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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
{5 I% ?! T" w+ B8 dBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
- i" I7 L4 c$ ^& }% ^3 m* f% g* RWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.5 ?# @; X' X. e( Y! O- F6 ^4 p
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that. A) R, j$ ~$ x7 {% w
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
0 c) x: t$ V* {4 \, H! Q: Nsolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
9 \( X1 b" K/ g5 w9 G7 B"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential6 h' n2 v4 l, Z; i) \0 g+ R( z
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
3 f. |. `# Z: \+ y @) ]) S9 a gHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected, y4 H2 g, x3 k/ N* ~
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and. i/ d: J* i/ Z& U# q! s) o) ?$ j
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
' H2 _" h/ d! Q) |. hmats and sticking accelerator pedals.
& I3 T, t% w. [8 D& e9 \; g5 E0 _He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal: G6 _6 K4 D' {' | a
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp* v0 R7 m& `3 Q* V
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
N3 g* F5 h1 I3 i% g7 W! N" Qfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could# S; B: ]" U/ m D. v
not stop her runaway Lexus.' }" f6 g) U, P: w2 x2 d3 }
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
- _ ]5 p7 B9 B* w2 mTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
+ S8 d f( r0 o"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
9 ]1 Q& |& e$ w' ~' D; L6 X! ETexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues/ p( N4 O& K% r$ x# N* V# s* c& w2 a
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
: W9 o) t& c: R* L. {7 u0 l: U7 {"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has% \1 I) M+ Q& i5 K, j
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway' m- y) U: a! r( H3 V
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
$ B2 K' R$ y0 Q5 }8 z- Z7 kinvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."8 p4 b% G/ D0 m G
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
: v) b& Y% L8 G. oelectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of! R/ d/ c# e( b6 P1 R
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a6 u7 Y$ R! e" L. I
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
' @+ `1 R& D: z- z4 u, Q/ ?said.
, l+ b' D, G h$ N" y! XAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what& v/ _; R# v( H A2 _9 U4 _
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe" a$ _4 q8 s- Z. u
about driving our products," Lentz said.! o+ X, N! a3 L/ U6 Q. l( O% v
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's- G8 I2 e) Q5 v6 a% {; W/ }0 ~! W6 K; D
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has$ a" u5 j$ L7 k6 M, D3 i: T8 R
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
. P8 D5 Z; ~7 h- X" omillion in the United States -- since last fall because of O5 p, q/ ?5 s( b/ z( }
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
L. D4 N6 v8 L: N) Z e. Vissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering M0 u9 B# c* s
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of6 y6 o! C; c: R5 l
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
/ @+ X6 C: y- i0 M3 v/ _down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has$ J( n: t, ]8 _1 B# d) m
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
* V3 k" |. v0 |9 N0 |- z" J9 ^of Toyota vehicles since 2000.
1 G8 }5 \. `# D6 gLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own1 \2 U7 O) a( ~; Y: `$ g
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
' R" L2 n' @% O5 nunderstood the pain.( X z+ e9 r f( e8 o% g- a, G
"I know what those families go through," he said.
! l3 w8 ^ o4 G& U0 n4 _' e7 ILentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
: z2 g2 G" m' o0 D- Efixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.7 S9 `6 F! ~& h8 M4 _7 m+ Y0 a
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
& p; E8 F# s0 l) ?5 [" z$ e/ iHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put1 V* u3 C" X3 V/ [% W. K* b
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,# j# h2 ^8 D+ ?. `' L t
Lentz replied: "Not totally."# @& a: y+ q& w! ?) i$ y" J5 V$ M
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
7 _7 x) p- P; U2 U1 E/ Y$ U8 H% C. F"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said! c: v2 A+ |- W; |+ P8 p
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
2 t; Q% K, H1 f! a: s7 c1 Ipedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
$ U8 ?& c6 D9 W% k* B5 R7 |vehicles already on the road.5 }* ^) \/ t- _ v) N/ A
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify7 m( s+ n0 N2 D* q4 ^9 J
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
) j ]4 ^3 Q t' Q+ f6 C3 L2 ]5 jresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
& c, Q( P8 z7 o& F% V, H$ F xoffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
. {' ?* o* U8 B+ tkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.! \) U0 N1 V- s
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a( J' D& W! h w s! p' X
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony9 A. |- ]' \- ^' M% A9 M
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
* b" K K0 f5 a/ e, zCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
% w+ q2 O' Z' L, z6 K4 q8 i3 Tcommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to4 V% H6 s7 V1 `! ~2 X* e1 Y
restore the trust of our customers."
4 l p( {: o5 z9 }% L" ULawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
2 c. f% E2 Z- N5 C: y0 _Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly' r6 r+ Q- z0 W: w
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
( N, z& o0 D! i- bshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and) w5 U1 X" ~: _
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough) H3 H- E v/ c9 H3 D+ M! t) r
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and( ~: I' K, v& s& s3 }6 D
turn off the engine.
# \/ t# ~1 M' f5 F! H6 V( @0 GFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
/ s) b+ _- z) @7 i) n% xOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."( e& Y* F1 T [1 W+ I( E
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she8 j) C3 f7 P# T# G
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond& @# j% Y1 w9 |* P2 @
to her complaints.2 d8 ^/ B: I N1 M9 ] q
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers o- }$ E! M' n3 s
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
! p/ t5 s% K. I) m4 V- j, Vmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.! h2 C7 n! h5 }. c# W B! {
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric- s0 s: T9 t+ t0 j D
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
j6 r3 O0 p+ `5 R% @! i7 `"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut) o, [, ^! A- r/ y: T" _5 U
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
$ ~; P# o3 h" ?, ~! j6 _% BTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in- Y% }/ _5 ^0 o1 c0 a- A/ j) g" b
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were. N; i( x/ Z* g% x
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
# l" F# A% ~, H* Rwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer) f* e* f5 I! K/ l" A
every question."9 L/ `' R+ C. V3 S8 i: g4 J
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
3 }9 l$ x+ x6 \4 d: q) z* b! w+ Felectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
! R1 U+ K: S7 [: E( r0 f( `firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
' |7 s" h+ k3 K% [# @committee investigators said the testing studied only a small8 F8 e0 \8 P* k/ F) o- r7 u( b) ~
number of vehicles/ c# U7 E9 L8 G9 f
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more
/ }" U3 |, Z- P. r8 M( R# O1 G+ pdifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
. |3 p) Z% a1 Y4 umechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one; a2 _- i# O( Q3 p# U; |
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
; O# J( c1 h+ n; t( N0 Y7 TMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
1 {* O8 p/ M* j% B5 k% w0 rwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no) l# [, S/ M' K( k
trace at all.0 T& o6 l* E9 L( u
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call- t6 V) Z4 o) T. {
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden6 ~6 s( U) N+ B) Q
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the6 t. S+ m/ {0 c5 L! {
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
0 k9 c8 H. e; A9 `Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,) [3 K( M" I2 z4 [' O
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
% z: h1 Y( ~( k6 o" j. Qother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the+ |) D4 ?: O$ R' R2 H
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible: ?$ [( `$ K( K4 k
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only0 ]4 T Z* X) O$ F# X
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained G+ P3 Q) ]0 ~. R
by Toyota's lawyers.". t: f; v' T. I3 F" D2 a. ~
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
( b$ K3 m3 a( @9 |+ Eproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our8 Q7 ]& s9 ^+ x) {' H( T, L
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he1 {- @. O% y2 A
said./ n. N8 L9 F( m! S' L
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with3 H+ P7 S) x% k% s, j: |& q. V7 w
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
5 @* _4 G# A4 x0 ]good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
! }3 v( J0 o Q5 {( K/ S" f. Yofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
) o3 i: L0 S9 R+ v; H* B# y3 K& FSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying" `: G7 r" g( D' |3 o/ O# j9 `
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread k* Q9 g5 ]/ b% O& X
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the9 V2 ~5 P$ v" x) S2 P/ }1 |
automaker, at least in part because of the government's8 E( ^0 D D+ |7 K% n# X7 e$ [5 K$ K
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
% A* O& X# i U2 @# b+ rChrysler./ U% Y7 O- t4 E- o
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax2 q$ H7 u2 y: D! t8 W% T+ M4 T4 W
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
8 r @ h* ?0 Z4 ~Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
7 w) Z+ ]* i- {5 yserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
( c2 T/ c0 i) ~5 f% ?with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
4 z8 R9 F' r% p) U Etough."
) M, U# E$ y, {3 a& V/ v0 F---8 T2 I$ S& H% X. ~
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
% O1 B2 F. L, NRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
: v5 w2 k, x$ }( Hthis story.
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