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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题 l0 U" T$ K" G* j* ]7 ^
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
/ F% ~5 r0 S. D# GWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
6 k0 ?5 ~+ r% t; g) f% q* [) Toperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that8 _2 d$ k# }* z' n# j) k, ^+ _
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"+ L2 B# d( L: l- o$ p% ~" j
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.9 }6 H8 g; Q! V! I9 _$ G
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential% c6 @% Z- R( o, U
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
% x/ o3 V. T4 E+ E5 g2 [, g% E4 v" QHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
5 M! d; | d& R& ^acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and- r0 \3 y: s/ Y5 [8 n
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor- A+ B. w# ]3 K. e
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.
- I+ s. c6 D6 {; s: ]- BHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal( a5 L8 C5 B, l+ T, j
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
. c3 X7 G" ^! q/ d( ~3 rcriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be8 d: G1 Y6 J, W1 {" V) G3 _
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
: X V. q+ A$ a; w1 S; knot stop her runaway Lexus.! Y/ t7 F0 g l* v9 x$ M' }
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,; ~$ d( J' r$ t: P0 N
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second0 { ^: l) T: D; |
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
! k0 m% x* R6 nTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
/ J+ i* m; }+ D: u& kearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said5 b# l5 t+ V! `6 L
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
8 v0 j, s1 L1 Hdone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
0 B$ \, J$ A$ @( r* T5 k9 J6 Ethrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's$ H; k0 p! j* v' r8 i' s% O
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."" ^$ W `' [- o7 b( J' ^; m7 z. G) a
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
' R& }% C2 \1 w \; P( o2 R4 ielectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of, m- O1 B& q; C+ k2 A
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
; K1 T" m/ }3 n6 d! ]- r4 Tmalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he$ M6 @8 T4 H9 Y9 z: m5 U3 S3 ^8 d
said.$ r4 r6 Y% ]4 G* h. F- Q4 a
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what1 J8 w/ g0 H8 M6 a$ h, K+ c2 i
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe3 A0 Q5 I- z1 y& n
about driving our products," Lentz said.. e. F) i/ R) q3 D- @4 _2 b
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's# K4 N; k7 I# d, F
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has4 B# F+ f1 v( J9 V: S) m
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6 u0 W: X& Y6 }0 n
million in the United States -- since last fall because of' M+ N( \3 c: {( P) z) d& s
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
6 o- N) _+ L+ T, S- sissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering( k. Q: c# D' m! A. B6 V5 w. U
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
& M ]6 n2 ~# z: L& r8 T Stheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
9 r. y H, s, j, y4 jdown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
1 H( R% k0 j$ c9 Xreceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration7 W/ V# q W% ?( ]; l- v, f
of Toyota vehicles since 2000./ K; C; B. c) v6 L' d( R
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own1 t+ Y' n& r0 O# h
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he" |3 C% _# l. |$ x E7 y: F
understood the pain.. L0 J* n$ P5 q& i) r4 U V _
"I know what those families go through," he said.
" u( ~+ p9 L) N! z- l( G. Q# MLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
4 \9 V$ i$ X0 R5 D0 M( M/ n7 f1 Jfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.5 z* \" R/ g7 X: m- P5 n4 U
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman2 Q/ B# w3 Z3 V- O% ]
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put4 z% a7 N( ? d5 a) P4 }, J
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,2 H5 A9 K6 `5 t( O& Z, u
Lentz replied: "Not totally."' f I+ t/ `. T- M. Q
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
, m# d; J' l S4 ?; S5 r& |/ q; s"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said, E4 N4 a3 ]$ J# L/ B a" o: `
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas* s4 J3 m9 y1 \ \& w k
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its1 a& O2 F% k8 E
vehicles already on the road.* W1 O- y" A, |1 ` ?1 o7 x
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify7 x5 o& ~: F, M# ]
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full/ i7 I. t7 i* T, x8 v
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
7 }" s' C2 N* [; |7 z( m8 }/ `+ ?& Uoffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
. x" T% f# b$ A0 G" Q" n6 ^killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.+ I# o+ N) |+ u/ ^, x; C
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
0 {5 o- M& K2 ]- r( _2 o% mtragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony" f) o& o& m3 f+ T
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
& ^, {2 K8 t. {$ q6 v/ PCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal i* e n. t# q- G
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
' ?. j; `# v2 I) }: P1 |restore the trust of our customers."
. y4 @$ J, p8 t' {& g5 a0 tLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
, U# |# R7 P, n, OSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
. j8 o4 L. S! Wzoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
! t. \1 }( h* h$ d. dshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
! t1 d( Y2 ~: _5 i0 dhitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
: {& M2 P) e! h7 l, Wthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and' L: n/ s) p( |7 U; t; p
turn off the engine.
9 Z+ n/ o* E/ O, {; ~# uFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of8 l. d8 B& e0 b9 |1 M* }7 D6 s
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
2 \9 u2 |+ G( T, A; K& U. T"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she' U" W9 v; E3 N3 F- w" Y- L# [
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
$ r4 Z. D: h a7 j# M) p2 i0 Wto her complaints.; u. l- c6 r/ c( t/ g
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
- T8 z$ A9 R- R' o) V. j+ Yreturned again and again to the question of whether electronic$ x- G- r3 W4 ^& V' e( |
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
! l& g. Y; [6 h! }( @"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
6 q9 }, D2 [& y2 j9 f% uthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
3 T. v) S0 _, H' v$ Z"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
5 i6 W3 z, \; u( p0 ooff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
7 _; U0 t$ T+ c5 u% A" ATransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
! Z: W+ k8 i9 M iprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
4 m2 K/ F; P Q) y+ t* V: a& N+ Ibeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
, H% {& I! j {. |8 |$ P' O* xwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer: w" N2 { B7 m( y
every question."
8 t8 A6 l- I4 h, P. f" K* p+ AToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
3 S3 F: a0 V* P3 melectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
1 `& `( t; x* b/ ^9 @- r) ? [firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
4 {- r! w x3 E+ Acommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small
% V) \: I' [: f/ g% hnumber of vehicles9 M' z7 m' u W3 Z# K% {, Z
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more5 g/ k( Q0 D2 U7 r7 w- k s1 p" M
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a+ {9 {$ x, o4 F" P6 Z
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
. x& P( g! c6 Vsource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.7 f% {; v' h' f1 e* I! G# |
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
& U; I0 S: ^7 ~- ywhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no7 l7 ]7 U6 ]/ M7 ]. a, ]1 m7 r
trace at all.
0 ?* Z# S2 y: k! k1 D8 kHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
$ n2 G" d. ^. a- c/ z# c9 F3 Pdatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
7 x! |0 p. ^7 h2 `, r4 v* Aacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
5 V; `( R1 {) z) m4 u5 Trecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.; }, t0 j2 {4 B- P9 n* w
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,% @9 w- c/ d3 o$ q* P
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
" l+ K6 E4 j$ |other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the d: M: {. j) o4 b( b( ?* I
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible* a& g5 h0 g7 [2 {% p8 A
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
* U; o2 P% d, [such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained& j: h3 R" Y' c; t
by Toyota's lawyers."6 A$ g: Z7 o7 T, Z
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
3 w, s* Q3 ]" Rproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our/ Q& ~. o# f9 B4 ~) t) S
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he7 I5 _! S4 u1 Z& M2 ?& t8 Y$ a W
said.1 X: Y6 w) V/ E D! y
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
$ d- r4 q4 [" t+ U, }+ ~8 N' G' Ta rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
- h) N W+ P! [/ `4 k* R) xgood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating' B4 g, E1 |& D& h. y W0 m" s
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.* N- `& F( G$ g* u* j- r% i4 \4 p
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
) r, W, `. v }+ x( q: @3 Cmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
- z' v/ K. Y$ R+ Lrancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the; A/ e ~. H* f4 G9 j2 B: y1 B4 J
automaker, at least in part because of the government's7 T, P1 u% Y1 f2 }& R
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
9 Y& P, p1 D0 J( Q" t( ^7 w* |Chrysler.
- R3 M0 E( }6 U5 B: u6 ^* y* I* g"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax& E; z; V5 ^8 c& {
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
' v) e6 ]; Q' E% `+ I. E# X6 v4 UHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also: z& ^, l7 a, J3 L% q% u0 i7 R3 z
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete& j$ m8 v. {. ^+ u2 \/ f! {* @% w: S
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty7 v: d: \) B8 ?$ C
tough."
, t; A) y( F* @0 {% m9 I! T---" r+ i0 F7 q! q0 N$ u
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom, Q3 F. i- X6 y+ `
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
) o7 ^) c& U9 {# Ethis story.7 [, `, f" Y0 @( V4 y1 g
: J/ q3 ~. ]# {) A7 N/ u1 X
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