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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
$ N: S) E5 E# o* C2 YBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
, d/ @' X4 K' _9 g4 n' oWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
* y% B# ] v$ a; {0 |operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
4 g% e c2 c* h! d" U1 Z4 d1 Zthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
0 Q: a& f' n! p# X* |* asolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
0 ]0 e' y& ~2 l4 `: T9 v% g"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
3 m q# {1 u6 a2 e: v. Ncauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
& F; z/ [" A3 A1 b; |. J, EHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
! Y8 E) O# I% d* A4 ^acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
0 n' K$ x1 o+ Z; O2 qtrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor1 H0 z" G0 d7 q" S/ q& D
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.
3 R( n7 x& M c& e$ Y) iHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal7 H! D- h& L5 K8 I+ y( v# S( o
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
4 F8 d, F, V6 C$ Z; icriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be3 _2 G' b+ [3 a" u/ L! F0 i- J
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
* _- b7 ^- |* Rnot stop her runaway Lexus.* X/ s% D$ p* L# c! `( V! w! n
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
; ]& L. @7 L. a% ]Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
( L5 W5 j7 r) z* b k* D"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
' M& {1 D5 O& t/ \2 @+ G1 V7 GTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
* K- Q# a, |( `. [$ \2 t9 n- Fearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said6 q \- P) o7 f
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has, a2 D4 }1 |" V" Z
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
% h2 C, X; @- D. U. r( w0 r/ |& ]through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
% V9 s; i( p; d' l6 ^% sinvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
7 J! p' U# q1 i$ KLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an2 [+ ]. j& b! r! {
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
- }; e3 T% f8 ^; p) T* |0 e# ~4 Athe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a7 |( h: g/ C* U1 D% R( ?
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he$ E' p. z/ W$ q
said.
" D7 E) O, b+ a- OAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
( g! V' U8 m. r1 ?/ {0 [! g* Rhappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe% g3 D" ], u% r; g. K1 R
about driving our products," Lentz said.
8 r' R3 e# x5 f: c+ L' l( [Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
0 } a ?" Z+ ~6 P( eproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has2 f- N8 A9 K2 t+ M2 x' s8 |; B" H
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6$ k3 D, p g; K( x) k
million in the United States -- since last fall because of2 k8 Y. D" l3 u) H6 q b K
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking, u5 u8 q0 I G* h/ S, d
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
0 [2 Q. @1 w- P0 R! j' j9 t4 oconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of* ]8 h$ ? N* C
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
7 n- I& O+ F& e% a3 L9 T( ~7 G/ h; mdown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has5 J1 C: A( E( j1 n: f, }( V1 d: ?
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
; l5 N+ B& C8 q2 @of Toyota vehicles since 2000." `7 x% }7 l& f
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own+ W7 `8 f$ |. @ @+ g/ q
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he; T7 n! d4 o* @. s m
understood the pain.
2 W5 _$ @ H/ ]& _! t, E"I know what those families go through," he said.
8 c6 l0 n( {% W( m8 cLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's4 Q$ S0 b7 _9 T2 q" l. x* Q+ p
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
* _' S( p& w# L4 j! \But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
, Y6 T8 R' N& n/ l% K+ f. vHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
3 E0 p3 e. g# f( S( Z# U2 cin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,' t" o# H$ K# m% ?! A( r1 o
Lentz replied: "Not totally."
1 y) d S0 T+ N; z" ]" }Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
9 @1 N7 z% _/ ~& s; q5 v- y"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said; @$ {/ x Y7 Z3 b6 w, L# r
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas4 S0 {- X2 d) X% u$ q4 [
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its" q' V. [7 d X" D9 R; ^
vehicles already on the road.& W/ M* v7 z. ?
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify7 Q0 K" u( N9 d+ s6 H6 E
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
7 }8 m# W4 N( g" {. s6 uresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
/ W4 A& h7 u, B; Y1 moffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
6 ?. Z7 v$ v* z4 |killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
9 S& y7 \) W7 s) C"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
/ G6 Q5 }) B' ?& Qtragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony- W3 O% y& N1 ]4 X. P
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight/ [1 i8 @6 S, g" S
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
6 ]" h8 F" G, [: t2 a( g; I8 |commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
. m& O* J$ Z9 K1 [restore the trust of our customers."
5 S* s. @! Y) I8 k8 n( yLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from4 A$ g) P2 \( a" p0 N o ?3 w
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly1 ?. V, H, U h/ c
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop -- Q2 Y6 [/ \$ x! l/ Z+ Y0 B
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and. i; a3 s7 s) A9 J
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough! X) h0 |$ r' D! v( [9 r9 ?" g
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and9 P1 L, l: O' | [/ a: y' H
turn off the engine.1 w1 U. o+ J3 A+ e/ P! x6 O6 Z
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
& t2 x s7 D3 a! t. R4 cOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."# ?% J! r5 s+ r; o8 z
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she/ x; c) a7 R" A0 I4 A8 N$ `
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
# C' l; _8 y7 f, h, l% Ito her complaints.
3 n; _4 J6 g" x7 b; [In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers% m5 W) ]9 X2 ^1 O1 [! @, a, b+ @
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic9 l% m/ h- {7 Q% q0 C2 o0 d
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars. _! s$ a6 Q( o# d# M# E2 e! i7 d& }
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
5 C0 t; a2 G9 o2 B9 G& \" wthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited& h/ s% c! E) E7 J: h6 _
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut+ d8 F1 S+ z1 ^+ D7 ]* i
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
4 M$ }( M& M2 ?) |/ ^Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in j, G& i/ ]2 C: `+ i' i( z2 d) q
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
" t# U r# A6 A. a/ C/ tbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
T4 _7 Q4 H/ Q0 ~3 y( }were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
& X0 {( c/ f% N' k: h* o: zevery question."
9 m- y7 q6 d- h J0 xToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether0 m8 A1 h7 A6 k1 i! s* Z
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The) B* e7 K2 L( }4 Q
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
9 g4 Z( q# V4 Z* L0 {committee investigators said the testing studied only a small# T- g$ W7 @/ x; @& q, U) y
number of vehicles9 k/ N L W/ |1 j- g( _) t: `3 M
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more
" V7 i+ H7 R( Y# _, pdifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a& e$ @" Q: d5 n6 W: p- f
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
/ E5 w: J# N. @source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
! M: W- w+ [" z/ \4 WMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
' S+ |, {3 N3 d: s( p/ ]9 Lwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no" c# Q1 Q9 D: G$ Z- O; u8 @
trace at all.0 y% N: D( d9 P. V* W" |4 H$ \) u3 J
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
1 X$ m. u6 r# v( Adatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
, R+ b7 s, t4 k2 x. v$ Bacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
; I$ r) l0 h: k! d- W( V1 Xrecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
5 J S+ _4 C: k3 e* U5 F. CRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,- L& N3 K+ m& W+ S* Q
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
7 r& N: t" w' u! [other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the0 Y9 z9 m8 x5 P" a$ x
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible% [( t+ s J$ R9 E* j
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
& a* h k+ r; b( L1 Z) e1 _such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained5 Y/ @3 g% h5 c% r J
by Toyota's lawyers."+ B6 z. ^. i% Q
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
9 v& C; Z; |1 i2 D9 P2 `problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our3 C1 W) }1 Q5 |1 _( h, T( Q
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he4 z2 S- x7 e$ E$ c/ ]1 ~
said.
) O+ ?. `* x) S% h g1 h"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
; C9 H3 [9 b) L+ @, z0 Ha rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our) W, S& {/ b% M9 F9 Y# c8 S) w1 F9 g
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
' x! a" m- F- g3 |/ k9 _" Fofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
' d. R; F; U4 ~+ K/ eSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying6 x7 ]7 V0 Q: K4 y: _
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread, Y) B8 p1 X; `7 Y8 U- F
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the" L% {# h7 o$ @1 R4 ^% \3 P
automaker, at least in part because of the government's
# W4 V9 y2 h8 i( xinvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
0 a" D9 i* k+ @; f, R/ A; W* ^( qChrysler.9 F5 _2 _* M, {
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
; x+ `1 g6 H5 _! J! ndollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
/ n s. u, O$ oHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
6 v! L1 q2 K, Q; i; `served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
' A8 Q9 K9 f# m4 j! R4 Awith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
6 O4 f1 s+ i. I; D" v1 ttough."
% X5 N8 S% R' k) _9 D @1 Z. C---
: f' r. s/ h3 v! l3 n% sAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
% O3 D7 @+ f) l3 D m$ M6 f& vRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to! \" x3 b# t/ h7 L& R( R
this story.
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