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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
3 L& d9 @/ i7 t$ Y$ QBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
% q& g: }9 Y6 AWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
v# p! c! H- L8 j" d+ d) joperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
( K7 s: O5 |3 D# _; \3 d4 d/ I/ B4 Gthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"+ K% i' A/ M5 Y! g- K% i
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
# w/ F% }0 ]1 `# m" \"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential- h6 Q' G# Z# N- H1 {9 U; Z& A
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
& g6 i* d$ O) B' N5 Q( VHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
0 K. R4 c0 I( D0 K4 ~7 ?. L( `acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
" A. h+ k7 p( z. R9 m, otrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor( L2 r: z9 P7 ^- l4 e! d
mats and sticking accelerator pedals., c( q) i- u+ p c" S
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal7 `; a1 j+ t! e `( w' M
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp% B `9 k+ r$ r! ~5 ^
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
# a' I( j+ e- o8 K# Qfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
9 i1 g) h/ p* m: J( pnot stop her runaway Lexus.
4 @& F6 @! @! i/ C4 q I. r"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,! ~0 ?* z2 J9 _) C. F( T1 z
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second: R. T6 \9 [& k: e+ v
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.6 [3 Q1 V. E+ q! ]% h
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues5 P& e, s9 W2 }
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said) Y* ]# k1 y R
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
: ?1 p$ F6 E6 fdone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway% Z2 e/ S8 ?" I$ S+ s& e- g) r9 W* V, H
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's6 P$ H* [. }2 w0 Y. S8 s
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
: L M0 R) q; `7 Z* ]+ nLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
8 O8 }# J5 X9 w6 C9 Y) {$ B$ n6 melectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of8 ~0 V f6 f! k' d- ^4 _5 k
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
1 Y# M) `+ R5 J4 U' _! imalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
/ G; f2 r/ `. e0 q8 ?said.$ H1 N( A6 ]8 N3 W/ n
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what& L& }' Z& D* L" U% G
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
6 L# P/ B/ e' p6 a5 wabout driving our products," Lentz said.* z* f" n4 S. A" k) g: E6 @& R
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
5 W' ~. T1 O3 ]0 p: Z; F4 fproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
) L9 s$ L8 S. M0 \recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
6 O& B- K/ N2 m, q1 imillion in the United States -- since last fall because of
& I; {) Q. r% I* ~$ u4 qunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking: L y+ }4 M d9 B( i
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering8 c1 `: K5 B' Z
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
' e$ }) o" [3 O; Itheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow4 O6 z' k1 C B% ~3 K, x4 N. r F; _+ m
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has( u1 Z; ]: ~2 |* I
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
+ n1 R6 k) c# |, b1 W( Cof Toyota vehicles since 2000.: x1 ~ ?9 N7 S
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
$ a8 k' Z/ t( O* T4 Qbrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
) v( Q, o9 A; N& h1 u/ e0 E# T% yunderstood the pain.
, q, l! j5 z1 y: c" ^2 R1 T"I know what those families go through," he said.# [" y V C J: ^- J x
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
0 u: p1 t8 P' B% D# Ufixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
6 \& q; W( \$ u) ]# R) IBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
6 ~% T8 A- E1 N; y" y qHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
* j0 W# L8 I, ]. t4 Ain place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
3 ]) I# m( T* n" u- mLentz replied: "Not totally."
1 B. B. m6 k& u. |Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
! |3 j/ K6 b& }% S, l H* F"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said# e# d8 m& B* M$ f/ T; c
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
2 z, t. d, a6 c+ N( x. qpedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its w( G5 L& k/ W5 Q- e2 l
vehicles already on the road.9 S1 U, J" v8 u0 H6 s4 R/ g
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
. a8 e) z4 @3 g( q9 [! Ibefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full5 j x: ^) u; Y3 f
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and9 \7 e7 V/ V5 v2 f" y" A) a
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
! f9 x0 I+ d% s' x6 ?3 l0 R+ \* okilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
5 t" a4 ?5 C, g& H% u( I"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
+ J- F: n# [1 f2 gtragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony+ s4 g) L( r4 y' {' k$ D& V2 E2 x
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight2 z$ B* S4 c" |+ u0 l
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
: J/ H- A- |/ J4 h! Pcommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to0 J8 k5 F+ z- R) O- W3 {
restore the trust of our customers."1 z7 v1 j4 Y) j! k# O
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from( {) z8 A$ g' H8 Y
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly3 }( k( S$ L, c0 V$ Q0 z! r
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
; i' ]4 _9 x f. {9 P4 J1 E: kshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
1 Q C4 q8 H1 l! \, c4 Zhitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
1 y- ?% l5 Q3 b* l( h Z6 Hthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
) o6 H5 k9 K/ _& H$ y$ c+ I! I8 x$ m6 gturn off the engine.
- e, ?; l: `+ o, K6 ZFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
p+ O6 u7 A8 i* w9 YOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience.") k6 e# Q- l( T" O+ h; y2 u# K7 a
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
4 r0 C; y3 {' vsaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond& e$ O; Q D5 u% r0 {: {$ g/ N
to her complaints.
. H3 u5 D4 |& F! Z: g% DIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
4 W% \, s# N1 B# E% {" freturned again and again to the question of whether electronic
& v5 w' T) g* }/ n1 q! B1 cmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars./ V3 A* y% j3 z2 I
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric8 I- c7 K9 ^+ g: E/ f
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited, u+ c- q; j" o- o# d
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
$ o3 R& Y2 \, Uoff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."/ L5 a6 R- v! \: n& [ F
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in4 n* a2 o3 W, G# s$ Z# @4 X- ~
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were, H0 j- p4 Y5 X, Y( G1 R
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
7 U m& O2 z1 r8 z5 twere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer% B, V" q0 j! u- v% y7 S
every question."
; i `5 Y" ~ c! \. lToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether7 Y* B8 f8 [: n; ~ x V
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The0 {; c+ R- \5 P& [7 Y& c
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
1 O8 M3 S7 e2 j! ocommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small3 r) X+ ? b! q, X
number of vehicles
3 T/ u" B6 b' y1 X" kTracking down an electrical problem can be far more
2 O2 `5 X- B, @) {difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a7 F6 d4 ~7 I: x
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one: P2 V1 @, v( E9 U7 O% }# Z
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.% S4 f) N- B7 C' ~: m
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,7 _7 l6 e; h0 d9 [0 Z$ T! R
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no" ]# y" Q+ t7 I' i J; i' E9 T
trace at all.3 J1 Q2 Q) X& \# o- P+ j
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
1 G, Z9 m6 Q! d9 a0 vdatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden) G+ J! l3 I$ }( q' [$ n, {1 S- y
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
. L) g, u4 o+ |0 S: m; trecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.' k. _9 j6 o2 [/ t
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,) Q$ M# B7 _: M/ @" F
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and% P, t. ~/ G4 _$ k/ S7 y
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the2 o# u1 z$ y% ]% y3 N6 N
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible2 F9 g5 }9 |8 w6 c5 q' i! F
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only' B- K1 O2 |: J, O9 y! X4 S2 j
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
$ M5 u" W4 R. m _ cby Toyota's lawyers."
, J% w- I# J, T' j+ y9 ~Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of* K, E& W" [& \. N3 \' r
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our1 p1 N- {- K8 v0 O- s+ I+ y
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
' o3 S( V. d5 U! R k" g1 X5 Wsaid./ O' @& ?. V) u! U4 Q
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
: `9 L0 F0 t; D4 j+ }6 m2 [, ua rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our( y; v6 @ B& x! z
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating. [, g+ h9 z; |1 p. b! y
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc., _, }1 \3 d. \4 M: \/ F- \
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
7 q( N# k, M4 H' E% l/ xmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
$ L3 c$ }0 v8 B6 g2 Xrancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
# G& h5 F$ t) k7 b' F( O- Mautomaker, at least in part because of the government's# e+ @# @2 v1 y* T: R
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
' @/ o) n" e( i1 J; l7 A) L4 `$ WChrysler.
, ?! R. M5 C) P4 z"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
# B8 j) \6 g$ q: Y |( Edollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a; X( N; _3 I8 N1 i& {1 x
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also2 e1 C X' i2 U3 p
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
6 o6 q" _- ^! k5 ]4 n$ c. O) kwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
) L# H& h; L# f* N; y4 p0 \tough."7 z6 P) ~; d+ {9 G, b, C: N' ?
---4 G+ N3 q* ~& A2 T8 u
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom$ t* `- }' ]4 N* S! L; X, {& D
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
' s) m, M( t2 x6 C4 Athis story.) e( `$ S& Z$ A; \
: O7 W2 a( d+ o6 C! B* H. J
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