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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
# I6 t1 q/ x% j* U& _0 KBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
# ^+ p }; o) aWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.7 G- Q6 h" k" ]( w) P2 Q9 H7 V
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that/ o1 Z5 F3 u) m* w% W. F6 y$ c
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"4 f' j' v# U5 K, |6 n6 h
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.1 u0 q' i. v: X8 ~7 r) H. F4 a
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
2 N5 t: Y! M5 r3 `causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
3 q: f3 ~9 n' M. U! l, ~* v) @However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected* Z% c, K6 w+ q
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
~6 l3 s7 I5 J2 A+ W! f$ ]) M5 m+ ptrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor6 G' ~2 K& R6 s! ]+ e8 T; w4 F& C
mats and sticking accelerator pedals./ z X- H4 ?7 N/ f
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
3 t2 {5 _7 w. A: i" Xand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp% o* G" S/ } K0 Z' _: D: p( ]
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be' P4 Q: U% B, F8 t- b. W2 M3 @
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
T7 N: r) N" K/ C! jnot stop her runaway Lexus.
/ F4 h& T" \5 _) l t o6 l"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,/ ~/ f( M) Z& F) O
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second* @0 q( u+ Q% w% j7 }
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
* z7 @( i0 r5 R) @+ Z d+ j$ P! PTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues$ X, @- p, t* y2 C5 N* E
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
- J% W/ s T7 q- ?2 G, U$ K* D"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has4 P4 m1 h+ |9 y6 O, ]2 P
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
- @; Y/ e6 `$ z/ {% G/ T* }through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's0 ~% N0 `8 v w* I
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
5 Z( d3 Z8 X) ~, L8 C# QLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an% B I4 _* Z5 q+ N% F6 O1 {
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
: L7 v* Y) H4 \the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a0 ~: e8 D! d _/ K" n& R
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
# W/ V: v8 d% j8 _! Y8 \said.& Q: b- f* w4 r2 C5 f. i% u
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
; f' g' y/ @" Z" hhappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
6 `( Y$ q% `+ R9 p' T! Zabout driving our products," Lentz said.
7 T% X5 ~' Q* }7 j( D( j3 \Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's2 b* F( F& _+ q. [% W5 y! x: z
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
! I D$ p' n3 Trecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
* N( b) g% i8 S$ H" h: e4 ^million in the United States -- since last fall because of
! c2 L7 _: @9 e6 kunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking2 K0 [& M8 K% ~! Y- w% o
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering4 [6 w6 ^7 [- G. o, r
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of5 B1 n; e; M. J* }
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
* J4 a* W! _3 @* g0 \down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has( I- n$ k9 |5 ^* A0 Q7 w
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
1 G, m2 g! h1 [+ W) rof Toyota vehicles since 2000.
; A+ g3 ^" M2 l" }$ D, XLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
5 Y& F% Z2 F) L; {: n' rbrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he$ r4 D/ v Q1 Z8 ^# u1 I
understood the pain.! ~- L0 T' E' ^2 [% o
"I know what those families go through," he said.+ ?5 X" ^* ?" `! h
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's& P2 ^" K$ C+ y6 j
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
1 J- d( \: W6 y$ I- iBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
* [4 ]1 C. Y) B1 CHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put, j! Q, _: @+ C. Z
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
0 Y* r' i3 U' w8 g3 uLentz replied: "Not totally."3 | Y) |6 [8 V0 Z; T- x' F
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
0 H8 X8 M z& q"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
# T8 ^; j& O+ ^6 v% {; I* v9 ?3 uToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas6 x' y2 d7 q( `, {: @! G) `. B
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
& B! R3 }/ f. rvehicles already on the road.
; ]6 d0 U# r9 V$ u# I; P- DMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify5 X( J% r7 R+ N' @ ~4 R
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full4 G* @! v5 J: [2 e/ k
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and/ N9 `) M0 [7 A/ Y
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were# A' c" Z2 R' U, v7 D3 i- t) f( }
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.: S4 p# B4 R7 R8 [- }1 [ a8 e
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a9 A8 ~' C! h+ r) s9 n; `
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony* n5 j. k+ E: M* O4 ~
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
9 m) U; _$ r5 FCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
' k& Y- H$ D8 Ucommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
! Y. X/ Y9 F/ T! M( ]restore the trust of our customers."
3 T+ p& b8 S& _* P5 z- T4 m* DLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
2 T/ z9 J7 C- r: t' Y1 A% t" hSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly% o- K+ f( P8 W; a. k9 W0 n' n
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
0 U2 R8 a, ]$ Y5 Mshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and x* I! w! m( E$ P
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
9 N% @2 D2 l+ G- i/ Q( c' Jthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and$ m2 h; A( S& A4 |4 ?( Z7 W
turn off the engine.
2 o) ^9 T* R( ~$ Q2 g3 o8 S' RFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of1 m. a. E- ^3 M F
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience.". u' \4 W1 b3 v! s
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she0 m+ }( S1 ~$ m1 F: K' S0 p# r
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond+ w6 I. Q l% ^
to her complaints.* @" v G9 d/ n3 l4 J7 u+ d
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers3 a. k9 I; c1 I8 k6 L2 I. o# m
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
8 C$ y+ M0 A/ B0 Umalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
/ ]) J2 c" i: \/ g6 J( B8 W2 `1 c" S"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric1 E, Q; `; W m: E) g! w
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
8 @) n6 P, R# D) ?3 O"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
) C4 I7 h0 @6 G, E/ l: z' aoff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."% d1 Y# L# v* T; K
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
: U. B# z- t8 ]) _prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were- V8 K: p( u1 q! F, e5 J% H
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
7 n# f( c2 ?% Nwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer6 c) Z0 d1 _2 u7 M2 q4 I/ F
every question."5 X0 [, s2 E" a# a( D
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether! R8 d, A3 E+ e! u: I. U; o2 O
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
) F# k% Z6 P( H7 b5 F0 r0 `" nfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But* k6 \# V3 P9 c; l5 B3 l" q, G
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small- |9 t9 R; h; o- r9 [
number of vehicles& S X' G/ P8 O0 l" V
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more
4 ?- d* ^& d3 e. @" J: c9 `difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
) g/ F. C' j, @- S2 R& ^( bmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one# `* e8 e7 G) V1 ~( n
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
6 s3 O; {- k+ [2 @Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,/ z* P; c. a* C7 U- p
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no; x h4 d) c: ?% E
trace at all.
7 x; y' u. N" r: U1 z" [7 {$ [0 x: fHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
1 Q1 v) B4 b' h9 c" U% q% R2 O+ Xdatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
' L: Q; E& |, U+ m, Bacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
/ r' Q P& P' [( Z$ J" Trecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.& j- N; f. H/ ]. e
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
" h" s4 j$ L+ q% tsaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
/ J* k, F3 H: wother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
" B9 @1 n& a- B. S3 eelectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
$ a. K/ T" Z2 x3 ?# k# l% Mcause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only& }& K! {+ D- g1 v0 T+ l3 [4 e
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
4 e- e: g: Y0 Q( T6 \9 _+ Qby Toyota's lawyers."
, u& m# X% W! ~& o# [Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of4 a% }9 ^/ X+ C, q4 E
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
+ f4 r7 f# q' P. m7 |5 Ccustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
+ u! I4 J8 A; p+ p/ f- U. Ssaid.
9 P7 [4 X0 J6 w"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
/ c3 N' S! w9 Q& p* ?0 X7 K( p' i$ oa rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
+ u6 k- a" L1 L% O8 X7 s. vgood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
% j6 z9 _( G8 {, Q" E! Y9 s; Iofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
; i( e% p9 o8 T/ ~* q4 RSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying% s: r+ n2 c) A
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread; m7 V+ \- {4 u8 ?- e2 }# g+ ?
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the/ ?4 X9 ~/ K6 ~
automaker, at least in part because of the government's' a5 n! Z; z, H% X8 m; u
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
! M3 T1 `% h E) ?. wChrysler.
7 u& F/ N' |& B' [4 v% V"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
. {2 T$ x+ c: |* Z, J( Qdollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
& g% M* K w4 Y1 v# G5 iHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also6 h+ D+ _/ H, U& Y8 }
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
6 z F2 m- g8 C, w; K' Y! x( ]2 Xwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty5 V+ M' ~9 E6 s x' ]" s3 G$ w
tough."+ y4 h5 Y1 c+ d, b
---$ G0 _% g% Z. k; O" r+ K* T2 X% X
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
, \, p% P2 s& N: ~" H- h, |Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
% @, b( _8 z4 U& gthis story.
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