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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题: p" R! C0 d. W' k9 u
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
8 Y2 X, B+ I- Z' K' e* Y; [) T( j' ?Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
! _( S6 V6 _7 |# y2 aoperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
) P( H+ A* Y* fthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
. h7 x& n8 z" L8 V5 Psolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.; N- ~! | G! V; I" ?: U# {" S2 _
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
% p" {* j* `( o1 S y- D, Jcauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.* @1 ]) R. v5 Y$ K& b/ |
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected% Y7 f: [( E4 u' h
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and( Y2 u6 k7 e& B( L4 M/ A% C0 F
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
8 W; d+ M1 R8 x% @) O* Gmats and sticking accelerator pedals.
; a* R) i3 c3 n" jHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal+ t4 \: v; D/ j! x) i. ]
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp+ o" M+ j$ m3 Y6 ~
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be u+ N$ H3 Z2 [2 n% y1 R! [# y
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could# L2 A. y! [2 H; e8 J+ [) W
not stop her runaway Lexus.
( f2 Q9 Q7 t! @5 k q"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
; O$ t+ A/ [; y& n6 uTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
2 c* K6 N6 x* y2 r0 t"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.5 y2 k/ h6 x' j+ s& ^
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues6 V. O8 a9 t8 ^6 u3 v9 s
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
+ z) G- J# y+ s0 e) ?"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
3 f8 L* n, P0 {2 {# ~" Bdone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
$ D' Q& E1 s" R, Y/ F7 hthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
3 Q8 ~0 ]. v: Winvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."- J3 P& z f' [# ^) }; i" j
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an0 Z$ ` [ a; K) o. Y& Z
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
( p( I: e/ \9 E1 _# K% d& M. c; pthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a' W, [0 L4 }, H5 h/ A2 l5 d5 R4 |
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he% ~* V0 R; n; `+ y6 E' V
said.6 w3 F- l# _& b2 ~+ ^8 |
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what, E4 B) C9 y2 M/ u9 ^0 X" i2 C
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
" ~9 _/ s! _; y8 vabout driving our products," Lentz said.
8 R# U5 d2 l' S6 F) ~Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
! J) a W6 x. ]. M3 R3 Gproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
K! M, ~- {4 f) o7 X4 U8 {+ precalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
% d9 S) M4 U/ [2 E9 i7 `million in the United States -- since last fall because of/ @1 b& U9 f! v2 ?6 s8 ?
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking x8 R2 y! Q! z* E% H6 P
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
& W4 n( `& a; o' D# W n: Tconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
# _ n( z& H. H6 ftheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow2 b- q& @+ r1 [" u. d& r- `4 w
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
" g8 n7 @3 C( ~4 P! }received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration4 n1 n$ |0 N* |9 |7 D
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.. D- g4 b0 Z2 S8 d
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
) r: K0 U" D) W7 p. Xbrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he" [* i0 |; `9 j& }
understood the pain.
( U6 g2 i! i+ `1 N"I know what those families go through," he said.
. k3 ~4 A2 y3 H% P. K$ F% ULentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
/ H6 {* G7 c' J; s, sfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
* G: x. h9 `" fBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
. c: w7 R* R: PHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
9 p7 _: |9 q3 c5 Ein place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
5 C& n N0 {% z9 t: u! |Lentz replied: "Not totally.". ^0 q: d' a7 @) E4 g
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
7 ~+ _, s! G% _/ R8 W"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said5 \, a7 i$ _* J3 P( s6 P
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas# V7 Q6 V1 d- I# c' A" P4 Y
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its1 g2 N7 e, h5 D
vehicles already on the road.3 H; M6 g* v8 z
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify1 Y( w; p ]* h7 V& A- ^8 M, v) v
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
4 }: y! t$ R! ]+ t3 H' o- e; O5 Iresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and% f9 I3 A4 V, _
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were- C% h7 n& i! h7 |8 {" y; h" r
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
: r% W$ o$ q s% B2 t" Z, {; N# q"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a. f2 X# h1 v, ~3 V: f
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
& g- `3 k ]+ Y% x1 u1 nfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight% C/ J1 D) h$ s; S) y
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal& A/ n8 ]& Q5 b) @$ | S
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
% D% n+ K" S: n( q9 orestore the trust of our customers."' R# @0 ~9 S8 d/ h; f; ~
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
2 B3 `" R& T8 X( ^5 OSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
7 D: I. i; t5 s( c7 Lzoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --) Y$ B0 k0 \1 a4 N1 F
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
* o7 O1 X, q1 k7 S* b9 c* m' ^hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
* g+ W, D, i- z9 L* lthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
, O# H3 l ^+ \# n3 y; _, r5 j# H6 cturn off the engine.
, ~ _- m5 i" E+ O _+ ^3 B% h6 o% UFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
& f' m6 P, z% q9 Y! v; YOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
7 A# X' E" c. b"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she4 ?8 h* f# k( O7 n8 n
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond/ ?3 E! ]0 |/ Q% k) K$ o
to her complaints.
5 V7 K8 r2 ?% lIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
* Y$ H: d+ ^& n$ o6 [' _returned again and again to the question of whether electronic/ z; ?* ^) H+ |% w6 r' |
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.* L' Y. j- |" L9 C s
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric' |$ e+ a& u4 a' j9 b) }# Z& n
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited2 b# c, G ^" d2 W3 w
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut7 u6 N1 V; _4 F1 v6 N
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure.") d4 h9 p. s6 a( V& i- @5 p
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
, a! Z# r/ M* l% Q% D' F6 Cprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were% p: w6 m8 N4 f2 Y5 }8 v: _# f
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls& C2 ^" {6 g4 W
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer& \; e" V9 t5 r' B& n
every question."
; Q7 a9 S* u2 CToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether! h% i8 d6 y0 X; a' t. O
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The8 M" {1 d' }0 B
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But$ V5 L3 E# Z! ~2 D% ?
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small+ p/ [# q9 K$ S- ^+ i
number of vehicles
9 p' ]& C& h$ Y2 iTracking down an electrical problem can be far more$ Z6 f" ]1 u. }, A) }: z2 F
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a5 g7 a- |- {0 W) z
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one$ F5 { ?6 w" H: P: H; D
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.& @: Q I9 W1 r1 ^: p+ U/ B0 t
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage, i1 }% i( Y' T/ x. n& ~0 a S; s
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
( {" \" y: m0 ^/ ytrace at all.
9 S9 r' ?# C5 U4 aHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call8 i. T r- Y8 [& J5 H2 `
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden/ p% F* v. A" j, {& H% ]/ Z
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the$ d2 j( v5 u9 F. V' |
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
$ n0 k+ x* J h2 }Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
5 ^- m2 U: L+ I, R1 [! ksaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and! W7 n: T. K& I) Q9 q: @: e2 D
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
% X( f% |! X) X) W nelectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible$ N8 \3 E; g6 i) t
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only0 i- A4 N) S* L; x4 y8 @, r0 ^$ j
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained# k% C9 f2 e- S) C( a, w% M7 e! }5 E
by Toyota's lawyers."1 M( v9 F4 x5 ~
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
5 f/ V/ M2 s: D. Q2 n0 ]4 _& Z* F) S" n1 ~problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
8 R3 J& H- `+ l8 f! y/ gcustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
/ \4 r" n2 Q; T7 ?, Tsaid.7 r# X0 }' V3 x& h( y
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with+ s* e! K" Y# f8 j9 P
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
( h& g3 }" p' t8 i2 ogood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
- j5 N. s1 s3 u3 mofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.7 U* |- X# @0 L
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying( h9 [ D) M4 d0 v3 t) Y# R. ^2 V% ], r
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
; B+ r7 N" f4 i+ y3 Prancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
, P$ F, r$ z0 k- ?( R$ t- pautomaker, at least in part because of the government's9 t" T) ]. \- I' o% M: D
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
1 B" I5 ~+ N3 v9 l8 _Chrysler.* N( G0 b8 v% I. z" d. p Z
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
. {& [0 M5 p E2 u* ]1 I9 E5 }dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
' D- |5 A; ?0 IHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also2 D: V" f3 L* _ _0 y3 ?* t
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete5 Y* ?1 K- u8 A3 g+ l. K2 d
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty* t F) W! K1 q6 k. b: g9 y
tough."
9 @; T( C6 B7 A6 X! u$ Z6 S4 ]/ D; e---) X) |" x e8 y
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
" m- q! m+ o% L! {! _- wRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
6 F% j+ j/ ^, p& e& b8 Ythis story.
9 k0 i' j* [) D; u; [( s4 @5 `1 Q6 w
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