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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
3 g: u) L, _6 G1 tBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS! y$ M6 F5 F) y5 H0 i
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.8 \/ N# J9 [* l5 y s. j t6 {$ `
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
& T( g- v+ @/ i2 B& \# `% X* Vthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
: e8 I; V5 h0 L& `4 wsolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
1 D4 u4 e- e! l( s0 Q" u8 B! b"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
) k4 E$ u1 s$ b. b' Qcauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
) w, q- w0 f- c3 D+ `However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
7 Z' m6 w- l# g# L2 I) j- K5 ^8 oacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
6 n( {! X# p$ Itrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor5 a6 y+ j# b. l) C, H$ T
mats and sticking accelerator pedals. q6 d L& l# X+ u1 l# j5 x
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal* A& E3 d% Y3 ~2 ^5 ^$ d
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
0 W$ g) f% V" \2 F1 \" _criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
0 n* U9 d0 N0 i N$ U3 @# o: mfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could5 P4 \7 \6 S) E" {4 X; i% g
not stop her runaway Lexus.
6 S7 ?5 k7 G& g- W! I8 P"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
7 H6 k2 j* `& I' O8 `, qTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second% T6 l% T& N3 V; k8 u
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.- T+ o9 S4 t) J8 F" t4 L/ Y
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
9 U! j2 b% [" [3 s" H/ nearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said3 |; t! ]$ W9 r/ h, F
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has" `. B5 ?' F; b ?
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
& L# H: N( X$ q3 H' T: Qthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's0 E3 S' ]5 E4 w9 _ q" f; o6 g; u
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."" f, k' i, l: Y. a) d; `6 ]
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
* x% S/ O- ?+ W& Zelectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
8 m z3 G& i5 I' R# Hthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a& b' k3 D/ ~$ E& s- n
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
% R' x* ~4 P- V% F/ c6 k0 ^5 zsaid.5 a, T+ h! ?5 b$ m
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what$ o# v; R2 Y% @% m- j
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
. z, V! K% E, ~3 d) d3 }9 dabout driving our products," Lentz said.
: {& J) F& O' x+ \0 `$ cThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
7 @/ J9 g; A6 @* n5 @# \problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has$ ~& ?5 K7 A' a& J& [, t }2 m5 E
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6* L! r, P, [0 [2 E) M* ^
million in the United States -- since last fall because of4 B2 F( e/ D# S
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
4 s3 ~5 M* C6 X' tissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
/ D6 c9 g+ | x6 L( R. Aconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
! a' V/ }, q" R5 r$ O2 \their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
% y3 D8 Q) v9 |' }. Z$ {. qdown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
% `3 j( _/ }2 h- k4 xreceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
# C; }+ T3 Z+ ~5 c% g5 V/ n* zof Toyota vehicles since 2000.
$ d; u7 j y/ R- V8 ULentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own& f9 q3 ?* m( W4 F U9 k
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he) ~8 e+ J6 \: C8 r: c1 S" z7 d1 Q
understood the pain.
. g+ W) k7 {7 }1 C5 E# Z, ]"I know what those families go through," he said." E# x A4 W2 L. n' A
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
+ n* y. {4 U7 i- x5 [, z4 Kfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.; O' v) H" |& n. h, b
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
* \* J4 T% l5 `4 K WHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put, u2 u. M5 v6 d
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
$ D" q; z$ A8 OLentz replied: "Not totally."
# v* v4 b# [6 w% n5 j* n, IStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
( ^; q: R: @, F' Q1 H1 X2 g"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
" x _ B' i( ]/ v, Y: L5 TToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas( `' T' O: _0 s# B# X# d" L6 [6 ~1 N4 y
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its R. B; d" M. ~* q0 n6 j- [; l
vehicles already on the road.
* @) w$ N# x& G4 kMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
* o5 I" y, }( v# L% H, l( ybefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
# ?6 X6 \ q g7 e3 ~responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
5 O+ ~, X8 M6 d( e8 qoffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
% \, Q! Z7 U. z F; J( Akilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems. Z! i* w& d; S0 B" R
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
3 g7 b5 V& @( w O/ Xtragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony" N# l+ D9 {0 [6 Q. S3 l* p
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
, q' n0 l) E: h5 K1 iCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal& i, |/ z# V7 Q
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to# u. T4 a. u+ u m1 y% ]. r9 h8 H' W
restore the trust of our customers."+ o+ Y/ L0 S! {2 q" [5 p7 J
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from9 Q# `6 K" f7 ]* y
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly" e3 `& e, n% ^" O) k
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
6 Q8 X! t8 r. S# X5 Kshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and: |' D4 V J% l$ Y1 P8 F
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
" d4 i4 I2 I6 ?1 ]5 z" N" {3 k9 Mthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
/ J4 y; D% p' k6 C' s0 Iturn off the engine.& ?: m+ Y( c; P
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of0 K% N/ J k" e& c6 x
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
' k, @' m1 o1 C"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she- Y, C+ o3 K9 i8 A8 ^7 J- j2 [
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
" ?- Y; C8 \ N" i# kto her complaints.
3 r, e; U$ j' w$ G5 Y: P: oIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers3 m! d4 ] V! b7 L3 c- [
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic- l- y4 E7 a0 \7 A; A+ h
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
' n2 G# Y; p# q, A9 B6 N& S"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
. n/ o$ b+ {. n/ M0 P, j$ uthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited- O4 C X' g' l0 D& _& N) x1 t
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut; f/ o3 b+ R8 e9 u; a
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
: c9 q" ^( {$ a5 T+ N0 RTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
) s! F, j/ l) G: y2 nprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
+ d1 n. U, C1 w+ M$ _being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
3 E! c& |( B8 r q/ \were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
$ E5 u6 ?+ t& Q% xevery question."
9 U$ U+ |4 k S5 l# c4 i" G, QToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
' h7 I \: s' T6 z( M* E& o) melectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The: M+ |7 z- @$ [, B8 x' Z: c
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
~/ }) @6 V' V7 y/ ^; ccommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small; D# G/ \: s5 A" x
number of vehicles6 ]& ^3 p# T$ w. q9 f1 f! V3 _3 W
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more: b6 ~& w) q7 i9 |' ]
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a4 P- u) ]* Q0 E5 R* T3 Z, F, L
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
+ } L: y- V& s _7 Xsource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.' X% ~4 ?* S" x4 J9 n
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage, A7 N( I7 ?! L5 C! p0 k
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no4 B0 ^# ]5 k: D) P/ k
trace at all.
8 ~; s$ c: }1 I& L# J' ?* x; _House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call5 @9 z" P$ e8 p. y6 B3 C. x
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
# Z3 d+ m/ ]. p/ C9 @# Bacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the' C0 }% C* e: G. j( Y/ V
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
. [' g3 e& }; @& W1 CRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,3 z% x8 Q! H; ~$ j7 x# a
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
8 E5 g! P5 |) i. {other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
, f& h4 R& [% o- @5 q" melectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible4 x9 k: p6 B& U# \0 ?
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only) y2 z( B4 S; G O& R
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
( u, D h. M% v) H. ~by Toyota's lawyers.") G/ m) t: g0 M" R! b
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
5 v/ l- F# [3 J- f9 M4 j! d- g n7 Dproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
+ W, N2 n) d0 k7 u$ W0 `' R) Ncustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he7 r1 H1 @8 u( ]- @) E) n- d# d3 m
said.
. c6 D U( e7 B6 V, ` B7 C"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
/ i7 N7 J: i; v7 F8 N! ma rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
( H9 q* w" a6 q4 vgood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating, O& J5 z- j! \: T
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
* f- }/ f; I3 F3 Q- j: PSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
6 }& C7 k5 G- g, J: c% ~members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
; Q: A, Z- J# I, Trancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
2 b, ^- \, |1 ]* ~( H! f7 Z% g+ fautomaker, at least in part because of the government's
3 j$ T5 f$ l, t! Q! _4 v" o; @investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
0 x: t7 ^5 F% Q6 S' Y9 \Chrysler.
; R! B5 w/ K/ N"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
3 m( T L4 M9 P" Sdollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
: k y; M5 \& |( z1 [7 LHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also' b) ` u9 M; O2 m6 d
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete% d+ ^; `1 B, @6 ]" g/ ^7 b
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty; `' Y2 A' u: I2 \; w: H
tough."+ b: Z/ h2 o- o+ k2 B
---; g. [( h' v2 I
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom) b3 @: \! F: [: |
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
% V* n5 _5 U7 t4 } ^this story.
8 y5 L# J+ s0 H' c1 @0 h! [; U% @( X( ]. W2 ?( y2 |( ~3 N
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