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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
& X6 T, t; w- m, U" `5 {By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
" |2 A+ I- b3 k- V/ VWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.$ u9 K' {0 H& v/ I- m. ~/ Y; \
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that# s( ]% h6 b) }5 D" o
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
' c1 B7 h9 G. i9 a- k9 u8 T$ Y) [solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.6 w. f! s7 T' W9 T: C
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
3 u* T, H4 m* N7 [$ S4 \! ?causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel." h5 U: U( ^5 R4 W+ D+ ^
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected R; P# `3 }% s1 T2 n2 t9 s' B
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
% Q8 w+ x0 n- @& z/ mtrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
" m. {! @9 {) m4 q/ J* Vmats and sticking accelerator pedals.* [! M4 C; T/ ]: t; J
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
( ]3 h/ o6 C3 X9 ?4 C, `/ h! land fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
* k5 Y! X% W! w& j7 l" e& H3 M5 Bcriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
7 n8 l# Y$ h: P3 ?; Efurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
' E' ^/ t" U7 dnot stop her runaway Lexus.
% ~+ y4 Z B3 e E: r5 {) G5 \"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
) {- f# ~- q3 \: `4 S% r& RTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second( K8 j( Y! s" o5 W% z) K
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
( h8 {) t- Z2 ?- Q0 \ F& C7 pTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
) K u" Y% m( e' x$ V* r* T* jearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
7 d, `/ s% p$ N+ S) R1 x"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
4 P) D' c f: _: p, Gdone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway8 F& k& w6 ^5 {3 f- B! |* U8 z# } Y
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's t/ o! ~8 v+ W3 X8 f7 c% K" k
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
7 z/ B" e# T! p8 S ^- g$ D L5 nLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an: x) z. X. y8 |4 V" Z
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of' _# C$ }5 [" o2 B" g( h8 Y
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a \6 B/ u5 T' g6 N) R0 f8 ]
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he& r, ~0 T/ B9 P9 c0 Q
said.: { o* s; W/ i0 W# p; l
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
, T: P1 i! f8 z, `7 \# Xhappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe9 H# O- k- b0 y- T1 d
about driving our products," Lentz said.
" [0 {% F6 F5 D( z" ^! WThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
; r+ D7 f) h) A2 Q" h: G" [problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has8 V: J: K# X# t; [
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 61 w6 f* s6 [! z# m
million in the United States -- since last fall because of
( k6 ~ P0 b$ G6 Z% P# J/ Gunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
5 [7 t& k$ h+ ]' j- |issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
* _5 g. N7 u6 f4 g+ j! {4 dconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of- @$ ?; U2 m0 ^' B& O9 c
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
+ M) `/ Z) }* N2 d7 }, qdown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has4 Z% r) {: ~, n9 D: f9 P
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration7 o! w$ z% ~' i/ X3 V
of Toyota vehicles since 2000." V( V2 l Z, c5 n) Y+ w
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own. O5 J( O: J4 \6 `% |
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he3 b: W. u- J3 z
understood the pain.' y% C7 R* E! T% ]3 N% J* @
"I know what those families go through," he said.& E. F1 y7 d8 ]! z, c
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's0 ^" P3 @$ U7 {' M( Z/ c
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
/ y+ D& c! W8 o& h6 u9 I6 bBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
5 P k, t+ y% m! i% z9 QHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
$ ]% f: ?9 O C* |7 g3 a$ Hin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
0 t) N% z$ P" i/ VLentz replied: "Not totally."
; J' y" F# @& x% E7 YStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
4 r; @2 ^! u+ t& d. W# b7 D- f' _) }$ r"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said8 b& B0 J7 d/ r9 ]1 g
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
4 F. R! w! _2 |5 Jpedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its( |8 M* z# D7 W, t4 ^; k- N
vehicles already on the road.* E9 B/ {8 ? l
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
8 X5 n' X/ ~8 ubefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full9 f* U& V, q! O9 n, S
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
' ^5 F- H3 q3 M moffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were ~$ M4 ]% g* Z6 w
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
, Y/ |2 D1 B' U3 X4 _"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a- Q1 Q# I- o" s Q1 ~% Q
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony) B1 }' p4 Y! Q' A" w+ R, }
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight4 `' O# F4 {/ u( d! d& R) w
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
, H3 z$ R: s) N# p2 S' Q8 kcommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
! E% p! ?, `: t! |restore the trust of our customers.") {$ `1 x* b% S6 P7 t
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from8 Q/ B+ Y: F7 k& \$ M9 H7 k2 f
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly8 x& e& q4 c2 g4 s
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --& Q0 G, X" f& U# `5 k
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
- \; _' S6 T5 u$ Z. Qhitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
$ \5 W) ~& ?$ q9 V9 \: p: Cthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and3 o/ l, T- ]4 d5 F' U9 x" ?: H* I
turn off the engine.
% M+ ]- z y2 |& h2 u; T6 a! O$ gFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of. k7 b* \: E( r8 a7 b/ N
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
+ k. l; S) i+ p, @ O"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
0 p& s% x8 k! P3 V/ E3 n6 @said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond) b1 d; P% ] V- {4 g! D% J0 V
to her complaints.1 W7 L0 R# m4 U4 n
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
1 l: M" D8 z. p0 m5 P- [1 zreturned again and again to the question of whether electronic5 }# N& c, A1 u; a: l1 q" z9 a
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars." g$ H$ I1 x1 l+ `
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
) U1 D* U) R7 l/ z8 bthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited5 Y9 c$ }* P7 D( D0 z. \4 C8 B. H
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut" [1 J& b. E: Y6 P: I7 j# t0 O
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
* f+ G- J* {) FTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
& v( c# ]4 i& m+ j0 sprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were. X" A5 S5 c8 l) ^) j
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
* p' `# r8 i$ B O* Rwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer9 Z7 @* P! q7 w! R6 [/ G; g }, S; O
every question."
! ^6 x5 I7 ^ j5 ^Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
% y4 l! q" A; y! L' [+ A+ Aelectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The8 _7 H0 X$ R- R l3 `0 i% P
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
6 h' y' j9 H2 f7 p% ~' R' ?committee investigators said the testing studied only a small2 K x J* v1 s1 H* a9 B u i
number of vehicles
1 c. d3 |( _+ m' bTracking down an electrical problem can be far more
- p. G" M* A2 k( w3 }difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
+ ~6 o* `3 Q4 {0 D$ j3 hmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one% r- F* P* h, ]4 `9 N1 m# c
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.8 W/ t# s' P& y. T2 f
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
, a8 l1 Z2 o" s4 t Iwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
' h2 ?; n9 v9 b. @1 dtrace at all.8 q% R- S* H3 s
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call) b. P; `% K4 n9 [ V6 p8 G
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden% f/ s0 O: ?' U& u+ H, `
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
. R; ^3 x, M3 S/ {recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
- J) M) f& S9 n0 ~, D9 V2 ?Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
$ D' U, e/ c( G3 |, Xsaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and# k* a4 i# G6 n
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the: N/ }3 `% ]" q* j2 F
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
2 |1 r9 [; {- _cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
{0 V( A7 O' v) F W& {' [$ psuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained, V* T( T5 a0 u" l( ~( x
by Toyota's lawyers."5 Y' ]! { q3 H9 b5 d
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of' T' d) m. a4 A
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our- P, k3 O. Y" Q k) b
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he$ \0 ^- e* Q0 `2 r/ e" P! O
said.
9 ?* |7 {, Z: _" {- F"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with' O2 o; Y" A2 R$ y7 A
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
. |1 _ D7 P5 E. F% egood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
) f8 d" p& C3 Q8 B( ]officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.1 }7 A# K" u; z9 D3 s" l- H" m
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying6 W G' B1 j9 N, @# f% p& R2 m
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread* Y! @5 M3 ^3 R% v9 U3 `+ O( ]
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the/ z- U2 Z9 F5 @" D0 l% ?* y6 h+ x3 P
automaker, at least in part because of the government's7 U! a7 |) x8 B
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
5 f) b3 c/ I" y6 o) o0 |Chrysler.* a" w$ O9 }" t& P
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
6 a4 y) ]! g! I7 T+ Ddollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
5 R4 C P% f( Z- d2 F* rHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also/ C* i: z4 f' O# x$ n' ^. m. l# ^
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete# |. x0 N+ J& M/ X9 b0 l5 m6 l
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty v1 I8 F7 U, R/ R) z+ f+ |0 T, N
tough."& C1 D7 j- _4 G1 Q D# L
---/ p6 w$ r0 H! n0 H8 i
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom$ K1 `# g8 e6 V4 j0 q6 y* n: N
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
0 T5 `2 h7 w* [/ L2 [this story.
4 |) H0 q8 z6 q& z& E( S- H# B6 F6 k# E- \/ o+ g, v1 W7 s3 r2 Z
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