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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题 T4 C1 r- W1 Y: `/ D% {
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
7 C" n# z" l9 v- iWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
C5 l2 z! }2 Z1 y& z3 {operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
% ~% W% R8 U" U1 f1 p, ?the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"9 k8 v$ k1 r Z. O
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
& d5 {5 p$ x) n3 q# A& ?: L"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
; N9 J- W: a/ W( A4 k, u n+ z8 ]* ncauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.' j6 p( T- \/ \, d3 u" l$ B
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
6 W0 S" |9 U2 |8 j( X+ eacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
4 ?% K# ]! R! M3 \% ctrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor8 k) _2 C% [/ F7 ]
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.
% k5 }% s. d7 d+ y* M" J5 vHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
& R' q R6 t, R* I5 Dand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
. W! S; z9 G' e2 `criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
B$ b- {7 R* G; }+ {- t/ nfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
: w8 P ]/ Q+ X& A6 qnot stop her runaway Lexus.7 a. e2 m! r% ]0 O' m3 \& Q6 f
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
- _5 V( d1 w `7 rTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
. N6 h$ j- ]! b( C$ I& p"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
8 e* y2 i* ^6 m& M) Y* @( u1 s, `Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues1 p& q9 e9 H. z4 E" e/ w
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said. n' u8 r) M! S
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
- r* G( f7 Z, r6 `done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway1 T j1 e6 ?& x" A7 h
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
- P( e+ q( K2 R6 e7 V0 minvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."! L' `( q6 v% ^) a
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an3 W4 W& Q$ F j2 D& H
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
4 }1 {* ?3 G" s1 p6 Gthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a' g* B9 @6 W7 @+ \
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
3 f- E' V$ R' {1 U8 g3 Fsaid.
# K: B0 ?+ p& C5 v1 q2 {0 ^As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
; j. Y# r# y% b7 F- ahappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe5 {) I) T$ ]4 f" H; |7 i% G6 H/ ?( p
about driving our products," Lentz said.
1 e, `- J1 ^2 H/ ~Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's) j( F% O) ^! ~" D2 H8 O
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has4 T& W3 u& q, G. [3 ~5 C
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
/ C7 K) @& M9 X( _" G, O! Dmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of
$ P. m, K9 R! _& P! I. kunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
1 N( Q3 d. p- n8 {7 e" t- S* R8 Bissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
; A/ V" J% j3 x6 `' }. k9 s/ Yconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of3 Y- Q2 _# k! i/ f+ l6 Z5 D
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow- Q$ s6 k% j) }+ }: D4 E
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
3 K( W3 T1 m, l+ C4 F& d+ `6 m* Xreceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration7 g( K* z. b0 u; Z( a
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.
1 }7 @6 v% G8 F9 A+ x5 Y7 |Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own6 x8 S3 l) @. I8 G/ Q8 F& q
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
5 e& |) }/ w* l& N$ o. K/ Munderstood the pain.
- f, J- f& A) R4 s2 ^/ H"I know what those families go through," he said.
' [$ [/ y2 b1 Z* C* [Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's; S& {& C4 x9 A8 b
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
+ ^& X4 [3 t8 rBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
& Y3 h& N; s$ c; s3 c+ XHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
# |9 `% l0 I$ w' N/ U" g# i. Jin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,: j, S$ I9 O/ I- B7 {
Lentz replied: "Not totally."/ ]& W; t9 w. o+ h
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
0 F* Z* W1 t9 G; m. D7 f"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said2 S, D7 ?8 t3 L. p2 b4 E
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas; b" _+ q1 H6 {3 A7 k
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
& G1 T4 V9 U3 B) d. rvehicles already on the road.. m% k1 q4 A! O+ U9 s
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify, r5 m5 Y. M! C3 T
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full/ W4 q$ P; e$ ^3 k% i9 v
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
$ ?: h* E& F% woffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
8 p% H, v5 O+ o. okilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems./ w: @8 ^; }6 |% m( b
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a. v! X4 o0 u/ `0 e7 `
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony2 i x7 l# i H S! L
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight- b) |3 Z0 N8 ~: R0 H8 d E8 g
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal$ G M; ` z; t l8 [8 g3 ]
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
* x0 W/ n+ C* k7 t' Q: s0 Z9 wrestore the trust of our customers."
$ e6 p. K) ?8 _4 x0 z3 H9 g1 ]Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from4 n4 T/ u4 q0 D4 W) P2 L5 ]
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly& }; j5 k9 H- n# @/ j7 ^
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --1 j, e% R* ~1 L9 _
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
& q: w& ~' P0 R# Jhitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough+ R/ T$ u) z. i) N7 [
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and: b$ y* }* _4 R f9 U
turn off the engine.; d0 J/ I) N& U: b9 D+ |1 o4 d
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of/ t3 P) v! l) M6 u" q4 T- l& _
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."* _0 u& o# g/ U/ Y: l
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she8 T6 r# l& W1 d& M
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
% P( a; H `1 R. L0 e3 Eto her complaints.. |$ W: G5 T2 `* }
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers* X O- n2 I: s* c# ]% Z0 i4 i
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic: b: F0 n! d! M5 d# b7 J. `6 V2 V
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.9 i$ ?# w5 G7 B% l; @- k1 L
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
/ o9 D# R o7 y0 V9 Z, qthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
8 P7 h' s; m' B1 T"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut4 G; f5 j4 q1 r; v3 w& n- c
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
& n+ A+ R& [+ c, I8 B: mTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
8 E* F' t* G+ c9 [prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were7 o9 w. n: q" z( u% c: Q
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls4 n, v$ Z9 D3 L- B
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
+ K: s" c6 ^1 gevery question."
$ q; \# j! g, U) s2 JToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
, x# p1 V, l4 W, ?' @2 F7 telectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The `' u7 t) n) S9 y# v* n4 W
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
5 }: n0 I! K6 s7 }. y; Lcommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small
$ U6 R4 C% T7 A" E; Bnumber of vehicles* |; K' q% B/ K$ [" n1 T6 G2 Q9 n
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more
# e( m8 ~0 L6 s4 Q% N9 b* \! Sdifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a0 J/ ^7 e7 y7 q/ p, X
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one+ S! \2 _, h* o6 A; O
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
_' N8 Y7 f6 E: w3 xMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,1 U7 ~5 k" d+ \7 m
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no% {/ W6 y3 k" d; O/ D0 x
trace at all.
' J+ ^2 H; G4 r4 P1 ~House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
! ^3 _* o+ X0 I3 Gdatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden# ~. V5 l4 ^6 d8 c! R
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
% J/ K' E( S/ |( |; n* Orecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
& a8 ^) w, Y" ARep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
P! Y0 P3 ]8 J9 o4 Bsaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
" @& K% S: M) l; T) ?) Cother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
4 d; J/ Q4 d& V! Ielectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible$ o o& P& J" B* E" R7 q
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only# Q5 e2 d" s. T- v7 T" @
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained7 K2 u" r* ~; ^( o+ W3 t
by Toyota's lawyers."1 Q4 ~! p$ Z: \5 o, k; @: M
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
8 p, u/ M0 J: g/ Aproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our+ d r# c5 \( t, Z V& ` j1 M* O3 p
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he' ]* L/ M* o6 f. U
said.: K I l+ _0 |+ D" Z: h
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with7 @2 w% \9 |, H0 |9 T" v! ?6 W
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our) c* b# Q: g- ]: |/ W3 I& j6 z
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
. V. J( _7 C2 ]4 d; w3 q2 nofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
7 t- @% c1 k; z! gSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying" W" a% {% j. n2 S/ Q: `8 [1 j+ z
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
1 r" z! ^9 y a7 G9 Trancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
$ C4 L- u) x2 k& g% pautomaker, at least in part because of the government's3 w+ F, T6 h& C' c
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and& E6 x8 c9 I1 ?& R7 H3 y2 J
Chrysler.
+ D4 e9 i; O9 S1 @- E"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
! m( L+ W2 }/ }' \" Y$ A7 ~dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
6 T6 z7 y6 d" i5 IHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also* |8 b' S( g0 h# p$ j
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete% u# m j5 @% l* X6 `
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty5 W3 H9 E8 k, F# {
tough."3 N# T9 n* F3 ~3 v1 O
---
0 W+ k6 [' c- V4 i& {/ a; EAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
, r0 U2 \8 Q m7 rRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to8 H. R7 U# e0 N, g2 j5 x
this story.
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