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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
" f j/ s0 p& q. \. p( ABy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
: |6 R0 A# V8 aWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
8 g8 q: z9 o, J) noperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
# l( y+ F' x6 b. Ethe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
1 x) }5 G* e1 d6 _6 Q$ u; Hsolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.9 e; U- @; c( {1 a3 d7 _: _8 |
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
( ]* }8 g9 R6 T; c* C* A h- R9 N3 Lcauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
, b8 G4 {" v: H2 m7 t4 j) I: O. IHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected6 ]- U Z/ a/ K* i% X2 j/ W. B
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
6 J% ]& g1 L) E/ G6 ~5 @8 Strucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
' u6 s6 G @: K3 G( @) V8 T* e' Rmats and sticking accelerator pedals.9 U" q/ x5 t( k0 P2 r& l
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
( }, ~& i- h: g4 ]5 }: p8 `and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp. d( X$ j) l! N* m+ }) c
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be5 `8 `2 O& |8 s) s
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
! L& a. |& p5 ?9 k8 W6 tnot stop her runaway Lexus.
" L- z6 _) E& F3 p( X6 c"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
! j1 [( Q* e! n, H1 \! D- s0 ATenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second5 `) e9 h0 p$ U$ y- |
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
# R4 `" h q' @, Q0 i- j' M S5 i VTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues8 L5 r, k! P* h# n& `; z7 ~
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said+ v1 ?# w5 C! V
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
7 c# D) ^( u% o7 q0 adone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
3 W( E2 {' G( l$ \% ?" g4 rthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's9 l# F) B$ t+ o4 J
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
: Z( Y9 I7 ^) e& BLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
' {9 D. K* o; L& qelectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of2 W2 k. l/ O/ Z: ?
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a/ {9 ^+ m3 ^& g9 U3 \$ u1 |
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he" N7 K v. D M! g' J; Y
said.7 v2 @3 O: W+ @- b, w! o0 s
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
% J% L: L- C x3 L& g. J8 \, H& Nhappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe' @2 a& j! W6 v7 i4 @) R! i. g8 g
about driving our products," Lentz said. Q+ N: O" Y! I; _8 d
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's) L: L2 r, t- @: `0 E" a
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
* c9 H" A7 W# H9 C; Xrecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
1 F' e% G4 d0 T6 D( y* Omillion in the United States -- since last fall because of% k4 u$ G; n* B7 E1 B9 Q. D
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
4 A, r0 D, i8 `+ Jissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering) y. U' }& Y7 _
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of b6 n% G) V- ?+ S' T
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
& Y" |0 [) Z0 f% h+ L) xdown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
9 d1 G) y4 }! Q! _) P/ r6 Areceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
) ]/ ?6 n# W5 z6 l% ]of Toyota vehicles since 2000./ s& W6 S; I2 y2 F2 i+ D
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own& C5 j* a2 x' @" @2 k/ U- z" d1 c
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he5 J2 j! h7 y7 g; F
understood the pain.
) B2 F- m% }! ^6 a1 x! A. X% ^! ["I know what those families go through," he said.
3 L: o8 c# l3 z8 WLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
, F9 S% s/ l1 g, }fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
- F8 }0 Q e7 L' x+ EBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman) {* t% S+ e4 L2 Y) A
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
8 n @0 q3 ^* D* ], Iin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,. G, `4 x ~; \% i4 z
Lentz replied: "Not totally.": C3 S0 K2 l9 \. y. u) T
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were/ d, _2 {. ^) S( M k# v3 ]
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
' l# }" S6 T( ^0 O9 M9 t5 YToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas( f) T \& X5 `% Q
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
" p4 F/ @9 y( l2 B! H7 x1 W- jvehicles already on the road.
% ^" M+ F7 U2 w1 C5 }) T: EMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify( N) |& o) u d0 Q( a A5 D2 I
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
9 F2 F% {" C- o, O9 T9 [8 b+ Nresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
% T( m" v( Q( z8 m7 Hoffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
& q, s" H- J# y/ z; o7 Q$ T; skilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
3 A6 ~: a, f6 a) Y, w, k"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
0 W$ e$ ?# H( g" p4 `tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
* E, g. v& O0 c' ]for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
* V1 s/ @+ A7 N* I' vCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal9 R% w' X# U) A5 k y ?2 h$ L4 ?
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
: \$ O! O; q a- prestore the trust of our customers."" S" W/ F5 V, A4 P4 c8 F$ `3 |0 ]
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from9 a# [ l; n) l
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly& \+ p/ X; L0 K* K3 v l9 U
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --& b) a0 i5 x. d+ q. ]) e" m5 A
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
$ ^8 w* m6 B" M shitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough& Q# d) p; `! U: M- U8 u9 _
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and* D; y# `- C+ H! T# D0 b
turn off the engine.' M/ ~ l; ~ D8 x) Y6 w: h. B
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of' h% l# z! F+ Z+ n+ c8 {1 L3 }
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."4 v5 i" F; b+ K. n; Y) d7 A0 j4 o
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
! [- p U9 x+ p5 bsaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond. {% E4 `. u a/ D; ^1 r
to her complaints.
1 k4 @4 @. _; e( k. \3 TIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers9 ?, Z5 `! ^3 U9 [3 d/ R
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
( Q) P* ?+ e: Mmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.; T, j ^" p" g5 `
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
# @) |8 Y& N: w2 @9 s- I+ ^throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
/ S3 b& t$ s5 z5 n) [ i6 |" x8 {"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut1 [ P* Y9 z6 {7 n2 k
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
6 p0 j6 a' O' i7 \4 ]9 ~# KTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in& @" r T& ]# n2 E4 l# D- Y! H
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
1 O. r& v! _- }% a% o Wbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
U4 ?, R- P3 c' vwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer i% h, ?5 }/ j" S2 Y: {
every question."2 Z5 _5 e( ~" p+ u, o0 ~7 ]
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
3 }$ T/ \, p3 E# m0 F( @. Selectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
& h9 ]% j5 k1 I1 w; j" J# Ffirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But/ @+ U3 k/ k# z* ^- U" F
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
" _% \$ D/ m/ Q4 m% n1 p: Tnumber of vehicles
, v4 j: b) _8 h) f1 H# ?" BTracking down an electrical problem can be far more
" S$ a( i( {& c) q: p% y( U) adifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
2 L c/ I, J! L* P! I: j4 qmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one! V: [8 ^ j: z" O9 M& B
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
& M% S( Y5 r+ L/ e9 p6 }- rMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
' z; U7 x/ u% R. @+ b: I% Wwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no. b% |' K- ?+ r6 q8 j& e
trace at all.
7 d3 {" H) n+ H3 Y& s: t& DHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
" [) n( w: f5 L! ^8 R: i/ N' pdatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden9 J4 M1 r2 c) c5 i% k/ o4 |
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
8 S% G1 A `/ b% K! i7 [recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
! |; d% v- q8 g, L$ I0 ]% r" FRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,- u, C. H1 _' ^
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
! g5 e' X6 l9 {5 mother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the' i5 R; e* c8 x# ~5 ]( }: z
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible1 a5 U) V1 {' A' {( W
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
3 u5 p- v6 w9 Wsuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained# Z6 U) X+ S* s% B4 O
by Toyota's lawyers."- l- ]3 Z" G5 n# i
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of g( h' _, g% D* j! I) ?9 a
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
5 O t; ^: q( N; B! H% l' acustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
" P4 v5 |- h3 Z" T5 Z) n/ Psaid.
8 I% |$ N* w9 T, p9 W"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with! ]& |% b: f1 B6 A
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
" ]6 a: z4 g, b9 d) T1 h: vgood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
! Z( n: Z; \. W! gofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.9 y" w. P. @2 e+ k4 n# }, X
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
1 @ S' j: S# E- R4 _members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
" B; S8 w1 T: W. i) e: Nrancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
9 ]* b. z- v& n# P/ x# N# g0 ^automaker, at least in part because of the government's
. q( q- ?& e; }1 Q. I# T9 ?investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
+ f- f' u/ V6 s: h" qChrysler.% C( e8 B( M6 l
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
( S: O! R, ^" i$ Pdollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a: O/ |7 D. z+ z$ j& a3 {' N( }
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also! b7 j0 \+ ^2 c- }
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
: Z$ n3 F' \) ~with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
8 ] C }( q4 W! Z ltough."6 |* \; K+ [+ S9 |, X3 Z
---3 ~( T1 t, ]3 m" m& L
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom( W/ G8 Z) y* J e8 |$ m
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to0 _" K4 T) S7 l4 B' w1 G
this story.( J3 w5 @3 g8 j) Y0 b
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