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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
8 W) s7 `6 [/ J, G2 ^) \By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
/ T& O7 t2 M- ?! h0 nWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.6 t1 O; }& T, A8 m) D; q
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that2 ~4 ]+ [3 X. `1 @% x" i" {' i0 d0 D
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
5 i- y. \" v% a( Nsolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
$ |8 P! ]% h1 u4 i"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
7 n9 l9 F2 n5 X8 d3 _$ mcauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel." k% F5 q" o2 W# z
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected, Y2 [0 E& R& u8 R0 W
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
S, b, x9 W: F5 Q% Xtrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor. N' V& x" E( c* z- D
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.
( [( n$ l/ S( N9 u$ NHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
5 e7 D0 b$ |1 o7 z# E8 kand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
( w* r; x) t4 q1 p0 M% \* c, h6 rcriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be2 u" j0 m$ [3 f$ V. }
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could% }/ P3 [, Q/ _" v! [
not stop her runaway Lexus.* H5 R! b; p3 Q8 h Q
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,7 l$ t6 V( b5 v$ n/ ~' H
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second/ e; B4 {2 B2 X# t! }7 u
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.7 w8 D% K* w: i: C" d
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
0 o( @8 F! d8 J9 P' X J* ]early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
% [/ N5 M$ O% Y' Z8 {. Z" I"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has! q; o& `* `- t
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
, S1 `+ J( a5 A, f H" Z% A" ithrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
2 {* E/ i: ], o# i% hinvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
! J$ B" ]& R0 L2 R% \. |3 G# tLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an" J8 x9 _( c# _6 B" F
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
% |% ?7 p. o5 L' j! ?% a: Vthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
' `" F; J$ c$ S' {! omalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he6 C. H9 G" S) [# ]; W) [
said.
4 U C w; D# g, cAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
: U8 P6 y9 A e6 P* r$ \happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe; V, W: c' E E1 J7 w# D
about driving our products," Lentz said.
# e v# G# N# o& @* |Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's3 Z5 N- w6 ^ Y2 c8 |
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has2 ]. l0 x. x8 Y5 V' D9 O8 L
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
; v- V( `/ c. }' A0 Y' [- w3 @million in the United States -- since last fall because of
9 G) o6 b, y4 L! j5 }unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking, _! f: I5 x' m1 B& n1 n
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering" ^5 a- U5 B, J
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of6 W5 l1 n4 L0 k/ G& e$ |
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow8 r$ {8 o0 U4 ~0 g" q
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
' z& L$ C3 M: N( \# T c- wreceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
6 s6 q# Q! p) ~- cof Toyota vehicles since 2000.) J5 B# y. m! K: S+ k
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
* \$ b' ~$ b( s2 I7 A0 R3 r: ebrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he. |* J5 T6 [+ }# f P
understood the pain.
. k! I& C9 V9 F5 L' X"I know what those families go through," he said.9 T; E" i7 z4 d8 G0 H: L' X
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's' f* A( {# j/ f. g: L
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.0 o+ S* i) `* Y
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
; I& h8 h- t. J5 D6 E1 _7 `/ OHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put: w' ?/ N4 J# J/ C% N$ t& b
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
( r# f: v6 G( a, C9 P I9 r* g. ALentz replied: "Not totally."- p; v' ~1 d; H7 w" C
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
' m+ `5 m6 m- f- @8 Z2 O( l; K"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said1 Y) X# g$ a+ K
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
$ ~# c2 g- y b y7 E0 d; j8 Lpedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its8 K" S$ M7 f5 S+ Y
vehicles already on the road.
) q G6 Y. n+ Y ?4 OMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
5 m/ J" N1 ~( {4 @! E/ mbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full+ u4 u& n9 T7 p
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and8 D! X9 y1 D( ~$ r
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
3 {9 S) Q+ l4 b6 b4 g* vkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
2 }3 J: w& r/ ]3 M5 h"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a/ W# l! D( A$ D* H& X; R1 J, W
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
- W a) a7 |; V$ _$ Lfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight9 j1 g$ ?; U0 z) F1 _
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal% X7 Y$ R, B' X( J2 j$ g' X) }+ L- S
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to1 v- N" i6 S' u3 _3 C! ~
restore the trust of our customers."
% K( F, z9 p* i$ g, Z2 NLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from. Z2 \! i7 b7 m
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly# K. n( S0 t2 S5 T3 J: q
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
, |2 }$ L1 \) C7 n; L+ R: tshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and% r& M* x% a$ H1 e8 U; B
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
! ^3 l5 G% M; y1 Cthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
# J* Q3 l: p1 kturn off the engine.
9 p$ {- u- R3 b; O" uFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of: d! u3 ~. |# g. F
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."# h Y' _6 O$ ?# Y$ g# X
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
. J4 u. p; G8 r6 Jsaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond4 F& H! ]! R5 W) {" h+ M7 h/ M5 V, X2 p
to her complaints. J# E( |5 c' q h# P0 M- H$ E+ P6 Z
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers! y5 {3 I; b+ }2 j. Y$ N) c
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
6 W v8 h" l) c+ C6 x& Xmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.( X7 K% C$ ?# W8 F' \4 C2 C! C" V0 I
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
( t# B. r% s6 @# k |) k+ q `throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited: D" R9 {7 B9 E5 D5 F, L
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
9 e9 a2 |0 m9 D% t3 Q7 J* A) loff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."! P* } j1 f9 h! m) Z
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in6 Q' m& n# n& I- b, x
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were) a& r& i* z* s! i8 r. C( w" G* t5 i
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
* q, T/ R {$ d8 U- X8 \were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
$ ]/ Q* `1 q, ?& r+ F/ [. devery question."; Z: x5 J; u1 c( _( `7 X$ Q
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
7 S" I6 ?9 {: @electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
5 ?) i0 Z6 Q8 s. r' w) X4 Cfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But, n# t6 ?+ c4 C
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
" s* C' v% L4 ]% x) b. P# W( E& Knumber of vehicles
6 i* M4 z- U7 M2 C7 ?1 _0 cTracking down an electrical problem can be far more
1 H& p5 u0 k* [7 n: @. ^difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a) v5 D: `' t) g5 y" m; C+ w: ^0 K
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one3 x, Z8 s/ j# O( N# r7 J5 `! ]
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.( _$ [0 k4 f1 t
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
! \+ J: e* m) qwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no$ Z0 m; @7 _1 a
trace at all.
: ]3 g) k# \, p; nHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call; x* N, l) L" H9 l5 c3 ~' ^
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden, r9 @& e2 A$ w8 r" v: e
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the" v/ r7 H% u# q' K
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.5 R4 r& {1 A6 V H" T
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,9 F* {# K" o* d; d) T h k
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
@/ P. S6 g$ K- G$ |/ V. Nother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
; R# o0 F; n" c+ S" v: t2 Delectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
) W" v8 Q \ `/ u5 a+ f! ?! e" Vcause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
' G v$ j3 A" M+ J+ nsuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
3 y% k2 K# {$ J% G+ O" J3 k0 bby Toyota's lawyers.") f& }4 k1 G, r* C$ _
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
4 d( h' F+ L7 y4 j3 p. }6 A |problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our M+ \! E f, B6 G6 E7 K5 H
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
5 @, E2 g7 P( Q/ H8 W9 osaid.3 S5 g" c+ Y% z/ d! m+ X" U1 K9 v
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with3 C5 d2 \8 V% W, |! q/ y- s- h
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
; ?1 ]! i$ G; O. Pgood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
5 k" t/ i' R; g* f( eofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
% M6 G/ U o4 Z4 FSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
# m0 B6 u* W5 {: C/ ]; rmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread+ R% p, ~ x7 ?1 D3 p/ B3 d( u
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the9 u) m& D" r$ J: B
automaker, at least in part because of the government's; U! h7 b) h [7 ]" ^& V
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and& g0 E! D' D% R9 J8 q" j5 c3 G4 Y
Chrysler.
! V& z3 d( P, q"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax6 s5 x: w- L H& a& A
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a, x: z5 L: j. v+ s/ \3 R$ A
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also! X& A6 W1 g9 \9 v# Z5 {; [* a0 |4 ?
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
( w! _3 S& t7 _4 U1 q) @5 L Pwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
2 j$ }" q5 g! j4 I5 Ztough."3 l2 Z, i5 c7 E4 o+ @
---" H( m7 z0 j: m9 L. g ~7 y9 c" j
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
: o% b( u1 E9 E2 |! N1 LRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
8 ]2 _5 Q, V ?7 N/ z. ~1 Q$ Y8 T# dthis story.# a% i" X" F6 I9 T" ]$ s* |
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