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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题: s* \* Z; C: I4 a4 }6 K
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS; A+ p. M) Q6 U7 K W& e9 S% S
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
4 e# H6 R5 |0 X3 m+ `operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
$ O+ X2 w% E' j7 z; s- jthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
$ j; O* n! ]. p6 [! X. Q% U- f! Esolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
0 ^3 G% i; u" [! n) C6 L"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
q' k8 ]& ?6 I5 ^! t, Mcauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
7 a4 R! q/ i6 J( QHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected# \' i. Y# w5 L- B( A$ _
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and3 P& B& k6 d* U+ `" d* B
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor& a8 ?) z! C% A5 P( B
mats and sticking accelerator pedals." b1 g( H1 _9 M. A
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
+ @* L6 Z# t# Land fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp) B/ P- A j+ e9 e, x# U( d* A
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
) l# S u' [; m# |5 q" ~( f0 \further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could! s8 x- Q7 f& T7 K- f0 w$ y# ?
not stop her runaway Lexus.
& } R/ o( E" d. E7 z"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,2 ]8 m, `- @8 D, F, `1 {
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
; _- V6 z) F# o"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
S5 |8 ?1 `& W1 a+ J+ l/ W MTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
2 C; k7 r* V0 @/ v4 Z8 E1 O* uearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
- p! M7 K }, w"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has) t) z5 T1 |1 Y6 }" j
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway* C7 G/ o6 \1 ~5 Z5 h
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
, R; W* z; I8 Y3 Y+ S; e6 S* `investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham.". m1 P, Z+ o+ \( O! O$ W4 |
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
9 d' Z3 K& ?" { ?electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
( v/ M8 H" `6 l) A: q" |the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
9 [- ^& w2 f; Q6 jmalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he( F* E- V& A6 F, w9 A4 ^& S' m
said.
+ m8 ~ E B! m. }2 }8 W3 YAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
. K5 g( O# R+ H6 Xhappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe3 Z! L) L$ K# u/ U V9 n$ A
about driving our products," Lentz said.' W: n" A0 L4 Z+ u
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's' ~) k/ U5 v4 G# s& u
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
8 o) x5 {, Y7 c3 Vrecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6% k+ x0 W/ v0 R+ M) Y/ y/ a8 b
million in the United States -- since last fall because of( L' Q% V# y* H( ^0 ]) y; p
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking1 D! ^3 b7 G+ G7 g" I! A6 ~
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering/ y( y( v. B3 N( }* `
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of* v1 W% e& z- m( f2 D0 t5 Q( D3 W
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
& z1 L) K4 |* D. q2 C7 M( cdown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has% Z) m/ I) f( d% _2 D8 n
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration% {2 Q' L$ ?6 g5 u- m% |( k
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.
/ W8 U& k9 Z5 `* Y7 {, U/ Q( {Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own8 g3 i& E5 W( R* a- i) ~# Y
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
9 U# x% B; k" o# T# x3 u. E8 \( zunderstood the pain.6 _/ |' u/ J) ~/ c1 c/ S
"I know what those families go through," he said." M2 \. ?5 d- G* S+ _/ V/ _
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
7 K3 d8 z5 R: U) {/ J R6 Ffixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.- Q' s% d- }9 M6 ~* F
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman' t' E+ ~9 R9 v: S; d( |
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put" T2 j1 B: ~0 m
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
9 |8 K! v1 _ m" @% Q5 x0 t8 p% VLentz replied: "Not totally."
( X2 z! b7 `; G7 \: FStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
: I% K+ V5 e$ z"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
O8 C; `" G. m; vToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
6 X2 I% R2 E2 B! `9 }5 i; R( Ppedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its% `8 _0 B8 |& V5 N. x
vehicles already on the road.2 y* M5 u& C* d, G' D) I
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
7 @4 e7 n9 t2 C$ `7 F9 x. Ubefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
, K9 B3 }9 A: F! Qresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
( O5 j% B, @' ]) i, Voffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were" |% c/ _# Q0 D9 Z* B
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
( L5 u. n/ v2 E. n$ t" J8 M x"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a; l( `+ [4 K2 K7 O+ K+ f
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony, ~3 i7 Q# t ?; F+ @
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
# Z7 g3 Y# ]! z' P, \Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal0 [0 A8 W$ U4 C* K- q6 M$ x
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
" c+ M% b1 q* e9 l$ L! }' Brestore the trust of our customers."
* f/ h7 i; M* t* pLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
) x0 s( \" l3 o% }' rSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
/ y/ s( L: |. S& b/ V0 Nzoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
/ H' X2 Z, k8 w r% V w) |% J- H6 rshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
6 V9 O) V3 `5 Q* ?; S, Ohitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
4 V3 k. c5 Q& uthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
+ r% d F/ Y: c9 X# h! ]( u" a; j( e4 jturn off the engine.4 v; c- T: H" O. s4 }0 S, S5 Y7 f
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
6 \ }" J: ^, hOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."0 h1 H/ v/ A% x8 E2 i G9 F
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
4 }) M$ D% i0 S8 h% l3 dsaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
7 q9 p3 ~+ S }, w) v4 ito her complaints.6 w n$ g' ]* q6 [6 _& q
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
) X- G: f' b8 n% nreturned again and again to the question of whether electronic
/ G- M. l9 {; q- w" Fmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars." t4 l, Z1 ?/ U2 L7 D! |
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric+ y q; L9 v/ ~- c s. z% l3 C1 ?# l' h
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
' h) }; D; p# C0 T+ H; w% s# V* Q"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
- f2 O8 a5 ^& J/ E' _, Zoff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
7 p! a( v* b# N) a7 iTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
/ F$ [1 e% `( k' c, w0 |prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were0 m8 f; x- I* c3 |4 ?1 U7 k, i3 z
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
8 F* q1 G7 B% ~ @" Ywere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
; x/ V7 {$ q# A. Hevery question."
3 O( R/ Z6 T1 [$ D' z/ P6 G8 RToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether1 [2 T+ V& e. J1 {' o3 b
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The0 z" H5 c5 L, G! [4 ^3 d; y
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But! B7 g0 b5 V T I9 T
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
& n$ ~) V) d5 l% R: dnumber of vehicles+ f' n( J" A& @) L" _
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more
# H( m X% ^9 D- ddifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a8 S! w( Z' e, `: ~0 L- q
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
' g8 l( J+ _1 x5 x8 a* l' dsource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.! Q/ d! C; q4 g
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,* I/ b% V! P% _5 e% E1 c
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no! s% x' s+ e( O
trace at all.7 m$ q9 [. B6 r! P- o5 r
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call- v Z* A2 a* Q6 `6 N. Y- G& Z8 {& C
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
+ d0 q1 O3 F+ A6 V' nacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the6 k2 y1 i7 S; W5 ~8 d3 t; W
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.6 y( _3 | j8 k3 z7 f
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
. R2 H. G2 A) }9 nsaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
# |- V( F9 H- ^0 s0 l$ I# _other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
0 n2 X5 D; Z% Z$ @& J1 v7 l0 Melectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible( n( P; s7 v- w' }8 f2 P3 E
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only h9 Q, j8 j; X a9 }) R
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
% g7 U( d5 R8 f& tby Toyota's lawyers."$ u" r1 G) a. P- f; |" K
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of) Q) X4 A! Q+ \/ A! g/ `* I# f
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
( ~. P1 l4 D: I9 Dcustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he: Y6 K( m3 j! l3 o+ K4 p8 w
said.4 p. n# l q$ T( O7 l+ c" I8 P
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with% _8 X: u8 ^( [. g) Q0 w0 T! R
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
7 }# S0 V5 ~. B; D: u' ^/ B& C8 {. egood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
* }4 r! |2 X' @, @6 `* q5 |officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
% `' O0 p5 u8 C, }( g' H' mSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying( @% p4 p1 ]& t9 ?$ w
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
4 {7 [5 z" v+ B( i1 V+ @# Xrancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
$ [* R: _( ?: k9 s2 e: xautomaker, at least in part because of the government's/ \' ~) m8 V9 Y; v7 [& T& i
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
/ U: g- a: t+ ~3 J' gChrysler.
/ L; i# _ {9 l1 V" M8 U# T"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax. A, ]; }# k; N$ s9 m3 H( M
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a, x5 Y5 q1 s9 R% G3 h; z" N7 D$ F! ^8 ~
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also1 ?- a/ v% D# Z* ~& Y
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
8 e; V5 j5 l: e. M/ s% c( b! A2 nwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty2 _+ u R0 O/ H
tough."
) A/ m9 {% y- Y! z) f; ~9 l% e+ M---
9 Y/ n) q9 [: g& B6 PAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom0 {- M6 G; R `6 U% o
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to! a9 E# ^7 Y" t$ i; s, \
this story.
+ \/ H' O/ @0 ^& S% R' L5 c3 S1 M0 X5 T$ B
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