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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
' R, e/ Q6 N5 J& X5 BBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
( k8 z+ l% j9 k6 }. oWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
2 z/ m* n) {$ d. y; zoperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that, o$ f' Q. T7 K4 T( k
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"( V0 |6 @* S" B5 l$ d
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.; v* ?! ^/ i4 }9 t4 ~3 `4 Y X: A
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
8 m- A6 C V$ O4 U* Xcauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.) B8 |1 D. G4 N2 u
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected# H: V: h2 V; ?5 ^. h, z r
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and& m8 D" Q* Z6 q- u) r
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor( Q2 H2 a9 n. R
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.
% k0 _# V4 ]: q4 d; r I' `& ~He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
+ r8 y9 a6 a2 Band fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp1 Z! }7 D: A- H( A5 L0 l! e1 r/ c
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
, P. s6 x0 |$ rfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could3 F5 Q, u( V/ o$ W" M
not stop her runaway Lexus.
) L8 v& E9 }6 z# j3 |. y"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
. O. b4 Y, S' d: QTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
4 o2 X& V3 O3 D"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.5 M6 w6 @! {0 Q& S# S5 l
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues3 n6 Y5 ^7 H. `( k
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
& I7 M: U* z6 ?6 ?"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
: I+ [* H- h% Xdone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
7 H* o; f* Z" Y, N% athrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
, c5 X, ~7 c2 {/ V4 Qinvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
2 F1 S+ u# C) vLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an3 D8 M5 x" Q" B, }, C" O: |9 C
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of$ t2 s4 n9 }/ P0 c% }
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a* Z; @' x3 x+ t: L
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
* p. }- a& S, Y' J4 Isaid.
- L! O, v n: Y8 Y4 t/ y- WAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what; B, q; V. E( v! |$ `3 _9 J- V
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
( w" h8 a6 }- A) Y' X5 I! |about driving our products," Lentz said.
/ s& ^) S( J. O6 a( W) i7 aThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
. e8 p' Z8 w: ]9 kproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has1 r9 |/ F3 W- p9 l! y3 o3 m* U
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6& K, c1 a1 B1 q; F
million in the United States -- since last fall because of I1 Y5 G3 u# ?) B) K# Z g
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking) L( c# T$ ]5 s. {$ v& A$ m
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
+ a6 V& w% D* I" r/ k7 U3 Sconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
( W& L. Q; j9 |8 R' i5 g$ H( U; |2 _their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow7 ]; {8 o6 @! a+ E
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
1 q( f5 }6 H0 z. c& d: Z1 `received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration$ ^3 n: |& N, h# z9 J
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.+ f9 \* U1 Y7 D7 ~
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own1 E$ @# e+ D6 q0 d, z0 M+ p
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
/ @) b6 ]; j$ r4 j4 j; b1 T! kunderstood the pain.
+ |9 g. n3 Q& m% m B+ Y. t; Y' a"I know what those families go through," he said.# v/ k$ K- I5 J! a r$ f
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's5 l( \# ^; s, i: k
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.) y2 E$ s, \" A, `5 ?
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
9 U( J0 i; {" B/ b; UHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
! h5 ^4 J: D8 N+ P# B7 Iin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it," T! W% r% A0 _- }% B0 E
Lentz replied: "Not totally."5 k' m( d4 {2 Q# k0 a# Q
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were& h/ J$ n/ j) q% G+ p) t# S Y, N0 d. Z
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said/ h( L) u8 g3 ]5 U# N) T
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
) v' H9 E6 `# J' x: {2 z' mpedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its k# q, Q7 U5 g$ }+ d( R) R
vehicles already on the road.( g- r* Q. P: _3 r
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
0 @% A2 k$ R- U7 R S$ R% @# ]# wbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full( X) V. A5 t$ W5 w! r4 h2 Y- L
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and$ @9 g& }! X, R' C
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were6 ?" k" W. Q5 b, d
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems./ h+ d, h; D \5 d
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a4 F1 f' B7 |9 k$ I, x6 a+ ]
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony( u5 L- n" f4 U6 a" ^
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
" o8 X. _3 m4 J: @" Z+ G2 ]6 @Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal6 y) Z( J0 D$ F$ N3 H7 Y2 w6 [
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
) t* ^+ T& j1 F$ w8 \+ orestore the trust of our customers.". m6 v3 s; L$ h+ \+ ]1 E
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from/ I: K1 _' F$ m
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
# r Z5 }. |3 czoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
F' ^$ K9 v, Z' d w6 nshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
5 p4 \% Z- O# P, R/ f' g& qhitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
; W. |! V3 K& ^- c, ^ }that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and4 K* w' U/ z" S& b
turn off the engine.
, W T0 M3 H2 ?! j& uFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of( ?; \" v9 q) K% |2 J0 K' h: k
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
) {9 A0 E+ M" T# v$ j# O6 i/ f"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she8 f) ]- N2 ]; O1 F
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond% i$ e) _. h. ^2 z* X
to her complaints.
9 p4 E4 \. m, X1 vIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
4 H, _ u j% R# T8 V9 G/ q) ^returned again and again to the question of whether electronic" M9 G& }6 G4 |+ j" Y! b
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.) M& f) G `) c! S$ c1 X3 l4 I3 }6 Z
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
9 \0 o0 x! F% K" ^1 K7 sthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
9 f( ?1 _* U) Y"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
9 x3 Y4 r) J8 h' q% |' eoff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."8 t/ W7 O* _ }
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
7 ?+ f+ H5 k4 S. X; fprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
+ `5 e7 G' y" V/ K7 m- P+ O Gbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls- N5 b, \% K( m% o, R
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
/ |; e! A7 K1 qevery question."
8 @! u$ K8 |/ L, w- LToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
+ L) A$ A8 q. ?8 _* welectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The7 `9 n+ ^% t0 b7 |/ J; F
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But: o" S2 Z3 m" Q& Q0 P; c5 X
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
' ~+ c& S4 _3 x6 v. f( gnumber of vehicles
- ]# p4 P* S& U0 \3 uTracking down an electrical problem can be far more+ Q1 G) p% H3 k& B! X5 t
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a3 f% G" r2 B; l: x' m
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
9 N6 J! P# v# D D/ y6 fsource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
: ?/ C4 i B( n# i" ? H/ _Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
) X2 y$ z6 T: K+ \" L/ k5 E9 ewhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no* _) ~% f/ F8 y% ~/ J9 B8 S1 Z
trace at all.
% w& U0 \' Q) \ C& k2 V1 yHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call' g2 a1 I0 `1 T1 R+ @) L
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
2 H: |6 t6 v( L; ]4 G) e8 ^/ J( gacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the6 Q* l: v7 e8 S& F% N
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.% x( C& {0 q( l, _) d( [
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
9 Q+ A& {5 [& r) |: }% }said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and# s+ R2 e' _ B: N) u+ a; J5 V
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
$ \7 R% I0 \/ kelectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
3 ^" U1 I# o+ ocause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only( d$ o U, J+ j! j% V' O
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
" h8 L7 Z6 a0 t: s( Xby Toyota's lawyers."' s5 K. s# p" o& a6 [) u \
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
/ Z: V2 x# o7 Aproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our% E/ W5 B( _8 g
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
3 V* ]/ a2 z) i( b* rsaid." W$ e' i4 c3 W9 y( ^
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
! h2 f3 Y) b" a8 ia rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
: X2 g/ F2 Y- }good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating2 H9 ~% J1 X6 r9 {
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.4 \8 |: G! A; E) M: ?4 P
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
$ q+ p' Q- e2 B. i0 r9 cmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
. b+ Y, Y, @2 R; q/ y+ s" x$ brancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the; r$ S- g( Q7 Y! V
automaker, at least in part because of the government's7 C9 p/ d3 ?3 X: w& X$ j2 E: ^
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and& Z, ~' p2 p! y0 e, Q
Chrysler.2 R5 F- A% k6 W
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
7 V' ]9 V, L( E1 E3 Kdollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
# a F* A. t% F+ I* U- [Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
% p; @3 } c/ R0 [0 kserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
9 ?: Q% w j9 V, e" ?8 }6 Uwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty7 [& h& ~2 I L% L) Y8 P1 f' m
tough."; C) G, B; {% J5 T: u+ o% f
---
% Z' T! j$ J) {. Q- I6 qAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
: w r) A; c/ N: H/ f8 pRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to$ {: C* U5 K/ ~; k1 B+ g; G. f
this story.
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