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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
" |: h& ^6 Y2 u4 i' J$ oBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS- y0 d. z' D: b/ J
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S./ p+ Z: P/ w: O' _- R
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that" z6 N! V2 d9 [/ p6 j2 P
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"8 y$ C" M& w9 @% \
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.( m" [3 ` ^5 b
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
: h5 C) D/ W) @4 }" [% L$ @9 C N0 E% mcauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.7 [$ b- v6 [+ h/ b- m
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
9 {" O# r" P) C" [) l* Pacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and) A2 D; b0 w/ m9 T! ^" ?4 c
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor. c) s6 ~$ }9 m
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.* ^: t/ Q7 x* ~6 I% |
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
( u% Y) k3 w* q( q8 t7 b" Yand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
% U- p) f M. @4 s$ e' ?criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
2 y! v" w9 @$ Yfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
* F k2 x" _! l3 V$ mnot stop her runaway Lexus./ F3 b/ t& M* E& x- b; D T
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,* R2 G" S3 I/ [4 G& Z/ w. y
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second+ D5 C* Q, W% s/ f ~2 n9 D! n1 j2 }8 a
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
/ w0 b3 G0 R3 j6 rTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues( H1 ~ K; }8 m
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
) @" a8 p( T$ w0 C' b: F1 P* D"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
% P5 M+ p) P; M% X0 u4 Qdone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
1 E- D2 m9 m5 p! X$ |9 Q8 Kthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's+ l. x; Y- Z% t# e3 K/ X
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
/ X$ G( j0 |& t1 V! N2 ]/ ULentz said the company had not completely ruled out an: L- u) k7 w$ w* c+ v4 \* f }
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
2 B, I/ ]4 ?2 Z0 R$ f% athe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a5 S& j8 o% T5 p" M; @9 h
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he. ]4 }+ X4 `! K$ J* O- d
said.
8 V& p Z: s& `# D/ ]2 k% HAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
! T4 l- s" z: O6 n4 I6 Z( W9 Jhappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
$ A. d" h: G1 l9 ^5 Uabout driving our products," Lentz said.
+ G1 q5 u- V$ ]% G. j0 X/ {7 p! ?9 ^Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
9 K$ G: O* J% e' p' l* _problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has9 j/ {4 z/ a: c0 u
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 65 F. m4 K. b/ N( [0 o% j
million in the United States -- since last fall because of
5 X5 A+ U5 E9 W- y1 `' _. m8 ^unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking1 M' b+ i. h( q/ M4 @$ z! e0 T
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering$ O( x" v' n' H% [* ?4 ?& Q
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of, E9 F1 N4 }1 [9 D) ^3 W8 w! z" f
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow* C4 a# t# s3 [) t
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has9 t( m/ p& r% i( B7 F
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration" j3 D; f5 @9 U- u4 \+ ^
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.
8 i" `6 O/ n s5 k. D# d5 pLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
+ r$ W6 j- J3 E- p" mbrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
9 a; e/ V9 M+ p0 f" cunderstood the pain.
3 [4 g' ], M" f) W! K"I know what those families go through," he said.
8 w/ a! v ?: ?5 a, O5 lLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
" q$ T6 [/ n/ |8 rfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
" y6 G4 C$ G) p$ jBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
1 o$ b% `+ x5 B7 o. M: `Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put) b* y# y2 \: Y! |) W3 a
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,4 C( P; R* C9 m1 }1 O7 J
Lentz replied: "Not totally."9 @4 K1 S+ u/ C* q/ x
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were a4 o: g/ w% U$ p
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
4 r. N- N( k- Q) B# c7 {Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas* k2 ~( R8 H# ^7 {" ?6 ^/ \
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
' B5 ^9 W7 ^' y# E9 uvehicles already on the road.5 V3 W' {! M& N2 w/ Z$ C+ U
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
! c& }/ s, |$ m2 gbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full& k1 U* ~2 _+ X. g( R' ^, b
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and- d) ?0 J7 A ?, F4 u
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
8 |( p/ B; o$ B4 A8 y, hkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
# {/ m z' V' B" b"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a# C8 d- @4 [% C; h5 H2 r1 n1 m) O
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony0 ~' x/ h5 j) y
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
6 L/ `/ P5 W7 Y9 k7 g1 Y% n$ Z9 S$ CCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
! {. s: H- d1 l3 b; J! ^8 ~commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
/ i6 n! B6 w/ m* d) hrestore the trust of our customers.", T1 [/ M' k0 p4 a* ]9 j
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from) T8 F' q) E- `, i6 j
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly4 L# O; }% n: B. D; `/ e
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --5 o; n# z0 z6 C; c
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
% [; t0 k1 ]$ [+ }- Phitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough8 n# {8 Z7 u7 t" m0 _; T3 C
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
( x. U8 t5 v* T% b9 v3 T( Z: Sturn off the engine.! {* s$ A) B! L' Y5 E! f
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of# \) ?8 H) Q; B7 ?0 E' G' D. B( v
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."! O1 N6 T/ d" \. G9 ~
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she; @4 }7 C4 o. o2 V' M
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond/ H: f5 g8 t& o! X: o, s9 U, t0 M
to her complaints.
9 q# \( ^, ]# S1 ^9 b. kIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers+ V5 V8 r& k( r' g0 n
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic5 y; m4 m2 ^# b; |
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.. ], Z" F8 [5 P% ^ I3 J
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric# ~9 R' O5 z* l# _8 Z+ Q" }
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited( `: x" B9 j+ C) \2 |/ _3 W
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
( {9 [- `" ]' ?% N, x1 B" woff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
& U3 W, W3 N1 W- Z7 s$ _& T2 N6 p9 cTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in& D! S* W- t& f- W B$ ^
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
3 W1 f* ^; ?+ T& Z' |" ]being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
0 `5 E" I: C8 w( K6 ewere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
8 B7 ]/ j0 A) Ievery question."7 [; W% f4 G. r/ ? H
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether* {2 e3 S% Q/ y4 ~! c( n3 g) b
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The4 L5 O% J, ~! Z5 H+ @( u
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But u1 H/ h+ C0 {$ M1 Q
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
8 {0 f+ [9 u* Mnumber of vehicles/ h5 h+ q8 y, D, S! l
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more7 y" ]& U* }4 K
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a: U; u2 d8 b# z! y+ Y
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
) \) T! I$ A" K/ m3 v! d, ~source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.1 S8 m5 L, b3 k6 w! y
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
1 `. l( N% N6 w3 {+ {- y Ewhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
; ^: j- [+ B+ j6 ]trace at all.; { c) l+ d" O6 W3 A/ P! w3 L
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
9 c& k, S+ C8 x* R( F6 Qdatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
7 \5 b% P$ U$ i7 S8 h T1 Pacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
# ^3 n# ]& ?9 ~6 W+ v) ]recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
% r6 C" c0 W9 L3 v$ @: KRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,! I1 O' w9 `) G, B
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
! U7 r+ o4 V3 Z' S4 Cother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the% X X( l0 V# \' t* e
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
' H8 _* i+ k7 e; c, K8 W0 w# Ecause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
+ j/ m5 @0 i4 H8 {8 Osuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
9 {5 ]; u6 v7 @; A: H0 Q2 {by Toyota's lawyers."/ b( |) W0 g/ p/ w: C2 \
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of1 \; V4 g, {2 B0 e# g; F
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
; h7 N2 j% }) x: q. _2 a% e8 qcustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he. k' m9 i# t! L8 E1 \
said.3 t( ]' d5 J% I s
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with$ y+ N0 y/ C6 Z/ k
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our5 _6 q: b" N" v) Y F$ ]; M) H
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating6 {$ h3 ]: y$ I+ r2 j0 N
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
* x! d8 X% E: g; V. eSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
; V% m- }* Q1 Fmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread3 s6 {& R" A9 X. P, i7 z4 A
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the$ C0 F- ^2 ?& t
automaker, at least in part because of the government's7 r/ E- [$ F% @+ X
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and1 w( U7 V* \8 W& }" [
Chrysler.9 I/ y( M0 D8 L- ?8 ^& j. @
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
0 j1 t% s1 b/ k+ t' D$ B# G6 ]1 zdollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a/ {5 Q) \7 F$ k t4 D+ [% x
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
( i W0 n/ U0 O1 X* Jserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
2 I# R6 u5 Z$ f( Fwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
( s0 z! |$ c3 Y# |9 B9 Otough."
6 Z( b2 g4 @. P% _) X---: L p% T& l4 K) k. @8 v2 y
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom: N j/ `! _7 o( v2 Y' B# j4 |
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to5 W( b' b5 ~, z9 X
this story.3 C+ e" Y( }* U/ D
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