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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
2 Q/ X0 n6 @9 r5 J' o/ W( hBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
! L }1 I: `. sWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S., K+ _/ B$ x/ y( x9 n6 m
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
, |( b5 y, e7 \5 Q4 Ythe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"' e' Q' A( Z q; h9 S* w$ r6 h
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
* _( {) F+ l: k, g7 q5 k& u7 N"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential9 l, X( t$ d& O. d( O) b
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.4 k. b% @8 j5 w+ N. w. \% h) _6 v( x
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected0 i4 n+ f p/ A% y
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
8 M5 }. p: O* x4 ^trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor( w. b$ q) I* V
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.
0 ~3 K# W. n* i2 ]) j3 sHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
4 O8 H/ m3 _& E3 F, q5 U1 H& sand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp% j# D9 X7 a, i/ w P- d( _ X
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
$ V, j6 ]( |- X, @$ W" Ufurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
+ h: `. i) ]/ Z1 i% `4 gnot stop her runaway Lexus.5 ]! S1 [, ^7 \! v Z. h, O; R
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
$ H E3 Z& r; ?4 S7 k7 \0 u, |Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second8 p% l$ d! j: Y7 n: F/ f# O
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
% }7 b0 J! U8 S, }4 B, `6 mTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
5 c, L# E+ ]& a, O7 k! Q! Dearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
' C; g2 H h" F) f"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has C; o e, r; o8 H
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway1 f( y: g$ P/ {8 R: I: a
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's# P3 b- f, f" @8 F
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."- t' ~' \$ t- t/ W/ f; g, W
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
- R" V6 J3 q# U# Eelectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of v5 E1 V' [ u" E
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
( |* }9 }9 |7 I& c3 a- T+ W& G; Umalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
$ L3 V: l5 ^2 Psaid.4 p2 ^9 Q+ }' _) ~
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
% n( c: O) ], @6 y- x* Ihappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
- d y# I. A+ {# R! F7 Labout driving our products," Lentz said.
, ~, N, ~* p! Z* aThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's! r6 T2 \5 g' B% S
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
1 m, F1 J5 U" N+ F. |recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
. O$ a0 z R; L+ Z6 omillion in the United States -- since last fall because of
. |& n& T3 p# n. aunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking0 d) W4 s2 t( @' w: O1 G4 g6 \
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering, X* C( c4 p* Q& U: d
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of( s$ H8 P& q+ ~4 o
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow; w M/ c& c, |6 N: x
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
7 q6 F2 \2 ]+ ]. _4 N! freceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration/ P, Q+ O; ?8 K. ~7 s/ `" O2 @
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.
/ s- w: t b! H& sLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
D4 w. a1 p4 y# @* |) Kbrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he4 k/ \+ Y* V& Z* r' W f& c7 ?9 P
understood the pain.7 U' \2 q' K1 w; ^6 t4 z: r7 t
"I know what those families go through," he said./ T s2 a) h' Y: l3 X0 v% {
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
7 U$ B6 h1 i% H9 ]9 W& ^fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
' v, n0 y `: K$ o @But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
- |4 O. x8 t& D* A2 t: sHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put: h9 ]# m- W, z( }: M" t8 h! S
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,# [2 @9 {( F! b. m, Q2 H
Lentz replied: "Not totally."
. g: @- O% Q( I8 R) w4 y7 N XStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were1 C5 `; \/ k1 H2 S! S( `
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
D: H& w1 P. I9 n8 Y$ TToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas$ H# {8 G- f3 {$ h8 T( c
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
; g! g: R9 _3 W4 G1 k: l. h dvehicles already on the road.% l$ X, h0 [8 @' I* x4 r( }% R7 e% v8 ?
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify, N. e' b: L4 u0 Q& `% b/ j7 v
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
4 T, l. b! n) Z! P/ Q1 tresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and* n) W" A0 ], m, v$ s
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were, ?8 [1 S, t F# g( V
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
" l9 w; F2 }( Q4 \% U7 H"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a1 { D7 V5 I* B! |4 m% \6 w5 n
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
2 u8 ^+ ]+ \; K# l. Xfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
4 }1 G* r3 W% z9 | _' r5 wCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
, ^3 n) l! W V d8 Acommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to" m `6 N% b( E, ]7 W, G
restore the trust of our customers."( N5 J. t# B$ M o; y
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
: I; \! f% K6 ~5 Y, z9 @; zSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
: E" Q) W, j" {" _9 Z# Qzoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --) _: L( k6 N; _) Q; Q( [2 h) `
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
8 }& A( K" {+ ], R4 o( W+ Ohitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
5 M. Z6 O n- Y: I. n/ p9 Mthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and, ~' T6 d3 ^, Y
turn off the engine.5 ?6 U- J1 E+ v9 h9 J# y" K
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
6 G8 f3 X! M& d- l( n9 hOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."+ {" d( ^! N6 `, W+ a
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she+ @7 _! g. l. | z0 x
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond9 o7 S. v; ?0 P8 v: @' n
to her complaints.+ L- |/ E. k; B. r+ b1 C
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers; [ w9 |7 \0 n' @- J: \
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
6 V2 F/ o! m! j+ t$ h6 nmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars./ O& p1 I. h7 H0 p% e
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
5 D2 n [' m( H# Y0 Rthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited$ P2 I% r! s3 {+ s; a
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
6 \4 O. L5 Q8 g" E+ f* V+ Voff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
& |& ?6 Z2 X) G* A4 jTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in9 U' x- e, H. p! G. G
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were8 p" p h: _ U! L8 d1 g
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
/ Q* z* \% Y! ^2 a9 i5 lwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer) q+ J2 S& I6 I4 m7 z, }& ^
every question."9 M$ \- e# w( K& m( M' A
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
+ k, z0 N( V" }# M' G- k8 C1 @+ [electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The+ i( `( Y, @# i
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
1 L7 M' s+ c; T1 s# \committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
# [ v1 r: }' u8 L$ snumber of vehicles
1 M" z: V% F1 HTracking down an electrical problem can be far more
9 I0 v5 _, \: x7 A9 Ndifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a5 I4 j" K( ^' y4 R& r! ~; y
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
% H6 c- M3 O, P, a0 lsource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
9 ?0 t. N7 N: l8 P; hMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,8 y3 m. M) s' r3 Z, s
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no" L7 x8 v7 m# J" O4 T# `
trace at all.$ |4 |6 b) g& M; D: r! h: W2 R* g
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
% b1 y; F: v) J4 N8 K5 i& ddatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
/ L4 J4 k3 ?- ^6 t$ r2 {acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
* H/ e" u1 }& \0 Hrecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
9 ] t$ x( l" l' x$ f, z9 D" A% aRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
: b" W! U- n/ Jsaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
; |+ t9 B- l' U9 D6 q* nother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the7 I/ u. T% U2 x7 j$ T6 J
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible) W( X: B7 E4 h0 j
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
- s+ {# O5 k4 O# H. K v/ z1 Tsuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
4 R# N8 X. F. i2 ]by Toyota's lawyers."5 k5 Q m. {! o5 ^2 N6 {; }
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of y+ J6 }# S2 J/ m X9 X
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our2 J5 Q/ d; \0 |7 w
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
6 N+ O" j9 N! G# `5 n gsaid.! `1 h4 Q1 O: ]! \( r
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
% c2 U" c) N) o$ Ka rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
$ u9 A+ w h0 K- ~good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating. E5 A7 a8 O$ o
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
2 Z$ q7 X A+ }! ZSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
) K' i' \3 H" B) f! v: t4 |9 m& Pmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread8 ?2 w$ ~2 B) _
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
! R: k3 f& s% Kautomaker, at least in part because of the government's
! f, k) [# b S; E3 E9 m1 ]: Ainvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
- e9 P$ Y) h9 \& jChrysler.
" }! m5 N2 `2 Y: I0 C"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
/ F+ T; @' [' z4 s k& zdollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
. K* {% w# O& h: M; [ LHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also9 v3 F5 x' x; E
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
) V3 l/ A0 q' a" ywith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
k+ I5 P P+ ]2 M, ~9 ]( W7 |tough."4 \! \/ f8 x# i7 {6 y3 G
---
5 g/ O6 l9 H; H% L( j+ y( JAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
9 @# z7 A" E. i0 r$ dRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
' Z" _' F& ^9 |0 W# f6 wthis story.7 Y; z1 p7 x& ]* V& g1 J
1 W* W, a" x- N; a
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