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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
2 f3 K3 p! A/ l9 w( E; m% E6 ]0 i* Z& O; HBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
5 T. ^( }' L! Q: I6 e/ H' Y" b8 wWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
, I+ z/ p" F4 l& V: g6 F7 ioperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that$ k7 ?& T3 g- J, j1 V4 \+ N: |
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally") T; u0 L' h7 U8 ]1 q) U
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
% Y: w/ z9 P- ^/ ~* J* r"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential+ a& m" l" U7 R- } _9 P/ |
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.- ?; H, E, `8 \( {' Z; c; k" c
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected# G1 f; T, K7 d% X3 t* P! S
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
6 h6 e5 ?0 U0 S% q' y2 J( ~trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
% q/ z& W+ O% S8 ^mats and sticking accelerator pedals.
* I7 t! x+ ?5 a: l3 X6 J0 ]He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal. ]# `' T9 Y& D' @9 D
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp, A) C3 O7 z3 {9 b* u# L: D' y
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be( t; r4 I; M0 H$ F% w5 j
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could- v7 w5 [8 u! }6 b6 [" y b) z
not stop her runaway Lexus.
- o3 Z9 \2 G( F& c0 g1 ~5 M"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
3 s; H* m& u7 z* {4 kTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
$ M7 P' ], ]' t) L2 f% e( G( I"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
) s% D6 P& A5 D- I, NTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues+ m( E0 Z% m6 I
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said' x. N. F: N4 U+ b+ C) t
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has: ^9 A1 A7 `2 V. d
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway' a0 B% }0 w# }* l4 o% g
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
( U2 R7 E- u0 I! a3 H# m( r% d! ]investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."! z# d' N* Y, ]' v+ @/ f# O
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
+ }; S: e5 V; R e5 G" Gelectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of% p, i: G+ T7 N
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a% `! y0 ?, ?9 O; i, a
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
5 Q* l1 N. e% ssaid.
* c1 y! R3 F, j1 W/ h5 T5 j( yAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what, J( U N' R$ _, L3 z @2 `
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
0 S) N! V; j9 Habout driving our products," Lentz said.
! ~- R+ s) j3 Y3 Q; U; T) h0 vThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's G' ^( L0 R/ u# D n; \ A9 b) {
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has9 h I3 M8 q5 G7 c( ]6 }
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 64 ]: c6 H. `% b
million in the United States -- since last fall because of# p. I; C0 F {9 n, I8 x
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking9 g3 q9 V) s# n
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
5 v, W; t. e/ V9 w1 ^concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of/ C8 L: R% {# [) L: v
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
1 C8 J6 U8 A% ]down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has9 ], i: t* n8 ?5 }% \( j
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
. t' v: d; q4 q+ b0 X! rof Toyota vehicles since 2000.
5 D; t5 `; s9 l; W# q' YLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
4 k# S0 X, F; ^+ `3 h& C7 Gbrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he/ t' `8 c! ~% q0 w, I
understood the pain.
* c9 V) s/ l9 W"I know what those families go through," he said." N0 o) r! v. F3 z4 |2 L
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
9 F- @6 S$ `7 i1 x, gfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.: Z8 |2 m* j% O4 z! ?2 R$ Q
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
2 B) y. g8 D7 N# h6 X" z: `* iHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put# o1 j/ {$ h; q( v
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,2 y8 q# `* B' Z: A! T5 N
Lentz replied: "Not totally."
1 @& V% Z, S: G" G' S# lStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were A1 O. Z; [: I6 ]# Z
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said/ r" z# A: h4 F
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas4 j) K( o. N: k L( B" d8 F
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its! Z; i$ N# K4 ?" J: {
vehicles already on the road.
2 B9 L1 N5 |# N3 j$ L$ fMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify$ Y/ s1 W( Z% X0 i4 L2 m+ u$ s
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full) _6 _1 L4 m( a2 o. F
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and7 Z% m# B) u Z; \* X e1 m
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were4 y. `4 `7 F5 @
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
3 o5 O/ `" k8 q"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
7 q# o( q+ q5 r9 C, Ftragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
1 G6 Q! m. S9 x+ a; e/ p1 U* efor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
% ~; N5 a+ q9 z2 t5 L& fCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal, G; p0 s9 [7 |
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
: {; X# J( q3 T. ^( d8 l4 u' x$ krestore the trust of our customers."
) R$ W/ s3 V! F9 ~Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from& c. e+ M4 K1 }3 o
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly$ \. y# s4 @. ]$ B$ Q
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --/ q4 W$ a- i( ^* o
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and# V% n& t. U$ x0 p
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
0 b1 c# H' ]( m$ S5 I$ O* bthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
- |) f6 s+ ?4 y |* lturn off the engine.
% z1 c2 k4 U9 [. p' d5 |, A! y. ^Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of' w. N* ?0 @% A2 j& g/ ]
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
+ h( E! M8 t0 c4 C"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she& o. X1 B4 _ n) T# _& e) W6 S& N
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond S/ M5 @1 I' H8 Y* s+ x5 I, p
to her complaints.
* ^: [/ z$ O8 x# Y; SIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
9 z! d1 v4 n# t- S9 Vreturned again and again to the question of whether electronic
" p4 x, E, }/ U1 ^& V6 bmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
% g5 g9 |% N% L! s3 J$ P) ?"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
- g% Y U0 p A+ M( G4 ]" r$ Dthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited% S7 |" G" H0 J4 h, U H+ g
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
2 T4 E6 l J7 s) _' x( roff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
# p6 K6 h' J) H" `! p X! eTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
" |3 E6 X! }; l2 fprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were% |) r1 t: c# g
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
5 @. N' {# z4 a1 n9 S8 Bwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
5 k$ X: Y$ w6 y# p1 ]+ nevery question."0 \* r6 a4 m ^' e. n5 O
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether3 Q& U) G+ H/ |; R" Y8 c; x
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
# @$ Q* p9 M7 b0 ^7 k- _/ j: d- D/ r' dfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But; o9 w! F. U0 Z# w3 L
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small5 h+ W$ w3 \6 a) s) P- X# T- p$ {" C
number of vehicles* y5 `; a, A# ], t5 o& i, t
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more% n, n* K1 L4 q* J; U+ Y# L. I
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
* g3 B" y) d! b0 b( zmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
3 z: Y$ @. R1 q& g5 ksource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.( d* ]7 `0 l$ ~8 n* \
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,( s [3 ?# p+ N. b( T
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no+ t& y5 Z$ a8 g' ?
trace at all.
- U# e# L, Z' e7 @6 p, w, t: lHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
: ^+ K; F: k" {( C2 B8 tdatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden! J7 X! [8 o- u# o6 c. _+ d
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the! i% Y; k5 J& p
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
" e6 P R8 ^0 x1 sRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
; a( M9 @, z# F6 j/ ~" P9 Fsaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and8 U/ B. T- ^3 M5 N9 ?9 M ]2 p
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
& `% G4 Q8 e" y4 g* |+ o* Xelectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible7 {" _1 e, }) Y+ X$ s) t' F
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
& w8 C. f) G/ R" n' _such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
& a% q/ B+ s( ~$ ~4 n {by Toyota's lawyers."
2 j7 E' m. m( T% _) p; mLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of3 m5 F4 }) Q) S1 f7 E
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
4 u* @' B/ q9 o" }* ^* H) Mcustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
7 V5 d# x0 y3 C0 nsaid.
) D {; [" c5 m"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with4 A7 E% W; `* R( w
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our1 c8 Z2 f# @- W4 a! \
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating# Y0 N {# x2 ]/ o8 p( ]8 Z
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.) a3 ^- r3 \3 e
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying+ m. ?8 G7 v; J
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
1 R; c. U4 W4 d( qrancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the' f6 p e& B1 h# d
automaker, at least in part because of the government's9 |3 A% S( e$ A+ p$ Z1 K9 I, s
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
3 P) y3 N7 u. b5 J7 g, oChrysler.! v+ s# H2 @ Z- f- G2 ^. E
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax' w: o: [ _1 Y/ |! o: K- i7 v6 J
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a3 W% {0 ^- l( {# n+ m$ A
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
4 k2 P5 m5 q, t; G d/ [served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete0 H7 ?+ G5 B' N& a& C) q
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
# B3 P& Y8 d7 ~2 ?; u8 Utough."/ u" q& t! `; ~) e1 X% V
---5 }0 Z, h2 r o) z' r, q0 U- k# }6 p
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
" R2 R d( n0 pRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
0 L7 n: P5 c2 i+ }9 h. ~5 xthis story.2 z S- i6 ^1 ~9 U. d) O' v+ V# v) g
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