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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题) Y5 ~5 {3 v0 I/ Z
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS9 y% Y" E0 `. f# K% D/ Q9 r* q ?0 E0 K
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
$ I. L( w- D4 _! R5 Y; ]operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that$ c# ~5 ~, ]# d2 Q9 O- c& O1 d
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
# r9 ?5 M4 q3 V; X2 ]1 w2 ?solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration. g* w* ?0 U8 s4 a% O
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential4 _" v, v0 W8 U5 g, n+ ]7 K
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
, w' A( h0 `0 A ~However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
! a E% b; t2 o8 v0 ~, nacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and1 v! B0 a/ T; [+ {# [
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor2 P4 t0 g: v) s! J/ r
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.! ^2 Q) U4 U) U6 B9 N6 P
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
x1 Q7 j F, d( d, l6 wand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp. b/ z3 p, J' D; [' Z+ V i% X
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
% O% x7 U% j, [+ Afurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could+ T7 R w* {. |" z" Z
not stop her runaway Lexus.
& M% s9 v( |7 z6 T' x" J5 K* `"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
9 |8 Q5 Q# w: ~1 ZTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
; }1 i( l" V7 F8 ^4 ]"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.( b8 w3 f! g0 o9 y: ^
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues% \& c+ d6 x. Y4 ]' D
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said) c7 h) j" ~$ u8 x) c1 ~0 K, d
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has. U/ M. M! Z- V. a. D5 M1 c5 e- r% g# R
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
" X& U, J8 l# M- lthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
' k( C8 H7 z3 C* f* j+ a" y2 S8 }investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
" x& \! V% q- {, K( ELentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
5 }: u8 q$ t( o8 e' Pelectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
8 B5 [% R+ X5 h( g' P$ Vthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
% l. S, [# J9 dmalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
( V7 _7 |% o' Vsaid.
: A. ~+ t& _7 K" t7 s1 cAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
$ ^ @# T D0 ^) b! lhappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe6 X. V# p7 Q5 @" E' m+ d) P" [2 ]+ _
about driving our products," Lentz said.
' t# F2 k( x7 N3 @Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's' p" K2 D6 v' I- U+ \; ]2 ^ t' l
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has' i+ \! r1 E2 K
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
# |" C5 b* O; a# V# P( Z# m2 A) hmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of, z( U, ^; v5 [1 H/ K5 j
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking, B4 _: f1 g( i$ |4 {
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
6 a8 n. e" k" z3 I; P+ yconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
% Q2 p( `' Y/ Q. J' xtheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
/ N$ w; R3 Y! k3 U: q) bdown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has) A" E" Q0 k' l$ k8 y7 i
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
# ]( j& R# X" H# d+ y7 I6 [; W% Yof Toyota vehicles since 2000.# {( Y, V# m: R) e0 e
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
6 x$ B* R# D3 @) g0 J, G& ]brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he, ~4 W9 j! V6 d) D: {( l i; X
understood the pain.. q, I4 W& x: F9 h1 i
"I know what those families go through," he said.
0 G$ E9 |8 j) K- v D+ f1 V& @2 KLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
, F; P( \9 e1 W( f B/ F9 ^fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
* h$ z" h! [& IBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman9 S; W% j+ T% `
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
! \: v' P6 s% Q! O+ X O- T X3 v8 h" qin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,& M! {" B+ `1 I7 F# ?
Lentz replied: "Not totally."3 T4 n7 J9 n/ m) C/ _) C
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were6 R+ z0 [; A& k e2 K% _% B2 t
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said/ V' x) T! |4 ]5 x, j$ A
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
, L1 B4 [, d: ]- y4 lpedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its# J0 e3 U5 o: {2 c# M
vehicles already on the road.
4 K" s+ q% i0 p9 Y* @Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify, O2 b9 N; Y3 F
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
9 ^: U4 v T A" A; dresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
4 D, C# R( g6 T9 O9 W8 b" [7 J* Soffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
3 W, c, S- w+ ^! Mkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
3 A# C; H% Y1 U" J"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a0 _( D) Q* @; a1 `/ F
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
. K, u; v4 A B* B+ {8 \. t( e* Hfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
5 h# t' d9 P: @/ s( lCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal% O* [5 g( D* c) R
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
# ~4 A C6 J, b* D0 D4 @$ \6 Xrestore the trust of our customers."
/ A6 R# \- d d, Y+ o: x9 E3 N# \Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
& J L% q) o4 `! V' J9 ^+ FSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly: ]+ u+ Z. V1 `; I7 M
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --$ |5 F& Y1 F6 e8 R S. Y% x" P9 |0 e
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and* P2 B/ q, w8 [
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough8 u8 ^5 a. I4 h
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
' }0 V: w: d0 D* @0 ^7 _7 Eturn off the engine.
& Y: ~. ` a6 _. v2 y4 Q4 MFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
. K; o9 z+ ?7 T. d `+ {October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."# h( K% G) p p! r/ r& A
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she9 u M$ ^7 Z, e# x
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond, Q2 z$ k, _- q4 H. E/ e. |4 ^
to her complaints.2 R/ M& w1 p- o4 m2 B- O. d' U& }
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers' V! @4 k& T# u
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
% q0 ?4 a. F7 y% [* L% O' ]& \malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.0 [% F, ~' X: o8 C; G; R$ {' h
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
/ |: ?- o8 k; ]3 k- Dthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
% N# |% A4 l: q; T1 p"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut6 m3 r, [: H+ O# t6 e9 k2 q
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."0 l" h- k2 ]9 g/ V) _: X5 L
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in) f1 Z, @6 _$ s3 F3 N L$ l
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were0 \5 B8 d5 k/ M0 s/ t, L2 ]
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls! K6 `" p& m$ o
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer$ q+ p# R& D1 c4 V3 W- J l+ o- |. X
every question."
1 j0 d9 a5 D ~Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether8 R0 O. D6 E* c
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The- m% l+ W3 z! e# D4 Z
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
# I) L+ `, h9 f5 Z8 D, zcommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small
# \2 E" ?6 B* onumber of vehicles d: s! t. h4 s$ W% u P9 [ [# [
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more( L9 K7 U2 {% @# E+ \: W8 G
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
6 D, v, z9 O* }$ B: N4 ]6 h( Emechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one. M6 C6 q* F# K& D' w4 \
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
8 w9 V! P5 ~- _7 S! X5 V8 bMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,7 p$ d. B8 b" L2 w7 P
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
5 |# r% k3 T t! v9 X) T9 N3 O: W6 wtrace at all.
4 x% Z7 p1 T3 z' O: eHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
X$ {0 Y# n9 I$ Y+ Qdatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
7 Z" @9 `& Z8 ?: Bacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
3 b `5 W: M/ c' krecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
5 }8 k2 D2 k$ c" ~Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,; H0 |- [$ P0 q& {
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and: x/ V7 D; H" W' v1 K$ X( G
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the4 B# |& J9 k8 L2 q/ i% P
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible% {% Y P- a* R8 R1 |" a
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
1 v4 {* [. ~; C9 u. gsuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained6 ^% S# g0 g R$ W6 D& ^6 d
by Toyota's lawyers."5 h5 O3 g' h# k
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of. G, T7 w( G5 G2 ?. N) s
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
5 p; x& R. X' ?( q1 g+ M: Bcustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he9 L$ I% A) J1 h
said., L8 R" `5 Z, u7 K9 W
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with& L# Y+ h: Q4 K T; h
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
6 F# } v% n! o; Mgood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
0 x' ? [: j C8 Vofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
% _. U7 C7 v4 [( A8 nSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying& m6 R1 f3 Y- m4 s$ l
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
, J2 b* V& j/ Y7 m: }; L% mrancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
+ q0 e# h; [* K* }2 _automaker, at least in part because of the government's% B( d* d; e4 [# w
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
- v. ?; V1 Y SChrysler.8 ~, V/ [: M$ [* }% N7 L9 Y
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax8 V7 p/ h4 v6 `) S% j
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
F- \) g! ?# e! n, C8 M7 f" MHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also8 X7 B: v4 r; E3 a; e
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
i [ J* t8 B6 O. w$ zwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
9 e& c9 q: T; n2 W- ntough."( w( k4 I, ^% c
---5 T, E0 h" j) z3 b& L, a% C s
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom; k( q/ V7 r6 [& x
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to0 b8 m* }: n4 l4 F y: O0 M& \
this story.
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