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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题2 X; k z u/ [$ h$ P2 ~, b
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
# _7 T% G% S" W+ Q* D1 r h J: cWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
! R8 L7 z8 {/ U; \( H( F+ |5 Woperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
: O, X3 l; G3 j. s2 n+ {; X' M( [the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
8 f3 g& X. _8 l. M. g. r4 psolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration. w8 F* g! U3 A
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential6 r# ]% \3 G4 U+ ~" M0 c
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
* d2 k% a1 b1 k y5 z7 O9 R, IHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected7 `# V# a2 d) d e
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
- B) w0 D( S0 C3 I# U1 W" ]; m: V4 b3 _trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
/ n- V$ q) a4 E9 Umats and sticking accelerator pedals.
, B9 x1 L8 Z- x( y: }* DHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
' N! L( v& x8 i' \1 aand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp) Y, M5 Y) O' [
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be/ `# Z3 v* W0 h+ M. R n) x
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could' @& l9 c% @! b$ }
not stop her runaway Lexus.. G! X5 A0 K- D9 ]4 a
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,; L4 b+ G/ i1 q" b
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second: d1 u5 X6 m m! y$ F3 [- r
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.$ S+ O! o) E. L" I2 v8 r% |
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues) g) J! x# ^; [- S+ d
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said8 h6 |* f: G; r, y6 n
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has" I) M4 p& S% `9 P3 O: S" h
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
& \3 k5 j9 l& sthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
+ k+ z& y0 e, r! Q# Dinvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."8 p p( `5 ?/ W$ W u
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
% F+ g& |7 {4 \( G9 d; [7 H& xelectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
J: r2 b. a( e. _$ y+ Nthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
; g, J: H3 y/ i" P, kmalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
7 g6 L2 Q1 x' v# S( m! A- |, xsaid.
9 y3 A& V! |1 O* @1 q4 Q2 p! KAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what9 c% E& u+ k1 h, l; r9 P" Y
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
1 ]' _% C8 v Z1 Q7 J# L& A; |+ v/ zabout driving our products," Lentz said.
) ^- n9 G+ `7 Y+ }( M4 `Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's0 |' `% t O6 x7 n& ?) Q
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has. R, n0 i3 y6 O" g
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6& Q9 X; \2 T: ^2 L
million in the United States -- since last fall because of
4 z; b& o3 }- I; ~! yunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
8 p7 W) {4 f6 f, A/ t5 Hissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering$ s$ S. l v \4 P& f8 c$ S _1 Y
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of' v' }0 `& _6 I+ W3 }
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow' C* Z/ b5 I( \1 U' I8 K
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
+ y0 }# y6 `/ B3 `6 B& qreceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration7 ?, Z, s D. N3 [! A( C3 @
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.9 R, f9 i) C9 r6 `
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own9 ?' |2 w6 e* j4 K: O2 \( A7 I4 H
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
# q7 r+ I6 \' W) ~- m$ z9 M1 Dunderstood the pain.+ g" O* E* m: X( q, M3 q
"I know what those families go through," he said.
% W8 _. d! Q- N. m4 L+ yLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
- Q3 |0 f, ~. I' g( xfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.% o- a5 ~6 H2 |' ?
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman; b9 T1 h; U( [: T
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put. I/ [1 s( L, q0 R% S. f
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
) m8 R. U$ B& O: M; K/ ^Lentz replied: "Not totally."! U% j, h! W5 I) e5 K8 \
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
2 ? `$ ]0 b; e8 n# B/ s% g1 H"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said* V1 i( z E9 C6 a8 m
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
# g) q! f& W! Q6 }0 C! y2 xpedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
" x" P$ W% G) W9 gvehicles already on the road.
$ Y* L1 i2 ]/ `( ~# gMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify$ _! G0 T' \: u% `( {2 [
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
3 G2 Q* {& R3 X: W( U' T. O; F* w2 i$ @+ Iresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
w7 Z1 {3 p5 uoffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were) z, t* ^, _; t" v8 ~. ^8 O5 D
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
7 ~" i3 H5 }! {"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a% x" o8 c* h" F& f7 X0 C1 U6 M
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony/ t; f0 N; P0 T7 ~5 n% ^
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight3 U; w: g+ B( E; [: i4 r2 e
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal* R2 _) y+ f& j* P( ]8 s
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
" f' c" Z+ x# ^% P3 O$ V1 n6 E2 srestore the trust of our customers."
$ j/ t2 M6 M$ Y. i2 o; Y$ F. Y0 uLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
6 g3 s& u( a: Q; jSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly1 w. a. y$ o! D/ q+ O8 E: w" u7 ~4 w
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --. R; H9 B/ i& W+ `
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and4 g! |1 P; x- T% L
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
: @2 O. ~) e# r' z7 A3 dthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and5 b/ x& x1 d3 [
turn off the engine.
( R( x' U/ ^; o& n; X8 ^Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
* ` I% j* v) U0 v1 }* pOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
$ o; r2 [" S& [6 e! C"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
0 g2 j& i, k& }6 D: Asaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
0 }/ A6 ~5 B' J/ C. @$ [" Dto her complaints." J3 _! m5 k1 ]. q. U
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers2 R5 v: p' G, m8 B. d
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
7 p- p3 t5 v8 L2 _1 lmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
: o* z* `/ U) q1 o2 M7 w( z1 V"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric+ ]! S6 ?4 o- a4 l' x) @0 o
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
) u2 u" G' Z" ]"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut) v/ {7 Z* P M
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."9 u0 b( `+ H0 T
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in$ m% v4 ]* f' H, b
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were8 ^1 i- Z+ o; A8 a; D$ X1 n, r
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls1 `* H- {! w8 {' q. }" B" R
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
7 K0 g" ?7 x3 J2 I& B. ^% pevery question."* |: m1 }% M w+ n {* D( g/ n. q
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether9 K& y8 `% y# S" K c# _% L
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
% A; G" m. u/ @; H2 f$ afirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
. s( A: |( F( q9 H: U0 Ccommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small5 n. L9 ~! Q, h* q& `! [0 O+ |- U3 s
number of vehicles: V7 F3 _& \+ V* R
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more
- R& c. j' n( k) F. pdifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
0 e1 N) d1 _0 M! G& d: fmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
& u# u/ q3 _( Csource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.# N! k, x& i G
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
3 I# o6 ~, i- }* t* o8 P% h' rwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no" K6 a! T6 O. t! j0 E. x
trace at all.
8 a3 }/ B( f% K! bHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call; j. z7 D, ^/ ^
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
- ]. S& U) {1 @& @, nacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
( y& ?/ a( c6 I/ H1 W0 j, erecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
* i e2 r0 O+ p% D3 Z/ n& dRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,# }/ l! V$ K B0 w+ i
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and( o* y1 V; j. l% @
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the9 E2 g, v* L" |8 J. b
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
3 ~/ W* ^4 R$ K1 S( ccause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only' X1 _: X3 k( K5 M; \+ ?( S9 o
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
/ p/ c! Y0 C* T( S1 V7 sby Toyota's lawyers."
: a5 R* q! }; m* L8 s2 e1 FLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of- H1 h: b/ E" S4 {8 w! p+ s1 x
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
' q" E; C# t d4 icustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
9 d5 j) _9 n8 [0 |$ lsaid.
7 M- f3 ]# Y" `/ j, x5 }"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
, a y" X$ ~0 U, ia rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
0 a0 n4 G! ?6 j1 Igood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating7 ?: M4 p/ w' L- z r; F
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
5 }* m' W2 P$ O- HSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
7 A* Y( X& Z/ U1 L" b4 S. ^members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread" F3 V- }* _" i: o/ _; j5 \" S
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the% V; |! J+ f* W8 ?$ c/ Z
automaker, at least in part because of the government's Q( Y$ @4 \ f. l
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
" ]/ x# t* B% j4 S$ ?% w% YChrysler.% l/ ?5 ]) n# ]: u7 w
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax# B: E! g) F4 y% W! t* J7 z
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
/ I* {: }- F7 |. l9 S% uHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
/ X" o" q- n8 J! E9 ]) r$ `served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
/ }8 X$ `* O: ]8 v& d3 Swith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty. n1 q: a; Q/ F# V3 I4 d- I* ]
tough."& d+ U; s I8 j. z% p8 N
---
* ^: k9 d* U- bAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
9 p% }" J( j, f! c9 nRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
) H: H! ~+ k0 m1 N, J5 ythis story.
4 f8 s1 w( J: z" r; V* A3 d+ ]* b8 o+ p1 O; x
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