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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
- {% R2 m: \' p2 nBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS; m5 V& _/ b$ w2 w
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
) j, a/ f: } {/ {# _- ?operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
) h9 O; d+ M4 {8 V$ xthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"' B2 n7 Z. \- f$ P4 a
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
! b6 ?/ h( r8 q' r$ M"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential2 w( j6 x2 v9 f) ]
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
" O9 I& s8 `' X- l( A6 q0 dHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
! E) d# t/ _$ }# `" [acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
1 ?2 M( m$ {9 S* z) ]trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
% \. I" e Z# }3 i* omats and sticking accelerator pedals.
( v- \5 v6 ]# g$ f. g3 }, mHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
& s$ @! D, }9 U( Z0 p: tand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp* X) T: H. U3 w0 [. a
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
" K1 [* \! ` ffurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
+ G, z+ B. j3 j* n, r" n1 Anot stop her runaway Lexus.
$ m! N0 q& c, Y0 F5 j"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
' }1 ?& p6 T' u3 r% B& F% kTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
2 P) A: X% Q3 a* V" y; f"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
! v3 O: M6 x) E0 ^# z7 h, }: ]0 BTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues3 A& q! n: J, C" h7 p- F% r
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said9 r, _; a5 J# m+ Q* x( [
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has; ^( f" [7 `7 r! j1 [0 @4 z
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
4 C2 o, o+ M( a* Tthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's. G6 v: V2 j* {$ }
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."3 t `) F3 |/ c7 E+ Q
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an2 A" d, h/ A* Q. ]2 w r% A1 e
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of$ X$ {: ?( A: ^& B0 o8 m
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a$ E! T6 I3 v/ _9 a6 ~- }$ p) T
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
8 T& O9 a; y) f2 F% H1 Q+ L" q3 `said./ h% O2 p0 o) O$ ]* C
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what* Z1 M( U7 N0 P1 [4 M
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
$ y/ Q& m: N2 Tabout driving our products," Lentz said.+ }1 h- l$ V/ K
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's- n# E% y# v+ y2 c* e/ c
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has+ X2 C2 \( U, F
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
: t7 C% z+ z+ lmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of# ?% n/ Q( x# A- B' \0 J. f
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
6 `. ?1 t# l' n& E! X! Jissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
7 D& t$ f; I2 d# Pconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
# a" X, D* b V* O/ ^2 O! ptheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
% i: N/ @! o B& T/ p& Zdown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has. h4 [* ?3 A, k& L
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
$ ?& W# Q6 d' B. P& u/ U: @8 Hof Toyota vehicles since 2000.' H6 H9 _4 x D& K
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own& ]) h* I/ P* A* v: m. ?7 k. |) a& r
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
% h/ v% H2 ~; t2 wunderstood the pain.1 v4 l9 U" E7 k0 z3 a
"I know what those families go through," he said." a, \- Z) V3 M) H9 B7 y0 E9 p
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
# W6 U; ?' s; M" H+ |fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
; b! x8 J8 d3 U1 Z2 @But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman+ G6 {% t. k& u# I2 A( \* K
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put8 V' _% p) G ]5 V( [6 V* r* r
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
' J$ Z. k* x$ G7 K. kLentz replied: "Not totally."+ R) v8 @1 i9 Q( @
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
* l8 I6 x+ `7 R! Q. W8 s K( C"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
$ c# A( \7 Y& ?& o: UToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas" h8 C7 Q: R. b! r# ?( A& M" w
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its& i7 K1 C, S2 o/ m' b) a2 o. e
vehicles already on the road.
. q6 t! ~5 G+ b* cMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify1 j0 H% E9 \! e0 a; e
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full% c' D8 g$ y1 P! a2 L/ x
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and9 R* P$ {9 @/ I5 H
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
, A7 a2 \0 @" F6 B2 Z" M* Q) ukilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems. g. e: T4 V s* F
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
0 b: P( {' N% d) e% ptragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
* }; @, L! T2 G k* `/ a; Xfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
: N& A6 z$ S4 B" J0 HCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
s3 V6 P2 C5 Q4 W. w! qcommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
8 l$ t; Q2 Z: d' i0 v8 Xrestore the trust of our customers."0 G/ y7 Q! E1 x
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
! O5 a% g4 A5 P2 Z ^( iSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly0 o: d1 l& @1 `) D0 i6 }/ t6 W
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
& V, d J3 Z: U( c6 ?shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
3 @, {4 k9 P2 k7 u' v! Ghitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
- Z( e- v2 j! f4 c$ k. wthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and9 s! _" \/ J1 D+ y
turn off the engine.
- f7 \ w8 @- q, |+ o4 O+ lFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
, f0 i& u$ ]! f4 ^# MOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
' S7 r$ O9 K) w/ ]- l6 M. x"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
6 ? w& m Q" P3 q8 C/ N+ lsaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond/ L% X$ b% |6 T0 W! S- E- ^4 B; Z
to her complaints.
) W) ^) Y* A$ o2 i/ SIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
, P3 a- u) y7 Dreturned again and again to the question of whether electronic, V; B+ L1 u+ W: A5 A
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.$ d/ k f0 T3 B! r) W) u0 w; U$ A8 _
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
2 P, n; B+ Q: N& o) r4 R, ethrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited. O( C5 X7 d3 _0 u
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
% f0 q# k# f9 D) [; L) {7 W/ doff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."' F4 X3 S5 l# n6 e* {# C8 B/ b
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in8 T6 f0 |2 |& d" u
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were3 ?. ]+ b. d! C" ` w
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
* t/ A9 o% L" x9 a+ E( Jwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
- G2 W# b: L# i9 O4 `, ]every question.": E" d6 Y D, [/ R( g! h3 J7 y
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
( a1 q* v- M9 h0 x- F: k; uelectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
0 H8 I, n* F+ `9 qfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
% I, Z {( y( B0 Rcommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small
5 L4 T# _5 V9 T! H, mnumber of vehicles4 a' N# z0 I1 R9 G) W
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more
9 ^, \& p2 G+ g _1 zdifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a5 S4 F! V& {( b7 \
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one8 }8 Y8 s, T2 f, v# v
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
& }6 Q7 v! }- w, LMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,8 J( v& g$ Y' D' l" L0 q; Y( u5 i2 d
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no. o0 F0 u! v! v8 X Z5 U5 [
trace at all.
% {+ c o3 E) THouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
7 b! t2 N- s; edatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden' u5 y6 p6 r" d7 {0 F
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the# `6 {$ O: o' M+ a
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
& H. v0 J ?* e) tRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,' ~. V. S7 l& V6 L: B3 S: a. p
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and( q' ~) Z* ~. @3 o4 ]$ F
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
9 g$ p; [$ x p* n9 _. Uelectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
2 x3 H) `# B M t! pcause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
4 k( X/ Z4 a s2 Asuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
' W8 {/ ?1 }7 [& Lby Toyota's lawyers."
$ A& E+ X8 ?) OLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of4 h: I }, {1 D/ f
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
0 [+ b9 c8 e$ ccustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
/ g4 U. H3 o( o$ Isaid., v1 l+ C2 d4 f! D/ [. s- `4 n2 ]
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
4 d# F- N+ P% Z& w) V9 U: i wa rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our- u7 s- b' i9 T$ ]
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating$ S: v0 ~& w s: p1 K. |2 C
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.0 l* S! {# x4 E% }
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying" \ m U: U5 G; J( J3 g2 L
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread! l% n) d6 Y4 T6 p& D. w$ K& R
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the- V: V @0 U& I: w) r% p6 k* d
automaker, at least in part because of the government's1 ~4 v! `4 _6 y1 M5 [+ [+ T
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
4 }/ F$ M% L. Z4 JChrysler.
+ u5 V s2 x4 m( M/ W; \" r- ]"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
4 t8 j8 [" T' h% k9 c) C2 Mdollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a# |% N% M. I7 ?# X% ~
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
( v' P! k9 z5 I6 I% yserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
0 }4 U) V3 x" M! _, b- N/ q/ \with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty! M/ |4 g' \+ ~& A, \, d! p- j
tough."
. ?" r: U4 w. y& j+ b" S7 X, k% X---# L1 j; f( }5 r5 M6 g
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom! y' q' ^: D% U# v' Y( x4 [/ e
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to! ?# i( b; T2 ]' w# e" Z1 F: C
this story.
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