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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
+ Y. q* c! F- Z' m3 IBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS4 g& y2 n4 W% n$ d5 H7 c
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
! n# I0 D) b* d! t# H9 U* Aoperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
* t4 t* R5 }" R1 P1 Y. qthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"4 v! F0 l/ ]" V1 f* f) R' T
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.+ f2 h% _" I0 R
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential! k) x+ r3 H6 m% S2 t9 z' C
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.9 I: p9 ^# W- ?
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected' i3 g# i8 b8 ?
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and3 |$ {& ~3 {: v o! j
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor2 N* H2 J1 e8 `
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.
: R' Y3 M' i2 N' v- cHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal; I- w7 }5 f# S& |" D W b7 y
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
0 h8 p+ q! r, m2 F" _( B! n3 a3 f9 ncriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be7 s4 G' ~$ p- x# J9 c+ g: F
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
) p' o5 [5 q6 z+ t# e1 ~( _# Ynot stop her runaway Lexus.
3 W' P; f& F# e0 b"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,. o. I# M4 m7 O8 x% _! z/ c
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
" [) m* G/ W- ]0 p3 T8 k"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
+ ?- q U9 ^9 ^ GTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
2 U. x8 _; H" Z: D7 Iearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
" S# n, e+ n. y/ i6 k" ]"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has1 \0 m4 R x5 n; R5 K3 S7 u
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
0 L5 \; l5 @( L4 _8 B3 Vthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
9 b3 A3 S% \$ z3 Hinvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
; J9 _* H6 I4 M6 V1 s" fLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an l3 F H9 @, C+ m5 P8 H3 Y
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
! V& q+ E+ I: Y Othe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
! s ?. B) b, j3 n2 Z$ t" smalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
+ k) w8 D! ^) {0 esaid.7 z! f5 v+ `1 O- [8 u3 p; B
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
" U& I9 V3 y" Q0 o B/ j! chappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
# m$ P4 ?2 i9 kabout driving our products," Lentz said.& [1 f' D# W7 G
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
0 K( n. F$ F, ]& o6 L; Eproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has- s9 K/ F, u- H/ h# I+ d7 Z8 ~
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
6 i' D5 \: _' Z& X( [5 @million in the United States -- since last fall because of
5 j" V4 T9 r0 qunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking9 S9 o3 u' \7 u) E
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
3 ~$ O y. y& z9 A4 ~" mconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of/ m5 U9 q8 I3 _7 S
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow8 N0 r$ Y/ }! o/ d0 L/ c
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has1 F) r7 D4 t0 u( m E
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration/ C$ l# n& I ?* _. \
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.
$ [" }' R4 ~% fLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own' u0 ?/ ^# C( v4 T, e H
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
- @' f# p1 P$ x/ b: ~understood the pain.
7 u8 j% c2 `5 Q) ~! V; c# k/ Z"I know what those families go through," he said.- l' J; S+ k: I! p: i, r; ^: r: x
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
+ D/ M2 t9 ^& s( n; U# Efixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
' \6 `$ {- g$ ]6 zBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
) i( }% c9 j6 _4 V/ e8 S# EHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
& z6 @. d! v% O! ]in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,1 p" e& d- z. A, C7 b# ?" D
Lentz replied: "Not totally."0 b6 f3 {# z$ ^9 n+ F& P% }6 I
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were# k' G h: U& `; i# h4 O. i
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said8 a# I+ z7 d: L+ X
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas/ b: X/ Y: k2 W8 |
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
( v2 n! U2 C0 ~! cvehicles already on the road.
- o7 p9 ^1 F" F b' RMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
6 I% `8 i2 z/ {! v% lbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full. ^6 }& ?$ g- M% Z
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
5 \* ]; c* W/ S/ F: A' M; }offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were/ I1 d. g" N% R! P2 m8 \; S
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
. Q: c9 W) \. v8 I& ["I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a0 z ?# R8 ~( l+ U! F9 {! G" y. I
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony3 d/ B' f4 @' M
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
) _7 ^) f$ W! O8 C5 j; ?( p7 j1 kCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal- o% e7 \( G" H& E( W& q/ a9 Z
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
/ x/ c7 }1 D8 ~( \restore the trust of our customers."% R6 E. r+ g$ a: u' s9 L+ u7 Z
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
, O- g9 f9 l. a* E) e3 w* KSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly) l* q3 h! C/ l" V
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
# ?8 G' y9 o# G6 K2 H4 tshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
! J! {7 W z: k& L0 u* b) T2 lhitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough% m1 ~4 z9 X; P! g; n5 l9 Q& }: V- O8 q
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
0 J2 x( f. ]7 A5 {turn off the engine.
5 I& c) ?' B1 P" E9 i7 F+ G6 \Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of, a2 G! U U/ A1 N& f: a) ?
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
' o9 z+ ?0 q5 H& ?, U; n"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
5 J/ g7 w- T/ c# Qsaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond$ R' W" u& [" D7 ^5 r% }2 n- l
to her complaints.
0 Q2 E: d* ~5 a8 e7 AIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers7 W8 k a# R+ R8 z+ ~( t
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic9 \% r6 h8 g0 s7 q5 c g, p S# w
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.7 |9 ?% S* t8 H7 ^$ k) V
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric: R1 P# Y' `% |% }* W
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
- g7 ?+ [( _$ p/ F" `$ z"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut# M6 r% T: P( B) L8 B
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."2 Y3 U& e, o! h# ~' B$ H
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in2 ~' N' X6 t+ t& W0 m- n! @5 b
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were3 X4 }3 E: f' R4 Y. x
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
. R& U" C( b2 f0 v& V9 j7 Twere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
9 Z% A# r& {7 X% I! L. W6 ]- D3 Devery question."! M S) }# P M: d x* x' v
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
% n2 b9 P; h; ?* c* Jelectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
' r" E5 G" X% M! @; Y) Vfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
; B. V8 I: u) Fcommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small
; l r9 W. f6 v6 @; o. znumber of vehicles
4 D0 u2 p7 C/ v/ k# e& h6 vTracking down an electrical problem can be far more
& i8 E7 n, g, \! C) v9 tdifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a ]0 t9 \$ w+ H, f
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one0 `) \ Q/ X1 a8 \7 c% K- c+ g
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
, M3 `* ~' J- N$ CMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
7 v0 t4 U- _/ o+ rwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no+ n9 Q/ W# l' H; _' Y7 G- b0 J
trace at all. Q/ U9 C1 t0 K: c& o9 U! ^
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call. p/ u( ?' u: @& P
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden$ I- s q" n( G7 ~7 s- z' r4 k
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
" U3 o* b( j% ?# E. U& [* precalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.1 U" r$ L6 n8 Z+ w
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
6 |% U* j/ _- _- F! [8 A8 b3 F$ L4 N% e0 A. Csaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and* c( W* N+ v7 h% @# `
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the: y8 H$ b( ^/ I* D
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
0 ^0 U! p0 o2 `. D5 [! j! Hcause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
, m# c# B: k4 Hsuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained9 C5 u5 b( m& v
by Toyota's lawyers."
8 P/ r" b! K7 u7 r: A' c3 C! s4 vLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
* w3 D" r5 P$ @% x' L. oproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our I( H( [! L5 |/ j, Z/ D9 e
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he: c* K. B- f( Z1 G
said.4 h" f; G2 y: F! o
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
3 W+ K" y7 B# v9 ~/ `5 Y) b& M8 V" m1 \a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our S2 |5 O/ P7 w7 o; Y, d
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
+ n V% i5 P) i% ]" r( u+ Y( Fofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.. l% y+ |9 h" M2 T# t5 C% p" y% N& @
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
5 Q. ~8 s1 [4 R5 smembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread' E1 T, l" d' w, b+ r' k3 Z- a
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the* [, r" ~2 n7 ^4 F3 Z- [0 m
automaker, at least in part because of the government's
! G4 _' n$ m' Z( tinvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and D& _' a& L. N7 S
Chrysler.' @3 B$ R+ v+ e& P
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
6 [/ M( m2 s7 k$ J/ h' ^dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
3 n) Q" `5 Y! }, HHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
. X) ]7 @$ @; r* a6 O. jserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
* C) |# N9 x* ?0 a) ^7 Awith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
r% ~, u- ^# x! p C) Btough."
7 d {# ?$ o: D) `1 O y8 P: X! i# }---
- i' y8 l& O& PAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom" ~6 \- }% d. b# i3 L' { k _/ _
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to1 O/ W! V1 q' }7 A, i# y. a- f0 S
this story.
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