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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题" h+ y' X: H: O6 O: t) Z
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS" {% ?" t( x& x; \; B& h A
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.5 r( d5 P5 s5 {" n/ n
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that8 H- ]( h. J4 l+ k
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
+ Q# |2 V+ F! x0 wsolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.$ w* a" K9 z3 p9 V4 v
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
! h) M6 {1 r) R4 t1 d6 Rcauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
: }/ j a& N/ g9 f5 N" oHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected4 d6 Z! O+ H @) @8 h
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
9 \9 y* A# B M; B* R Dtrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor6 ~# S' {$ i; Z
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.
+ J! u$ H! c5 G- q/ IHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal% a' c2 t0 E3 x7 Q9 h( u4 S8 p/ R
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
O$ V$ c9 G- a: c6 gcriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
! x1 d7 K2 {; a3 Q9 u0 J; Yfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could: q, ]$ z' g* B7 x( G/ M, J
not stop her runaway Lexus.9 C7 V- Q7 Z0 F/ a
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
( L! {' n$ ?' MTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second5 E1 b2 i# y8 Y H
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
, `8 G3 r W, Q; u" sTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
% O" w5 O+ W% w* B; d( K) F+ Aearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
( I$ K3 v) C8 @) F7 n+ x" R"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
! G9 F3 ~8 N+ ?( X$ O7 Zdone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
6 Z g4 x( y; C" _* {through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
1 h# \/ m7 n8 B- k- A3 Tinvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."3 @& S0 l! P. @; n7 Z \
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
0 C$ q; y% x. V7 Q* _! H% i0 {+ Aelectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of1 D ?0 s5 b3 M3 t8 Z( Z$ W* R2 J
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
( ], I9 f y. omalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
?) S! i& P6 e/ Y f; G; \said.
7 c# }5 D! g, X$ V! |, xAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
4 g; ^& a H, R+ w [. Z! Zhappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
# }6 `4 q- m0 v1 Y4 Vabout driving our products," Lentz said.
5 F( T p4 a2 |/ qThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's2 I E( m; \& s5 J! B2 }# F$ c" z- k
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
% m0 l ?3 r( v, y) A) Precalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6" o* f- Y; J/ k! q& S; H
million in the United States -- since last fall because of
+ d# l! |; m; ^" @* `( g4 x* i" e8 m& _unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
5 J+ R; f9 O+ \& }. m9 aissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering1 @0 C, [* Y; e, c! X
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of* J+ |6 @- P4 w
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
. N j, M# k) F3 T6 }down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has. r! G$ Z% A' F3 t( w7 W
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
+ Z7 p* }* B9 ]- J% c4 E5 ~0 \# Q4 A/ Fof Toyota vehicles since 2000.
r. @, C* \* O4 m0 ^Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
3 K+ r7 l& u% Q4 Gbrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he8 D, d( r$ C" m. `; O
understood the pain.
1 M _8 k8 J8 q8 `' F, r7 W& @/ R3 ]"I know what those families go through," he said.
: T/ c y+ Z( ~! f$ BLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
- l( f [$ ^1 e4 sfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.$ W* N% a" o9 `( T
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
: E! ^, x% Q Q- W ^, R8 z# @Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put0 l6 ^1 N; J( ]( Y
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,& c% \# \* e& I# N0 P
Lentz replied: "Not totally."+ F$ A8 t: a+ E7 N$ |+ `$ w
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were, R$ L u. g6 w8 b7 o/ W. t4 |1 u
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said5 P6 T+ L& W; e: i
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
& E# r/ S$ v9 [8 T' Ypedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its% V, C+ y ^( F! y
vehicles already on the road.& H# J9 C! w" y
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
" P6 X h/ @; P' O3 T2 e0 I% X, obefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full% Y3 s, [; C) R" o/ ~
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and1 g$ `1 I) G' `9 \
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were; ]2 i7 u7 U! u- c
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
f4 R9 h9 U* Y! O7 P+ e"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
* Q# _' R: |( C# Z+ atragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony; {% K6 ?: v7 d2 K9 D9 f
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
% |8 }8 A4 s7 Y# i% g V2 v: lCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
) p) F# c( v; W d! ]5 V7 rcommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to3 a- Z4 S+ P8 s5 ~0 v
restore the trust of our customers."
1 V- D; P$ ~7 D6 e. sLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
9 `+ K6 i4 b+ B: G" [) b! fSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
, @- d# I' ? p+ }) |8 Ezoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --% I- b; Z( V! Q' U1 G; l6 Z
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and8 H# I3 w5 s" c( {
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
j3 [% a( G4 V. M5 kthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
1 A' I5 S! ]7 W$ [5 P9 \turn off the engine.4 U* Y3 a9 L) [, u4 K6 F( p
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
% W# E" K; p& sOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."1 `, }$ L& G% v( j& N
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she1 o% d( r" h% S3 T4 n8 R' M/ C
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
+ B! K& j* V2 i6 ^' {, A* Gto her complaints.2 F4 R' c4 c- D- f( H6 @6 b
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers4 u) n( K! a, d' a" s5 j
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic3 v* v) a- K h) f- _9 `
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.. r$ `! `/ V4 p. g# t
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
4 p- U6 Y4 C" I5 z9 t( nthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited# |& W" V) h2 q: z
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut6 c' K( b6 M! x. w" H+ E; @1 j k
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
6 ~: o; ^. u7 ?4 M( e+ H$ ITransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
. h! I/ I8 j% a: Q- q8 c4 b6 Q5 eprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
2 h% \( L% I) C/ _" o$ ]being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
" m+ t; T5 ~; D) s5 x& l4 |were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer9 s# @3 A3 g) k' s- ?( T& s; q# w
every question."" Z, @4 z, ?& w! [8 Z( }
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
+ b7 U' i% [; I% Velectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The% u/ v/ [9 ?0 w: `1 p* o
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But# O' P5 L3 K8 r2 Q1 D! t! V
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
1 d7 D/ i2 j8 O! o( D8 h$ j* R' i" {number of vehicles: t8 i$ q' h3 n$ L( q$ o& F- @6 p$ I
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more
1 h R2 O/ v0 c, P$ Hdifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
1 N; j& y( v& a9 r: N; G9 d* S C# Zmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one' J+ I/ v& A6 `
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.2 U1 h8 ~% O# D1 m6 A
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,; y4 j5 C/ [) e& w
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
& O, [- l; s' Y4 Y, i9 Wtrace at all.6 e' o p9 |+ n, f2 i
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call: i& \: F" p$ L& D% A
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
% F7 _' Y+ q' v+ \acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
8 |" c# o! M' j2 t, n! N# U& _recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.- m7 ]# r; k9 E" r8 Y3 V
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,6 b2 U, g' J. Y
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
/ C+ k+ a: t4 E) A' B9 G Dother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
) L0 b( d1 H+ R' L% Y. }: W! x4 Relectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible# z8 a5 a7 W3 v* X9 c
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
, h( N! B# `; }7 asuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained3 Y5 A2 f6 B* A- k7 ~
by Toyota's lawyers."- O, U! T9 f p1 ~
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
, }5 Y% o/ G2 Q7 d h2 _problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
5 o) l2 Y+ @% K+ o7 F* U/ Dcustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
& ]5 ?/ ?. U+ [) }$ vsaid.. K; J9 S, A# A, [
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
' l/ e; g. h* o/ @+ L. g* Da rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our3 b9 D$ g* W A
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
$ e9 S0 L; ~, n6 t" S4 m) Jofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
0 G3 t- L, h, j# e+ \! e$ T, o' H, pSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying: b- S2 I: S4 X. m4 w/ E
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
3 \' H0 ]) Y& I, ]# o) L/ s- Qrancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the8 ]) \* M |8 R* j& `% c0 R" ~$ W
automaker, at least in part because of the government's1 ]* g1 x' F* j- G6 p0 }2 \( Q
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
3 k; S; K% S) z& h5 t; R+ c. o% [Chrysler.
( N$ X1 w: J5 u"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
1 S: F& |! a/ {4 v) Ddollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
& k5 r, l7 ~) A$ W$ V2 v0 l" c- _' SHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also4 P7 z w! L9 y) x5 d$ \
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete& W r. z( E+ W J
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
0 R! R) F+ Z1 s- U* Y7 Btough."
! @; X% J1 z7 F; z1 u w---* H* ~8 u3 H$ B5 b# a
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
9 r6 m2 N- t1 O+ t4 j- E+ pRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
' ?, V( w# S3 s e' q) Y# n3 |7 wthis story.
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