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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
5 Q9 p8 J- J" z( OBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
1 w! Q- [" |) b# h2 S) V& X) VWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.( g8 I/ {! m! h8 w- I
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that1 N+ B0 n" U) d, x
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
5 z5 d! l" z4 _6 |0 A! H2 T9 Z! u+ rsolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.2 l: G$ ^5 \. @
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential5 H7 a+ W: r, `( M- f) o- `
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
+ t- D( x6 M/ M4 bHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected' U: f5 @) i0 N, C
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and# [1 A. V- Q+ e/ l) J {4 J
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
. k: N% p( z' @$ S( j9 umats and sticking accelerator pedals.
; L0 I+ F+ m1 z% tHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal* M2 H8 |) H" I7 }3 O! L
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
. |; [( F* B% i7 E$ I1 J& i" @% }2 G. Jcriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be8 x' y2 F; ]7 r# a0 `1 w5 G
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
( `' |; P+ h' S2 X( H- K# I+ z* T! e, f) |not stop her runaway Lexus.
2 U$ {- @$ C1 J) \; k"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville," z8 V# p c' _) n ~
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
9 U/ W+ X& D. b( i0 }, o"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
+ N" V( @( G6 D7 q7 y+ RTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
' ~2 o/ @, f0 t2 @$ Cearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
; x0 C) w Y5 I# _+ K"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has( g t$ B# @; d' L) s; Q
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway% ?4 Z. X9 v4 P/ C1 H
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
3 g2 g# y' Y& Jinvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham.") b" g2 I3 r6 g8 d9 f
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
6 B/ |3 t+ d/ R9 eelectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of& H8 |* A: R- Z
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a* u9 `& q. J1 Y5 m" Y# w1 Q
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
+ p. D+ S0 P1 x9 E6 tsaid.
3 g! \$ b5 i( r' f/ oAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what) l. K' B$ [3 W
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe, i( v, f2 Q3 J X+ n! }0 s' ]
about driving our products," Lentz said.
; g; ]' k# a* f2 YThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
, {; y0 U+ c$ [: ~3 Q1 |; Z g; Lproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
8 a! O, i* t. `/ J6 mrecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
0 K, R2 t# {. W( }% vmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of
9 l8 Z8 G5 Q1 Aunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking9 p6 L8 G" U5 r& X* F6 \- d' U
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering# m* O1 }1 |$ s1 ]3 ?2 D
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of( e H0 |+ S1 b8 k8 S
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
9 I$ o/ I- c2 d; Mdown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has# w, ?/ N1 ^8 i4 \
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
: Z9 f9 V/ [1 C! K& e, j( Tof Toyota vehicles since 2000.3 ^0 h, A# e9 W8 v d4 D! m# \7 h
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
, b4 F f7 H- Z- D N; B; Fbrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he0 w, O7 H8 Z- l) C! u+ S$ E
understood the pain.
+ N& ~: u L; R( Z8 t"I know what those families go through," he said." V0 n" U& h- F l( V7 V7 H3 P
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's# }' b, W- X1 M/ d
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
( w. M" |; r- R; H& z4 {But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman. {0 N0 ]; j2 M6 r6 H0 `
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put2 f# ^- P% d- ~/ e9 P: P E
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
1 [0 z- j3 A* _, f, R: t/ V' M1 O- }Lentz replied: "Not totally."- X" Z/ D4 t6 @: w' w% y; w
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
: O! \, Z2 ]3 n- Q; D& f"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
, L' U6 o( B- m# ^" uToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
! j4 s1 @+ c2 z- E) e. Vpedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
5 T7 n' |7 v. n, `6 {0 ~; ?7 xvehicles already on the road.
1 C! p% e ~* PMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify9 b% r0 y6 K$ S N$ u
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
1 M3 r. r* e4 a7 i4 ?9 Tresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and8 E; }! F, ` ^
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
* b7 S3 d8 w2 m6 ^/ Akilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
1 u- z. E9 B# z3 u: d2 S I# _"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
) r5 g n7 Q# Z2 y8 Ztragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony r. K1 U" Z5 ^$ X2 ^$ r
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight8 Y: X3 ~' \. ] l/ ~+ N6 L
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
2 V/ W# x: K: x( X( O1 Q U; Dcommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
1 b N' h o$ F$ rrestore the trust of our customers."+ a# g! X, [/ h/ ~2 y
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
% t, F' @$ e/ @% z1 s5 ySmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
& B# A3 Z. u$ {& i5 Rzoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
; E: B' M& R2 U: Q* @" g4 e) g: @shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and, m! M" r y4 m2 D, V
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
- Q2 B5 b7 ^/ x. m3 Ythat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
( L7 L x* E8 `7 E, Jturn off the engine.( o9 {% h! E( c& C+ e
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of# Y, h7 R$ m' G: w/ }' s {9 E; V1 t% u
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience.") \2 B. I6 v6 @7 A1 ]. X
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she! |: m/ q5 B0 @9 t7 d
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond% p2 g" _' m+ V. ^' u
to her complaints.7 |/ N8 E* x. v' y
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
9 t7 ]: G8 |$ S5 c# mreturned again and again to the question of whether electronic% v: N v/ M+ W5 ^
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
}9 M% @2 |) m"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric E2 b* x/ Q ~6 X, w. ?
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited6 m/ k) b8 M" I2 F! y" G2 `* }
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
* n' a6 q6 I1 |1 Q1 W a5 c6 moff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure.", T- Y/ W7 m6 Z B6 T, f
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in) k- L, s, D: Y! `# {
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were/ I0 S9 `$ c, N& d3 c' U8 P3 o
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls/ o4 f% Q2 |1 x- f8 v) c) w
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
) w% h V9 l. t7 |5 Pevery question.": M: u0 L3 B( v2 h- V+ a3 F" k U8 @
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether) u( P% |- r8 Y8 \3 E# U- v, l
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The u4 T( ~5 V9 Z0 \; k% L/ t, s
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
* r& @& P3 w( z& n- Pcommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small
7 i& V, S1 H3 }( B! s; V* G2 p/ Mnumber of vehicles
8 M6 f9 b/ c( H6 ~Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more
1 L ~' x* F% g- d2 Q$ ~5 I/ D# rdifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
. `- C1 F& T* K0 z$ zmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one3 d0 {# T& x/ O* @1 T
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.1 |$ D; j; ]; | `+ e" J
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
( S8 e' U* J% v/ E+ ]& xwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
& t6 H, H$ t# R1 atrace at all.6 m# n& D/ V- E7 y: w
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
7 n" f7 s0 k. s" Jdatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden) m) v. z1 K3 z. W
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the+ ?- y$ C% M" {* g. Y) S7 R. ~$ Y
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.# ?$ g8 c% q2 k6 e7 u% u
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
. b5 g& R9 m8 P1 Fsaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and4 i& e3 i2 n% v# t2 n6 {
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the& ^* q" L8 E3 \( l1 \. `$ ^
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible, Y. q, }' ?# n/ R' K6 n' `
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only& x# `9 i5 |( A" n# }+ q5 P+ f/ t
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
5 r; O" K" i+ {" T& m; Uby Toyota's lawyers."
4 N+ s5 X0 b6 d+ pLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of% E7 Y0 i. l' P8 Z
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our8 W6 r. F6 F1 h9 g% M* U. M2 v- [; u
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he5 o/ ]# R) p: M7 v3 f4 N; w4 x; e4 b
said.+ m8 ~. \& W& I1 N% t. g |
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
, c* D9 U0 P: p8 f: k5 ya rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our8 V6 R8 s7 h, i4 }3 B: ^% N3 h
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating" D6 X+ z5 Q0 ?' Z
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
( R, |$ L0 L' M& P: Y4 S2 fSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying9 U$ f; n8 }9 H) @4 J8 z' \
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
! W$ _$ U* a" f5 r+ A# Orancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
4 O, U$ b) V+ B+ Z) A6 Q6 {2 jautomaker, at least in part because of the government's) K. s x M# G% L5 y6 p
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and/ V7 y% X- U5 i: p' ^
Chrysler.& v6 w7 z7 O% T' y4 s8 p
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax4 [& h+ X5 T! B& H7 D
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
$ J+ j0 F# [' R _6 F6 [Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
* v# i* O4 ^& B. M) [served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
/ A+ {% M6 F6 @% ^+ k+ T, `; Hwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty0 h l9 O6 t5 r C- @1 l, W
tough."
7 S- N- f0 p& c( l1 ~3 A7 C---! q( A- k0 V! X% U6 P9 }, B
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
( q' R; S5 y% @! XRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
4 u- H! R0 q1 u, ^4 y; Q, d3 Lthis story.
) e4 j6 I" F, ^2 c/ ]5 X x& t+ y G! M n3 U* X+ U' H5 w
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