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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
8 N. f, J5 }5 d" h$ o) I3 [$ ABy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
( r% Y7 b# d& }$ D' e* [/ TWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.. G2 [, Y* |% ]/ `5 N8 M1 n
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that9 _2 g9 ]1 ^6 l! B$ [; ^0 i
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"4 l3 h, s* v8 [4 z3 p& f
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.) X/ `; ?" J5 a" I
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
+ R5 d9 K1 y2 a6 h0 V7 z/ O: ]5 J" scauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
- j+ h% V4 |) `However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
/ ^& ]( z$ B% r0 O8 Zacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
- I/ G/ V2 _" E- Otrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor7 @+ a4 L8 i) I- e: ?
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.# C- d) a) C8 W% @
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
) Q& k' e7 z9 \6 h+ G6 Qand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp+ K) E8 D$ H1 l8 V8 F6 H
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be. N( @$ ~+ C. E- \. g
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could+ F8 {8 k/ i! S( F
not stop her runaway Lexus. z0 |" f* ]3 g P1 j5 l9 P1 r
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
6 p4 D6 F4 ~) x8 ^2 }- d( n7 yTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
( {1 d; ^4 X1 b8 m"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.0 g) Q, u' L: P7 \
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
$ |2 Q/ g( X% }3 z6 O& e2 Uearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
4 z1 y" o; }( h9 E, p7 ~$ N"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has$ f% x/ F3 l, K! S2 w. b: o
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
% j& U: Y" a- V2 Ethrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's" l/ I7 x }# B* Y; S) z+ r7 t
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
2 E8 r D6 t8 I6 {+ Q5 Q5 e: DLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
: J) Q, d" e8 f: T" d& Q- Yelectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
( r6 Y5 G# `; k4 t9 @7 D4 J3 Hthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
3 q/ T; G- I! F$ r; ~( Nmalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he% R* H) |2 [# Y: `
said.; D' b# e. b, X' \) |
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
! j$ [8 y$ O x; _! @% Rhappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe" v9 Q. G; [ ]5 s$ l; u: d7 t
about driving our products," Lentz said.
+ U$ J- n; Q- R8 U) A. `7 }/ X U# dThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's+ N H0 V e" K1 G" b
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
t: p8 k" j) \! K, l0 m, r+ S5 mrecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
; `4 c4 O! _- `( x& L8 Nmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of. o3 z2 u! [9 {9 i T
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking. Q! k) c. ]3 M$ T
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
$ ~' d: t% n5 o; Cconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of- |- S- \7 X7 K# V. C8 d6 ?
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow+ T" M1 D: m4 D/ O- G
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has6 n4 x; ]7 c' p% H1 k
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration; P0 ?! W8 @! c# J; Z
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.: k$ m/ ?6 y$ g
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own) w' M7 E$ Y+ p# O4 ^% I* t3 Z% }
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he) n& u5 o/ i% M- s3 p+ ]! f, W" X
understood the pain.
7 ^2 e$ S) o6 g" W/ f4 U"I know what those families go through," he said.# Y6 p: } y' v: t8 p& I) c/ Z
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
& j/ P4 s g6 N+ ]. [fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.9 z5 i O# u% h( ^' d9 _7 `
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
! B4 l/ E0 A n6 UHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
+ C% B: s. C, R d# @in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,6 y1 s6 i2 o. N b
Lentz replied: "Not totally."3 [* l% l) j6 I" ~# N" j
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were" \. s6 m7 B( O- d+ J- f) U
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said6 x9 M; g N8 I" V) a
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas( j! M2 Q+ T& H6 P6 }+ F# S! V
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
4 N& V" W/ n; e: n) P6 f$ kvehicles already on the road.0 e2 o. ^8 f: u6 }. C
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify G$ i0 K( I8 p
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
7 f; }, J5 g K3 P% jresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
! D- c( C1 S. u6 q, B5 Foffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
2 v8 H5 [, o5 |8 U; e- Ikilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
' d! v; q* z4 }7 b# p"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a& |& S( X1 b; @/ `: r# X
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
/ }9 U6 C! q Z, y. g6 w* Cfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
" i& C4 h/ A1 }( ^; DCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
: G, F& A- l' }8 `' e7 v) S% lcommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to- Z% a& k* U5 j5 H
restore the trust of our customers."5 X a: }# H3 z! Y) q
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
* [! G2 ?$ }8 X5 B# l) }9 bSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
% I7 l, l4 M( Dzoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
6 N! v8 N" i+ a- ]8 C2 Pshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and3 I9 M; l: h! H# U
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
& `& f V& R- C7 r ]4 v( mthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and9 T! b8 C3 T* h& @4 }! [( D
turn off the engine.! o% z! [9 V; i; o) ?9 Z
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of3 f$ A" M4 ?; R) _6 j# x
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
6 G+ y8 s4 }" P. J% A2 p; V2 n5 ~"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she0 @* ]; S8 Z9 m* b \. Q3 g
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond6 w: v2 A" j# ^7 Y
to her complaints." {1 u$ Z1 T ?* H: ~. V x
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
. Q' d; H8 T) s. B# G5 U. l% m6 m$ z2 lreturned again and again to the question of whether electronic" m+ f/ Q% u: Q* {; S9 @% K; @, [
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
/ P W! _# v9 W9 \4 I3 a"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
+ E2 m! ^& j8 \ }throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
L. B! t3 S6 b9 b"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut7 B( \' h* B8 G$ T4 [
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."* [- U; ? P M( Z# M
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
p- s& L: i+ R- Xprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
) W4 X" J( `) m3 ~2 r% i) cbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
: M5 D. v& j: @2 Awere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
& E' `& X3 ]! P" A' p+ Severy question."
7 @* d" x2 Z3 VToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether- ?+ G# d2 T' t/ n
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The6 L6 _3 ~7 b) n0 @! p
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
- Q* E: F6 s( r9 ^% wcommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small
4 }: W5 s0 Q3 y4 ?. i( d7 U Lnumber of vehicles- A: K* A) `1 z! d% N2 q+ M
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more
( m) B: X# Q3 o: V, p/ t3 jdifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
4 z/ K$ ]8 s: V8 {- r- b" d4 }mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
4 G9 w1 t' D8 F9 y% asource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
7 R8 R V5 O: ~7 V4 nMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
7 `8 N$ V) r& N! q' Rwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no* O# N- `5 Z% Q
trace at all.
3 i; n6 v& q7 m; F7 W' \2 \8 ^House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
) x: F1 q4 C# b6 f5 t# u# r3 Gdatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden$ R) H4 J( G1 m6 k0 s$ N3 t
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the+ V$ e8 c8 S {+ ~ q% T9 y% s
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.. S+ R/ y/ d7 Y+ t% q3 \2 D0 ]
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
# P5 j* I4 E* ?said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and2 p1 {# A4 `' g9 \8 [+ d
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
" U3 Q! `: ^) U5 ]8 h1 N+ [; w. Melectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
- A% N' o$ s- m m. b7 K8 N7 p" k* w" ]cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only) M, G6 r" {1 M: N6 s
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained( Z! Z+ X2 t3 U: v1 _
by Toyota's lawyers."4 A* R. R. E; J6 c7 ^5 g8 U
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
* y! q* Z# M5 l% o5 t$ T4 Wproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our# y$ B; q: Z9 F- t, R$ R+ W
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
+ z# Q. {; j; k5 o9 Vsaid.
$ v: |8 Q/ a: ~5 `( O"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with* Y- r! K5 n) y# c8 ^) V
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our" G: b7 B0 w" S' m9 \% H
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
5 N+ y- J" Q& z- z; g. I4 K6 {officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
; m' h& U- U9 V/ {3 N# HSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
' E2 u. A- g3 t- I- o# g- Amembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread$ o* v% a) i1 ~- g4 s3 r
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the) h* }: v. {. m+ T
automaker, at least in part because of the government's2 B- x2 ` D4 @, \1 w; a6 X2 B
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and- ], o) ?0 E/ D4 \- \% d1 { d, u% G3 p
Chrysler.6 r( V: W6 |3 y1 Z, `4 d
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
3 { z3 a) u" a0 W% ^dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
6 l( u* h& P* m7 b* m- |) b$ P' v/ cHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also; T# a1 F6 l' Y8 ?8 Z1 l
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete$ @3 T1 c I7 w
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
6 V* Z$ W2 g' Ntough."+ o# T6 l/ L+ \
---
6 B1 C2 z, k! F+ `- L) NAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom2 x4 o9 b' [6 k/ x2 D0 G% N
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to$ q6 U0 c9 N( _; K) I3 g
this story.
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