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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
' B% z! q: K! ]3 {3 o& S7 t. ^By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS. ^+ f5 i, k- e; p1 Q& g- G0 H
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
6 S5 s1 t7 X# f6 I( E% }' Aoperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that3 x% A5 ^. [; B8 w' C
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally". b( @8 C. j0 r& X0 z. h: \6 u" q
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.& n" e8 l2 k( m2 z) t, O0 A
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential; S& G+ R9 r; ?. Q9 D& m
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel. L% l3 B, a! K* J1 _
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
: k. U9 d) ?2 {6 Y0 q" H* j8 cacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
! v# A+ s4 {$ o" d. ]! H; E& Itrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
* x N; D' k8 Xmats and sticking accelerator pedals.
' ?2 j$ u2 U y. uHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal. l. f2 Z- [. {. L2 d( b
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp5 `4 S3 Y1 p% F% u. ~2 p
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
4 {% h+ ~ t$ i1 Vfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could% O2 |9 n x: p2 N; ^, E" \
not stop her runaway Lexus.9 ?( F$ y! A2 g9 V8 Y" J& X- n" X
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,; |2 l$ J% e% Z- X5 K" ]
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
6 C% F4 f' Z3 U"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.$ q6 x" I9 f& K+ a5 Y
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues: j; A% s7 r y# {" N+ i% N
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said* F1 m K. v$ V5 w
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has3 Q" D/ f* k, I& X
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway8 I8 L6 ?- W2 x7 {2 y9 m1 u+ m
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's i& E2 D$ c9 g$ n1 p, {& a/ q
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
" X8 u3 g5 U1 HLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an5 B. |9 k' w9 d
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of" x0 a, ^6 T: f: y
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
5 ^1 p9 q) A2 y I6 J6 j: H( ` Kmalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he3 [' q! k" k9 Q4 \, b/ ^' r
said.9 t# l0 q8 H4 P4 ^: f
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what& c9 |2 h! P' R2 v( J) m$ ?
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe# F+ F" J0 B! N1 s" v7 N7 [0 S, p
about driving our products," Lentz said.0 `' h5 @0 o4 k: Z
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's c5 a5 i. q, _& j7 m$ H
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
G# a" r9 |" nrecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 63 J5 [ Q- P' o8 R% k' z
million in the United States -- since last fall because of
/ c7 b$ {9 ] ~. w2 e1 Nunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
3 V7 R5 ]% U I Wissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering t* F; ]: ?7 z8 [; ]) Q. I
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
9 Y3 N0 f ~6 J# [, v+ p* l' stheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
# @2 R9 b* l! p- Hdown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
- I6 W# s" z! w- Preceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
) R; z* e. b: f. S7 h8 N+ tof Toyota vehicles since 2000.& ~) s; z2 {8 z! |
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
1 U ]- C# {2 ^: R- i" cbrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he. o) I9 I; `# Y6 q8 o! U
understood the pain.8 N1 q( l. P P3 @. }
"I know what those families go through," he said.8 i: V0 T6 ]) Q' M+ q$ b8 ]/ O' L; y* A
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
8 a- N! \& j! r" K( ]' q9 }fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.; |( N5 g' n& `; T
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
4 |. f6 D+ W* I; P& Z, EHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
; ~8 I2 S/ G# c" Y6 n L4 Sin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
+ K( H- |, L) G; GLentz replied: "Not totally."
. F3 l A2 C6 ~4 N' O. v9 n5 J0 JStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
/ M" y2 W. D" X$ |" }"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said. c* {7 D3 y5 W: e0 q: M
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas6 ~9 b) W- z5 R# K5 E; N. T" S
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
5 Q% {% Y% B, I2 c) h' kvehicles already on the road.
3 o/ X, |* Y9 JMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify% c$ ^) j" G! L2 C
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
2 [9 T4 h6 |0 [( X& _2 |responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and* R" V9 b* w( a' r5 {
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
6 S3 Y) ~% R" o/ W/ j. b( Hkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
$ `5 S; r( L* {, q"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a7 I; |2 a3 U5 \' U$ c% n& ?- ^# `5 F
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony2 |7 g' u6 t' ^# V) Y" y! O
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
7 w6 C# _- @5 nCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
( S( X* ~% N3 s$ ncommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
% f! A0 k! u# yrestore the trust of our customers."1 F+ ^9 H+ K! c5 u+ f/ B/ m
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from: ]9 h& j9 J9 X; @9 K
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly5 ~- k1 ^) W3 z6 P' P- l
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
' F8 k6 {7 u. \0 E1 I, Lshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
$ K) M4 q7 ~6 R6 F* T# J7 l! hhitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough; r6 D1 r9 S# y. z& R, ~4 ?
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
7 \8 r9 y$ o$ |3 g& P3 `turn off the engine.7 l2 A, V4 H. i8 J. @
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of7 x: W# h. x. X* l* {. r; L5 r
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."! R. }, \1 }4 {8 f9 n' f* B
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she b9 {' Y4 E, x' n7 O2 N
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
( C% E, ]; `/ K, j1 o' t1 C2 Ito her complaints.- ?( \4 S& Z7 h, g" y3 [$ k7 q1 s
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
: Z/ \! u2 i" K3 M! _9 N9 |returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
$ o* H+ Y! `1 Z. ~1 |malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.& J5 U+ T4 R: T; |' X
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
! Q9 F" u/ W4 Q- j# Cthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
, E2 D; g. q6 w0 d"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut# X1 Q+ b' U* U4 i$ H7 S3 B1 n8 H
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."/ D6 X! Z6 ~: Y1 _/ J/ G2 a/ @9 p
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in, ?4 p, f3 }5 d, s2 S5 K2 l3 j
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
- n5 ?0 d9 X! W" H7 M; Ybeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
' r( P. o# Z* f1 y" U' p% [) ^, R2 ?were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer- R4 e8 |" }! \! y' @
every question."
, D" d( a& b0 `% {! z3 BToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
9 p5 q1 l# o1 y- }electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The0 U! u, n* Z" U$ v* r( K
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
- h- R' H! c3 E5 D, hcommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small& N6 B5 d p) U6 E6 d
number of vehicles
3 e2 Z/ j k* U$ Y* Q9 W. h! ^2 UTracking down an electrical problem can be far more* M1 G5 t4 x+ T' Y _0 N
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a+ D% w, J) {2 x9 T; @ O' ]' I: R) R
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
3 z2 k, d( G" V& P( w; Vsource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.2 M, G3 O2 X2 j
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,; y8 X( M8 ^( M# M [" q
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no- ^: p7 o8 v* h7 p, Y7 q
trace at all.
5 U/ C% ~1 S# h! P* QHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
& {) d. a) \& Xdatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
$ X+ J! K1 B9 T3 y! s( Q: Dacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the7 G0 J+ e: k: D" _% Z; X
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.8 g. R# T" L d6 a9 t4 B( H
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,. M# C7 ?& K8 J4 x1 r' y! I; o
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and7 T4 p+ b9 K9 E# W( Y0 ?
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
7 V! f; x7 W/ j B% ?electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible3 n0 t) t" H2 r: P7 ^. B. R! }
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only6 h W$ r* b# G! e6 n, ~ P" _* D9 Q: `
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
+ @' b3 z( A6 ~4 O! X2 Eby Toyota's lawyers."
$ |+ [1 l/ ^; s9 J+ kLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of8 d Z$ y+ X. j. c# V; X
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our& f, l. J0 ~- X' x
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he) N8 e9 @/ q3 d9 t
said.' y5 ]8 `: r" y. J, q
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
/ V) }) u( X T2 I5 j6 t+ `a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our" b2 B" w# |+ P( F9 H
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating2 X6 j; p7 w# X3 Z' w) l0 j0 t4 { W
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.' f7 k" A3 O J6 Z3 t4 |9 s8 H
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying" @5 c, F0 o8 {, a! h, g9 g! J
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread4 ~ Z+ C7 e2 |- b! E+ W' G
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the9 y' R$ G% i( r9 j6 l( T
automaker, at least in part because of the government's0 A7 Q+ L$ r) g1 S6 x* [/ `+ S6 @
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
( G2 V7 \; Y4 `4 ~# k+ ~Chrysler.6 @7 u& Z u/ a- V' \* [
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
2 b+ {+ h$ J5 rdollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a, O; m* x5 Z* U1 K& d
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
/ w# ~+ \: w$ X. z! bserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete+ m; ~* k3 G5 x0 l1 u: }
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
U. ]$ X$ ?8 ^" u6 s0 ztough."
# W. I3 H" t' o2 I1 w" S; h---
6 m% f' ~5 C5 P' U- h1 ~! `5 d: FAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
8 D3 f) L% G- `7 f- q& b1 MRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
0 D. X! J! |. h' P7 p$ H+ sthis story.4 i5 h! L2 v4 F& G- I
* y% z) ~8 ]6 P' b; \8 {; F
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