H0 V
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
! p* m( }- [1 F6 W: ~: y/ V: g! U+ srecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
* S0 R+ {! @5 @2 Y" Z! mmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of
" O3 B' D( f6 E1 `unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
2 ~2 v% s" W9 R# N6 C/ x9 aissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering& y1 {8 Y, w) S ^' ^! b
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
0 y! F/ `/ \- y3 k# J; M/ C/ U% Itheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow, m2 P- ]* l( L9 y6 V
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has7 y0 g# f0 H# l' j! ?+ A5 b
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration2 a* G- w7 V1 [' ?- m' l. |
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.
- e+ j( B3 K. d+ G, VLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own3 B! Y# ~- M% [- o1 k. l7 m6 V
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he! j" m+ K/ Q8 x$ |
understood the pain.! J& S5 b, ^4 }. Y% f/ i' Y& [; P( [
"I know what those families go through," he said.
* P4 V. }& u0 N# d* aLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
' W W1 ~' ~1 | jfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
: C( p$ W m" z2 B. a1 E/ ^4 eBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
7 o& E5 i+ D5 U# d( eHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put8 D) Z+ y( E l2 X/ n
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,) w" A+ I ]$ E! o1 r5 L
Lentz replied: "Not totally."& W9 o! A& [6 |7 Q
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
- R) J' K: J; T"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said- |# L, N! G3 u
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
8 H4 D1 v- r3 t; Vpedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
4 i$ P! f# p, ?# M% o% Evehicles already on the road.' L1 e0 l! O& j1 I
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify5 T1 `' K3 r# U8 X S5 ^( b
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
' E5 k. P9 x$ R+ g( f" Lresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
+ h; d3 ]1 s& |1 O U* Poffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
' x: b! [: P; h/ U7 b! Jkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.4 R( A8 ?6 n9 u! R/ R
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a: ?8 P: T/ B% S! Q5 `! \
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony5 U7 {$ @) R o5 Q
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
% \8 w' R) v1 ]Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal2 N% W% `* e/ b) S$ e# s
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
) m. Z' S7 y. R$ grestore the trust of our customers.": ^1 y. v8 n6 q/ M% o5 e- X
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
; y! W9 V+ g7 [' M1 [; w& J6 MSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
5 J/ @8 }( U/ R2 ~9 {zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
4 D$ O. _4 N' Bshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and+ G, N0 {! F- q
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough: F% h: o- w5 ^
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and# T. J& p3 x$ n0 B; D
turn off the engine.
$ f8 m+ f9 } }; S0 b) pFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
* v3 @+ K: a. `" ^& Z: s# l% ^8 aOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
! O% P( t- a" S8 U3 s"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
, U1 ^/ i/ G) G6 C& Gsaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond0 k" a* L' O/ e2 K
to her complaints.5 D8 M5 L% m: |$ q2 y+ G
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
$ T; V% A8 A' A- \returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
& W% N- c( O% Z0 u3 g: p6 H$ Gmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
' m3 }3 ~7 r# [1 h$ |"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
) E8 v; I, c9 [4 t- b4 g' R' Kthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
5 V6 }8 w8 W, F' u' t"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
s1 f, A! x, {( Z7 k( W2 H* Coff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."- C) X9 R# Z+ }5 F) i
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
2 m, ~! y8 H7 I4 i3 a ^9 \ }prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were6 O1 W) c$ d6 N9 Y0 [0 I3 K7 }8 V
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls2 T- e% l) a' i6 |9 }6 a- f9 i
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer2 C- c- A* u4 `' X/ o0 K$ W
every question."
9 r |. c) Z" L5 P6 e1 R0 H; {Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether( o* D& d( i- x; ]. O$ N% |- X
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The$ F! ]8 Y$ j& z1 J
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But0 r4 `$ g+ [( p' M$ y7 C8 [5 S
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
( G+ X. A) N$ {( j3 Q0 F% V3 ]number of vehicles; K6 I! E/ s" @! c( A" L
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more* n/ k/ c( r" C `
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a. G6 R4 ~2 n- ?( e
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one1 w* `* V- s, c4 R
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
; m) G' P' j) S9 ~4 s/ w+ jMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
1 R" I& L/ X/ _) b6 Lwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
1 b( y0 i6 M+ a: z+ T$ dtrace at all.; I: P1 b; h: w7 \) r
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
- i0 z S, p: C$ U) \8 `; `% T* rdatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
6 X3 f. H9 H/ a( racceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
/ v4 K2 M- K3 D! urecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.; Y! N4 X+ \ R' n d( r
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,% ?+ I7 b3 ?) T7 R- E
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
+ l8 D. c C5 I: I/ jother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the! B( H5 U# ^5 [6 I, l. f" a
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
- s: o9 }" ]/ {% E R* c* Q/ gcause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only! P3 z0 ?$ C; Q7 F0 e7 v3 g6 d
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
7 D# Q3 [4 V% _: l9 s4 oby Toyota's lawyers."
: C! y$ e! P' q( i% aLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of. v/ K8 B5 y. @. U% Q7 Q: d
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
8 n @9 Q3 B% zcustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
1 L4 A2 W9 e7 t0 \) W( Q7 V* S6 p usaid.
# i- p+ }, Y G* J"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with3 G' j+ Z) g( \) G1 [
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
( ~/ c; s# Q; E! b1 o. x' D7 p. K' Kgood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating) Z& p4 r' }5 P8 n! g I
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
0 c6 f3 t x' ?* D0 p X3 xSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
, s! `6 F+ J0 J$ F! o7 rmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
. U4 R8 A% t; x; }1 qrancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the( \/ p4 s8 q& e( T6 P+ x
automaker, at least in part because of the government's
' Z4 K- R$ A/ y7 Y& A7 Binvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
( n/ Z E" ~9 z" k) hChrysler.0 a; M& n& G5 q& V
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax# Z. Q; j3 Q7 W* \- d& z+ {8 P: Q
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a# ~" p+ x; _! H3 B$ c
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
+ Q4 P6 A/ d2 |, |# Xserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
2 |# i) M% A6 [0 A2 R' B1 D$ u! }with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty& n/ ], }- I G5 s$ Y4 l2 U$ f/ \
tough.": x; N- _" h* o# a6 Z8 }
---
; l8 U% d' F6 V9 j ZAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
; G7 c2 \. J* d" [. {" n+ dRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to. N) M5 C' }+ D; q! e
this story.
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