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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
; F& B, x7 F5 X3 N! o1 m/ MBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS: t. i% i0 O2 M q
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S./ w: S4 E3 N( A
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that7 B. \0 Q, N$ W, h% h2 ~" w8 ]
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
, p0 N3 ~0 P; Y/ N+ _8 asolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration., ~8 m- P8 G! c4 `+ R
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
; [/ O# {2 j# xcauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.2 x' I0 _2 Y. F& E
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
7 p2 S$ ?& M; x9 jacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
. D f" I* ~, o( _# m( Wtrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor ~! ?. B- G- \$ T5 b
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.
7 D3 u) h( z8 O8 P- ~+ l: QHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
4 F0 y/ q& p& v- ~* g0 Sand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
7 k6 J( x9 R+ J% M6 _criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be! @ G W3 O- @ p7 X. P
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
/ [% p" C5 l, L2 N# Fnot stop her runaway Lexus.
8 o. c. K2 [0 C( M"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,! y8 g6 y6 g* i9 o6 q
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second/ J+ ?* s* |4 r4 q: R% P& D
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
% ?5 {3 U! v3 M4 nTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
# Y3 d' A* A# U/ E# v8 t1 qearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said: z: v |" H. b/ V/ S
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has) k" G$ h' E5 W% d' H( g
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
( K# U$ I% Z- Ithrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's4 p% @+ [3 o. x+ ?! [
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."# _" M$ y5 Y2 l: J* k
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an0 r. G$ V' T" D8 q4 m8 U
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of# ^; V# t4 v4 C4 Q' G
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a0 l R4 O K% M) ^# C! K
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he& z5 W1 t6 S1 K& L% {3 C
said., C$ k* f" f5 _
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
7 N0 {& b7 L/ J: h+ W# c9 X+ b: Xhappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
& m. S) N# L+ K: }! Rabout driving our products," Lentz said.
$ U. ]" O6 F0 \: z3 C1 ]% A9 gThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
' x8 R$ {3 F7 h7 ^; o0 xproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has1 d6 |* s R) s( t* s
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
- k# i6 D* I3 j8 J" e' v. a. Fmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of
' [% U0 A2 ~" N5 [& B$ Funintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking4 E7 I2 a( h; w) ~
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
* @' ?6 t( s6 n! c3 A9 f" [& Kconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of& D K' L9 r# h, x% C
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow" c5 Z, |+ }: n$ k7 Q3 z4 M- b V0 @/ Q
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
# e; K2 B; Q4 m1 }0 g7 hreceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration' @: `, [ K, C o7 ]; H" u) t2 N0 ~* K
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.: P* \" I O; t% z! X/ T' c! e
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
3 L0 P9 b2 V3 B1 | ] Zbrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he# U+ E& f6 s9 _* f( y# M. N: v6 S
understood the pain.
$ o9 y# e2 Y" O"I know what those families go through," he said.8 e& k$ o9 Y7 y/ A _. y7 }" U8 p' `
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
! W. `: z# w, s4 x* `6 B5 I/ lfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
' B7 H- I5 j" N j4 a) i& SBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
3 C7 Y' U6 U+ a+ r4 l* X5 {Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put9 T( `: x3 h6 h; Y5 M# ?
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,8 |0 @+ ~/ y& a- Y) J2 V8 t
Lentz replied: "Not totally."4 w! z7 N, [$ t, b
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were' b! ?# b; `) t! I q7 O
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
0 R4 @8 _! N: ~1 X# ?" c$ G, QToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas# O. x# ]4 L7 ~# b) O2 e+ G6 X: I
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its, Z3 s2 N6 ~/ ]/ V
vehicles already on the road.
@ r$ ? Q. BMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify; K" [" X. g- R6 B9 ~ F
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
$ p1 y# S5 i' s8 r( Cresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and8 W. G' K( F8 e" {; |
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were$ k6 B( j4 j% P- Y. k$ N9 y$ v
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.9 t6 K# y$ M7 q g$ `
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
4 v, O7 q& N8 U2 a% l, o! xtragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
6 e$ n# y, |; Dfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
; ^6 I$ P3 t( W: f, u6 O- v# I% nCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal3 r" N# ?6 F2 a; o! m
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to( }! i1 j. x0 S" x% h! U
restore the trust of our customers."6 R9 T W5 e/ }7 N3 u Q
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from8 i+ q, A C2 R, Q
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
4 _+ S N& ]" U4 w* I1 D- Qzoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --' d5 h5 Q3 f# Y4 f3 K6 g5 e
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and, t8 c1 D0 W! T9 r& T" k
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
0 ~- R4 o. H6 o! @* R. @that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and0 ~2 f, E5 b2 }0 C
turn off the engine.# A% o' x; `: Z a d5 U, p
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of6 m* v, _! S5 D: r! E4 i
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
2 x+ N7 z- j$ E# d"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
; ]* G+ Y) K3 S0 Hsaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
! o* d: X2 t. C5 Z$ [7 k$ Nto her complaints.- S! D# _0 m% w
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers$ I8 Y1 l5 A5 t- S$ j* I8 V; D0 U
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic" ?: W2 Z) r+ M! [ X
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
: m5 x+ c. B' o( u. Y/ W"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
. d4 A$ Q" u. X. P' Q/ L0 Ethrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited" `: j2 s8 Q9 z9 E
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
' y, |, j r1 s- s5 n9 N8 J3 Ooff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."1 e$ `( O2 H8 z3 ~ S4 O
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
- z# o6 Q; B8 x" g4 _7 U3 ~. _7 zprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were0 d3 N) b4 _" l2 u+ f) z0 p
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls7 @0 D5 }( k5 d0 P
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
0 U) ]3 S- R+ ]7 X9 Ievery question."
' K( |: A- y" H7 ^* ]. }Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
) A0 c9 X* L' O, O- C. X* h5 o {electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The% t* t5 G6 v/ @ _7 a- `
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But( _5 q% e2 m' v* U. N q: S
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small- x% F+ M/ W* q) s9 S
number of vehicles
& D D, L: K- UTracking down an electrical problem can be far more
, V% f- O0 F: e7 Odifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a) T8 h3 \. s4 P8 O% F
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
/ o1 \) F% W0 l! _0 ~/ wsource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.. l. [7 d1 \+ _* B& N' w: U: g t2 J
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,, ^$ u9 b# I- s& P8 F0 q' \5 A
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
* y! l" [! ]9 Ttrace at all.4 }- G8 E; J$ C. e% E
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
# v; |4 u% N1 \% {6 O m$ C- v% Cdatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden6 w0 C( p( O5 T# e4 \" t
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
. l7 B- o5 @# p( W% g; W$ j; Vrecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.8 @: z% |; b: p8 e
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
8 G( b. b \3 P1 o# v* y) Fsaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
6 y, V$ q; e1 \other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the7 G2 P+ i. {9 C8 g# U% f; K
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
/ r6 u( G( _: Icause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
# Q, t* e3 u. Q0 ksuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained7 z+ A9 b2 \' x: D& X9 L @; F4 @
by Toyota's lawyers."' b/ a1 |, }7 [% x2 n$ m \. G) C8 m
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
g) h9 O: a* J1 T( z) h4 Jproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
$ [! V/ E# i4 d7 acustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
( y5 w4 D) h! c. @1 ^, usaid.# c+ ^( }! j" ^1 i3 }
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with3 u C4 g4 \, \4 u7 G2 q
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our4 H# }2 `* t3 P/ Q, p( G
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
2 i: R4 r9 | H. f8 Bofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
% {9 M' W/ p1 O+ t9 e' G1 P; cSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying1 I1 P2 U- A' }7 H4 o r2 ]4 b9 B
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
) z1 V- U( z- }! `0 x" trancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
. J J7 I6 [* z2 ~$ iautomaker, at least in part because of the government's
3 N6 h) O0 D, n# ?3 |! Z' vinvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
4 Y! W+ {: d7 E7 fChrysler.
, z+ A: T7 w4 E5 |' B"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
& S( \ c+ F& Y, H- W- M6 e6 vdollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
) T2 @# D- ^6 ?# y/ b' dHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
8 u6 c! J& h# P% Bserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
k) k. f- d) w! ]# }5 |$ i+ Owith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
1 i: p! ~) V7 t* \; N+ a. _% T3 Gtough."
! D/ F ~' X$ e( h! w/ R( F---% r- G# j& E* ^( @
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
9 n6 u3 H# c$ z; r! n* k0 ^: u+ WRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
% S& A2 J4 [' c, Fthis story.
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