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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
: y5 U I9 t4 |$ ~% ?$ x/ z6 ZBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
' Y7 k& p# r! V3 x- TWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.+ H' e8 {9 N3 f5 v, g8 w
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that$ f+ K1 I; |9 Y! g5 S
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"( i% K. V, f/ E1 \" r& A5 n& v/ u
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
8 W% w; J/ Z" i2 R8 i: W& Q1 g"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
9 V% W4 t5 T: K# x9 K. |0 L, Jcauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.4 e: L( f0 J$ ?" k! l, m
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
0 N/ D) X* ?! l5 f1 |3 s$ pacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
* [! N9 u) f# dtrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
1 m: \' w" @ Y! tmats and sticking accelerator pedals.. q: K+ C2 M7 v, k" K
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
7 [6 G9 x9 C% T8 U& band fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp3 G" g& v: g1 w# t# g( ~$ Q l
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
3 w( }9 ?3 w0 _6 Rfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could6 n& ^8 h* [/ X$ S- E' Z1 a1 ^
not stop her runaway Lexus.* t9 |+ D2 ~, Z
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,) ?' l5 W3 M. b
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
6 B4 k" w2 I+ F( E" z"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
+ _; {( H1 t9 M. c: qTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues. q/ E) E+ n9 ^- t4 p' C2 f
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said) |$ V+ s. Q, C2 S4 p+ Y
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has1 q" ]. m) ^. c' P3 u
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
! D; o0 ]& ]; H: G; p4 ?2 ~( p6 E+ sthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
! v/ g. r0 G& Z1 linvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
" a& y5 i+ L6 D; PLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an k2 S# A5 H% Q6 _& M" q
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
3 k+ I2 _* n1 X( J% Q4 mthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
' W8 z+ e# @% k4 E/ w" C3 R' kmalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he) W% A9 D, j9 X* R: t& l
said. c0 p' X' Q1 @# o/ [9 q
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what, `' W8 M/ t! F+ f0 V% A
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
: G; Y3 ?) g' Oabout driving our products," Lentz said.
T4 C, V6 A9 X8 J; [1 GThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
, @. s5 i" p& D2 N: t( lproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
" o H) c, d6 H. O4 Vrecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6 }5 c/ S# V. O7 ]- A/ J: J
million in the United States -- since last fall because of; k; o6 n+ m, Y, b
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
! O- v0 o2 F7 Yissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
1 |+ a( i, `4 n" I8 r( R' ]concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
2 A9 M' u* ~+ R" i# T) _their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
" g+ i% [3 N) A, l- g5 W) udown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has, L6 w/ e9 w/ e' a
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration) O8 h" Q1 ]0 t: Q f
of Toyota vehicles since 2000. r4 d/ @/ K; J! a5 c, [6 q
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own3 A+ X! L! V% m2 N m- {* B2 W" l
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he$ x, ?# h& D) S" v' N% e* ^( c, R
understood the pain.& \/ z6 F* j# l) Q
"I know what those families go through," he said.
% r. }3 T e: L! |; ^$ g1 XLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's, x W2 L( J" |
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems." |/ d. K# e5 q: e, a9 x
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman$ V6 B% \% f: F7 E7 l- X4 S& V
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put2 }' B* V- F+ G6 o% u7 t. J
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,/ U% q' I' b' |& W Q
Lentz replied: "Not totally."
1 h6 o! w; L& A3 k' Z0 _( iStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were- I- W) S9 h6 w
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
: Y9 w; r. d- q. p, sToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
, m( D: l& e, C9 x$ W' q* Cpedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
0 @# Q, y( M$ s# uvehicles already on the road.
/ h9 L" r) Z* c, W8 |Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
6 B+ m& ?$ t+ n4 S. |1 A" Cbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
8 M8 c# P5 k. s# n# M* M u$ Kresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
1 j* b1 i7 B, l/ s/ a$ \offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
# I* P* j% }/ L; ^4 l% T' G! g+ s8 Bkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
( M3 N* l6 M6 a9 i$ F# [- ~"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a) u7 l( j( M" y: c
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony" g# K/ [/ c9 }
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
- ?1 Z0 v+ l* h# UCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal" L! |% ~9 E/ r$ d0 i
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to8 l) [" E4 C- h1 _4 j+ S# c
restore the trust of our customers."/ I" j7 E% V: b
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
/ M! D$ b5 q3 h$ a* K+ S( M, cSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
( e7 C# |$ A; o( l# E$ Uzoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --! l! ?1 g2 \& x* w8 B
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and# ^# d/ A! R3 D) E3 j1 B9 U
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
v- k: u W& `7 l4 [6 zthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and: i7 q" h( E/ L- _& d" |& D% D
turn off the engine.' } M4 h/ f: P- m, s. G$ d- L
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
% T r( D4 d! U/ `October 2006, calling it "a near death experience.", p* |( }/ x1 s& i
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
3 Z! ^6 Y% S1 x; F/ fsaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
. E2 R$ S/ l, R e+ h" Z# |0 n, q5 ?3 f; xto her complaints.
* {8 ~0 V6 B/ w# o- P' iIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers" Y9 B8 L3 C( ?8 k- u0 i
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
- `' I9 |9 z" E* imalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.6 U& i) y' O( _; R2 U4 _9 P4 Y' g, E# i
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric1 M3 b! [7 Z7 Q6 C" J6 W! `8 r
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited5 {6 n8 w5 j5 `0 \7 n* c6 u6 T
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
! Z' T+ u' C! j! Moff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
9 v4 ?* o* i1 j5 f1 PTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in; t: L2 T* B. f) h. [5 b% w/ L {
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
! F6 e/ X$ a- ^& r9 {6 O. Gbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
$ | @, K; I& H+ pwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer l% a1 x# ]" @" D$ w$ ]7 U
every question."' ~, L2 g, ?6 X$ J" E3 l
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether7 s$ X9 [/ b3 K. M. E# X3 S
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The8 H! p5 n+ ]4 ~8 {. W! @
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
4 V+ N3 [3 {* E; `7 s# D6 L( Xcommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small7 S, ? w2 K6 ^" w7 a- Q
number of vehicles* F2 i, D8 _" k, I! X
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more) V( ~, y: N [( P( M H/ R H5 K+ k
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
9 z3 N- r& `; Q; f& W# Amechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
% O8 Q+ U$ X- f% gsource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
! a2 g6 z h- ?7 m% e, FMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,+ q( w# i& o! M P
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
4 a% e( E5 v+ Jtrace at all.
, ^+ ]: a' ~. _House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
) t. U9 D0 H7 ~6 D; _database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
: ~& Y# I6 z/ l, `acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the- S2 D$ T4 Z% i N$ [
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.3 v( X% I7 |! V0 Q
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
2 G2 j; U( D1 x3 V: \* w1 @ f8 ^said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
3 R2 M/ N& j0 i! Kother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the0 o. d) e' o. _
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible& @5 Z! A* @! \0 L, N: x
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only L* F8 V- f* V) W
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
+ j0 D' m2 G. p$ |1 W) nby Toyota's lawyers."
9 ^0 i9 h0 s# e1 d$ G& kLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of( W6 |" {8 p, O* Y, f
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
1 }) s4 A R' S4 |& `' z& Wcustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he+ t1 |* P. Q+ R: y
said.8 Y) f' y/ D* [$ [: V" [- t" `" }+ q! r
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with4 t- W; Z& r4 p$ V8 Y$ ?2 T
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our3 x* L! ~* `; j2 Z9 i
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating! p! d" `! J2 I7 D
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.; b$ A0 J) O* h4 N# h
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying% N) }/ s8 R1 m0 v& B
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
9 J1 v* i# D! Q/ x' francor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
) @) o$ s4 V p! A! A6 Q" pautomaker, at least in part because of the government's$ v5 A4 ]% n% v6 Q* F# K( u" W
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and' I( f& I( T9 F
Chrysler.% ]2 u" @2 r" Z. s7 x8 J% `+ V
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
5 i& G1 U/ ~* l) Kdollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
/ S4 |5 p% c/ M5 g& hHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also; p* `2 S4 q+ m# K) ?1 x7 g- |
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
' ^+ C7 w0 \# _0 m6 Jwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty/ C* w; a9 v( C: s
tough."% ~3 }% q5 l8 X% W. X% O$ H
---
9 P9 R5 S5 D* {; o' e4 A; B3 EAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom3 S6 Z o6 K% [: F- }; d2 D/ `
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
0 M( p/ C# P" l- \; Q3 b ythis story.
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