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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
) I2 x, H; Z( X- w8 fBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
$ C( }/ _( G+ f& n% _8 TWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
& V6 K! d6 T0 E) }operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
$ j' u" f( x. |6 hthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"3 v0 O- v7 S/ K- l% u! f; D3 A
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.! e* u' O9 D) z: M1 Y! p
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential, N, ]: E& J* j# j2 @7 }8 e% ~% G
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.1 _$ G, M! j1 M2 [( Q
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
& v. ?- f* ^/ \) o$ Jacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and3 U+ i! u) ` q) v" ^3 m
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
) Q" f) @ P/ L% U# p+ O/ qmats and sticking accelerator pedals.' k* H" t& d; C3 F- d# k3 d
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal7 g# G$ [$ V% E h0 n/ w
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp( R( i0 f+ Q# P0 k7 A
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
; X9 i' t9 A# O: i% s1 p9 X7 ~further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could8 A7 E: K2 ~0 T- v3 m
not stop her runaway Lexus.3 P6 N* I7 z1 T% q( J: X
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
1 N* i$ p+ t: I* I/ a) O, Z+ z5 U; iTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
/ r; j; }$ r) q; V"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
2 l+ Z0 }1 B* y; z8 fTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues: i4 r' h1 |0 `9 d
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said- x6 Q! m( I- R/ m8 Y$ A( |
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has4 X/ ?5 |* F0 \8 u+ G; O
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway' g/ S6 ~ I- F9 i( j9 w
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
+ V4 }* J, |& w/ J+ ^2 ?1 zinvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
) k0 R2 h/ z; b' [0 K" Q2 hLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an% N w, q, [! l D0 U+ P
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
: L! c( m1 C+ f. kthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
4 ?2 D, V' p8 b% n) pmalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
+ h, b D) n9 T$ d4 Ksaid.
6 k* b' C2 d$ d _& uAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
# Z0 {: a, B$ w2 p6 k* nhappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
: |* V2 Y- |5 d labout driving our products," Lentz said.* e& h4 C6 c( d; ]! C
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
7 F0 H# G" \1 R) g7 V1 `8 uproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
+ v4 M. Y5 b# U4 Drecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6& @: O- f3 W9 u5 S; y7 {. k
million in the United States -- since last fall because of
- P) u0 {+ I5 iunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
: X% u5 l% R) w- i' kissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
" n- K3 q1 C; }$ uconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
( Z! ~+ w6 @+ o1 R3 D7 `, w" Dtheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow- q: o( G( P. W9 Y! W b
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has# W0 x; C# Z2 s
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
# S5 L3 q' h5 L( a* r8 tof Toyota vehicles since 2000.
& D! U t6 ^2 o* p5 U& LLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
( L; h3 N$ P, Lbrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he$ h- T; E0 ^0 [% S6 O& K
understood the pain.
m% {6 X; ^' N3 d1 q: k"I know what those families go through," he said.. B. o+ R& I4 M; v: V. j! j$ w
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
9 f) N' m; x( `; [fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
" s" u- L! W* {( qBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
' W! Z' d k/ v! S1 G. E; ~Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put, r1 g! R% o+ m
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
- a1 ~# v+ T! r" a% hLentz replied: "Not totally."+ H. a; C8 [# {6 S9 `$ k0 p
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
# z5 A: E8 ^# {8 ?! C9 Q9 D5 x"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
& r5 _5 r1 i5 a' q7 UToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas$ i8 e" k( ^" O4 r
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
' G" K- r5 J- q- Z k9 \# d* e$ U8 Bvehicles already on the road." X( |. I" O1 c7 \# [$ H0 j7 H
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
8 v b7 c- h1 v2 I' _, o; M Rbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
; U1 a9 f& o6 v6 h2 o/ _: \responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and6 m# X# [! V/ L: U, _0 f
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were% ^, Q% C1 a2 V
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
( a" l) t: \8 o' t. l' R7 G"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
) o! n4 [# z( m5 z+ c" ytragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony( G- i" d8 l9 z V
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
2 g% u9 C$ h8 h9 J$ Z$ ECommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal. L# G8 R3 K7 q. g- u- ?* K
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to: U2 E: @% h9 O0 [, d
restore the trust of our customers.") e& t2 X# s3 a
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from7 Q8 w! N( \" W" ]6 Z
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
. n: c- j, J& rzoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --/ {6 T4 y" t& m" V1 p' S
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
' x3 f8 }3 Q! w3 Z* a' W7 Vhitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
: @; u, A- |+ mthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
3 c5 x4 t9 E7 z) V# Uturn off the engine.
7 @5 I5 U, J8 `8 e2 n" l8 R4 ]Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of4 d8 m1 a1 d0 u9 W8 Y
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
% V6 _9 y# {' _5 d5 O* X+ s, N"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she8 z; h4 W" N2 t; x' E0 B
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
, @5 _( Z7 K- a* `to her complaints.
9 P1 ]% [% y% X2 |1 A( FIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
( v+ h) |& M, U7 Y7 U1 Zreturned again and again to the question of whether electronic$ t3 v* k$ ~8 X1 K
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.$ }6 R8 [5 I2 M2 l( _( l( T5 V
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric- X' B' t% b Z) e, L
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited$ e$ h' ~. b' q* L A
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut6 E+ [ ^7 p( B2 b. f7 F
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
4 E, ^& H8 B; xTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in/ O3 z, E5 r0 j3 A% k+ O* X
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were9 e# n$ k) _1 _: _( h( ]7 ^, r
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
, |) u- |" v2 p Iwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
- o) S! U- U' z/ Jevery question."; b: e2 z' t7 _- ^6 v
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
3 @# ^+ X4 H- O7 nelectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
$ M! J5 c/ O% [9 Rfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But7 n7 J* ]1 y2 H. R( E
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small% l/ i' A" P" G0 q
number of vehicles
- t( [+ _/ ]) f8 w% UTracking down an electrical problem can be far more
: M1 ~5 e$ Q9 T4 U3 ~6 L7 F" j' jdifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a1 U" z I# d: l! m8 {& ^& D
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
- U' [7 [# g8 d# X4 x3 ^; }source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
i* K+ I2 W. t, Q7 G, A8 i$ AMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
: P5 X2 F7 p* c% _where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no; \9 E/ {$ C$ H* ]6 d4 d
trace at all.) C" q5 ?3 w) Q; Z
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call2 }! _2 I6 p: H' P
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden4 S0 |8 y( p( l& z3 z' f
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the2 p/ F( z/ A8 ]: }2 c
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.; Y1 ^( u/ A" {9 D$ l
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee, A* P n* N. O2 ~- d! Q/ e
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and9 }& X$ L/ {& N# b/ K
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the8 @. k4 D% B5 |5 p1 N& c
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible# A, R3 c t/ B; m$ _
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only; Y+ z0 p0 T4 n. g
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
1 M' R* f; M/ @3 P2 lby Toyota's lawyers.": y* H; m3 _' C+ |
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of* \: J% y( O8 i$ J7 V
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
" y x K, I4 E4 t! z; jcustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he! n3 K" [9 i2 T1 A
said.
) a* o6 \5 h- f; j"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with V. M! E( L3 M! Z# Y8 S( V
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our' f" \9 a! ^8 S- v/ F0 }5 W2 ]
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating, Q, R) M# V: b7 \; Q. N! M4 r
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc. E6 N/ l2 ]: N& X$ Q
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying, B' q1 ?8 ^! Y, Q$ K
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread! c* ~4 e; b- j0 `
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
`) {$ j) [5 N% Tautomaker, at least in part because of the government's
7 T M1 u% L7 z" ^" Vinvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
# B* `8 ]; k/ l9 {$ KChrysler.3 V e3 G; i6 x! x8 m3 X# Y, ? c
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
9 V1 Q2 n; u, F0 odollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a; K6 z' l8 n* m6 ~# d
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
0 {# e' ~5 H- O iserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete# g& O0 u9 ~, F `
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
* |+ F9 R" V6 Gtough."
- ?7 \) p0 ?0 {0 \---
) Y2 p" P) v7 C8 d0 M8 cAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom: r# y+ B. I: O. V3 u
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
! L* n5 k6 P0 e* ?5 {' i; rthis story.: @$ i- G' t: F6 ^0 k/ L/ J2 x% }% T7 }
% U1 |% d; b/ P: ^
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