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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
- ]: H4 q, Z$ Z9 Z8 FBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
5 W' ^& F% y* c' cWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
' P6 Q3 L2 }5 z* |2 w/ k7 K/ eoperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
0 e. [) N5 @( cthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
5 U* g8 T! k0 V) i4 l9 Fsolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
' h% Q- T/ X$ p' U: x"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
w- u/ o. T9 ^( v4 v# ^3 q6 Pcauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
$ C2 F- b2 U1 B K4 pHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
! K9 J+ u% {* h7 k: g2 Z+ Pacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
* j! u8 ?- o- B, P6 i X- v% itrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
, W7 g+ J0 b" ]: l# umats and sticking accelerator pedals.
0 O7 k2 s- _' d5 n' OHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
, R _+ E; a/ O! ]! g' j5 u3 ?and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp& u# n, F- Q t3 j
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
7 e4 o6 v& P, E" b: ?1 {, T! z+ Rfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could6 m" C; [9 R$ p
not stop her runaway Lexus.' I& f; z. V, G
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,6 W8 U! y$ M# c
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
6 a' Y7 G7 y$ o"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.- B b0 L/ d' e
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues5 \5 w7 u4 Z, X
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
M5 S4 d! c( Q" q' U"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
& H! w. U9 [5 p9 H+ P& F' p1 Pdone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
/ P1 @6 F% ~; q! M1 r% B2 xthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
/ h# j: f% e+ A" c. I/ a" Zinvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham.", v( ~& z7 s4 W; f7 x$ h
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
' h" _5 z( }; g: n- Felectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of' p) q+ z2 |1 b5 K
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a" z8 } e2 R5 c- n1 o1 P
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he4 A% q. _3 J& H
said.
. P z# J$ w/ cAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
& I$ t5 [) J# h9 N1 b% phappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe2 N$ x/ ~' k. R0 J
about driving our products," Lentz said.: x! B# X" p H" U6 |& v% e
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's* a$ k, k& ^/ @- `! w# ^& y# n+ M
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has' Z: X0 J& Q' l; w( o! y
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6$ `' |9 M$ P* [3 E" P% \: O
million in the United States -- since last fall because of
$ r# {# C4 K: Cunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking! Z; X! D* T" y# R& g1 h
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering+ p1 } x. s2 _# b& x* f; [
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
5 X$ @( b' g" Q# Jtheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
- [6 x+ i0 {: ?- D i0 x7 X+ Ddown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has' d+ w( H5 G% ?$ @, W
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
3 `" X& o0 o4 A& o& W4 R9 zof Toyota vehicles since 2000.
# K) b: H3 Q+ A( m. ~Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own: W$ I0 v! b, X+ c% R# Q
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he0 i* d, q& _& a: K6 o* d
understood the pain.
* S2 ^ K( N9 H8 n0 E7 ?0 G"I know what those families go through," he said.
' g/ T3 H7 h1 Z5 QLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's' w! c4 V. p$ C$ i8 B2 E
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
1 p- P* H6 S3 j' x0 Y$ ]8 y' H1 zBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman: z0 R0 Z; W+ S( ^
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
; N2 e) M& G l* Y; P. M$ c$ Jin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,& {3 c5 R1 V4 ~2 |
Lentz replied: "Not totally."2 J: i. u& L0 J3 a% V' h7 m! _
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
5 v; O: O4 C& q; c/ q"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said3 q& A4 u& n& @6 A$ t
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
* V) Q, r( O' T4 I' e8 N. Opedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its3 h' n( }; q5 A
vehicles already on the road.; r9 l' t3 G" W5 h$ g6 `
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
! u U" v0 {" _$ l7 rbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full4 B2 t3 N0 ]' c# `& M3 H
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and) Y& Y$ C# {; L' I& O
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
' p% b- g) a2 Z! Hkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
8 k: o' o: \3 T* z: `"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
/ _% a- ~: a9 U2 l0 ctragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony3 a& U* q, _/ O
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
, J# Z0 [7 Q7 _9 \( ACommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal3 t4 P6 {) ?- B9 n9 k7 X
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to" f) h" D1 }8 y5 P
restore the trust of our customers."
7 C C4 ~6 f, @* z O7 t" hLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from3 p# j, U7 V, s4 u1 O5 a
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly/ i0 B. U2 m/ I$ }
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
" W9 h+ W* _7 S. ]* H+ r, x3 \shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and" B1 U6 `; l$ r- }' y! c7 b
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough% Q" [; S. w( i7 d- s
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and( ^! h# F) U5 o: L: X3 ~
turn off the engine.
- Y( X! \2 M7 r+ g: Q' o2 a4 HFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
7 C, p; s J) N; Q) n/ V: eOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."2 s2 ~& j$ n3 |0 E: E9 H4 o
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she3 T& J2 w; Z) m% j/ P
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond8 I) g( j: s3 t& G
to her complaints. ^, k% k* @1 m, R
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers, X% G' p8 H' @; y3 G6 e/ X. f1 [
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
% D- @ l! i& }: ~$ Y- \! lmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
4 b) r" T) J9 p& e( l"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric9 ]) e" s) N( q# L* C% W T
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
" l: U% B+ m# t, t% n% |1 l"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
, h+ r3 }9 o7 [! ]9 l P4 Soff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
8 L4 P: M' K( O+ Z% `" B4 D8 WTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
! a% i) y8 U5 U2 O% |9 h4 tprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were7 N+ _: n/ B5 P2 j
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls& U- U. N3 z- a V7 `
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
# W3 b' O5 _. ?! x% x* f, p \every question."
3 k9 U/ P5 d8 g, J) tToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether! r6 k2 C; \# x. g
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The2 R5 \! |- a( } S7 {- H3 f& {
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But: R2 j3 s9 m3 \' `; o, |& s
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small8 n1 b2 s5 ?9 c' I
number of vehicles
! c j D V! s" hTracking down an electrical problem can be far more
" \! z% @. T% B1 ]( Z$ mdifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
# { z$ c2 E( [1 [$ |% z1 {' Gmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
/ q9 `$ p1 g* Dsource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
6 ]: I p: x* f: |7 i* cMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,8 ]7 k+ c J3 ]) ~, T& o! E
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no3 X. U9 Z# E! M, O `8 e$ n
trace at all.
: M2 h8 e" Z8 f% K+ z- d2 x: eHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call, n3 Q0 }, o5 g- f5 y" h3 `
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden4 a% l; E+ j- ^5 {# ^
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the' z1 W0 m& b% y+ _! |6 l# _
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
7 i3 q8 ]! @7 a% |( S9 kRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
% ^: P2 L' t% _# q; i/ S/ p7 \said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
& ?9 X4 p. N, V* r8 i* }other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
" T. g! v- s* eelectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible$ C+ a5 ]2 Y! G/ a. x) O
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
0 [6 Y' s8 u! K8 }such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained: f/ a4 n9 ?0 t% W# ~0 p9 ^- N6 [
by Toyota's lawyers."# M9 O4 f" L0 `9 _
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
6 }0 q' C7 ~5 x4 t4 @$ W9 T9 Oproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
B: Q( \2 z) b% w* Qcustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
4 a" A4 L, ~ L* V1 Tsaid.
& U: M" g. n" `$ |"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
2 r+ T" H0 P9 z4 R- P2 }a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
1 {' o" ?; T: Y1 vgood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating- i5 a9 t% V. ?0 a5 ?- m
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
/ x) [$ G6 \: }Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying+ v- c0 h; g+ _$ S
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread {, }7 {1 g7 g* P2 U; N! Y
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the5 _% s7 m) E" P6 ]& P
automaker, at least in part because of the government's: f/ n3 g1 y: p# b0 Y% E
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
% L0 r- N& ~* L6 R( tChrysler.3 G% F' ~! I/ _, x) G
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax2 A' L6 }7 H" Q+ t R/ A
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a( D4 g" V/ A0 a
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
. N& _" \$ U6 x9 g7 V/ E% N2 Bserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete7 E4 y/ G n8 ?7 E& |" X
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty" Y4 q" Z3 Q: L$ V9 @
tough."
4 O! s* k. @& Z3 i3 }1 d---
& Y8 r; Z& }5 CAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
, m- Z J6 H7 n P+ v3 \' G+ NRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
; ]" B m1 [2 f* O- I: m3 e6 b a- Nthis story.
& M" U* g S# f0 _1 d7 E- i/ A/ }6 R1 ] O" f
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