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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
5 c9 v" }( A6 o* _$ h3 SBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
, ]* q: a0 }$ ^- zWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
2 E8 p2 K, ` T' }* D) [operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
4 T- y- t/ f( A8 othe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
) m0 w0 P1 C; x3 s4 e: ksolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
4 \' m7 O, }( P. A6 t"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
, ?, ?4 V4 V9 mcauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
( ~5 V W- ~( R% t) `0 q( G6 t v. \However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
' x! f9 b+ |* k9 R8 G8 Wacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
( A6 P5 Q! U5 S# o) |trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
% A' }- O+ D% M1 T6 C& w/ L, @mats and sticking accelerator pedals.
" B0 Z; U5 Z8 H: }( ZHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
5 q* h& Z, G' u: O' P- mand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp* U, k3 B7 \( p3 n$ E; k
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be; Q0 I6 P+ A5 N* e! ~2 ^
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
- v. O' k6 k+ `; Wnot stop her runaway Lexus.
% b7 ?: `" j6 ?4 @& w"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
8 |% ~. N) L! v5 c8 v3 a2 {Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second# C. u* n2 \* |# `
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
- W& [, e/ g4 ^. v gTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues' R4 B7 j" N5 b" U0 w% m, B/ L
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
: H' G% \ T; X; r" @7 K: U O% ]: Z"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has: V5 A' |% d4 L! A
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway/ t" N5 K _9 a# n# `
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
$ x% Q' O' @8 U+ [1 q" Cinvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."4 _6 @2 E4 }3 [# v
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
) j2 [) p7 ]0 @/ p! }9 c) yelectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of2 c1 i* u: K( C3 z$ e
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
; A0 v% V8 D9 amalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he2 t) [4 U7 I0 Y r. t. r8 p5 i0 ]0 x7 j
said.0 Y9 v& u5 a" D
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
) s4 b/ \! O, v0 u) C1 Khappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe& j# E& L I( {+ \- o1 [
about driving our products," Lentz said.- b4 L4 c P7 |, K& K
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's, g1 H6 @ P8 L& W6 a0 Y
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
8 }5 E6 e7 H! _4 \recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6/ i# r8 z1 N( D2 ^9 j7 Z
million in the United States -- since last fall because of: k, Y4 s/ E) T0 F. c* ?
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
6 ~" j) F- W2 `2 l pissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
( x7 q6 P8 K1 x( R6 s+ Yconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of' k- s |" \+ V; Q& o9 R1 w
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
% _* T- g3 b3 ^- f% B6 L$ E$ O0 Sdown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
# h7 F% j) a' c/ ^" v9 \/ wreceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
) B7 {0 _4 d& _* d+ T0 Y! bof Toyota vehicles since 2000.
6 a% z+ o9 z4 p+ |- G |3 i |1 FLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own1 u. }6 E" V6 `
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
8 \4 z) u- u+ yunderstood the pain.
7 |3 M* l; Y4 u' E" y"I know what those families go through," he said.
; R0 P p. r# I- q& lLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's- Z% k; z# O/ z2 e
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
" N# w& j9 L2 ]" B6 @But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman: G, w9 a ] o, S
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
1 s$ |' d9 W3 ]7 @0 Nin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
/ l8 i6 i e8 s+ \! f5 a lLentz replied: "Not totally."- Z1 P' |) k. }5 {( l$ a4 f
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were+ N1 H) s$ a }6 o# W
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
5 ^0 c ]) ~ |4 O/ \ v5 kToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas% N, b: T! Q1 A, `3 d
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its4 z0 o( z! {( ?' {5 D
vehicles already on the road.
) C) F6 ^, i2 V" z1 `Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
& O! @4 O5 b8 O3 X2 Ebefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full5 A/ b5 p7 m$ g' y+ ?1 R( A
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
# u3 E4 K' ?) N: u/ b- H- Y: Loffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were* k# _2 _$ _6 b* F3 A6 a( E
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
8 n9 o3 y) z$ K6 \7 S"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
1 Q. d* H& e1 ztragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony' c8 _8 |6 o* O- [8 ^/ B8 I# N5 f) W
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight6 ~8 V& U5 k. V; i
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal. C y0 j/ K: o% ?5 K
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to7 a4 e6 r$ a) S4 Q6 }( R
restore the trust of our customers."
3 `7 j- d2 U( B7 zLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from6 T/ `0 t9 M) G# k1 C6 g
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly* b2 z" @/ Q! W6 Y5 d) s
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --% J1 Y2 ]! q! H! r |
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and; [. w! ~. l, z: f: l
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
# |9 D5 n- q2 t- ythat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and! q4 r; L0 D/ H- j9 K
turn off the engine.
: x9 ` \* `5 J" L% JFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of$ w5 V2 t; r' J
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
6 r9 a, t5 M, W- v"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
8 _% ~1 |" Z- p, i7 O' _said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
r5 y2 g5 U# Wto her complaints.
% U" P: G0 `7 |- J/ ]7 g- xIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
. U' f: @8 B( f* g, G+ Xreturned again and again to the question of whether electronic" s, O: E/ J" S3 u
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.1 T1 y8 x: X7 C' c# Y: d! \
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
; q/ K1 S- K% `. x2 jthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited3 c# d* D8 W7 e) k+ }" q% L0 N
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut/ s( L' V, W2 t
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
' V- z% }! }# {Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
1 P( g0 S- K. f. X5 X' Dprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
7 E# p0 h2 v3 p" g4 [% s. Mbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls6 E: G1 }8 S, X- P& e
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
8 c3 T1 j. ?+ p/ E* F/ r# v; Mevery question."
% X' v& y2 `3 h8 U+ }5 Z5 dToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether7 B3 E$ I. L/ q6 [
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The5 S) M3 u7 ?; ?
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
# T0 _) G' F3 [2 S) Fcommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small" L9 W4 ~9 X1 k0 w* Z1 F; F
number of vehicles
; {1 S5 e, C7 n- k5 h3 |* P2 i( fTracking down an electrical problem can be far more
& ~; s+ X0 C; J) q- `0 ?9 A1 c; p1 vdifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
& |( D. @$ m% d8 m4 Cmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one4 l {8 a5 u: o3 A0 W
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car." P1 c; F2 f5 g7 ?) [) l g
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
! P! ], c' k4 i0 W. C2 I( V% ~where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no/ G+ q* K9 M5 C }' B1 L: U
trace at all.* `, v+ s" B# Z. b
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call$ S6 m" Z/ G F
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden& L) N- l3 \1 {! M5 l
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
. m2 L6 V9 F. w( l1 precalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
+ C% ]1 e) G/ i) hRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
! O8 ?* ]2 V* H% isaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
0 u2 A C0 F3 B; p4 ?other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
+ J1 s, M7 T6 Q) g3 N8 y. zelectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
+ O. g2 O0 v- a0 l8 `2 V. ^cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only0 z% z2 [2 L& H* W, A5 i
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
& @: `. I" k! l5 Lby Toyota's lawyers."
; H5 t/ t/ L& g* A8 l6 L5 OLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of% P l/ }/ L: {0 K" q o7 |$ u
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
- p6 i$ J: j& p4 ~customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
* l) E2 E6 U( i6 v" B4 ?said.4 U. S' E7 F6 K1 |$ U0 N4 v
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
0 M7 z! R6 |- I: p2 Ya rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
& q% b! a: H# i9 N! j, {0 zgood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating* o; }2 n2 i/ ~4 R8 r$ e
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
8 O% o, F- R9 L" rSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
, {5 F3 F) m2 b0 N. imembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread2 y3 _- x) s5 P8 G4 O3 C
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the# w' ?. e- C& q* {( R$ T
automaker, at least in part because of the government's
# d$ C; e$ M0 d5 _investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
' f# X4 ?: x0 [' u6 r7 B# K3 oChrysler.
" y5 ^# J* I" z0 C+ c. V2 H"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax! ]; u! ~( R* ~7 i9 X6 [4 ?" h" G! [4 m
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
) e1 F: B' M6 q/ {+ Q1 [) V- K; tHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also8 i! e/ t, [+ I; H! V3 [/ ]2 H+ s
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete3 ^% N- n3 K; D; n! @
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
4 Y. j4 |+ x. e4 Z; |4 [) ]tough."
; d% V2 V1 I4 P0 T---' X2 {" c# g- W4 c
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
& f/ e6 ]* v1 f" Q( LRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to% A2 h2 y/ x! ~) G# a
this story.
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