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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 z! C* j( E, {7 DBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS; {0 _ p! `0 P9 ?& U# U# B* ]; `
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
2 T* I: J0 M4 ^& @, M- ]+ N9 toperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
; ]- B* M4 c5 L- Ethe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
# L. o, c) g% _! ^: A6 hsolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
$ n" U. @0 |/ r3 W/ z7 h"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
4 }# R6 _" w; S6 F( Ccauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
0 K* W5 I. {! z! }However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
, ]$ M) B3 n# F) wacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and8 b- |5 F# W4 Q/ U1 n6 e# z' R
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor# x# @. G; s; D2 k: K/ Z
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.8 Q7 E( l% T5 S+ w% s" S
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
1 i5 g7 l p, H- n" v. b, g# Iand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
- v" [" q! {9 V& Mcriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
) X2 Z( A! [5 Hfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could5 f3 @8 z* f }( A% r) }+ b O
not stop her runaway Lexus.
1 [- B# r# e% [% S' T( [; _8 _% A"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
- F1 X2 M5 `! h$ @- y( Z9 dTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second% Z5 D$ n4 H9 O2 ] W0 O6 x! s
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
# \3 s/ i6 ?( u: S# n" OTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues3 y0 V: }/ f1 N3 l- G, }3 w
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said+ h- F. V. H! j- l# i( i
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has; B3 ?5 D# a U7 f6 V" R& E
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
- F( P, T5 W# r" t1 g* W1 k$ }through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's: M" F) ~! P5 e8 G5 P
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."+ N+ o) D3 A# B1 N P
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an( D4 E/ g, I- R6 d% S' H# W
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of. `, d$ g& w$ h+ g0 O& O
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a/ {5 F! X( u- x8 E2 X
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
5 \- M- l* i+ [. n9 B+ T7 V esaid.6 V% W+ }8 \: H' P
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
4 F. A* {8 H: `happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe) e8 Q5 q0 w/ O. m) d
about driving our products," Lentz said.! @7 J1 z6 J. S1 U
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
( T! X% P; E# l: x. Wproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
- q& o" |/ f( @, }: f' X: crecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
3 w6 \7 b u* h gmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of
2 ~' p& d) T! |, B7 v# \unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking2 n3 u$ [) f% H# X9 q& y6 A9 y Z4 h
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
% v" w: y% ?! K9 j4 Y9 n6 x; Mconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
1 ~" Z" W* P, o+ L; Q& h# Jtheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow7 s6 C' s G- u" H! H
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has+ U6 g& v8 j; K# h
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration* e( [ _3 {' Z: T$ t/ v w4 f' B
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.
3 q( u, h" f. rLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own1 p9 O1 b; Q4 s; ?9 h
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
/ Z) @/ c1 l6 E. K" }understood the pain.8 G/ S$ ?: ~* I" d/ V( I; C
"I know what those families go through," he said.
o5 M" l8 L- s# u! P' QLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's( Y1 Y/ i' B: `. B; k1 P i9 f6 `
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems., R" B) J3 P7 }/ K
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
4 U' i* e" h, PHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
* q! t3 ~4 A5 C9 U/ M1 `7 @1 \. din place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
" y1 A" ~7 R. E% z1 oLentz replied: "Not totally."
' H3 v# E( r4 z6 V2 ^Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were& v+ z, W _+ r+ b0 x, f7 |
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said4 @3 B5 P8 t; f4 Q' b# }- b
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
* D/ _0 z, B1 xpedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
; H9 k6 K# n7 @, A8 _3 yvehicles already on the road.; t; l. q! j, J& d# p* u+ s
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify" b4 X$ z; Z5 {- c5 K
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full3 k' z( I7 f) f' {3 t. D0 |6 B6 L
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and$ a8 [( ^- u9 N, K5 h E" a' j% v
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
" [8 R" W7 c/ Rkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.8 [, l) Y k, C O
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a) N+ n0 z O( w( U- f
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony. T/ ^/ O2 v+ l( g0 m
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight1 |' M- I7 J- P/ R) g6 }
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal; F) d8 Z5 v9 I/ B# ?) @/ I9 v
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to% p5 p; t$ X h( m2 Z7 l6 H
restore the trust of our customers."
) k) i# k# t# B! m. aLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
6 S: ^/ y3 E: t: HSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
& Z1 p# C: |6 n( _zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
0 o4 R5 j6 t$ ]: j; nshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
' z, f* V8 q) @6 p2 ihitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
' n$ Q3 L) o* F9 {2 mthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
* m1 q' \4 s/ W7 Bturn off the engine.
0 ]1 H1 v: e) O W% h A' oFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of* g$ G l. r1 v
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
3 D0 h$ l! e" V"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she; T( r9 k E$ G3 e; x
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond/ x4 t! ?2 l3 G4 t- [
to her complaints.
3 v: s7 [" l& o" `% I) K& dIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers* n+ o7 v/ K( E& |5 P8 Y
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic& L5 Z! W2 ], N$ l
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
5 w# h' _$ h/ m. z. M"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric v* C' x! h+ u% t J4 N0 R! y
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited! @, e# u6 y7 N$ l# q! G
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut/ g L* s; h6 J, y2 @
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
) M6 [7 C: P1 E1 e3 JTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in& c; O3 Q% z* ?' M4 Q/ Y4 R
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were+ d2 e2 U8 B- |8 F! k5 {/ h, L
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
: e [* [+ C! S( S1 K3 k1 Bwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer) h* U j @2 ^4 ^- u
every question."* F$ O0 x7 x) X+ S$ b
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
' c, E* Z7 ^8 P: d! celectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The9 K+ i, n0 d& {) Z, O; W
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But# q' Q. ?8 e: J4 s
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
8 A6 H$ S! |2 L! v" Anumber of vehicles2 @$ y4 W5 O/ b! C, j; @; u- D; a
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more i8 B) u8 G, _( P
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
t+ V7 Q$ Y$ A" \mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one1 \) a3 } n" h( R
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.& e9 T. X& A' J! k6 N* A
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
% P5 d3 g- @" L$ ?where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no- p/ f- @! z2 l2 d0 n1 b- J
trace at all.9 R& m& [* \$ b4 \
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
! \: ^; j0 K. Z2 M Q! Bdatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
) G5 f8 [" J. s: Z6 w; racceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the1 D; G% Y9 Z. C, V
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.4 M0 }' l' ?) i2 q9 ~: U5 X& F4 U+ u
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
1 @; U a0 k$ \" L! l8 d0 r0 Isaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and2 ]6 c* Y/ T: K/ k0 b$ v0 I/ e
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
* ~9 p. [9 ~& f8 j8 helectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
- m) @4 c+ T: B) x# h) q2 Ocause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only, G! _/ @0 s( K9 K3 ^* A
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained6 r. l3 M: X& t
by Toyota's lawyers."% R: A1 q+ D! l. V
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of5 C& {/ s8 n3 B& C" m, v
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
0 n" C3 u2 m: ucustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he$ N6 a I( n; g4 y5 v
said.
% r/ c: B6 N5 [ `9 U"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with: y! ^9 c; Y# m/ J L; N6 ^
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
& {5 O- ^$ G# N; Rgood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
& L1 k5 \: G! e. K+ c3 [officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.$ a0 {7 k. O; |) f
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
4 n8 o1 Q: q6 B5 M/ A' |& }members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread0 `$ r, g7 B# n2 ?4 r
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
' @6 o& x# y$ q3 Y8 H4 x& `# rautomaker, at least in part because of the government's
' ~+ S5 s1 Y6 n4 ~2 `0 Einvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
: v( b$ P* v7 y) o }8 }Chrysler.
$ e2 ^8 _8 t1 Y( O Z# j"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
9 v( X, l7 @8 x' G+ K$ n2 B" adollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
9 r( w( Q# }; qHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
9 C; b; P* a+ y# `. iserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
# ^2 K. s" F% L% ]$ }with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
: S- a1 @8 @+ g" z8 Y1 `8 N. U: ktough."
- \$ j4 k5 J' n6 L---
" z3 I1 x/ r' \5 e; ?& [7 SAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom" V3 S+ ~: m: D: [3 ?
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
! b* T% a, }3 Z% D4 V+ Jthis story.: I# q% {- ?* P4 V# X2 c& f
D7 M# t; q2 k$ c/ ^
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