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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
9 l$ W* |$ Y4 v( x; ?& dBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
2 b! x! M% Q) ^- @& @/ d- V/ wWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
1 _9 w5 T8 K$ e3 b4 ~ noperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
) ~9 T4 q4 }) I: j7 C Z- N( Sthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"9 G$ @2 B: B, }- Z
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.. I! W8 b! t# Q& j8 t
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
' R8 c8 v# O9 b* Y5 u0 u! tcauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
F2 t# B. Z ~; h3 k5 v0 K0 tHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
{) ?% g! x! o* {: p( g) T7 racceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
4 V, w2 G; q# Etrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
; }! y% e; f/ C# D( gmats and sticking accelerator pedals.
" m5 R2 o; |" i0 p1 EHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
4 t% X; B& s2 N. `, V ]! P/ |and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp7 L( h" ~. F% K' ~
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
+ h( H- R" l! f: g ~further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could$ o7 y+ N" |, D: ^; U1 C$ N7 S
not stop her runaway Lexus.- N$ y. ^# ?! L5 g/ R f6 R" \
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,0 D' b' R. @; X1 P
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second2 M9 o. s/ G5 F8 f
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.- \- A7 e3 F+ L& [# ?
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues; Q1 k& H- b l* G
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said$ w5 X& f2 t2 f$ K8 q
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has# J; g+ U) d2 F. Y; [+ Q, Y, Q0 b
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway$ Y4 b; o) f" S$ t
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's. E/ b: I K% U. ?+ q
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
7 ^4 g9 s, l! c2 b6 ALentz said the company had not completely ruled out an% a* D- `# S# ?
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
; c& z% @$ y7 J$ @: f/ Z# O& @+ G. V( ?the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
5 s! c& ^0 P9 emalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he5 Y& e( A+ L; S( a* |- r$ j
said.
' u) R5 J' H+ yAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
- J0 l8 Y0 K B+ {happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe; u: E% O, c9 }
about driving our products," Lentz said.
& h1 C1 ?' y; u/ |5 `' PThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
+ F7 k' n6 P& | i7 qproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
8 T( ?# \" b, _0 N, U! Drecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
4 D/ g$ q m: ~+ a9 @million in the United States -- since last fall because of" `5 K9 e8 W ^: J* o6 f$ ^
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking2 o/ [7 t3 T, z. e3 x
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering' m# Y2 G- X! V
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
6 c9 t+ Y2 Z+ J4 g. {their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
+ S) @5 q, h; A U1 s5 ?! ?down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has( |4 x/ _6 D; b. {2 c
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
2 N: `% m% p0 h# g/ Y! P1 wof Toyota vehicles since 2000.
3 R) n7 v8 b& v" i: x5 I! {Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
* s8 g4 Z3 a) u4 s. t$ S7 m$ Lbrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
3 O0 L; i7 g- P/ ^' Eunderstood the pain.( `5 B' L2 }/ X
"I know what those families go through," he said.# N7 q) X* N8 k7 y8 d/ l; ]& k( _
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's6 c4 W' U V+ X' ]
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
- j, [0 I) K i- ]% k/ }But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman0 x7 @8 `3 {: D( ^
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put+ w2 C" A& j2 m$ {: N$ v+ h
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,2 K2 H0 B B: S9 h2 z
Lentz replied: "Not totally."
0 c" d6 A7 [3 Q% \' ~) IStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were3 B: m* S7 x. X% O; M" P( M1 F
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
% l4 g P1 _. U' K P0 p) gToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas3 @; x4 W7 x9 q5 l. ?
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its1 i0 ?( g) f$ m' R: u/ L) A
vehicles already on the road.
7 M5 h% b5 U8 c9 w! TMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify, U) q! U+ p2 s2 ^7 f6 ^, m
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
! K t" u( o/ ]: xresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
' e* \7 c0 t2 ~- toffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were% ?+ C; K( x$ b9 \5 }$ z
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
& n2 v6 ?9 Y, ]: Z$ I) v. {"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
- R; ]* B k) Qtragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony5 o! [! O1 ^% ?, W! V. M- |" x
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
: z0 n0 V6 G& F" ]- ?Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal8 q1 @& a; _9 ^. i! e, }( P$ m Q2 P
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
; `/ h' E6 _ C" D7 L: {restore the trust of our customers."" F. x5 c8 p* _3 ?* |9 l2 P
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
' `3 j: C o9 U$ QSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly& j; {, a( u0 a, p; c
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
1 ?* N/ H5 o' ?- h/ D! oshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and3 ^) b! n: j' D1 _- r( z; Z
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough* B% T8 v9 u: ?6 _$ B
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
# g7 @. b2 e4 I6 B, {/ c9 ]$ d- qturn off the engine.
+ U) S* D1 C' W5 FFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of* t9 \ T& c. ~8 h* O6 o0 X, G# |
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
7 K% P9 n* c4 f$ g; P4 L8 T6 m"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
% r( L6 x* Q# x1 u0 ksaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
& e" i h# i0 z, d/ H! \7 {! @3 M1 Zto her complaints.
6 U4 ~. F$ A0 PIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers: t0 e1 l6 Y0 O* H8 A M& r
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic1 w$ i. q5 [9 ^: T# S5 E
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.2 z; W# [$ \3 {# X: N/ D* _
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric0 d5 g2 Q( H/ b7 X, Q
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited# z5 W, x& F) C
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
8 r" B' k# q" j" v; C# Woff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
1 h& K- Q5 b9 K* ]" D: {" ?Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
7 n, {( ]- B) ~6 j" d3 Yprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were- @9 N2 n) u/ s3 H
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls/ P: Z6 W$ `# j0 G# x5 N" D/ X
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer2 s+ n2 R6 n5 s$ G9 J( C. E
every question."+ v5 S* J( G6 w& y
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether% s4 h6 L, W6 t! h& t8 [
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
( e4 s6 j- t- }8 Z& f+ z9 e& Yfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But. @- B0 [9 S5 F* v4 f+ M
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small1 |; b4 N7 [5 j5 @
number of vehicles
. r7 \- q) \2 Q! m* A0 x+ bTracking down an electrical problem can be far more2 H* q6 H9 h. ] v0 @& [
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
" x$ u2 E0 G" l O6 B* M- lmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one7 L8 g& \2 g. E. m! P& ?- @
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
7 l, h' n' H' E% x8 }Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,% x+ V* v& [$ ~; t1 X
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
6 J$ }8 g }2 H6 T# z4 Z" w0 b, v/ utrace at all.
$ W+ `$ H; Z6 z) _: e& fHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
+ d( ~0 k! P' x) q( x6 @database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
; Z& P3 ^: S4 A5 _acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the. c& j5 y% l# l, k* e! X( s+ i# Y
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.* s$ q% d" @0 }
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
/ M/ C& X- M" z' Ssaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and. O; `# _" w# p7 }$ I. W; J
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
: y, h6 q/ S% Y2 welectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible) T% d0 N& }" L1 V
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only) l3 b g7 a0 V0 V- u: k
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained) W9 [1 r$ e. c |
by Toyota's lawyers."
& F3 _; J5 |; D- WLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of8 x$ U# Q* z( c; h& B" j* X4 |
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our! k8 R1 K" o+ o; `) I. h ^
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
: |( E; `( j) h0 t) _% J9 esaid.
, E# n9 F4 R' Y: o( ]# E"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with7 F4 R7 U; e8 ~
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
\( |. \; ?1 s3 K. ygood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating8 R2 m- z3 z2 u- R% p
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
( e* w8 {; h; @Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying& D/ I: y) d! n7 [
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
' N2 u1 t# t' S" g, V0 \+ Prancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
" q6 _! e! @' hautomaker, at least in part because of the government's
: A' ~$ `1 }( einvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
5 k- J! v. _8 I# \Chrysler.
% b& Z6 c( k1 f- L$ s7 Q# n"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax: z& J) `1 ^7 x2 u
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
" Q% i/ p& Z0 k" |Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
/ O( k! R. `5 T7 ^. hserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
# \5 w U1 A& C! V* C( ^3 H9 Owith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty; k8 K! A% Z" S# e* I
tough."
$ V) {6 K, ~' v7 B1 \* Y2 r---' j% b3 }$ m6 i9 d J0 q' d
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom, @9 s( N7 t. Y0 J: P
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
; _" e8 E8 j6 [7 ~$ I" \this story.
Y* T( Y* B6 D- G' a3 O+ {' G& O2 B0 z
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