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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
7 }! i# L3 @; _9 e, B4 IBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS, q2 Z, t2 O2 y
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S./ A; T, R5 Y G* i* ]
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that2 Z5 w {+ A, R* F* e" O
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally" Z: k1 G! K" g5 \. i
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.# B1 L- {3 ^" m# o( X6 g
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
3 j2 n& q* D- e$ c I9 ?causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.3 f2 x, u) ]* D2 }- p/ Q
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected# S$ G& h8 }) K0 E5 v
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
+ c1 k* m; E8 g- p6 jtrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
) [; `, R9 A X1 Hmats and sticking accelerator pedals.0 Y8 Z }/ k$ k x( |, k
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal: z9 Q' e3 J" g8 j; `# P' a
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp! [0 H6 n y1 M" }( r
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
& [/ g( K8 ]) ?further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could$ Z7 n, e. ?$ `1 F4 _5 v) ^3 _; B* g
not stop her runaway Lexus.$ }5 R4 @$ G3 R% n0 H
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,, q: u( g5 v# n7 [
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
+ r) v0 d: v% ~% f"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
" x6 Z( S, W& C1 U* I# bTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
2 [* N3 ?2 E: J& R: X, h& Qearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
4 s0 r w4 a/ [) y: J E. N"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
+ B7 `7 T0 J7 P- r+ Ndone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway! f& I0 q) C: Z% g8 e# K
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's2 e; x8 w$ f9 |+ D
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."& F% K4 A+ p/ k$ U; @; u
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
1 {6 K. c! b% B8 s' j& P. A- Z8 ~electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of1 ~) k+ Y9 t, I! q$ K# Y2 d0 |
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a w$ \5 R" Y% y1 Q& R. z
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he* { y& D7 L3 l2 I
said.
% x% o+ S% R# r$ O/ {As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
" f; K9 p, Q& x# k9 `* Phappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
& }: l5 P. C; g5 J" p8 B. P: Jabout driving our products," Lentz said.
1 M1 ~2 o& Q: J: R/ [Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
; @; u; |( q# ~2 P. z2 sproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has1 U1 U& w O& ^# z, B. @) L
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
: U- F7 V6 ^0 o6 E$ pmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of! K) I) Y+ }( @4 y1 s; l- m- i. k
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking& E+ D$ O1 X4 v+ ?' x& L6 y
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
5 @* h% m7 y& y7 U: kconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
$ G3 f, G& _: u3 V" ^( itheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow* x3 d- G% G. o+ t, g* t6 D, p" h
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
. E, b$ ^8 M- I& wreceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
2 _3 C" ]+ w" j* Xof Toyota vehicles since 2000.
6 D5 |4 f6 m5 t* S+ D! {0 ~8 [# aLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own, Y+ g' k# T) k+ D1 ?" Z: f9 K1 T/ ^
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he+ T# Z. c& w) S' [3 H! y8 r, @
understood the pain.' [! B6 E: A' I3 z
"I know what those families go through," he said.* ?! l" c* z& {
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
( ~$ v/ W! z. I7 u, e# B' Cfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.; g/ d, G' I$ y5 L! j
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
& L: g% V8 m- f5 @, c: PHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
& D) F! m( N! T u3 \in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
$ D- D* [7 }( B/ w2 lLentz replied: "Not totally."
$ ]* i& N* ~8 j( \) @% NStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
8 f- `& X' f7 ?8 i"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
. V K& @0 @3 @8 W0 m- z( T; IToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
: ^3 b. }( D1 R3 \0 l2 wpedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its) R: D; k7 A. q6 Z
vehicles already on the road.
" P! T0 H" e4 k2 O6 _Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify* U) r# y, s# @
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
0 a) W# i; `7 q" zresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and, N9 C1 d6 G1 |
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
, H. k1 p# `8 y! Ukilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.6 M: I, d# J2 M0 E
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a, T H R2 D& v" H1 K
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
+ E$ W+ k, F3 ], a; kfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight$ c9 [9 u6 A' H; @* T" ^) P
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
5 h' r; _* ~. B2 t* c2 k: N; Acommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
0 [# p" p6 v3 I; _+ n7 u0 z& prestore the trust of our customers."8 P E, V3 s5 t3 P
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
. g$ t5 t" |$ iSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
7 C$ b& M0 X& E' T. D! bzoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
& `6 n/ M: _2 J3 bshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and" c9 `4 }, F' d8 k) U
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough9 H, A3 j# s9 G, q
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and4 T6 c4 q8 B6 V! e* n) x* k
turn off the engine.
$ L* \! i n- a Y% L+ b7 bFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
, n m* _$ |4 O* LOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."5 X( h( H, L: Z$ W4 |6 n: [
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
) M% a# |: {& V# hsaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond5 Y( z# k' \* D2 a) L. J" ?
to her complaints.; c4 w% i& I6 ^! G7 g
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
- w7 C9 S' B# r" T5 n& ~; U0 M. x2 oreturned again and again to the question of whether electronic
$ V2 k' X8 w& T9 _, K% Imalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.1 o, w1 o* z3 M( M, d. `, p
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
1 _2 p6 k( o4 l3 r! Ythrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
" V" ~1 w4 d4 V8 ?$ B; {& S"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
& @% h8 Z* b3 m" X* m: n0 ooff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."; }& l2 Y% O8 o' m
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
: t+ f0 d- d7 d& ?prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
/ p8 H: D+ @6 }9 C0 N+ C3 Zbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls5 B" M6 I7 l# R' D
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
0 ?8 I4 i. e5 s+ R" d5 t; Fevery question."
- e' X6 K5 k- c9 m4 L& PToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
7 f3 _' I& L' Xelectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
: d5 z- E# B, Q7 vfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
* y$ l' L [9 ~: y* K+ Icommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small
: Q! `+ p- f( a: L% j3 X8 g# rnumber of vehicles
* S* I' d- V O& C/ z' B' kTracking down an electrical problem can be far more; |9 o, U0 Z! m/ C- Z8 J7 I3 Q
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a+ c( k0 ]2 S; O: G2 s- p
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one" @: U# @$ n2 p7 c! ?* s
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
7 V+ p) {1 `* Z) C8 yMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,+ _4 P' y( r3 Y" Z
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
& ?/ ]" h6 o) x( z. v; r9 k+ u, ztrace at all.
7 f' y q5 @$ W* U3 q* u# _2 fHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call) a# G7 y& E: i8 Q: \
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
2 W: l( _. k; Gacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the W" o# l N! i& D- a( d. }9 v
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.6 T% _! V i' B$ C! q K
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,$ l. J- L1 } ~
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
2 e7 e8 H( c9 q( @, k* k5 jother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the$ s" O5 P% m, t/ ?: D% q
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
; L( M* H1 V: G" A k7 z! ]0 |cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
# L9 M$ z; ^' a Isuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
" @! D6 D) C$ S6 ?by Toyota's lawyers."
2 X2 _7 d" |0 v* H% ~5 bLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of1 L# [: q* ]' K& \: B( L5 r
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
. f* z4 P8 n/ u# U! H5 s/ d1 A5 jcustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
% g! f7 C' m/ {* P* P1 Q- v. t; osaid.5 r, [; a9 O6 q b6 C$ E7 E
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with8 ^ ^( @& d1 K6 P
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our4 K$ [( L5 W! L- n- b0 m
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
$ g8 o! e* S; v4 {4 D: Y: q# x5 `8 |officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.& P9 i' l" |$ Q/ N$ f: h# c
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying; ^! r( E( [0 s/ Y8 _/ p* ?1 t3 U
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
# R+ E \& e b3 J( q5 ?: s" V4 I% A6 Mrancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
9 {0 H; F# C/ |, o/ w# [/ T+ u: Dautomaker, at least in part because of the government's; R; x7 h3 u+ Q0 W+ Z
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and! a: y1 P+ B, q# |% N4 N
Chrysler.
2 n7 t# w* m, u: B"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax! p; m4 _1 b; d4 u. M( n* G
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
, Z& e7 d* c( w" c: U! |Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
! g# H* v7 P. \3 C {) ?* vserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
# q3 ^. d- B8 ~4 K0 @: nwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
; C' {7 Y) ^" t1 Q" O: r9 v: ttough."4 y2 ]! z Q+ X7 y
---
, w2 W7 M6 S4 T+ |7 uAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
+ v% c/ U. k9 G7 O) W$ KRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to9 ^$ ]9 ^3 d) u# `" Y- @5 D3 W# E
this story.
+ K' z3 m/ f9 N/ f7 o! r J6 N k% w: Y& ]3 K, t k% I) _
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