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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
2 |9 z8 S" P1 S5 A1 g, `By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS; q; E& L4 C1 [3 C, e7 y3 }0 S
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
4 ]" ]9 R# b1 [: }. Qoperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
9 Q- l* g3 ~: z4 ?' R6 [$ athe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"' w8 K8 B" O: V, m) i4 x, }. T
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
5 [% F1 e% R8 ?"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential: g' d! H, g( O% J# o
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
' o7 w* X1 n) J' }$ w2 g+ ?8 c6 fHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected! G# h8 {, v. E4 z3 y) z% u, p
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and {! n* \: }- b) N
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor' f+ W% M9 |9 J6 u8 }
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.& }8 j R; _. J; d* }7 D$ T
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal5 c- b/ `/ e( T9 q b
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp* M2 h; C9 e' a( E
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
, {5 [ A$ }% X/ Ifurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could5 G& _$ ]1 L- E& V
not stop her runaway Lexus.
6 f/ x9 b2 U2 V"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
6 \5 }9 T+ T; k0 W F! S1 v# STenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second4 H+ H& {6 s8 w9 f" r8 @+ D* g
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
# l9 \. d9 G) a4 ^. jTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues! v6 t4 H$ w8 b9 t% `* x
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said( J* _" O- `4 V X- w
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has6 J5 U: v+ d1 K
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway, X2 ?/ a6 b$ ^5 p2 E
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
- t: R+ b( c* N- l' iinvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
- F0 G4 M- v( aLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an* Q2 l W0 L. k) D3 w
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of5 l4 y# E; ~ N" T8 `6 P9 B# b
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
* p8 B: X) F* U' }malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
% R1 I; o5 a# ?7 A% L- `said.
9 I% @- R# w+ p8 j" \As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
z+ z" }2 s e( E1 k6 Y; qhappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
4 _1 e( c9 O; Y( h8 ^& c) r, Eabout driving our products," Lentz said.
* `$ c$ p9 F1 I% W. [- r9 A+ dThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's$ X; P# A7 a- Q8 D7 H
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has- `' P1 q0 P% p0 c/ j! {
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6# [, G$ \5 K+ X+ B; E2 r: R
million in the United States -- since last fall because of1 q! l" H9 M L6 n
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
. W6 _6 D m1 O5 P8 c6 Y& m' xissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering4 }3 p" W7 @/ Z! e% `( |
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
: r! o3 T) S$ V1 ]' b0 Ctheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow( o/ c# O8 ]8 w& ~/ @7 `
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has/ h5 _8 q5 q! p
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration3 v( D! o! W5 I8 E8 X' ?7 u# M
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.
9 ?. K1 u9 W; y, w) bLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own5 D4 {$ X1 l$ \( W9 R) G# C
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he# [1 C) F) i8 a" u) m
understood the pain.
v% w# R: B- x2 |: X+ f"I know what those families go through," he said.) W, S! y6 n6 {9 W
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
" ?9 U5 f9 E) q) _/ H! o, ]fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
! D2 \2 g- E& r2 N% tBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
9 w$ M; }* h' Z* S3 p AHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
1 @1 }0 d9 `" M' |7 Min place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,1 b4 X& p5 z: `1 Z f! n
Lentz replied: "Not totally."1 v/ A! L B/ S
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
/ @5 w/ H3 p! [* ~: _7 g"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
+ |) l4 P- W9 d& GToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
) J; ^4 ]5 f9 w a8 Lpedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its. z4 d. ]# T2 C% y; ]: k7 U
vehicles already on the road.3 q6 C _+ \3 K
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
% x y, Y* v: m: P& P* Hbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
, y0 Y4 d0 A- q; Q0 a6 ]. O' Z4 y' Hresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
. j3 F& n5 H' y/ E9 Voffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
$ W. Q+ u. g) u& lkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.0 E9 Z! P0 v+ e1 ^; b
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
5 @5 k+ \0 O% x" r2 W/ Ptragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony" \& D! U$ [5 c& _. X1 L J
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
" P& }9 k3 c$ t4 R# D5 {+ ~: JCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal! c. P, p2 F1 W" ?
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to: K0 e; a0 l9 Q$ w8 C! r. d3 |; G
restore the trust of our customers."6 h: F2 V) d. T
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
" C1 F1 ]" T2 o6 a" z3 ~& CSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly& p% ~) d- L/ h
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
' p; l" b, @8 Tshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and. _* e. ~( {: H% G, L
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
) k* G# f4 y g" z6 ?that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
6 x' }1 m/ Q3 u; `( Kturn off the engine.
$ n# s- P% P* H" X. U7 N8 L% ]$ ZFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of- P2 y9 U1 ]8 s$ d7 \% J
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
7 ?1 Z4 h* i0 F8 f# g+ n"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she$ T6 a- _- B$ C; S3 J# ]% a) U
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond! C5 ?$ \, d. K# E9 { }6 |# z
to her complaints. l2 B& V6 r0 Q% a
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers0 ?7 q0 m! G+ f
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic% @) n- K4 L8 ~5 \# e4 |" O3 T6 `
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
- t: w2 C; M8 z: Z! x6 ^( Z"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
% R8 y( y6 r4 A" J8 U" p( \throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited' ~( J C! K0 l* `
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut3 l# O5 o. o. r8 E! m# B9 p* b/ I
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
' b* @' F% J9 nTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in* c- v; o& p7 X- B3 I$ K5 k
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were% Z8 C) }) ?/ T. D
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls$ `1 W; F( b0 g, {" `) p7 e
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer" _9 K1 k v) v, v9 X: E, `7 \# [( J
every question."- E% v: l, X1 O2 I( p+ B
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
F9 h6 q0 c- R0 u2 `9 j/ q6 [" u; Oelectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
+ X+ E% [. r: Y+ G9 Sfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But+ Q# t& g; Q5 e0 N `
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small! T" H g- s5 R" D+ |2 B* i& k* R
number of vehicles& q+ V3 l- c, B; S8 k6 [5 Y
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more
6 d6 z/ {- Y5 D6 W9 k9 fdifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a* h6 i( g Q, i3 n
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one! P( H" q: d( e
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
* v/ N" }+ m1 x* H) m# U( JMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,4 C; U7 a( v* C- P/ Q1 K) J5 l2 ]6 O
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
$ [- L: Y8 H9 G' }- e' dtrace at all.
6 G( @# `/ k6 |) PHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call! j# Z/ H; l7 o4 p8 w' ^/ \5 z
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
" b. Y( N. t- P& m. |acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
& A5 z( i; {$ [2 ^0 _( P6 s Yrecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
, A* }$ p) T2 N, ?* D3 P4 S% URep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
8 z8 I ]2 I8 Bsaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and$ Q: {& f/ v1 S/ `$ P
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the3 F3 {; X2 G; q. R1 e" J4 a3 \
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible+ g- {: k( L2 U* R+ {
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only6 v6 o: I$ N z- W
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
5 w' q$ _0 W# I0 d: y# r8 Rby Toyota's lawyers."
4 {# _2 R4 p. B7 r( m, \- oLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
1 Q) ^7 |/ a X) F6 W7 t7 Yproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our3 C7 F! @: s c, h$ C- J
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
' \, z7 n; p: o! c" ?said.
( ~& v6 Q8 c$ u& l+ R2 ~"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with/ p3 b) X5 }8 E7 i
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
8 i" ?/ C& Y( W1 b3 Jgood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
5 V1 ?0 h$ \$ J+ I9 Y5 ?officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.( s& |5 k$ z: y; Z# x1 V) _! F
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying/ Z l- e* Y9 a& r9 M: T+ X
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
$ E, d; g8 G1 Q5 G1 mrancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the9 {. {, r0 G" C/ }# @# `+ J. K; N
automaker, at least in part because of the government's
- o6 r" M5 _) x9 {1 D K8 Ninvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
! e) h: k; _3 h3 H$ [Chrysler.
. E: F% H- \! v: `"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
! G) B' S; V2 Q6 ?dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
. j0 J( @% l2 wHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also6 l* y" P8 s- Y
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete7 i, H9 a2 j2 M8 j
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty! y9 j: V+ T+ h0 t
tough."
7 V4 N# q8 Y) x$ {---7 \$ Z. @. N0 a6 E
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom& b/ n7 D+ u9 m0 O
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
3 b$ L- {, C9 [( \6 {* _this story.$ p" S# ^2 L S4 t" b2 R
4 ?& j2 i) V9 m% X* l0 l! O( j
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