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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
7 y% Y/ V Z; l" @By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
5 L: h% @& d+ T% Q, B' HWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.! S+ c& F1 b* H
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that! i/ |$ d3 S7 A% K9 I+ J- y# J& _
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"% |* J x. Z3 {) g4 z9 g
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.+ w: x1 q9 P% ?8 v4 `0 \/ A5 o- y/ A
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential6 L$ F0 D! z( Q& \2 `+ _$ Z
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.+ ^, }; K) w) e1 m
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected; K# o) m9 M& p' n% P8 [# N
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and" P0 B% [/ [6 d/ E% O. d- [
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
, M2 f6 z e* ]/ {mats and sticking accelerator pedals.% c% B0 j' {1 c' o& p$ Q% U
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal/ W/ s3 j# T- c. f5 \
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp1 v" U% B( L9 l& s# V
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be' u3 ^6 j6 I+ q7 [5 M8 m
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
' s! a: f9 w2 r" @$ Z/ Dnot stop her runaway Lexus.+ j9 w' N% N$ \7 w& J
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
: ~3 V: w2 g/ `% a& s, P2 UTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
9 f4 k9 O @* ~& s0 {+ |5 I"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.* v4 e8 n6 Q7 H- ~ \
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues1 h, M: d4 A) z
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said/ V' c7 Z3 W2 E4 F
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has- \, ^: E5 ?+ T
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway5 ~8 |- `/ G8 N
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's( k' z' o. s5 g+ X6 M1 X9 W* t0 }; Q
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
- G" r$ }( [, b" Y `& B- DLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an+ X& S3 P3 T; @$ Q
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of4 w! C2 v" D; r' ~: C/ v
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a4 H" x0 j& q( `
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
/ f/ Y/ |: q! p8 e/ p" \ t" Ssaid.
9 j& u9 R6 }. B3 w+ PAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
% ]; h1 f9 O9 H. s% Zhappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
) k! [) ^: u& I; fabout driving our products," Lentz said.6 S) l# Q* D9 |) @/ `4 |/ Q
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's; m9 Z% X& H3 @) e8 f! _
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
1 I1 v) J8 ^3 d) Trecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
a7 X3 @6 e9 `% p: `6 r1 d* {: F) hmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of# R- h p8 T& b5 v+ O
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
3 \# @& c, S9 D {( t/ g( Zissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering: k+ {8 i o( Q# z/ Y6 @
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of7 c* }) ?; Q$ ^/ ]
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow0 E, X' }4 V9 z
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has# \. n% F3 f. M
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration% z0 H/ C' N- O8 S7 {
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.* Q! w* E- ~# |, w. h
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own9 j$ |* g7 A2 I2 b
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
5 n/ c5 T; W1 @) G, B2 C9 i# W# d8 Ounderstood the pain.- E. N% C; `3 L- C8 v; j
"I know what those families go through," he said.& G% X* W5 Z1 q8 N' B6 O0 Z3 A
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's5 l' k, r5 U& C+ C) f; n, j
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
- A' e" Q! H, f* U& e' Q2 u8 gBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman3 g$ f1 s; l- W: u( ~- N
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put: \$ N& u1 {9 _6 p n7 z6 u
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
6 y _7 s/ o( s* Z7 qLentz replied: "Not totally.", [* u" ]% B% z0 H p
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were7 i I6 v( H+ r$ [3 q, _- V9 v
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said4 J! u. L$ J# v# M$ I+ b
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas% m4 f# E) h+ }5 a" X6 Y
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its, |$ e9 w* A: P C
vehicles already on the road.
- X/ L! P+ G2 G/ X4 IMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify% Q5 ^3 ~8 o+ Q* ]' c
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
: A- \6 B) b) P% {responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and2 f8 [6 W4 g( I! u( w+ s/ ?$ M
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
- t, `8 I; }* a7 B7 @2 j& i6 i; mkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.* Y5 D; X: {: x
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a% f. r% f- s* R$ k. f
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
5 r& d! j! i& G8 }for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight1 O8 ]0 i$ a* o( u8 Y
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
; W8 T9 Y/ p4 \2 Y0 ocommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
0 c4 x; T" ]$ z* b# K+ grestore the trust of our customers."
7 _( H; q% h6 y$ r2 i1 y! YLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from' A9 R4 ~ q4 z; t1 i: n) J
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
# q P3 J, h. o% u H/ W9 Vzoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --& R E i9 z6 d* u" w( }, ^9 d: i
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and! O/ S0 `4 m; l
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
3 K' y" Z$ b# w# Rthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
9 x: G! e# R8 t: dturn off the engine.3 ]/ R" S1 g' D+ ]& L
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
; z2 T; P3 b! r! X$ vOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
# H' b- {, l2 E0 ~1 r% N"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she! B. u& I6 ~! @
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond! Z8 i. U4 Y& G0 R3 k
to her complaints.
" l. R% R2 [: \2 Q- u2 RIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
3 H' s: S) j! E/ creturned again and again to the question of whether electronic3 v/ b) r% Y% {8 y o7 Q `
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
% J! U. J" x" c9 { b"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
) O2 g) `* U; o sthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
8 @" @8 p4 {; C1 W"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut% _) Y. s4 W% g- h3 B
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
) X9 \; O3 M5 m5 [Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
' c, V& U# ?7 Oprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were3 f& a9 G3 S4 R* @ K) y1 Z. ^ P
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls7 v; {3 n8 h l9 b- t& t$ t' m2 M- x
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
% Z! g( p2 i* P1 oevery question."
3 L, `& G4 d; o; gToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether( a5 S) r X$ q$ K! T6 A
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The7 S5 x5 N6 h, Q, p, ], {
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
% o9 U \& v( c2 q/ _committee investigators said the testing studied only a small U4 P$ ?- p$ d8 i6 V
number of vehicles
% z- \% y" V7 w7 V% z+ W5 q9 eTracking down an electrical problem can be far more
6 H0 k3 K; g1 T" g n+ O7 wdifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
+ p/ [% @5 f4 L& Hmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
; r. B+ ~. h% i; Q. S! Gsource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
7 l+ `' F5 {6 Q+ T: e0 G# ZMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
& j) S; u; R2 ~+ E1 @9 Nwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
. O8 a5 U) U+ Rtrace at all.
) ?( h0 [( \) X. D: L( oHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
5 X( @4 X u" d: _3 edatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden, Y/ z8 g) r/ a
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the* A% P8 I# m2 y) W
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.* Z9 p9 T7 W7 B* Q8 U9 ]
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,5 s: r" M- G; Q& K' T" _9 t
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and4 Q+ C2 M# _8 T; P0 H
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
# @6 k s; T( d$ {electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
& y: c8 |5 ~( C& q( n2 Z4 hcause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
% @' o, Z2 U1 @$ S# b2 ~& C2 n* u- Zsuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
* f5 Q2 }1 m& d+ Vby Toyota's lawyers."
- p# z: u# V, h# d" l* L8 u- ~8 yLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of3 o% j; v) e! b5 q2 m0 _. m
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
: i1 G0 B, ?4 n7 z/ vcustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he6 K1 N7 s$ x! Z: _/ D* S
said.
( v# n- x' H) Y* B"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
2 j) Z% }' e0 E# m" Ha rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
* P! Y4 i/ m; h6 e2 f& m3 {good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
* w+ X2 q2 X8 ~$ d( _1 hofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
- S; p7 i4 _: }5 g+ E7 f2 R" oSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
" q( f6 K, ^1 m1 }8 Z5 y: Lmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
! k) H. o' g, W9 francor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
9 `0 A# S, Z$ ?# R+ d- hautomaker, at least in part because of the government's
; h2 a# V8 h* k/ x; V+ Finvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and& y0 G7 d! S4 A0 G, D7 x
Chrysler.. T+ D$ @" E/ ~/ s. A. Z
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
) O+ y' y8 |; C0 mdollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a. G# h, U8 B9 T6 R
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also1 x- t! b+ ~2 }! u" y9 K
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
' E) W/ s4 o* R& swith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
* ?7 n) L3 d2 m& U8 l7 Dtough."3 B# }2 L" W( T+ t& N! N% }% G
---
/ _2 e9 \( _1 v/ k( U& y) f2 bAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
M7 O! B1 ]4 K& i5 r2 rRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to. m6 v- V: n2 S5 V
this story.( R5 l% g# [% @6 ~$ ~+ f; C+ E& V+ B
2 r! k1 s2 {4 c) @6 y
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