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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题: `9 h; g) Y: ~% x
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
- ~ v- h1 m1 F* p oWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
9 g% K% x$ |+ N" y0 ~7 Roperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that. n# b5 H: y5 j0 o- U/ W* \
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"5 ^- N v5 L2 ~( K, T% T4 v9 ~
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.' I% j O8 U& \# K, r& P
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential" B# O. t/ z ?* n# o
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.8 ]$ J: }6 T9 I: H7 U3 O% u8 B
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected: X, d% u% c8 {1 `' T3 j. a6 k& `5 H" L
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
( @. }# b0 c! ~% i) Dtrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
1 G/ l% }: _ s3 fmats and sticking accelerator pedals.
7 _. _9 N8 W3 L( Q& ^He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
- ]( P- _/ N7 B# t4 r/ R _and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp/ Z! Z! g: a s q4 i% Q H; N
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
2 v2 V: i6 [( U" b8 G; Ffurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
$ R, b( P' u$ l6 H; y) vnot stop her runaway Lexus.: O# X$ z2 N; a9 ]2 r% o
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
- P0 s+ {' w) V* @. B3 ]Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
& j8 q2 h$ a7 _# v2 b s"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.! M) x+ r# e: _. k. |
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues) N8 N0 d9 X1 W9 Z
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said. Z6 W' N8 Q4 _' r6 b/ g4 u
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has6 `! o4 A; T' r
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
3 C4 B5 N3 h, q' mthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
+ E1 W9 ?# k% c7 x4 R& A& dinvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."2 f) n I; o5 b
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an8 b) L1 ]: }# U. J: q: z
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
% h \) p' J9 Qthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a4 B, g( c C }* M5 Q! l2 N
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
, N) z8 u& {/ t3 }, H& R$ Psaid.
8 Z! R" m) X& Z3 u$ _* XAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
5 k* W' O$ A% A; x% ehappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
! r( B$ e; f( _1 I6 V) }7 sabout driving our products," Lentz said.' j* W ~7 S9 v$ V, h$ m
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
' q+ N, g0 u4 r3 T, Y0 f/ }* xproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
' ~2 Q0 W1 ?/ q9 e" orecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 65 V" ] f2 T4 E/ ]: v
million in the United States -- since last fall because of
5 b0 Y, M+ y7 ]4 p4 e; `unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
' @+ a* r: L1 W2 F: d/ b3 Rissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
+ G! j! m( U8 S1 f* T1 bconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of4 d- N; {- Y2 G- r7 d, R# _5 f
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
; R/ S4 b. I5 u1 y4 F7 N5 e' L0 B* Ndown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has4 n5 S8 f1 S9 ]8 M
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration2 }9 W+ P$ u% q9 `3 s# ?. y5 g
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.
! c# v) X$ [) ^/ P! L4 V& _. eLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own( Q' [. J4 |% Q" J/ g, J6 ^
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he( w0 L5 f" r! g* C
understood the pain.& w2 L& m1 X1 _1 A
"I know what those families go through," he said.$ [! n3 A3 J5 y
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
# o$ S! t& |# Z* P' v7 afixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.) c4 f' E. a$ F. W
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman% x7 \; M+ b; N- C3 A2 y) Z
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put: h* R7 ~2 @3 P6 H+ U/ o2 k
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it," \$ V; Q( h9 ]8 U
Lentz replied: "Not totally."
$ E) G3 r. [8 ]- CStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
" }, y, y% N5 L1 y"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said/ Q5 c5 [0 B5 G3 K$ l7 G
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas" e6 `0 q# c% U: V+ N' V
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its8 Q/ H% w+ @' [ g$ l
vehicles already on the road.
; e$ E' X# V/ d; @$ iMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
& [2 Q, y) ?/ s/ l, B7 j# Lbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full! Z) n9 n# a) B9 w9 ~
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and6 j( v6 S* h: Z+ \6 O( u! Z
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
) Q- j" R2 ?7 M; okilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
9 i8 E! c5 Z. n7 [3 o7 C, e+ x"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a1 s$ `8 C, g+ C" h2 ]$ o) O4 {
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
! r3 O7 C9 m2 |$ d% W3 @) Sfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight7 _: m; X8 @4 }* I% q+ z5 {
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal7 J8 Q- a( ]9 G/ l$ H, Q
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to1 B& x( D! }2 S4 o2 m% {; v3 m+ x
restore the trust of our customers."' T7 I8 q% t- T
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from8 u9 L2 @( |; ^5 ?6 D
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly# v) |, V. b$ k/ b$ F% X
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --6 n Y _+ ?) z4 m! D
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
9 W! w1 I- X5 G8 i: w1 Zhitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
6 @; d/ W$ y; F& E+ L& ~that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
! j0 |% _ Q) b! E/ Q' h( Nturn off the engine.
: O+ `6 y9 R0 f: e( x4 UFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
. y& W) f( ] `" K: f1 i) r( lOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
- U! \" k$ _- p5 M2 [7 R' p% W"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
* x! ~4 O, T! H. b3 Isaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond- |9 J* x+ T1 r. ^: X9 M( |1 D
to her complaints.- ?$ I9 u) G5 m( n* o4 j
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
3 n! c3 L; g9 o) _: Lreturned again and again to the question of whether electronic
g* L1 S: M& T. P6 P, |7 n Tmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
8 X- e1 }9 V. ?"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric L1 {0 [2 N5 d3 [
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited% D+ N. @. t* u
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
9 X9 W+ D3 A |0 [8 uoff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."2 R, N$ r. y4 v4 {+ E
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in- ?: Q' u; m# {2 i
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
2 Z4 t9 {$ B3 Pbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls$ F7 P6 n8 O1 T9 n+ ~
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer3 m( c$ b) T3 m8 ]# x
every question."9 d$ x4 s+ k! E5 n" ~" n
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether/ F1 @2 F, c+ `! t7 d* ?
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The0 l! S# g( z! v8 P
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
$ v% y k" C' X2 p9 w; H- k( m; ycommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small4 N T; l$ l2 d
number of vehicles, _+ {$ H0 q8 v, Y( G0 z, j
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more
% Y4 p9 d/ C* Rdifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a4 z8 j+ V8 L$ W; ~8 c
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
# H4 B( x" C" z2 J+ O9 H4 g, Dsource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.( A( ]% A6 a8 s p
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
) ]8 Z) E5 L* Kwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no) U9 J2 B5 m* \& f4 J5 k" r
trace at all.; v4 n9 }2 e8 H- D$ h9 S
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call. r6 }* ?& k* ?/ [5 P' F+ _
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden: w$ G+ X' Z9 V* D4 R0 {" z4 e
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
1 t2 h& B3 c5 Z5 v! z% @5 q- Krecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.1 n+ t$ r) h/ y% g; M! d
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,, B6 @/ y/ W3 o9 l5 h- T
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and$ J' y6 ?, U& s& r0 c0 j5 b9 C
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
# n$ N5 v, S K- N# @& Welectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
( s4 F3 c0 l! m$ }& c O' {+ _cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only, w/ B# V$ o# \2 f
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained( T* B8 a2 e; N+ N! u5 M
by Toyota's lawyers."
1 {. b3 j% O* A. P! Y) m1 ILentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
9 R+ Q! D$ T/ O( r/ J/ iproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our! P9 r! a# k8 B6 B0 `; j- ]1 h' S
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
/ C, l/ `5 y' @said.
9 |( s* r! E/ p3 Y! W"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
9 D1 l3 E& r/ ga rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our* }* K. Y( h n; }
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating8 p `) X. v1 ~& g7 E$ x" B, N
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.+ S3 Z; h& I, l3 H$ x
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
' i; s) C0 `& \3 v/ K% imembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
2 {! H' ^+ R5 z$ ]) Z5 Vrancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the4 b' q' n: ~5 F# B; S" S9 l
automaker, at least in part because of the government's
5 J+ G% x) o) H0 j- M5 n* Tinvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and* S: ^% V' I: @2 C) T1 O
Chrysler.
5 u9 m0 D6 l) }) L% u"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
% k# f; ?. B# T6 {dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
+ M, D: O2 e) Z/ W$ }Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
6 E' x7 `$ I! a, \served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
' s) I! b9 j$ O( ~3 D. _7 D5 qwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
8 U! ]8 n4 f6 [5 Stough."; T+ v& L" y: Q3 l: {
---
( I# M6 p) G1 g( ^7 O3 k3 xAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
1 F) [' U7 Z9 m0 F- y* _; IRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to1 \6 U" g# B2 \- r7 ]
this story.1 V( K% W7 R, N T3 V& n+ h7 t; `0 q
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