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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
' [ P2 n1 \; N' q- ]8 gBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
# Y' l: b8 T5 T! M0 e3 k+ i( uWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.2 a9 W) O; z7 s" _# K
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
" T/ h2 M- p' J' F* [, T1 |' ?4 mthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
. Z( U7 F. [3 [# e( ]6 _solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.; Q7 T6 J* Z8 o( z, K; f
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential" }$ V; b# _& i# s( ]
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.7 r& t0 O8 ?6 E6 u; c
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected4 p) l+ x$ ]% J B" g' x1 \
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and6 U% _9 }* q- y1 B1 H* l* K) O
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
/ b# d, `# Z1 J- r9 wmats and sticking accelerator pedals.
! R. o3 Q9 E- f. t0 u1 B( VHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
# |. L# L. b; }& m0 Q+ ~: Dand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
* _% J- H- G+ j7 U) d' h7 ocriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
2 }9 ]: ~) W8 u! l6 ofurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
% N) R: M/ R( f% I4 ?not stop her runaway Lexus.
0 p0 {- @# M. ], Y- @+ l"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,. d8 O/ c: Y0 G! ^2 t
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
7 G! _' f' \5 o% N/ g"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
0 S: }0 ^" ]. o: O; @0 A" R; zTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
9 I- D+ @6 @8 B' [* x- g8 |early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said, B1 V" ^, c9 W) v
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
2 S- T. f8 J3 N8 C4 cdone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
+ v& g' }+ Z& u- F0 G- U+ f! |through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's2 K& D8 e3 H! f1 |5 o
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."0 v4 x* V6 {+ a' v# `
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an" P/ Y6 f7 q' N( t" K( B. x, N; C
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
8 `6 Z+ [+ Y. D! r" |4 U* D, lthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
) a% r0 K. j0 C8 h" imalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
! U8 T% r" O6 qsaid.
7 x) X I* _: H L" c9 @As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what m+ }9 ^1 v9 ]# T9 E
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
$ N3 w( H0 a, T& P/ Q: x8 r. b% aabout driving our products," Lentz said.
' L+ a1 J( N, R* g1 eThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's3 q: Q9 ?" U9 G+ b6 G
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
' j/ O- |2 p% V4 |- V, ^$ R1 Frecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
( _% o5 Y6 g5 U0 p8 C2 r2 ^million in the United States -- since last fall because of
! ~4 {4 l! C% Z# m1 A& f9 dunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking* r' b+ Y- S1 k& K4 [
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering6 c9 ]" X7 r' a2 K
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
u; t0 B3 v9 Y7 x) Xtheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
, z' I5 A. \, |; L" I. R) Y7 Q0 gdown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has# }6 G) b/ Y% p+ L: Z" R
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
/ C p' x% o2 m: p9 c; A3 O wof Toyota vehicles since 2000." t/ X% E1 y1 W. D8 G8 c4 E
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own' n) F. [6 w5 o; }" I
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
, ?/ s( T6 F+ e3 c; R5 dunderstood the pain.) M3 I- E. l0 ]( h: }& k# ^6 E5 I+ E
"I know what those families go through," he said.
* j0 G v+ z4 X9 ALentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
# d/ j5 e& @; Efixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.7 H: e; }- `: h3 V
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman2 A4 k( s( w/ z' p( i7 G* ^" s
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
( x& ~: x! B/ K5 T5 {4 h& M. u ain place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
7 x, B+ Y4 u" X' f/ |( sLentz replied: "Not totally."# b$ |. O9 G8 z0 m, @
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
+ G% [: \& n) ]' N; N"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
8 m& H, V6 D% [6 ~; [ E& x- lToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
( S6 U* V6 r7 T# `) M+ T2 A, dpedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
: S7 |5 e+ b2 S, Pvehicles already on the road., c- {! |. h( X1 [% l
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
8 F3 x- {4 G5 D! k. Rbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
0 ]2 @- ?, k8 i9 ]1 W9 K5 |responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
h/ K1 \4 s# H" n+ x- Poffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were& |9 I& r/ a: r/ H
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
6 u! B; n2 h$ T7 \"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a6 [! R$ y2 Y0 C$ w$ j T' Z
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony) \9 c* E: p% Z2 g8 G5 a
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight2 q: U9 Q% O1 _+ S6 V. s% ~: o1 v
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal9 D' @& E- Q/ B$ Z5 V9 N
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
/ t+ x$ `8 |: M- r6 D' Orestore the trust of our customers."( s& t N3 l" |* B7 g) ~
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
' R+ d" t* Q9 k# @3 \Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
@1 W- |# @/ x; w; b; I1 Mzoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
9 u; }$ _/ X* W4 eshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and R6 Z9 g/ t# ]9 u7 p; a- t3 I" u% @
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
* P% N, F: t3 ?8 P+ Mthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
# @5 K7 X6 S; q$ B2 `, mturn off the engine.
! V0 j- U2 {) K4 EFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of0 k8 |2 A$ K+ Y; |( Z3 \
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."/ q7 V f4 b( D2 l5 Q, ]0 ]
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she* W' g4 s4 h' ?, n& n6 x$ b. E
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
6 A A$ N1 o3 I8 Z* o4 p( Y6 @to her complaints.
4 C; J# i4 b! QIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers: r! y% U1 ]1 `: }
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
U* h! y$ L9 b( k" Dmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.; u' D" u1 v0 O8 l* l) {
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric( Z& [- v% [0 a% }9 a7 ]% `. s! q
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
4 j" _$ i9 R, G"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
% y) }6 s0 ?2 h5 J) _, }off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
! \1 C l. Z+ k# Z& hTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
2 Z" b" Q- q+ U8 mprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were( o3 _4 @; E$ O
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
! m9 `4 y9 z* \were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
. q7 N5 J, S* x# |8 g4 }6 Eevery question." \+ u; u" R2 }( l3 V
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether4 s; U6 f9 w7 h" Z5 N+ s
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The: j& e$ R) X. j0 H; G6 s7 i
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
- ^8 {0 h3 K, Q# b* C9 gcommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small
3 C( \# m! ~7 _number of vehicles1 T7 K: C3 g5 a8 p. B
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more
" c. f. y3 z/ @% _# e! cdifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
" }" _8 }9 c6 A: z& p, Z# }mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
' \& N, K0 _& m# y8 b; w1 N W asource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
* h8 w7 q# A, T# HMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
; x# C- ~' t; Fwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no7 }: @8 s2 Z( }3 }0 h: |- C
trace at all.7 \& P% j: f# x9 U8 O: f' H( |
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
6 c' M. Y1 k+ b q p: v! m2 b: Sdatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
/ _; u) R* v9 E- ~/ \acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
$ A6 P. [6 K# D e& [recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.# k( k4 ]2 T6 g, B
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,9 k; C1 k+ f8 y8 Q) E* {: c$ E* z' l2 }+ o
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
) v5 h% ~+ j! gother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
: ^* ?9 c k. n/ w9 p; H t; `electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
; }% r9 i2 u) m$ W( Scause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
. W6 R- Y7 |' P3 y' W; Zsuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
2 J% p8 A5 t f" H2 N# {by Toyota's lawyers."
% k$ J3 A- f4 kLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
8 w, E I' }6 C1 L, k Wproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our h# i( y ~7 u
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
( B2 F* }3 w: ^% Ysaid.2 k3 g( N: b7 N5 x7 R: f7 W f
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
6 W- B9 ~; R; k# p" fa rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our- g- B8 i' x, ^1 U& ]
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating: h1 Y2 J7 d1 ]0 s$ x- s; {# |
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.# B1 \/ G% Z0 t* ]8 \, T' z
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying6 y0 N% ~4 u# \% u" j% D- D
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
/ @( m/ ?3 j: o; q& s* Q- ~0 p" V( b& v/ Yrancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
6 n* z4 r2 B. L; K4 O* Sautomaker, at least in part because of the government's
5 O6 g) t( Q/ D/ O4 x' Sinvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and5 ^- @( g7 H" B. b& [! ~
Chrysler.5 B" e5 |4 `! L
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax6 z& T0 r2 {" d3 f- _
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
, V/ u" S, Z7 R1 K- W1 f8 G+ Z# pHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also+ ]9 C/ N$ S, L! o' X
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete* Y6 ~- b" Z" \8 r/ Y
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty0 [. U. o( Z) T2 N
tough."
6 v1 F% O c! z3 h% t2 M4 t- Q---
9 B2 c3 Z/ g2 R1 g, m( {Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
! H, M) P% J5 k0 I+ O$ S" P1 uRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
; ~: j7 \8 t( s P# athis story.+ q+ S$ E. I8 W& o
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