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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
9 e7 ^' @8 E: m; \1 d# W% T7 s5 MBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS8 u' C! g# l3 T! ?
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.( r: ^) z9 C- b' l% _: ^
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
$ q5 r A) i+ f+ Q, V, mthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
% u7 Z% S! `- y5 e$ j ssolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
( [7 q" Z* H# ^( Z: i/ W"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential: |4 ^+ c, I1 X P3 J
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel., E/ ?$ |9 O _5 ~% {0 P
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
* K+ q# q& q1 m; _& q& s, r# X J, Racceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
7 n4 M3 P! ~2 W, N* N1 T4 \# r5 Ktrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor; b: m/ S1 l, ]- M+ g- K: T
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.
% u; m( F" T& o. v$ } l) a' UHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal7 o4 V* K) j0 ~( K5 P) y2 B
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
% J8 r: t7 y7 I$ u X" {( ~criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be7 f8 _% [- K, {1 W
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
: S- P9 a0 f7 |not stop her runaway Lexus.$ R5 p7 [' m- m, P
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
! R1 x( l' R# V% \, \Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second" ?* x7 L& s) U; z3 ~- E
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
; i8 m% [) I! X- y0 I" sTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues, e* E' E4 I+ M, G
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
. [ W9 j% Q( X( o1 `" f" d"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
% x+ T3 t5 t" L W7 K7 z6 d+ Xdone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway9 I) T5 p, d. A+ e2 p* l
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
0 y6 B4 Q2 E# K% M) L6 R; Yinvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
. k% a6 E; \& @9 `Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
( t* z" E' M3 U. R! lelectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of9 R8 d; i7 w6 S3 @' L6 b
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
6 ^2 L- W, u( Y( jmalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he _5 p4 E0 ^8 F, Z
said.
; @. C+ j# W+ |' j& u* R, _5 TAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
. Z9 Q2 z+ @% I4 x) }) j+ ~: Whappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe# L( b% d4 c9 ?
about driving our products," Lentz said.0 @2 z7 e w6 a& M" v" L6 [# C# X
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's, M" R" ?! s: v" j1 D2 w/ ~
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has$ t! P' B: S }. I0 h
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6. o( N1 E b" v: ?6 t: L
million in the United States -- since last fall because of; K/ x* L/ s7 f. w! W9 E$ s1 [
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking( O1 h# j0 _4 m; m- r! a! @0 `/ T
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering% f$ U/ s! j: R' o+ @6 S
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
" {0 a8 B' j# @their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
) i* z; |( N# j5 Y2 rdown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has4 g I5 \# P! |% E% K, ]5 m
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
/ f) C/ ?1 k T7 f( E+ n. n( xof Toyota vehicles since 2000.0 Y r4 y& o' K$ H& }. J7 e! [
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
4 U: a& \: ?: K) S/ ~ n8 Hbrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
' ^" r& H/ j& C9 p. o6 b& w: z Xunderstood the pain.3 j7 C: H; ^/ o& ?' s
"I know what those families go through," he said.
! P2 X# {+ M- f9 FLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
: v" d8 m2 H# }; t9 Rfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.: R4 b0 G q0 T
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
% T- U" Q; y" [$ v( q1 {% }: zHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
5 L, f5 D* Y! N+ Z9 Y9 Din place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,$ C" ~: A' Z6 ^/ j% z2 j6 t( g5 q* u
Lentz replied: "Not totally."
9 B3 @1 m) L: R" O w, oStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
# L0 V$ z. c/ y9 H+ S! _9 B1 u"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
# s! @9 t! ? A) W5 S' l/ YToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas( w* r( \8 n' w6 N0 o% F
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
9 `, B, f5 q! q' gvehicles already on the road.
1 l* q V9 G- ` gMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify0 G' L3 A$ A; a5 D" T) N
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
2 ]3 F% O) `4 `9 f+ hresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
) I5 t3 M% R4 t+ [3 Voffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
, u1 {! H4 p Fkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.- d3 d) A. m; u. p& \" {& r
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
- ]' X8 A, e- {3 d8 L& W, ltragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
' l' F, N" z& ufor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight. z% C- W& s6 b
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
0 Y. @4 n1 |* G% r1 e4 ycommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to+ \7 f0 j |% }2 y% `
restore the trust of our customers."6 j$ `, z4 x! y5 n' p+ u; \! v4 ^
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from% {% v) F, B- }6 o0 [) D2 h
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly( W1 B5 T$ }4 F' R' }
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --* S, T+ G) Z ~( b
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
+ e( e+ {5 a7 r# i/ J8 whitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough2 e6 q" K3 k5 H' d5 ]. Y( O
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
% C, R( K( {; ], f1 q4 |turn off the engine.# F9 O7 t& F, | q2 W& K' a$ J
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of o6 u. x7 f% x# Y
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."/ m- C" k7 p4 ]
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she) j/ ^1 l; ~$ l0 ~
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond) D& I" Y; N, x' {5 p) d. K
to her complaints.
) X! K8 l( @5 O: rIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers6 v9 R# a9 e% M0 Y% `) ]# k
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
$ `& w' H$ T% Q1 t) E% F8 ^malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
( c O% j" ?% d1 k$ y+ Z"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
1 ]2 }% e+ b% w% N4 a6 {throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited) ~/ z. R4 D) @& K6 T* |. ^+ m) b/ E3 i! _
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
' l7 T% C$ J: A6 _: |, a; Goff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."6 ~* V* y: b, R& A P" H' m( B
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in+ i, l1 w8 }" R/ J/ b
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
! c; E9 _3 P! K5 K0 Zbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
) v6 _3 Q: a* Pwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
" j" N2 E3 E5 [0 n1 M5 yevery question."
! i P3 L, c3 F* E$ `- SToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
. A% }* C' G8 l' R: eelectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
% o9 f! S& x( W- l& Lfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But+ g- D( L" O1 A& S/ {6 A! f% B( j. C
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small1 N) @. D! R. t. |3 d9 k! t9 n
number of vehicles
. Q; l* M/ ]9 lTracking down an electrical problem can be far more
2 [6 P# d# ~5 Q, {& |' H# Edifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a2 B# F" M# ?& `2 t' p
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one: \, D# ^" W* ~3 U
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.' y+ f5 |- m1 p0 |# B/ N
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
4 {* g. j4 Q4 S( W9 ewhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no8 V" w# ^4 m: L: N8 C7 w
trace at all.
O+ v. o5 t+ W# }House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
6 N3 O# r/ K8 B7 q: y' zdatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden: ^+ O6 F0 n; f
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
2 q$ M- H* i6 m" _) Jrecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
2 U& R8 g7 g$ K9 l% LRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
! c" F9 t: J5 v8 i7 G) K+ esaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and6 K% u7 ~; _8 p o7 }
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the J) A) E+ ~/ I4 _3 w' Z: `- q
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible. ^5 {9 b6 {) g, N) x9 o
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
: S9 I( [$ c# y6 X" Gsuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
; T9 t7 Q3 t8 c5 a' Zby Toyota's lawyers."" A" f) A* j; f" F. [0 G
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
, V5 @2 _3 H& N+ v' U% J6 D# Yproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our3 L) V+ \1 s) a! p
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
* t4 k/ g9 g0 k/ r( }( X! Msaid.! z" A1 @) m* b4 J/ T
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
) I3 u0 d6 \* {9 I W$ Q! V; ]7 {% la rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our) b! h7 z# _- G7 e4 @
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating1 l& @0 c* E' Q% R* N
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.6 S4 v S3 @9 C: n
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
! X8 V" d- c* q5 cmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
: p! H: G0 {; `8 R. \4 g" rrancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the! s8 G( z, X% U2 U) b0 E6 k, |
automaker, at least in part because of the government's% h( {1 \7 h) H# ~9 h
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
1 [* }3 `/ s2 E: p: G) f$ W" DChrysler.
" ^' K6 {/ t3 [ Y! y; t6 L2 ~, g3 G5 V"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
( ?- r$ v! k x4 adollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a- f0 q# M8 ?: z, j+ C) D9 e
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also( [4 u5 {/ [; ]9 R# k; \ e
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
( l3 E, ?: k# o1 m) Rwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty( P! Y$ _4 k) P4 G9 q
tough."- B" q5 q6 ~2 s/ T, c/ F
---
8 T/ s, g7 z2 i: Q! UAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom5 w2 m' u, r3 k3 b0 b$ m, ?' N! ]/ y
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
' o; I0 [* C I `! I# i; u! othis story.6 b M! i: u, ^& B+ X8 t
" x. D5 L, q* l& b6 G- f& a3 _) k
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