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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
, V; z$ `9 [$ Q z' [. rBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
6 t: ?6 B# d7 ?9 j0 B$ A" |' dWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S./ A1 L+ \; @2 V
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
# n% c4 h, ]( h0 V. _the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"$ O E1 t4 l' a; u: B2 K
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
- o3 u( W% h* y" W+ O5 I1 z7 X"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential/ F! ?- }4 A: v* u8 w( Q7 h- s: [
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.+ D/ [+ u# J3 u' f4 ]
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected9 d$ w1 ?- S+ [- |1 R
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and+ _& ~. M# v. ~' s
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor" C$ o$ u: b1 W6 V: G
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.
* }* Q( H1 c6 M' r, oHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
& }* I2 f8 \1 J% V' _+ v/ Qand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp7 `. K& t& l5 x/ A6 V
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
0 K/ K3 d$ }9 q0 qfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
* A4 h! u8 z* I7 f2 G qnot stop her runaway Lexus.
O' l. n5 S# @% W1 w4 S"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
( a3 R( {: G. x' T, G. [6 J* R' m* wTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second1 V& B# h1 x8 }
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.) F) J7 {$ w. s9 V8 m
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues& {* c/ H" U* a% u" f; J V* m
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said: O0 d2 Q+ g9 P0 C
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
5 ]3 s8 W& y0 {/ Ldone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway+ ^! F# }9 Q g) o/ y5 l6 F9 n
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
3 u5 \: U; K& k/ M8 D! |investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
" `6 D# p+ y# ?Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
& h! F; L; B. d% M! uelectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of1 v, C; D/ z! i/ s0 [3 j' c
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
1 B9 L. d9 u# T6 zmalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
/ M. T; V" g: r6 Q& W L8 asaid.
* D1 D6 z% a- q1 p7 U4 F1 lAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
" B/ L' ? R( U Qhappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe/ d4 L5 c; W0 j6 B' c
about driving our products," Lentz said.
, N8 M7 Y! a+ K8 B2 C6 @) JThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's, d: m5 |2 N. ^5 x
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has& f0 M) g! H) \! b3 L l) n
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 61 s' W* v( E3 B2 `2 b
million in the United States -- since last fall because of& M5 b8 O9 P+ u3 E6 }, g9 K
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking2 Q! h/ ]8 `, A2 C
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
( g6 A; I0 ?9 l4 f3 x6 z* Xconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
% t) W, F- b8 L9 L/ C3 X5 Ztheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow' _0 ^: t" `' A+ L
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
! L9 ~8 d& T U4 o# X. B5 mreceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
3 s+ c; L* B I5 u# wof Toyota vehicles since 2000.; j" X5 S! P5 k9 W- {: G$ x
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own( ?9 s5 `- ?$ D; g$ O
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
! i/ A; ?+ |( b0 }5 [6 w4 e! B& Vunderstood the pain.
# ~) ]) i4 }& \. ?; ~1 C- c1 ?"I know what those families go through," he said.
$ A. l) K" _4 w! R+ G/ kLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
( x* }2 P" Q2 W8 Rfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.0 o* r, {+ s) A) D* K
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
" L7 C+ d1 X2 BHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
R- j& M7 e/ J6 B2 x) i2 iin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,% b( j0 K/ D! `) R: ?" V
Lentz replied: "Not totally."
. n' k' F4 J% B5 rStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were7 k. q4 R* g e' s
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
4 E& `# T4 a8 a* R ~4 UToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas& e1 c+ T6 N7 P: R% i+ p( R: Z, G, g
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
5 b( [$ E$ ^# K8 p+ A* ^vehicles already on the road.! C. V1 h, N) R7 G# f
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
- h' `7 w3 |* ], r$ a. Dbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full. `, }9 ?3 U2 N& R- m- ~
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
2 i2 Z6 d8 M7 j6 w' J' Poffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
; g( j" j# N+ I- t, M5 @' Jkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
1 s: v; K3 p$ U; z6 a$ b"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a; f; t4 c' @% z# f# A8 G# d8 p
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony6 a' L [+ ?0 @8 W
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight& i4 v* ]' X) K% T' S) b3 _
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
+ y- I A" y; z) `& A+ n% k ncommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to% g% ?- r8 z$ o% ]- E" [8 X
restore the trust of our customers."
* W) a$ H. J }, K+ w2 f4 T- rLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
, V/ |# Q" `+ Q4 Y- q* l3 WSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
9 B/ T" s1 O4 ?, `# j0 Bzoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop -- E4 Z1 g, H" H
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and, j0 b1 H" I9 T# x6 a7 p# }; V1 _# R- ~
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
- m9 l- K& ^) m2 {+ j% ?that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and. U. I! R7 k& P) U" X4 q
turn off the engine.% n+ p. J" X9 z) m6 C
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
: v7 d0 e0 O! x- S- UOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."# W$ i; W" `5 s- D
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
5 a9 t" |* g% L9 d7 Y0 ?3 y2 Csaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond; E( c/ V1 E; C0 G- J: r. ~/ M; ~
to her complaints.$ `* f$ G1 G8 u0 D3 f
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers- l! q7 e+ Q3 P2 |3 r
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
3 L; Z: d! f! o1 }8 vmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars." w X0 N5 t% Q0 o
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
0 J& P+ ]/ X6 c) jthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
( R0 g4 X* M; l" Y- x. I"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
6 D7 ^; C3 [8 f. q' Woff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
# d! C, j9 t2 l0 STransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
) N' c2 O1 I2 z0 ^2 Mprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
; J0 Y2 m/ }4 ~" M& tbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls/ Z/ V7 o( E* ^# |" R* x
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer# M: L0 K3 c+ Q# v9 ]% w% p, Z
every question.". C4 e7 W2 \/ f, ]8 ?& d$ s
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether' P1 X* R8 C. ~" C3 C7 H; Q9 H
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
2 v( ?$ y |! ?+ A' h$ b5 W/ R& jfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But: O7 a$ m' O4 Q+ d. ?8 d& w
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
+ Z8 N$ q5 o& B. Y5 a% ~8 j* k1 ~number of vehicles3 R g4 {+ \2 Q2 z* Q0 _) z
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more6 b, y6 o# k3 y0 D/ b- L/ M3 D
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a$ r6 s( n' X g, U% [
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
5 `4 r8 k* L% a0 }source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.7 Q& l f C5 P M1 q1 W
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,) Y$ H2 F5 ~$ F& h
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no& c- s" h% P$ k: H/ n: j' V8 c' W
trace at all.+ M- Y8 v. n3 K9 }. {: \. x
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call2 V" I$ ]( P% S. ^0 M
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
4 q/ R8 C) V b$ macceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
7 V6 F7 A+ O1 a& w7 f ~recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.$ Q w# | P% i4 [# T* M, \. L
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
" X3 O8 p- o$ A# N" r+ h: hsaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and5 E6 t N( `# @) x
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
# A u. a# C/ delectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
, V! s8 S+ P% a1 {) q V' {0 ecause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only6 A5 @7 o1 w Z8 c# D; {" C! [/ ~3 o
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
) H' L* l. ^* c$ n5 o. @7 vby Toyota's lawyers."
" q1 S$ E. m, K/ o7 yLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of+ t3 y3 B, {5 h- M* l. |
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
: ?9 Y( P$ ?, Q7 Xcustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
6 }" A6 p( j3 U. D9 V# Msaid.
" }4 |+ P, D7 a) `( b8 d/ _"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
" {6 s( h" ]- ~0 s5 o( C' [a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our2 N4 j0 J, W$ D% m; }4 O
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating9 w T; ^6 o( |3 K, f
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.6 J9 n# J. b' S$ d% \
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
- W5 R( N/ I, o$ ?members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
6 M; W0 z) Z% V Q# c% |" ?9 Arancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the% w% a h f* q1 |' S& N
automaker, at least in part because of the government's r o1 M; a6 b& P9 ]3 _- {
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
. Z5 x# f. r2 W# H$ w% |Chrysler., C/ w+ w, A1 [% ~
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
1 _ e! p" i3 R9 p6 Udollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a$ G1 q" {0 s6 A. O
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
" F8 M. k- E' v2 ~+ Eserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete, n5 M% H1 x- Z6 g% ^6 ]3 N
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty8 v8 m! }8 \; }) ^1 k1 j
tough."8 l7 J! Z* ?7 j3 w
---
. c2 a" l+ P+ W4 A6 `. ?Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
' Q4 C& g" N2 P2 v$ lRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to' A. w( }4 s: T' j1 c% m7 j
this story.
/ P. O$ T& ?9 `* A% p. i$ V2 J* D6 A) j1 D. M
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