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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
3 d' ?- U; D, i9 S4 }" N- hBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
: X8 \) W0 s6 b$ C2 HWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
7 H( [/ X2 b. V1 V. Loperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
. \+ W5 Z; b2 f3 U9 qthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"' `: Y# }9 N6 z6 g% n! v
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
/ V w9 s K5 u$ o# O* _"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential0 E3 i/ J. ?( O3 h' W* b# m# i
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
" @" f8 K4 u1 w. aHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected8 k9 |( b1 O& j5 F0 b
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and0 A# C4 i8 n+ A3 n$ |, o5 F( h
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor* p8 O' I+ D+ ~0 T
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.
3 l- k9 H+ Q, {8 [He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal* k/ l, b* c: H) @7 W$ h0 E) g W$ q
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
# \) Q }% J. T% P; Ncriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
" @+ Z6 |; K6 mfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could& M, A6 z5 U( U- H1 V& ]( f$ {
not stop her runaway Lexus.
5 K- E, | ^" Y"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,0 a7 B" C2 S- J5 E. h
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
+ R. y9 T+ I6 }1 J) k" B* o. [2 I+ s"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
# ~8 U9 a! e( ITexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues) a( y- `9 `8 }3 R/ G& I. W6 k- o
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said! O6 e9 `6 O/ e5 n: y8 x! \
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has7 e0 Y: U& z6 N. H$ s& L
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway& W- e# r7 y; v& x6 q3 N7 N
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's0 B4 c7 e+ b& d) B2 s
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
9 z5 ~ z0 ^! Z1 W4 |0 {Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
$ d- n; C o' D3 celectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
+ B* X" G3 ^8 sthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a& z! ?& k( t, D2 ?
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
4 z3 w7 F1 g! _- N- s- C' hsaid.# d. L) d; Y8 C n1 n/ I Y
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
$ J2 I0 X9 A! n& `2 m$ Khappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
/ A$ u Z( l, qabout driving our products," Lentz said. o8 u" Y8 E0 I1 S
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's4 J! R6 p1 Y/ _4 o/ b# Q
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has6 A. K( C. Y6 _: i, j7 X4 g
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6, C! w" m. ^ z
million in the United States -- since last fall because of
7 h5 O/ q2 a. r6 G0 C6 {9 T4 ]" g: Dunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
6 R+ V9 J/ Y# l- Z" z1 ?issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
. n2 b4 L3 {1 B1 R/ o1 D9 s$ k3 jconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of V3 y/ Q* x1 A8 c7 K& c# T% m
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow% w- U! e K& [% o+ `0 ]( l w$ c
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has& x$ m( c5 D8 {# v1 @( _
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration7 P9 M1 e# U0 s1 G* X
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.
; I3 Q" e4 a, i( `6 z7 `; CLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own. d5 @6 r9 d; Y0 u8 c% v
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he, T7 U" T) P( P, c! {; k6 h
understood the pain.
7 K6 @# O" A6 c0 I' o"I know what those families go through," he said.
! h7 X! ~% f# ILentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's; }$ m5 f8 G( ?8 Q
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.2 d" ^! i# f9 v$ n2 X7 o" {# |
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
: u! g6 `$ X/ K2 T/ e4 @* iHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put9 w4 ?3 ~. h6 Q
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
5 [( }. p/ s6 G F1 n. C+ mLentz replied: "Not totally.") e& }& M$ t4 v3 {
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were/ q% V. n, @, ^. n. t: T' K
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
# J. I& K+ V' N# IToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
- s a" N9 \. Q, R2 t1 epedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its, x, @ K$ T# |! a3 H
vehicles already on the road.
' z8 [3 H/ y! R6 B' PMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify7 B1 ~ d% V V9 O0 a; u
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
/ T7 P) }& O9 f% Lresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
: |% C( o; t+ o+ J5 |offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were* D8 J0 H6 J. n5 p9 w
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.) L4 X" r4 a, T
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a- K5 u4 W" h8 E" B
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony! o7 j- v, c+ q: H6 P4 J
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
9 V( X; A2 \# g" _" i% H0 a( XCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
$ m3 R1 Z0 G, k. \/ g7 U" A5 pcommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to* b/ ^1 J; u2 u/ u! L
restore the trust of our customers."
. g6 ^ j; j" ?9 c6 ]# qLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
6 C, z- x3 t3 g" k0 w# HSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
/ k+ V1 ~& N1 O4 ]$ uzoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --7 i2 J3 J5 z2 e5 d/ c$ ?& M+ |
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and0 ?/ u1 p. {9 y
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
! d" t2 U+ s4 E8 Gthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
8 r% _* S5 I, u3 P+ Gturn off the engine.
6 H9 Z- P, d2 s" MFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of3 f+ l- U4 }( G
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."* P, L4 K& e+ Z8 d$ M( f) \
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
1 N0 X2 V1 M; ?5 K# u! rsaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
0 o+ l6 q% ~" |5 { B4 C* Gto her complaints.! j/ o5 Q9 e* |
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
1 z/ v7 o _' [returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
5 X5 s) P" ^ D* H- omalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
* W5 q* X7 v7 a% v5 I8 H* o$ J"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
9 e- M( p. ?) }: u5 k4 ^6 w3 Xthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited; ~# W4 j" P' S8 Q6 a/ J+ k+ v
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut( z8 w$ W2 L5 ^
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."! z1 Y! t1 A+ E2 O) z# T
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
, H5 M% m# s- F* n5 X! B6 nprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
; s v, U2 {% }being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
! G6 G, F, b, V* h O8 t1 p$ vwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
" j3 A6 B. w# g! Qevery question."' c; d) \2 e/ W3 i9 ^2 J# N
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether/ M. L$ B' R: m; i
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The, s1 h6 O2 [$ |. {& A. q1 t
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But& |4 Y, y6 q1 k/ ?
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small5 \6 }* k+ K6 W! p( g6 j
number of vehicles1 a2 m! O" G* b! M
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more
6 j9 A7 S6 o8 k, j- S3 U mdifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
# k4 u0 b" Q* D8 p/ r9 N; s! nmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
8 |% Q3 A: l! p8 a, `& {source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
3 b& F, ?' E6 @; u, C+ M zMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,; C' U3 x* ]/ B' Y& v& S
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no1 H2 c7 |1 ~5 Y0 H7 L7 V: j
trace at all.
6 Z) a" O0 o4 v: C8 iHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
" V, H& Y; k% d6 O: K; Jdatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden8 s% K! ]+ P% r0 P" P9 j- N
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
+ d0 z+ S3 w3 d& M( U% V% Vrecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
4 Z& i+ U, O% ?( qRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
5 n: B# g% u' k/ I+ I% zsaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
G3 W0 N9 S. c0 p \$ D$ U tother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
7 f, m6 N# Z( ~8 Delectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
2 V0 r) M- {# `! t: I! Ucause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only$ z; M2 b# D/ y# a7 S7 p8 k% B# A
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
& B X F2 T2 T; N( y4 ]# uby Toyota's lawyers."- b9 O/ o: `9 k) A
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of5 M$ `7 Q6 @# w% G0 h+ k. O7 j
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
- Y# X' |$ R" V, h+ pcustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
6 Q) n. R* Y9 Z, m. Y" {said.
( ?% m) \" c2 z$ D"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
7 [, ^- G+ W5 k* a; Ca rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our) m* X3 g; L5 H2 a% y
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating+ e1 \# M3 a. _2 @
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.0 q# I; l% ]$ V* ?/ t$ c# H
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
6 @+ N- o5 k7 p' o& F8 T# bmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
$ @/ ]; N. C U$ Y, m" J' srancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
; n1 w; d9 f: [: yautomaker, at least in part because of the government's
3 c e( o1 b- r% a% [" S$ ~investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
/ @9 ], `: e& `! IChrysler.
* Y% i/ u( q0 S"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
9 c# K( F) `6 ndollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
( q3 D3 R$ ^$ w- l9 m" `; AHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
6 n. M l0 S. N7 Lserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
6 j+ l& n6 k' Twith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
5 q$ ]3 c6 i' {/ Q+ y* C: c) D- q; [2 ptough."4 D" J5 F( R$ O$ m z" I" g
---
( v& @( x2 D, @, K* \8 kAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
3 r4 R- i1 q7 U) @6 n% CRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
# H- a' j5 D/ Kthis story.
8 U( F; s; T+ z6 N' h' h- L7 t
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