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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
+ l" v" R- {3 x4 ~. n+ [" _' `* yBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
/ n# E3 v0 j/ w, FWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
3 a7 g" E* n/ _operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that u: t, L/ p w
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
- n9 g% @& f( L# H8 D# v1 ?4 esolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.. ~# p: D. h; |3 N, y- f/ B, [
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
A T( a, s7 d/ r( h8 K* S: ]causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.; r$ e( k1 H5 N% [' L4 R
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected2 M8 a% ~& @1 E- w5 l& y, \8 C
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
% V7 F+ Q$ p9 F( ^2 Ktrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
( n# ?, Z" s; tmats and sticking accelerator pedals.# L6 j$ H$ _0 c+ `% O6 [" a5 U
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
9 {$ M/ O* p6 ~9 K; @0 O* ?and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
$ k! P* a9 S: V+ C) \criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be4 X+ o1 g6 B! s9 h" ^
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
, [) s* {6 Z- m6 e% F- Tnot stop her runaway Lexus.
% F" h8 K# ~, i. a6 I" g7 P"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
9 s0 e& l& d1 i4 `/ UTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
% z( s; p* o( |5 h% _" z"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.( ?. t' t. I$ |4 F" s
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues6 i5 d5 L7 |3 j [9 q8 n4 E
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said( D8 L' G# D; l8 I
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has. i% B3 ~+ n) m( G3 ?" |& r% p
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway- c+ R7 s% p. y6 d N9 J
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
. l1 w5 [/ p, D8 ^investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham." m% |8 v1 D5 I6 F! W
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
) w& f) g+ `9 S: r0 x. |electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of4 d. G8 X4 S& \7 O9 u. O/ ~
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
+ X0 r: n6 |$ K$ J2 w% i/ e8 cmalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he2 M" Z. [ T" B3 R) S6 R6 f) r
said.5 _# Q. Q$ C! V; |+ h; t, y3 i: n7 {
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
/ i0 X0 ?( D% o. F* c" `9 t6 hhappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe7 h+ I5 r% o. R, A$ v. m" J
about driving our products," Lentz said.
0 h9 _9 \4 o! I9 n4 XThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
. P Z0 Z; t% j1 X8 ?problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
! h3 k" m; j, H" w' ?recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 69 @/ z/ S- G$ }; I- z( l& [2 B
million in the United States -- since last fall because of0 D- Q+ R8 ~( f0 y& K
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
9 i* \; T4 k% a% P* u7 zissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering9 h2 T1 Z8 b, P5 x, N# x) m7 D0 U4 n3 [
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of3 \( d, L% {" H; t) J1 U6 l, A* r& @ P
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
/ N/ }9 c) o" ndown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
: d! q* Z; L4 w7 e! A# K: J e* Ireceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration3 X A! O W9 ~) v2 g' Z) t
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.. L- x1 M7 e/ y8 T7 G
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own6 r9 |( U( A$ v; _
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
5 N7 u( H! ? M# M8 C4 L% d4 ~understood the pain." E Z L2 ^! ]
"I know what those families go through," he said.
; ^: U0 R: r* G% V# `1 vLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
) ]: `6 i# m) E6 ^% l) Dfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems./ T% p6 i/ K( C, `: r
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman1 g6 b+ s1 H8 O p& k7 N* }
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put+ B! i& T/ O6 U/ t2 P: D8 [5 u/ K
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
3 m0 ?; B, B1 }5 N. W+ h( ULentz replied: "Not totally."0 Y. C& [/ R' T- Z! v; P) }
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
, f+ B5 R1 I1 h% U0 o ^"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said! i7 n( z5 n5 u6 `
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
) ` f" ]6 _9 Q' u3 dpedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
- e+ ^+ I* F6 N; {vehicles already on the road.9 X y! | a$ r/ n
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
; e, L- V% l7 F# U: C( U( qbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
2 L' e9 c# i2 E, N2 oresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
4 z0 U& ^/ o ?5 coffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were% q7 r& V: L0 I
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.) u. T0 |/ _) `" E
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
8 \0 ?0 W' a0 V. Otragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony) m% W( U& S r# p- ?7 J
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight$ U: P& o% }8 J6 f: Y
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal5 O/ Y% c- J1 n; p% p8 C
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
( W" _( m. w6 Z1 y7 v) Urestore the trust of our customers." q0 W9 L3 W. g7 a/ \
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
1 x; i5 d% C7 P9 H7 Z4 @8 tSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly- _2 p2 O& N H s# o; V
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
* e6 u: z4 Y5 ]7 @% g8 sshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
( c% D2 C1 Z8 whitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough# K- G" @9 y3 k8 W! g) \) p
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and& R7 W. U! Q( J F* K/ \
turn off the engine.
c+ F: c; B& |% N6 E- xFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of" C& V* j9 r, z' B- M9 H
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
, _5 n; Q5 x& S Y# ~7 P7 Z# Y2 w"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
( V) i2 j+ ] A9 y" [0 b+ Qsaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
2 B" C: c1 W( N' Kto her complaints.4 S- X* k% {2 \8 y/ R
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers% i* }: r) H% _. D3 j4 `0 w1 i; M) W; q
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic- s! F) g$ L" l, T! g2 M
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.0 N* @5 Z n9 x" O7 ^
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric- M4 K, L: G. ^6 b
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited3 s/ R# K' X9 b
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
2 o( H9 ]' b2 N: X, u9 [off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure.". n( {: Q$ Z9 j& D9 e
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in8 j$ i3 i' l: o! N: Z7 n/ ]3 y. U
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
7 q `" r7 ~3 F* f" }/ N2 Cbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls1 }" @. ?8 k Z
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
2 W* Z& j5 b2 yevery question."" O1 |& q1 e. X0 Z
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether6 D8 s7 j/ }- H' b$ x5 }0 J
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
) A5 G9 `9 k2 S5 k/ I2 Z) rfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But( \, B7 Z9 K7 X6 f. a
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
0 j u. S, i5 [: Bnumber of vehicles \% I" E' f. Y S5 g f) L/ C0 \8 o
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more
8 f% V; Y% z! u. T" Xdifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a) L) }! K0 d5 Z R8 h5 ]
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
- x) w+ C# }3 s" c" t) J0 O7 v0 ?source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
1 g# U5 I( M$ U: d# `( J* G2 EMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
) ]2 U# h) b% r! _& X# {7 cwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no* L" D! V4 J8 l
trace at all.
$ v3 u" W* v, {/ KHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call8 k$ }! f: i% c1 G! Z- P, B9 K/ {
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
$ v( O" @8 G J6 F3 ?8 b5 e$ uacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
- m$ s" p8 ?% D2 |3 q2 W& arecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
0 M5 K+ `0 x% f( o$ YRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,- q( X2 k) ?, K. i: B
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and. v1 z, Z! U) w0 u4 w; i* ~
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
& A' k, o8 ~: Z, s; C/ Ielectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible* \9 F0 ]( Y* [/ c
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
/ s4 b0 h3 ^" D Q+ \such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
/ H3 C4 N4 M* V5 U# B; R* Nby Toyota's lawyers."
6 p3 A8 @4 f. TLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of6 x7 m% e5 r: e4 m* ^6 b: {
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
( L3 l3 S% h3 ?customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he) p! U9 [* o% m% V7 N! R# s3 u s
said.% j- @! Y m( [5 G5 J1 z" o
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with5 ^' s( M' |9 o8 ?
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
" M; d3 H# m+ j7 h! N, [' F/ y( r- Qgood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating/ v1 e; ?( V \1 T8 l
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.7 B/ [ y& c! W: A E
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
% E9 f l$ l7 Q% \9 b1 P: S+ Amembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
, g# y5 X f2 ^2 h _. o6 }' grancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the9 V9 F* f0 X7 a
automaker, at least in part because of the government's+ Q+ O H% A. p. |" F' ?
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
2 }+ @* q' B/ }- g" v, PChrysler.9 s# v" F! ^6 g4 K3 b
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax |, E7 a6 A: \; C3 D
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a8 l# c( o- S- z9 U% H/ H, l
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
. V' Y1 r! L( tserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
& }! z: ^# _+ _/ ^2 _9 O' lwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty1 I- {. M/ n8 J3 G" A
tough."
7 y$ r$ B) B' L# L# n* B. e---7 K7 K- ]/ W! a. d) x8 d
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom1 {, e6 b2 j% B7 Q
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to7 p/ ^' @& C. n. u/ J) K
this story.
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