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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
6 d+ S5 _- m7 g8 A4 T. K) _By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
0 Q& l! y) U" g2 O7 A% xWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
9 h' b! x4 G9 O% eoperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
4 l% F4 M- ] M; D8 w" V: y M( Hthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"- _: N+ r. V$ j
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
( N4 U9 O# n2 W; `0 J& h% J* N2 a; u"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential% L3 ]2 F4 u/ J/ ~+ b6 R8 l
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel., R* C( P8 W) B- R% W) V3 T
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected$ A/ v& c7 k- V" |0 O
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and) y. s6 B0 P& ]$ D7 T
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
8 O" l! W' n6 a* p0 J/ F( _mats and sticking accelerator pedals.
& E: j; C+ u2 K; Z F9 J$ }& W0 CHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal+ J/ d/ j1 U* R# ^# ?# N K8 ^9 h
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
# N+ @& S8 f4 ecriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
7 P6 _ T8 n( n0 R: {; I7 _" @further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
& M5 E7 o& N. ?8 N6 k0 onot stop her runaway Lexus.6 T) o6 S" i& Z
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
$ t0 `9 C) f) }1 ?: jTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
3 t; h2 b7 H9 q3 D6 z W"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
8 K; F* g& e+ e; J" Z& d7 ZTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
2 A# D3 o( ^+ |: c& \* I( ~) Wearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said, F3 r4 t/ ^! c5 ?
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has; V: d5 ~$ Z* {8 O& ]( ]8 ?+ y. q
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
9 r8 G2 [1 l* L, qthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's' r+ [) v/ z8 u' `7 Z
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham.", ?( M6 A) S3 \2 Q) J
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
$ L) T! T- ~! k; Z0 O6 c$ celectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
8 v. n/ j L7 A+ j+ G/ @# Othe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a' o Y+ V+ E3 z
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he+ a: K7 c- L( z
said.. o- G9 z* i& P; {, O' f( ^* d0 [' A7 ~
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what& {* x( B, l9 F0 E
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
% ^( W8 @2 G) B# |6 n C; zabout driving our products," Lentz said.( u( f" `) q3 B: v
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's6 _$ U3 n4 r" I
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has. M L4 o& t& f- X; d8 D \3 l
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6$ y/ J5 o( R! ?" y2 j4 J
million in the United States -- since last fall because of
( Z5 L" l' Q$ a; W6 N; w4 B- wunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking3 u# c B" Z7 P4 }! r8 X5 S
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering; M- ]5 ^/ G! n' E9 r
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of" i4 {. u& |# S v4 E% ?
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow* \. w# f) \& T1 J" \* l: L
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
0 H- m! s4 |; \' ?received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration3 K6 w; b! i4 Q2 ] p
of Toyota vehicles since 2000./ d% w* V" ^+ k' N8 \
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own/ o1 D9 i7 ~2 n; X
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he6 z. Z) k: q' m( z
understood the pain.& c6 Z$ L- F0 r. _& T9 e! |& n1 W
"I know what those families go through," he said.5 e6 u( W2 V5 o5 S8 I+ r
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's7 S2 p2 e5 h# P; J$ V" T1 ]
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
; R. h5 _$ m& M% M5 ~3 eBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
) `/ b6 ?) `- D, e( b3 ]Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put8 b# Q& v# y: V; O! P# G/ _1 D( d
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,. u ^0 E2 q) Z6 B" Q
Lentz replied: "Not totally."
' U. b+ X u \4 f& Q. k% {Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were' |( a4 T! e2 ~* a
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said5 z# V' J C: [1 r: [) J
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas: r) y- [# `7 a& U) ]# [- U
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its# f X' }5 i" r4 Z# p w. C
vehicles already on the road.. V. L: t; ~" u4 o# ^0 r! a
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify5 h) b0 N! p# L# L
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full, _- {# j0 @; g t! }& w
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and1 V1 ^0 i& o* G* r0 Y/ f
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
$ T6 B8 N- ` J1 p2 T8 L( j' bkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.0 h, c' F4 U( ^8 Y
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
3 z. e# ^* l- S% [tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony3 N4 W9 k, ^# z5 O: N$ `2 y. `
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
! I+ e+ n$ S& ]3 |% `! \: ~Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
3 i; z( V/ @( r0 ~! Scommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to. j7 l( g& _7 I! ?" u
restore the trust of our customers."5 _1 X; p2 p% }( C7 n
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
; N8 t' v7 a! C [: p* LSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
( J7 H+ F9 ~; [* tzoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --3 z' n/ D+ _# C1 X3 f( w1 r
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and4 Z1 K% i$ d" K8 j
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
1 y a+ B3 D7 Ythat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and, a9 ]( O8 v% A6 R- O
turn off the engine., {9 b( Q. A# O( r: F& K3 q
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
: Z5 G( y( }# `4 f' k l! QOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
1 v% `4 M+ P/ }4 C# t K! \1 \"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she) W, i6 C) N& _% |
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond2 E$ h9 h4 o2 j# H3 W* G0 k
to her complaints.
' @, C$ S8 S* N: \: `& p* c# IIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers3 I7 Y) M; i( K% z% f
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
2 t% `$ Y/ A9 E2 B8 ?3 Z! S: gmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
8 n7 z. X# p f n"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric7 v2 W& l* ^' Y; k* d
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited- ^" o4 B" }$ [
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
9 o: V% X" M( l' f" ioff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
" ^* R8 q5 [7 K% h" e( F& L) ~ DTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in8 c7 q6 [: D5 J* x T8 T9 ~
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were/ F( M9 A$ r/ h+ t. J
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls% s7 t1 F+ n0 T3 N% K) h- b9 ~
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer1 S/ S- k6 h+ a1 H
every question."
8 l9 h5 o" b0 i. @! qToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
$ l7 a* B% U" M: m7 B9 h, R' A2 c2 welectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The. B* U/ N0 h! @) o$ y! Z7 p: m) I
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But% l' c' o7 }- Y4 Z0 n" m4 t/ v
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
1 i) A( [& r. t- x% g. s9 t. [number of vehicles: O. T J6 F8 g3 c5 Y6 C; W
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more
; E* K% K" q6 W0 Ydifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
# u" Z1 A1 A* u, Q3 Q4 {mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one; W0 S, x' C8 N9 V% V# Z$ k/ s& j
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
7 C# G: h, L/ N9 e$ q: E6 ]Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,8 W( k: h3 g: X7 A% v9 X% [
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no( s+ B! g3 Z7 F! M, W7 z
trace at all.
# U* Y# j( K4 }, y) h% r dHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call; O; j; h0 P O
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden8 v) u' g( _; T6 Z% Z A2 P
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the# t) h" o7 M6 D' O# a) U* y: y
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.- L& g* u6 p0 C$ P& N0 B; V
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
2 A8 |" u& h. h$ nsaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and) K5 T9 {+ i! t! ^1 G
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
" i$ `# ?) `+ {6 Felectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible: ]" ^: o5 v7 E# g V3 G6 C
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
3 o& j, v5 C4 S2 b$ B. P4 Psuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
3 b- b- r9 o; }by Toyota's lawyers."
4 ?3 k7 u$ K2 t& b( J6 mLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
6 Y9 b! S" m9 e$ H+ ~problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
8 ]. y8 E1 J" Zcustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he0 X' h' o' h N3 t! J+ [
said.
8 a2 L% V i a" d; _7 ]"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
0 l/ o5 K$ C5 `a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
- j' @# a' o8 d4 [( f: mgood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating& j& `$ `8 J9 E; o5 U
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
6 G7 J2 _9 m6 Q% m: h8 r- qSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
% r3 h; @7 i3 N5 g6 amembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
% F) u4 Z" S: Urancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the' q) r3 x: L' g& c% S& O4 D
automaker, at least in part because of the government's
1 W3 x3 ]! w4 ginvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and" g$ M& w' C% x( J
Chrysler.
7 l, o& Z- d7 [& o6 ?"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax4 i1 ?2 ^ ^& `" d8 S4 W( m
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
$ C* y% I7 E9 y' {& ^4 _Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also4 K9 D' O( Q0 C6 o
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
; j: O" R( y. G, h; L# a) Lwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
! X( R6 [( w' I' \5 vtough."/ }, T2 X6 z* z0 s
---; r! \- W" s( q/ T2 C( n
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom* P/ ^0 }, V' ^" @
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to" @8 c/ I/ x" t
this story.( k1 G5 F* _: n
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