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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
8 h3 {4 ?+ N- m# e5 \- N% u' Q3 kBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS- Y$ o9 z1 k8 `
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
( J4 w; ?- Z' Ooperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that4 a* q+ f! O' X S
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"- ]6 D" {5 y* o8 `/ U2 O
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.8 a# e, G* F4 `% g+ o
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential" G ]5 V* f) i, @
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.+ ?' k C" d! d. K8 {
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected$ B( J( i3 R% b! P: R; c
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and& v, p1 a9 `7 A) M1 I3 D
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
+ D& p4 [8 L: ^; U! D1 hmats and sticking accelerator pedals.
0 w( O* q9 H) h. _3 rHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
! F1 M' }; V7 Tand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
- C9 o7 o8 U% e$ d6 P# {9 W8 D2 ccriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be+ `5 [0 `4 A" Z6 V4 ?; b
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
2 o. ^/ x# _: Lnot stop her runaway Lexus.5 P; N% B; Z; S' w7 h% j/ P! M! b
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
2 g& s# a' n; f" j& [( D6 |Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
5 F( v3 ~* R( ]9 y8 X"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
. M* W: R2 h6 F# |Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
* Q; W3 Z" _8 F3 X2 L+ yearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said9 u% x. ~+ c3 r- X) \! x# n% u3 }
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
+ \; k+ ?% K* ], `. @done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
) |! W$ |9 H/ X" |2 G0 n8 y" tthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
; R1 d3 c; n# ~ ^7 Q! ]investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."4 L% ]! ~- K7 B. }6 }
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an, M2 n3 n8 e g- M. @0 c! q2 e/ @
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
# t; r! x h# dthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a B- B' Z; O! t0 z% J
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
* h4 P9 c0 V) `& |3 q3 U. Xsaid.
. x* i: {; k; Z* ^As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
! t% \, s2 N& Ohappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
$ r5 E. M9 h! s2 N$ y9 a% zabout driving our products," Lentz said.
1 Z. ^* K( B0 w- b }8 i; j7 hThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
* {7 \& D; o7 c- {1 i8 P" @problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
6 k4 f( V$ H# }: x6 V9 G7 W* h$ Grecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
3 Q" j' ~( |, ^! omillion in the United States -- since last fall because of6 a$ Y8 S. Q4 h& H6 V& L0 N8 S
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
! L* t7 {' Q) j- h; M7 O! `3 Hissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
; _* \5 v' [" B, i* |concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of) ]7 P* o/ @- C( m2 f
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow$ e4 H+ V$ u/ I
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
6 U0 t8 |" o& d$ nreceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration7 h% a% J. f3 H) P2 W% x+ [3 O' y
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.& u% w0 ^2 t, E
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
5 @7 z' x4 u8 ~. f: `2 P; G7 Hbrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he5 ^" ?! R9 _3 T- T) ^% `
understood the pain.
5 P: K, z* [; T4 y5 L"I know what those families go through," he said.6 h! P0 C/ R( O- o
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's$ ^; c R% g; O) U7 c
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.6 P* U6 m9 }" q; `4 Y/ t: L7 T7 {4 h
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
$ L6 C, Z" D: }9 j) DHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put3 p7 `$ m! _$ {2 l( U/ y
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,$ C8 L5 w: x0 W
Lentz replied: "Not totally."$ V1 l) R1 H! L, l& I3 { ~' c: n
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were/ f8 y" a9 T' i1 ^/ B! p
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said; J0 b {) f: _1 |6 m
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas2 v1 b/ H; @. w3 ]# y+ S8 T; P d
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
; F3 |/ F8 O' i8 _7 {( B0 f4 p. Ivehicles already on the road.. n4 C5 ]5 T$ Z+ \: z; @
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
3 W; g5 @2 V) }) b1 o- pbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full- k/ _( _1 t' U
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and% Z2 I0 U1 |) U( D k- y
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were: Y n0 |) j0 o; J8 X' x* ^
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
" @1 Q8 Z! C6 k3 |1 G$ E"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
8 [, h" E8 ~$ T( `- Ttragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony: b3 ^$ J* }. j0 ~
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight1 q& ?+ o! P% G' f
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal# X1 W! E: _- @& M
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
- Z' {$ n# {7 U. J7 P: h4 ]restore the trust of our customers."/ E$ p1 i1 X1 x' }& Y# S
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from- c s1 Y' t" r2 K) b$ ?% m, }) G0 q) ^
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
# T7 z( x5 L( w: Azoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --5 Q* I ^; |6 T% t2 R" {
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and7 ~6 H0 o7 q, ^
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough. n/ X( z/ R8 S8 C4 H
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and, _; w7 M# k; @7 P
turn off the engine.
# G- _1 S3 S/ A8 F" kFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of1 a0 ^& J8 i N' F3 q
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
% s0 m8 v) ]" e"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
9 X' ?' X/ O( N# Isaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
& ^. Z5 G& R, s/ _ v) ^to her complaints.$ _; `, R( V6 P/ ]8 g
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers& N' U- ]: J; s
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic) W1 ^: a* a* ~# `3 p
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
$ O* B9 U( Z, O8 \ y"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
) y: z B% V( l3 t' B& hthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
( w% {& ^& F4 M/ D"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut7 m r6 A. X0 N7 Y6 H
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
' Z4 y/ B' o$ g5 i- rTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in m- [6 y( m5 f& R) C
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
; n* Z- c$ f8 z7 {# obeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
: ?3 P' s/ f8 T- a& @4 N( X- M5 fwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
e7 A! A, H9 h) ?" R( Severy question."! z2 c r7 ]3 {& i. b% k/ Q1 B
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether% Y6 [& K$ q4 {
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
3 ^) ]+ d6 [/ [1 m2 Zfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
8 O. f4 `7 i$ o" U$ Pcommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small
: W% b5 `# e& o6 ]8 w: Enumber of vehicles
) b5 I+ F$ j. c) ~Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more
0 Z4 g! ]& ]) H$ m. \* S, Udifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a4 w# Z0 F7 E0 s8 [3 E) m3 N5 H5 h
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one6 j: @5 ?% k$ |1 k' u' A
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
8 N6 ]2 F7 P, r! s; t iMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
8 q2 s- h9 X+ e+ l1 l/ rwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no3 Q9 R5 `! Y2 V, A3 P
trace at all.
- C+ p/ X( a: i9 j @+ F: dHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call+ l+ s0 m$ _/ {" |# n/ F
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden5 ~' P+ o8 h" @/ l/ E
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the* q1 j5 `$ ~; g3 d+ ^1 B5 o
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
1 X6 L: }- s( S! r3 `Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,- E# d+ W7 H( ~2 w3 C4 I
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
+ n& I8 i* j! J+ t: ]other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the( w# Z! t8 g2 Z/ G- H% E" O
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible/ C& }% Z1 B9 N& f6 ~; e! p- `7 m
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
7 A& I7 ?$ I) Rsuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
: T! B$ ~. a8 J7 @& u) Y2 hby Toyota's lawyers."4 m* C! F) V. z5 R
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
+ J* y: S7 W8 \' R" o8 [problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our; P/ }" E; w. [
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he' `; @, d! f8 o
said.$ Z; }) G, \3 V6 W& u, a
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with) b$ `6 `! A* t& Q; c! [' t
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
, J) ^' w* ~0 J. {0 Tgood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
3 U9 }# ^; D4 b# B* E9 c+ ~5 Yofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
9 g* k8 S% G, }+ U( gSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
% ^, B; p& M+ a- E2 Z( ~. I9 _members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
$ q. p+ m4 H/ F9 s" n- K9 d3 drancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
! Z: U2 e; P0 kautomaker, at least in part because of the government's% v1 p) @- Y6 j5 K* U' f8 F9 e
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and) H: e w9 ` C# W+ N
Chrysler.
) s. K4 ^' W3 f& i6 c"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax2 u6 a/ V. m, Q8 K4 F; P
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
6 W2 @/ x" H' W G. [- ZHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
0 o! o% `- L! { Y E# G+ \served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete8 G. U" u, o m9 V, W0 C+ l
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty. o$ m E+ n+ P) u. {. Y
tough."
9 S# {9 K2 }, u( b$ u) K---) V. T2 d5 G8 t+ x/ \. @
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom" s0 b1 B, n: K: g8 K
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
% s' h' ?- Q% V9 h0 qthis story.: i& ^4 P7 @4 x, `' b7 q4 t
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