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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
' J6 a! p1 j6 YBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
! F2 ?* d7 I1 x8 QWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S. C% ?% m, W8 L+ w' o
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
1 V5 w6 ~3 Q5 K3 u' ~ hthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
( ]1 l1 l, H. I4 T7 @9 Vsolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.3 W0 l. g- l4 x: i* q, {$ G
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential8 N2 H+ R; @( y1 H6 o* {& y
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.* {+ z: x1 f6 S' ^' {
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected4 ]! M: p y+ V9 s" T( n% B
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
( d% ]& w2 P) D: \! Wtrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor, |; }) I( |% {2 v4 x
mats and sticking accelerator pedals./ {9 g- n# R: }+ {& N8 U
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal2 p# n) Y8 p, O8 q/ u) i! S" i
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
/ u) i( _* m4 T5 R4 D% @9 tcriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
: Z. Y1 `6 g2 c$ X4 L, ]9 F* Cfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could% b1 {9 r) j, l# j# |" }; B
not stop her runaway Lexus.' H! s3 @- b9 |
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
7 o8 l5 j3 @* x: B4 T0 b7 YTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
6 @- {2 x& B) q"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
/ L- j; W1 A4 h9 x" WTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues* a# i5 {# F. o+ P# h9 o/ m7 u
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
" L% [7 \. [0 y"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has( m9 l3 e" l5 Q4 a5 Y% @; J" o5 j
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway K5 Q, j. A7 s4 i
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
+ k! i1 W# g- Yinvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham.") B1 q6 g& h( m8 u7 L: I: ~
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
$ j. V) s7 e( Delectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
( [4 _' Q; @4 m: J. C) A' u2 Dthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a% B& b- H" `- e2 F" S/ g" s' _0 R
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he9 S# ^( k. [5 _' v( k# Z& ]% _
said.$ l5 b7 u P. L: `5 n2 O
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what! d2 a u8 Z7 `- ^# I& B* H9 k
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe1 x7 v# I" p& f8 y* C+ x
about driving our products," Lentz said.
" }- c& K5 `7 CThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
) U$ D% {; t9 G& i( ]problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
- P8 k/ b* ^6 L# A* A; a( V& urecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6 b( c; N' V3 h Z9 L4 n
million in the United States -- since last fall because of
3 k8 I/ g% I% p; D9 aunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking _) E! g9 t' }9 R9 H, S" \
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering7 b# k* L% q1 a
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
C" `; O- Q# s& V4 y6 T, Ftheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow7 w: q1 q* Q/ U8 G0 M' [7 @
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
; q' E/ G, w8 [8 B( ^5 @+ l7 M5 Kreceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration& E- @2 a& @) `) D& j5 }
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.
0 P9 y- O) l' K% A7 CLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
- \0 r" M5 C3 w/ J; F# z& ^brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
9 S$ W: `3 w9 \1 ?0 l" _+ Aunderstood the pain.: {" j0 k9 `. _/ m* d
"I know what those families go through," he said.
8 z) K1 o8 b ALentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's" {1 q5 f% }) J0 d) `8 E4 v; b
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
' n# Y* u; x0 o9 fBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman# ~% f) V' W$ R# d% l
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
) v+ [; j2 \+ [0 H5 \, k6 F5 p2 fin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
6 c5 Y* T# |0 ?% f- @Lentz replied: "Not totally."
( d- t6 Q( E4 R2 UStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were+ I0 G8 q& @5 Q9 ]% i7 o8 C
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said: k5 a: W+ f4 f! H5 l
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas/ `* X) R5 m c6 m$ _5 J
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its$ `; i, p4 Z6 c1 @
vehicles already on the road.
6 X. C8 D/ h" t2 j- G2 cMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
2 y5 R. }8 W5 l0 Y% E1 Zbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full% ]9 h# E: V0 q6 ?6 |/ |, r& L& @
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
: q$ [! U" ^7 q9 p0 uoffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
Y1 K j! y& w* r3 n/ G4 o) Rkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems./ l6 |3 e* T2 q2 {6 L3 N2 @ V$ `
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a/ t M( K- }; O
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
: @5 @7 N3 w3 |- s, hfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight% I" K& W6 S. W, u
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
" y( |8 T: E" d0 ]4 F" V4 S, v$ fcommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to8 \$ }3 R# C% T# f4 j3 ^7 K- \
restore the trust of our customers."$ x+ H; u+ S+ N$ \& t
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from$ P9 ]8 f4 @# a0 z0 {0 p- [
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
$ h9 f# `7 X: |0 q4 Hzoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
) L% ~ }( z& Y) C8 w$ @" Nshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and2 ^: g! t9 W, ] Z
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough4 H. n! Y+ _. E& c0 b) l' G6 V
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and& O* U- O3 u/ y L4 X! Z! z
turn off the engine.
* ^& T6 T" |' ?) ?" ^' B6 HFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of P0 o) j+ p+ C/ g: h7 Q+ c
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
$ O X) }2 S* p& W"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she- l/ F7 d! J6 k' Q
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
: ?" u# ^: G8 l9 }3 u! U8 y3 d$ ]to her complaints.) E# U8 J# a; e! Z, r' i
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers* F5 N6 ]9 U( T! ^3 z; w0 C
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
1 X0 a6 D& b; P% E5 [1 hmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.6 P# q% I# w% `, |8 n+ H& i
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
- P5 I+ S+ i+ Kthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
2 o9 E+ b' [9 ], Q" f% j* n+ l"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
' F; C: ^ x" U7 R! Hoff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
. M( W& v8 A- p' JTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in/ J, S3 o, e. z
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were5 o7 ~8 U* g% d+ R3 p+ q5 W
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
9 s( I# B% {4 N( h8 E% Rwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
; z3 Y2 C# L9 ?9 f6 ]' W9 mevery question."4 [2 L5 z+ ]- i2 _! h8 R# d
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
# x* f) R: t3 ~6 Qelectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
3 v; Y5 ~; e% @ @: {0 Ffirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
" `3 F& V* r4 }* V( ~+ Hcommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small8 |! l' i! t! e% A& E: X
number of vehicles
' M( m: [* ]& S; i: f2 N' ^Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more2 G3 Z& z# s, U& s" u
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a) U4 o9 u- y- q5 R$ m: i" q
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
9 q( s# M( v) m' v: j8 D1 \source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
& y% W# S- S7 v7 t9 h# |* ^4 z9 aMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
% s5 J/ W: @4 e; [: Fwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no( Q4 h# F0 x$ y' X( B% ]
trace at all.8 v, j' h4 w( k) C6 s; w8 d
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call, Y4 O$ n3 w, ]
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
3 ?7 Q& t+ Z1 uacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
0 m$ J$ |7 o* E8 y) Jrecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
, ]# h" X0 T3 d9 t/ k2 G5 qRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
4 ^' u. e3 S7 q; G3 [said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
# B& U6 Y9 T J1 C t; Z1 Q* cother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
+ @7 J% P6 m* Z$ s L `% \. nelectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
$ d- x8 X/ O, t6 Y4 Jcause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only# I. t. c. {8 q4 n7 T% C4 L' T
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
& {! U- t" R- k! h8 vby Toyota's lawyers."% [1 y6 A; ~. h5 C# E8 P$ \
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
- [1 g/ `3 ^7 p7 F, q$ B# h# zproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our9 w- q! ~, {# k, o9 a. `
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he) F9 ~3 q; s4 @% q' {8 \0 Y
said.1 d$ S& K( e5 K }% q# Q. u% Z0 Q
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with( B* B6 y4 a7 g/ |" z* D' E0 r
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
6 m6 u" j. ?5 u* ?; Lgood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
" k# |4 u& m' W- sofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
9 w2 p0 f! x3 J; WSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
1 G5 _ n, R0 T$ B6 Gmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread; `& ~8 Z1 U3 }1 l) d! e5 z
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the% g/ L# Z) P0 K5 L
automaker, at least in part because of the government's
. i: l' Y9 ~" [/ F( @investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
5 p, g$ }3 M% r4 w" L* B. @Chrysler.
. Z2 l1 U* Z- f0 e' C7 |"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
/ H) {" m2 T, k; ?dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
6 R* T/ C; S4 g# ]2 {6 N- p1 ]Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
7 t* O/ T @* Z! G- Z% o3 W7 v# mserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
& x. n2 f& r- H2 Pwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
. r U' a& Z; a3 r# H4 Itough."
. X7 h% j" ]1 v1 @0 a7 s6 o---# c3 }; B" y* X( R4 A
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom g' B1 e5 ~! @
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to( s. J" Y9 i- c- p% b/ z
this story.
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