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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
- A6 Z& [3 ^/ J/ HBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
7 N6 t1 o' @" b' L& u1 D3 XWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
' ?; V D1 e9 hoperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
" E$ H2 \( n5 athe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
" {5 H; y3 }$ k$ O, k7 S9 jsolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.; V/ }. k; i8 k3 g
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
+ r7 x# E D! S8 Vcauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
7 M& ]5 ?6 R, [) `6 eHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected+ u9 H" O2 F, E9 ]: w
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and5 i: m7 W I0 m; e! v! S" C+ Y1 x: h9 Z, z
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
+ h2 F% i+ K+ ]7 m* p* Z: pmats and sticking accelerator pedals.
2 u+ D* H# P/ n" UHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal! m! q5 }4 x9 g. r, L4 n
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
8 ~/ R/ |, g+ M4 y( l3 R5 t7 z. Ecriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
% n9 X( {6 A1 [+ F9 B! o) O# xfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
" V- x" N1 |" v# K: \( Knot stop her runaway Lexus., E& s6 u6 C" I) z( |7 g4 ~' t8 ~
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
- S5 @0 v9 z1 H1 D- PTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second3 G l- ~( P6 w+ D; l6 e( A
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
! |" y; l( I, S; ?, V% UTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues, h7 H6 D* |2 s5 x0 I. F
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said2 f8 ~# T- h! ?8 a# s
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has4 a0 A4 f5 r$ q* T$ P7 }
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway1 X0 }$ Q- m$ g7 y3 x
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's( }& Q5 }2 f4 [1 {" m; l, p. k
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
% r0 n' A1 E! }% zLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an) \% Y% E; N' b" W# W
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of2 ]$ x1 ]7 H. s6 ]: d* t0 l' r
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a. S8 l) {- k4 K; i4 D) C
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he! R3 ?' Y! \* n4 L
said.& n5 C3 E1 B5 b6 Q
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what3 U3 M' W1 g5 W0 F: I8 K
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
6 V( x0 M' f L, _2 ?8 k8 y$ _about driving our products," Lentz said.) G) @8 R1 _' w% T/ o9 D1 M i
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's1 e& l" N8 @' d: _* t* L
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
, l" G# Y8 x1 j! R) @recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
) V* k' N9 p; H, L* ], `4 |) lmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of4 {1 l" s3 Q- M/ y$ [$ e5 d; b @ _
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
! e) E( H9 C' M% _issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
6 k/ ~5 P& e( b, T/ kconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of: } y2 ^7 z [6 P2 L$ f
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow( M# O4 ?/ F* [! `1 D# e
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
* B6 [% P6 B8 z! T' b& z; y1 u+ P. a, Lreceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration# k; ?2 b2 e9 _8 z: D
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.
9 e5 m+ q) ]! Z1 t& a) a: m( {Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
! T: h6 E" _0 l0 ]brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he+ n, w' {" D( W0 e3 I' |
understood the pain.
" _, E* M6 y7 T: H( R"I know what those families go through," he said.
1 j9 ?& [* F p( aLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
6 {5 R* ]& n) G# U1 w5 rfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.* x+ r& V: V* [4 N! y$ U( Z
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
, a% h( Q( a5 s3 u; X5 VHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put" G9 k" T# I( [& }+ z1 q& }* c% `3 I
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,; c* c8 s$ J* k3 `
Lentz replied: "Not totally."
% R& E; S+ @* G% h3 iStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were3 w7 K4 A5 d1 N9 v! H' V
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
. l+ w: |' v% c$ l. ^- x3 [Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas1 V& S0 o; R/ Z* y- `6 t
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its5 J) \9 D' r* V" m5 K
vehicles already on the road.
) W7 `. Y4 o5 CMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
4 B' H \6 K# gbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full( e2 ]/ ?( C. r
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and1 p( G" h# t4 w/ T
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were6 D+ ]& h6 X) f# Z1 @
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
: n4 U0 S, ]& p1 @% [' W( O$ x& h r"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
1 g* h8 i) V4 m& g1 |tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
# P; }0 K$ p4 i+ x5 V# r& P' ffor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
* c" e& Q/ f, \; M) @Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal$ F4 j7 R( n- G" S
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
0 ]: M/ I; A/ F; b. [restore the trust of our customers."7 C7 v8 V* l6 r: L- E
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
$ S3 o" l/ f$ p) aSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly2 w" |1 g; K% p$ H: ~; G
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
2 H0 ?3 D5 g! R2 J; nshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and, t) _# q: ]* B4 k: f* x& b p- m
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough0 b4 Q0 I, q* L5 a4 T3 `3 E
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
7 {5 O- D, @; a5 Iturn off the engine.# Z6 U3 _2 r8 D/ e4 Z! u/ M9 e
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of/ q1 j% s% x; Q
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
! C+ p n. O, H) B% l, d8 O"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she7 P. B) c; z, R$ ^" y8 Z- k/ ^
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond# P/ M3 e# _7 v @- g# D
to her complaints.
0 A) i% I. t. k" p! `, WIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
! t! F' r: T1 C5 O- vreturned again and again to the question of whether electronic
: t; b4 v& F/ z5 |4 o; nmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
( a% l, c& M3 s2 p"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
9 H# h! I/ L7 z& H) Ethrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited3 V7 b) O& E+ ^
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut) l6 \9 J: l+ d0 Y3 l. j% S5 R
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."; u+ x0 I' O* `* ~% ^/ B& N2 b
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in/ j8 }7 w- k0 y1 X+ \; h# b
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
% M9 d% L% _4 U7 z0 cbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls6 q: ~' j. Q, Z9 L
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer0 j; A8 I# b6 q' f- b. _
every question.") b5 m g6 }0 B0 j& o9 x
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether4 k3 i& Q! o" D0 D: J+ N
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The5 N. f0 \! M/ q/ ]' {" Y( G) V
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
. s1 T2 h8 K, y8 V8 Scommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small
8 V$ [" p( J7 ^: o3 Lnumber of vehicles& K* p+ R! J1 W3 l9 {
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more
2 `& F& I' r1 N$ j, ^% ?difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a. c7 @5 u/ O9 {% s7 w# I
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one7 C2 I: ]$ I) F- s. c
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
6 E; a" o% \/ B4 [; T9 rMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
# I& o& ~( r; j! V8 pwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
5 u7 n9 x3 b. d4 a& m9 l1 I" ~% |trace at all.
1 w0 Z& o7 k$ b1 M- BHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
+ E. P, l9 ~; a0 K; Wdatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
+ H4 M: h! Z0 L; |acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the" V& |6 @! \4 K% ~4 A8 ?3 f$ A
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals., ]1 N- z8 F: T/ b2 ?
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,1 o/ q! E" C+ @3 J. Z8 y
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and7 h% P* x% y) Q8 T$ A9 f4 A4 m2 z
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
7 G5 ^6 ]) j/ t% D7 O \electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible; `' C# \* X" o
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only, L) W1 ]5 b4 h. s. P
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
+ m( S: b3 W; M2 l- L! t: P5 }by Toyota's lawyers."& p3 X6 q- a8 F( t6 x4 ~
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
1 u6 R9 L( _8 b* ?4 Xproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our/ F% K9 s: F$ o, Z7 m* b' H
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
/ M# R* o4 f, `) M) a/ ` Osaid.
- c; _8 J0 o. D2 {5 q3 N"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with' }$ J9 g( r* A% G3 ?- m! Z; {
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our, l" f# i% V! V
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating; j( e" A3 ^: ~! `3 N$ `, Q9 Y
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.$ N2 |+ s, f3 f% j- P
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
/ J8 }0 a8 N Z/ S! n8 N6 emembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
( O: N. w# G, U( k) r3 Erancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
" U5 b1 i, z) oautomaker, at least in part because of the government's" m. B) Z8 G& C+ T* e) u
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and* N$ [' n$ }4 [. t' W! C1 G3 b6 i* K
Chrysler.
+ p% M' L" G/ t5 W"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax+ |, L: m- U; k1 X; V2 K# p
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a$ U* X: L) p4 ]* l, h
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
. W& {4 I- q" F/ q& n) }4 nserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
3 C. q5 F6 _* Cwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty0 n# N4 |3 \+ ~
tough."$ h' W2 I9 S% u' A6 _% C0 W% o7 B$ A
---; P1 J! e2 N+ w& Q- g) ]
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom1 I* z; i, b1 w8 M* V8 ^
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
0 c2 W8 U& J3 E/ G7 L' zthis story.
; u& @: b4 D1 B+ S2 \( j H. L1 B( Y4 U
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