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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
) r& x6 d8 |$ |2 B! _By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS, I! c M: {" J* }( m& [4 k
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
; A3 c( T' d5 P# `7 roperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
( U3 J* B, x7 _, x* c8 f9 xthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally", g3 R* C$ v% L! {9 \3 _
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
% {/ ^* ]- j+ w"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential3 p1 D H9 @+ f
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.5 _* r. s( K4 _. G# a. A
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
5 T$ w. D6 G( k* N7 o5 P) `acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and# Q" ]) M! H" U5 x( y
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor( N- P" D- v2 w
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.
5 ?& q& P1 w* }1 A( IHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal/ ]1 q! ~* y. z8 m. e
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
' I+ `) t; J( N: ]4 r9 X9 m. F1 Gcriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
0 s8 h' n x# _; C5 Lfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could' R3 L5 G) v0 }
not stop her runaway Lexus., I q- ?7 l/ K7 n
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
8 V3 @. O ?# ^( ~Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second' e2 d( k/ E$ J5 F8 E6 c
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
: k8 X- k0 e( D4 rTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
* N6 }- K& y( Learly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
$ n2 D3 _% ?+ ~/ ^* h( r% g' d1 C"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
) C* t* V* ]* z$ j m# S: _done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
* M- W \6 ?9 |9 Hthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
4 T7 @- q( w; `# z1 U. vinvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."! M9 r/ t1 F! [
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
) g6 M" c ]# p! helectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
" r4 m6 ^% g7 ^3 J: Bthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a. e3 } h; Y- r F( ~3 E' @
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
, g5 z4 i6 _1 U- Tsaid.: ` k9 Q' l& V# M
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
& W* x* T4 ?( ~) Thappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe8 m$ {9 S; _6 o4 J- e
about driving our products," Lentz said.1 a6 O- n) o! U' |0 |' B
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
3 F. H* {9 J# W- wproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
( V* |+ x2 E3 j( I) yrecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
8 K: k, P! D/ _million in the United States -- since last fall because of7 l: j) u& d+ w
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
: @* U1 f/ l2 u$ S% L8 ?issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering6 c! j! z& H, Y0 F! d* m5 u7 k
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
8 t3 n! R* b" otheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
' V1 J% r+ F1 ], i; Z% `down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has0 S! m" X, d! H
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
, B, @6 v' d2 m) s; [- \of Toyota vehicles since 2000.
0 v; f$ Y7 e7 y+ q1 tLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
9 u" @1 z- v9 b' @& H. sbrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he! p3 u$ v& Y8 T" g+ ^- @) C
understood the pain.6 R' D3 q, R/ z! _. Z U
"I know what those families go through," he said.. b% @) P3 m& J3 m- |. u
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
) Q, K# j% G1 Y3 J/ u6 U' G1 lfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
4 b" I" h( G- b% P4 fBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
+ K9 P. L5 C' S dHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
7 x1 X1 M6 v3 q: L. r; ]* b( yin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
- W# Z5 Z! V/ g+ w# [Lentz replied: "Not totally."/ n) w9 X# g9 o! H, g0 P
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
% C3 A6 E5 k N) C# F! Y"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said) O6 B6 t/ l/ e7 ?: h# L
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas( m0 @! V, m/ `; n, a5 `
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
t2 X: f; p- X* a3 i1 u2 y9 p; Jvehicles already on the road.
+ J8 s- q; M8 a' a/ l1 n2 LMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify& d5 r$ e, @8 x( E
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
+ r; r* D. }4 W+ X! Qresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
E- L$ u$ d# ]1 L8 ]2 q% h! f" noffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were. m; G/ q' Z& K. r4 ^9 w& m
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
$ D; ~$ ?" x" D0 g, u y"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
+ X* U* E- P+ ~% Ctragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
$ B2 D& H1 }$ B8 y, O+ `/ ~! K3 qfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
8 J- J- R2 q. XCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal V2 W3 W2 o; F: s m" a, V3 ?
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to% e4 H, h8 S( R. \
restore the trust of our customers."
4 g! u% J2 z& B+ ]7 }& rLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
2 J9 S( Z# d+ p5 rSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
9 h% D8 O" ?1 ~' { fzoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --1 p# x$ b% J( E
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and2 i+ `* \2 q( I
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
, z$ y- z5 s3 F9 nthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
2 A b/ {6 _ k3 O; M( yturn off the engine.5 G, k) e: G% [( F- _
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
3 A% T. T$ s/ UOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
7 Z7 y& g6 P, M% k0 @5 q"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
/ U1 e- p) Y; N* J7 I! Rsaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond9 [# ~( J) Z9 A; J7 L" U; g
to her complaints.5 `0 p% n( V- Y) s. j0 ^1 y$ d8 \2 g. B
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
" N! B' q, Y, ]; Mreturned again and again to the question of whether electronic
) S0 N: f! a. l& ~+ A6 k# gmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars." \2 O n; k; D" w* x
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
: `5 [4 g' W' a0 V# ^( Lthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
7 @7 m3 O) y9 C3 v"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
2 Q; G) q1 a$ y5 eoff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."2 z9 u# l* q; N) [: K. h
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in# T k9 i1 N5 V
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
5 g ~( ~ v1 ]being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls% f$ L, G7 ?9 i/ @
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer) h+ P& c0 R5 P1 ]! U( C+ F/ w) c1 v
every question."
5 a# t) P& }; \& Q4 vToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether2 z+ P6 G6 F6 C# o8 A9 J# S
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The3 {8 `* f! k1 F& S9 l4 P
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But# O# d( r( [3 i3 w6 }* k- \" K0 u
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
0 @% @. U( j& a2 Z$ `- h- x. Snumber of vehicles% i/ H" ~! I9 E8 W( R: t
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more4 W" ~3 J; W* U( E. E1 _' e4 i" i" b
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
+ b5 i# F/ W3 M2 Pmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one! m; [7 k; a7 B w, ^
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
$ k+ N1 P, ~+ y+ MMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,$ r; Z7 l8 [% ], I0 A& x6 ^
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
d$ g7 d0 w; `$ @9 q1 ?trace at all.3 |3 o" T! U! y, c( E; E# R
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
" N! h# a: ~1 W! a% N8 ydatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden1 S/ |9 K& h2 \ v, m9 G- j3 z
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
3 O# i, f1 c5 q8 H3 ?0 B) Vrecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals., _1 Q x- G* H- a4 c
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
+ ^7 D; Y* M! D5 N6 \5 gsaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and8 u. k. W3 u, T0 z+ T- X- A
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
0 F* c4 ^# ~0 g8 Z, H3 pelectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible3 e+ Z0 \: ?9 h o* N- i
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
m6 X5 y8 k( f; M0 C/ P4 Lsuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
3 @0 n" M8 w( l2 |! y' H% uby Toyota's lawyers."
7 @4 [- C0 @2 W1 GLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of& l1 V" h7 O, _' G
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
- g$ T+ Y4 H; z: R8 ~customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he: f( l j! V/ r! [
said.4 C( t- Y" _2 U4 e# E
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with& }3 s4 A# j7 `
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our3 J- c5 A8 D; k
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
; `3 ~" d# m6 h! J4 v* L2 ~officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
( o' x) _+ s) ^Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying, L9 M* u& W; |+ T+ H% {
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread$ A% N8 Y; a" P* s+ Z6 S! u
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
$ W0 ^# u$ H5 r; i5 kautomaker, at least in part because of the government's
1 u5 _' d8 J9 h8 e0 ~% cinvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and# {3 d/ \0 O8 A
Chrysler. u( N2 \! h" }# B' G" v; n
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
* \: R+ U9 W* l3 x/ adollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a" t8 W6 _9 E: X7 }& `
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also! x0 h# D( x) [4 Z" a
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete4 u* V! y8 e4 t4 v% L# }
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty3 m+ D p; u+ b5 a9 |
tough.": Z' D/ ] J3 t4 [
---
, k- {8 H5 R5 C# k9 `Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom/ W+ l; ~: t G( P" w
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
j4 X4 ^ O& G( f. |, W9 L' o( vthis story.6 \7 ^, v) x& M. {$ m
, d2 v K7 G Y: `* j* S6 \! _* j
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