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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
0 J) S5 |' b& s( JBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS: [) E6 R5 V \- ?
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
4 j, @8 J1 I* U6 O$ d+ uoperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
% r# K" |/ [8 d% s8 z. q0 Lthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally". j- M: C3 a. u7 D
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
0 |; B, _& f* M4 V"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
' b1 t/ ^$ X% o, Zcauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.2 V, ^ t# u; G4 h( h8 T' l5 p% ]
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
3 s# E2 w8 K( j5 C f# Jacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
: C, q8 I/ Z/ G2 a- `. ptrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor$ A1 N4 W3 w# B
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.8 [ \: W2 v, Q f! ]- A% Z5 M
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal& n( y" ~# K! F
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp7 n6 K& R, b* w- V, D4 d5 p0 v7 n. h
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be" N3 j% [) K2 f8 e4 K y
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
n# E# G( V& z s9 l4 }9 l: Vnot stop her runaway Lexus.. d8 }: @9 N! z. G% ~& _
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
; D5 r2 c; \1 i! j7 I/ A n. `! r( RTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
! F. d: o2 o8 ?"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
& o# F# g: \* A( ?Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues3 U0 {/ u1 [( [9 w" [
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
, t: e! P: l0 f* l7 s"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
/ `' l8 m: O0 v: u+ Y" D2 @done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway- ?! }/ o4 T6 H
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's% c: a; h& F) j9 C8 k* }* t4 n8 ?
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
3 v2 y3 ^2 |7 D; A1 E$ CLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an0 B0 E! D! r* S- A. e
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of1 r& _% B1 k7 P h, g. b
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
' d& ?' ~. ~; M! R& Mmalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
2 G8 V, w$ [" u, ^5 Isaid.
* D5 q: f6 V4 [As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
; Q5 J4 n0 J" e: `happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
$ ?, A# Q8 I. `' S1 Wabout driving our products," Lentz said.6 C6 z+ ?* b0 x9 a7 W! Q
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
3 b+ N* X$ Z: Yproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
$ Y! p- ^5 s1 i8 ` P+ r3 v0 Erecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6& a6 h, E; |# k! p1 O8 e
million in the United States -- since last fall because of- y( }+ G t" ~6 o
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking. f0 x; k2 l7 W/ ~
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
2 {) B4 ?3 N6 V. r5 {" oconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of- Z4 U- F A/ N7 l
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow, S/ n R) x' l! o* s3 _6 d
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
+ @9 V3 p9 U; d( l7 S7 lreceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
$ e L4 {# Q5 N$ U8 B2 Zof Toyota vehicles since 2000.
$ P! w: C5 S0 {& N( u: ?$ K7 M) c1 OLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own0 B/ O4 h& @/ F! C8 w
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
( w7 ]& T6 D H; t! K7 N. Iunderstood the pain." k4 l& J- F( L+ o0 ?0 ~
"I know what those families go through," he said.
. l0 Z6 R4 |7 S: L- qLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's- v/ f2 q; B. j) N) ^
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
5 k; o( Z9 P0 Q1 d8 U( t$ uBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman0 S1 O& |) f( t. X; }( V
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put1 m/ S9 m6 q3 n' Y' G8 y
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,# a' w2 a' a! P+ \! [
Lentz replied: "Not totally."; l2 S; l( Y, c- R2 L `
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were% Q- H) ^. W F' ^9 t4 s
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said0 l* K: x; g8 a3 Z
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas _5 u0 Q8 @. W9 }# b& C a* ^
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
1 ^" H+ d( c6 m0 G) }vehicles already on the road.6 x/ V5 b4 ?( u+ f# Y
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify5 k4 X n; [% N
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full" }: \) Y* b& R4 B
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and2 `% P: O. p9 e, ?$ F$ g
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
7 k) B: \* h' N0 ]; bkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.' ~4 I& `0 g6 B% q
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
( c) I" ^/ r( w% `tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
: {8 z* \, C2 @9 q7 f$ U4 U8 |% Wfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
( D( F s' L/ X( [ u' B# gCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal# a8 A8 a- g" _9 n' A
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to6 C! s; I- ?# r) }7 _; J, N! a
restore the trust of our customers."! R0 X1 [/ W) x, h* [$ W+ H [5 [: R0 l
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from, F" I; ^& a7 L) J3 ^5 W
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly; e5 V# W h/ S% P) I
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --. b& i6 ~9 m; c) A
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and( j( Y' F1 T! O6 B" f7 z# b
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough4 u& F; u2 G3 S8 G; F( y; t2 N' [, Y
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and. G" e# z4 _% d8 P
turn off the engine.) x1 d1 r) l. G5 l: q8 b
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
2 j A; N' ^, ^- i* v, t# z1 MOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."; S. g# S1 G' f8 R& N, ]
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
$ n" X, D* W& D5 V; nsaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
+ W7 w% X2 @+ \2 P/ y* S7 ito her complaints.
( h2 g0 U: g# K0 R$ p$ `6 rIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers, M" v( f" D- t
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
# }. j, Z! y; K3 O8 Xmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
$ l; D* `9 l/ O" \# d) S* F6 r"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric1 k2 p0 u: `& \( i% i' @3 w% }5 c5 v
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
' f4 Q7 X+ g" K2 I"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut* c5 M+ d! s5 B j
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
! O& k; C U; O2 dTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in* b+ o* o5 u l5 k/ D( z5 S
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
0 n/ l- H& z b7 @ Dbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls6 m$ k( d9 D c% n4 D
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
3 t6 a* p% t+ Cevery question."
6 l% Q. {" X2 |; I$ W- bToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
; g5 F! L2 X7 I/ d0 R+ gelectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
5 T2 M, E9 o8 ]" E2 i; g# k5 kfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
$ Y- ]5 x0 ~0 o2 B8 W$ f* Y, Hcommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small' P" m2 ?4 K! P g" x. n4 y. O
number of vehicles# O9 R+ m# v8 f- J
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more
5 ^' }. u5 p6 S- J7 f* Pdifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a. p X8 ^4 c$ B4 B8 Q
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
# k9 h$ W- c( M$ N) }source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.) h7 k' e" O( m
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,! O! Q) R! _7 Z2 p0 G# B( d
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
/ j& L- ~ } P; c/ Itrace at all.
8 ~4 y# E# \1 S) R! ~House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
! _* y7 T5 F/ xdatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
; r: O/ x1 L& M* o$ @/ Yacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the/ w: D0 T2 T3 l3 s
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
/ g w* E7 {6 i- dRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
' U* b. f" I7 m' i6 Tsaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
( h( D1 b- C8 j4 M1 pother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the' I# A+ n- A: G6 t- h' J* [% ~7 F
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
: M6 ]! _1 S' Y" Z; [cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
0 |6 Q& |+ |0 \9 o% p; I c6 O+ ?such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained( Z0 J- |: ^9 L4 x/ I' J; {% Q3 w
by Toyota's lawyers."
& I- e u3 Y p/ H# k$ g; t" @Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
4 j) Y( D) F* z$ U" Z0 u4 _# lproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our' r3 x' c1 t0 |+ o0 Q1 i4 e) {( L
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
7 ?; _5 @ E. ?( {8 hsaid.
1 { D6 D" p4 R$ F, k1 a' t"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with( \# ^' `( p0 b% ^" v7 W
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
Q" ?# w2 G, `2 a" g! Dgood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
! Y( o/ o0 O2 m. u3 \! d5 f: pofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
K0 X% {& t7 f4 d: ?Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
( H( v/ f6 ^' Q- W- x" Qmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread {( C- w2 i! y# O, L4 p, c
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the. O3 v0 v; O* ~) S- {( J" i6 p9 Z
automaker, at least in part because of the government's
+ a: @- c, ?9 X9 qinvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and O" B4 m3 g3 R8 B3 B
Chrysler.
2 {/ L5 ?$ a7 p8 w& o+ q* g+ _2 @, h1 H"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
0 v3 v" w+ ]$ x- R( e2 Cdollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a' C/ N ^4 \ ^) T; w! T
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also: Z0 k2 ^( H3 A; T; F7 w p
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
& \& s1 P3 {: [0 C6 Twith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
- w! G7 N v4 W2 q/ \9 ltough."/ O' m( m' P% ^3 q
---& J/ h9 a7 O- r
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
& k, b" _4 q; E% J( y- o2 G" zRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to( G* f( ?6 ]8 i9 c
this story.
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