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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
7 P \9 y1 D+ z2 u8 X* [By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS l" h' }( C- P
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.* a9 D0 d$ n8 q5 M9 s
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that" P: u/ v6 z: i% n) `7 l! q7 M
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
( S' L/ \0 u0 ~( c9 Psolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.- X& \8 M0 s3 k% ^4 F. i3 G
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
8 D( A c/ }* k4 u/ Wcauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.% D o/ z9 Z8 m- i
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected6 k" H; I. k8 b5 r4 Z6 u
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and( i% G2 `+ ~' m4 S
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
1 j4 J% M a) mmats and sticking accelerator pedals.
6 ?2 f5 b T# b* R. XHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
7 T7 F, s' R. s' u- v* hand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp7 P* b. _$ F2 [ x+ ~0 _
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be% c4 D; f3 b1 P! M
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
8 z6 b* E, C2 f0 \0 S3 J; A, _: fnot stop her runaway Lexus.. V; i! s& G8 V
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
: f( R6 j8 g D9 y. I9 ]& K+ lTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
5 X# S6 W* @6 O"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators. n) \3 A& _+ q3 L. U
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
; V f# J/ A1 ^. hearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
$ E. M" I) t/ s5 M% b0 k"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has4 [/ u7 G8 I6 O5 j h5 t) F3 Q
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway# f$ {' j { W- Y$ V! {* p% {* x* ]7 y
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's+ d" G3 h5 J7 m9 o
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."/ G. m8 [. I4 [2 P8 ^7 x% R( b E
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an v! W$ I/ R3 r- |' m; o; `3 z
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
1 v1 i/ r/ h. {3 ~* r- fthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a7 X h6 L/ b9 w9 C3 |
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
7 c/ E$ R" l: j2 Vsaid.
/ C1 A$ Q, g, fAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
* _* X1 X; Y$ ?happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe* q5 @) S0 g* P8 O
about driving our products," Lentz said.4 g8 g" i- _! Q5 C7 D T4 {" l
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's, C4 W' Y. I6 H* ~/ t
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
8 C8 Q% c) B/ Srecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
- S' f0 k' y3 Bmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of1 l8 K- {/ T7 y! r. W
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking. s1 s; a3 B) w8 [& S
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
) \6 Q$ c( V; \2 Yconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of% K( R8 ~/ B5 O- _! r
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
3 W7 f: `9 {' I8 k2 p2 D. d4 Kdown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
# O) ]1 D$ t5 Xreceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
& t; P. a& {. ~: O1 ?# ]of Toyota vehicles since 2000.
9 S K8 t0 f- W( {/ H+ B/ ?8 JLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own$ C& N( |& D2 X% Y# l# M$ z) b
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he) O, Y* |4 P. _' g0 E( b2 t# `8 q3 l: e
understood the pain.
1 L) B! |$ `2 G) Q! m9 B: u"I know what those families go through," he said.
8 ?- L" M" \' |5 G4 J3 p* D2 HLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
" z/ q5 s: U5 a' l Y2 @9 Wfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
6 {, B6 \$ C: ^2 V! K1 B& rBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman. z; L9 @4 i A3 d) H" W& K8 F
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
% }) S( Q9 E, P' W7 f( S% v9 Z' Fin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
% \5 ~5 D3 Z8 ALentz replied: "Not totally.", P$ i/ g, N0 \8 i+ g" l$ C
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
+ D' S$ W0 y/ ?3 o"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
, K o" _6 _( g5 C7 e$ ]2 ?1 a) M/ JToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
! g& q: m& l# Bpedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its4 Q" t O, Q4 c4 y1 m9 s
vehicles already on the road.6 R& m! F( L3 b6 Q+ n& s
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify8 p" q8 C2 N1 ~# q% i
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full4 g D7 R; x) ?
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and# g3 K+ X2 n2 Q4 Z( V/ W/ H
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were* y5 @9 T1 s2 }! |" z0 n
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
! p1 p2 w( a9 n* f2 E( E"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
( b. s0 M7 f7 o" {/ [+ `tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony4 d& [: X: H: v3 R* t4 T
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight; W! B0 a5 O/ q" A, i" T
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal2 s1 L1 K ~7 C! {
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to& a: N1 z, Z- Q
restore the trust of our customers."
% W% B% @+ V# b" U6 A2 y1 U. @9 X+ t* \Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
1 V8 q& ] k, W: H5 @- ySmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
7 K7 C9 ^+ J7 m; e6 F0 e2 b) Bzoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
$ ]6 D0 u; ^6 R1 ?' D9 d( o; e; j, Ushifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
& U" `+ P" S% C3 vhitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
9 `) a, |2 j, W3 othat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
1 ?1 E6 F9 g4 E! X! bturn off the engine., w; Q: P3 M: Y) I$ V0 A* m3 o. b! W5 @
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of7 |+ H0 U: e! O
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
" {( z z8 s1 s"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
9 P$ a5 o: E0 J( J% `3 rsaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond0 B, ~- E/ e% @( z# \ I
to her complaints.
' s( A5 h" O+ f. YIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
9 U, S+ k/ F" breturned again and again to the question of whether electronic5 F$ N0 S2 t8 G! H) n9 P8 x
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
# {$ D/ `8 U* L) X6 o"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric0 s9 v7 H& i- \9 P; D0 j' A+ x
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
& r& ?, y1 n$ n, ^4 v9 x; q1 @8 T"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut& o3 ~/ F' l. |+ B2 X8 g( k
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure.", G5 c+ W* i z4 O) K! F
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in4 N) i, t3 u9 p) X4 c8 r R
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
2 B& E) I$ K$ ~9 q: l! ~5 ~being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
: E v4 F. H& k$ M5 `were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
( |2 E- d3 _( j d+ p- b& Tevery question."
% E" D* S) C3 d; `Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether; _' Y0 ?: s+ x) P9 x+ t* W/ U/ q/ u
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
/ }4 U" K/ K [2 _6 h& B# i9 n' T7 Vfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But) D7 A% H( D* C5 ]$ a: L
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
3 o. x- M# q) c5 Znumber of vehicles
" k! }/ C g9 p4 [0 lTracking down an electrical problem can be far more
6 B$ S9 k- G, Cdifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a( I: c/ ^. n) q8 |" {8 v
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
' j* ?+ ?5 j) L) i9 ysource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.7 q( Z C% \+ h& s7 b9 K+ z0 |
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,6 o/ L& m9 w% B( ?6 h; I
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no0 E. s; S$ I- V7 V/ k; `
trace at all.5 Y: Y6 f1 I8 W3 C, |* u
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call7 K$ ]" N) P* s$ f! }% I( K
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
( A$ V4 X( V8 h( D1 L" Hacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the# u$ R4 h1 I$ O/ o1 n: ]
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
- t/ |/ t8 a8 Z7 u8 [Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,- x: q8 P4 R. x, {
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
& J- W8 s1 o( W0 @7 Jother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
8 q& d; L1 ~" belectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible+ k% ~# K5 x4 s6 e
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
* D0 i/ ]& N5 ?- C, L, l" isuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
+ Q5 B* V; k9 Q5 Uby Toyota's lawyers."0 e- d( k2 U H7 n$ |
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of2 R, R7 I* V( F; t
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
; n3 _; y6 d% U/ A9 Rcustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he* O: y0 H$ C) m8 W, \
said.
# S* Y& B" C) J8 l. C"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with- X, ~, G: ^/ ?, U
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
i7 J& M+ G. e7 g b$ f$ Pgood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
$ } J5 `& K' \# u, A9 w! Bofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.$ X" H8 w5 h! q9 C; R1 P
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
# }+ V; o' f' u; k6 M8 _members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
& `* ?! [7 c9 francor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
2 i) ~& l: I+ Kautomaker, at least in part because of the government's
$ x: g$ m* o. j: Kinvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
1 G4 c9 f6 J4 k# n* I2 zChrysler.6 ?8 y0 h+ L$ @. f. v4 w' e
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax. b9 D$ y+ p1 V3 ^# W
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a! e& w- U8 Z0 i( W' v' `& N
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also8 \. X% J: R c- f
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete( ]7 t# ] L5 c5 v$ D0 A8 c) Z0 R4 g
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
/ B% z" _9 k! m, ?( dtough."- j, V% [' s# k6 Q E
---2 o$ p3 `" E2 x. I A/ Y3 H
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom- R( d- o5 j+ G; A
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to; M/ v$ a; j. i
this story.
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