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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
: |. }3 l9 V' u2 [By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
, D( @% I; S# u8 e& ~# nWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
5 w& {9 E2 a6 _operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that7 y! D, e$ Z5 Y* b0 V
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"4 q+ d* r5 X! ~7 r {" o
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.5 C$ W L8 E0 n4 v: c
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
D1 N+ n$ L- z wcauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.& F4 U+ _5 I0 H- R( c
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected: m* e9 G |7 S. g9 y" a
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and7 X7 Y. S* k3 v5 P# W' g
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
4 N J9 Y7 D' v4 Mmats and sticking accelerator pedals.6 D1 y4 I1 }0 G
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
1 G% @0 @& L9 u: L# Land fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp; {4 f6 c4 @" Q7 S* k, A
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
( L6 f1 [# t) V! v: dfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
( o7 P& n+ l' dnot stop her runaway Lexus.0 U- R* E) U, w6 D% E
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,+ a V! _; D' F9 l: w- G6 e
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
& \) Z- V* a1 A' ]"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.9 g3 \) [8 z- i. P q) h
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues5 ^7 r) I5 J7 C/ w
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
8 q6 N1 n6 x* E+ `"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
3 m' z# u7 c" \done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway& c2 S, C, n, d
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's6 J+ K R. s& F# J
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
+ K5 S% G* S% {+ a0 E8 h7 S6 ~Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an# Q+ E, T! D! X& Y
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of# g+ k3 M2 J& [8 H9 j. q" w
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
9 _' k8 i% E+ @7 L, Qmalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he. z2 h' h0 P, J" n% X) K7 {, }
said.
+ E4 ]5 Q5 W. K* [9 L& H( qAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what+ X: q1 Q3 o4 @' x% g2 V5 N
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe7 o/ i: Z6 B2 u" Y& e
about driving our products," Lentz said.% f- D. E: w, s; ^
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
6 l, e8 {1 `; H: @$ cproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
2 w+ ?, @) ~. o8 Erecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 67 \) \7 L* b4 [. r* Z
million in the United States -- since last fall because of
$ c8 o0 Z- V- ]+ Q# Yunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking* M# k& m, C \9 i9 n& n
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
1 h6 v9 L% `! Z* Z2 xconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
. d: |( S- h5 q8 V. |! l0 _- o+ c! q! Ztheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
. |9 O z) U( ?down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has7 T; v0 N3 s8 e+ n- ^/ s% Y
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
C7 o5 V' C2 W* p2 k% Oof Toyota vehicles since 2000.; L, w$ g" j2 w
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own* @" |0 G& M3 O- l% r
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
7 y3 d- ^9 [. m+ a1 r" `. h6 K# Wunderstood the pain.
* \( B. z- |0 E# v8 k: T6 X9 S"I know what those families go through," he said.
n2 H, u9 ]$ R- {Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's! W( |& T# m0 M# T8 Y; r/ e
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.4 U: S& M2 x' ?+ U% q! i
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
. F. I; c6 [) b8 |6 z9 R3 wHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put/ z' {* \" Y- x1 Y# Q
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
5 N, N- `9 k5 C% Z1 e" aLentz replied: "Not totally."
+ D* H+ r& X) q1 S ~9 {% TStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were5 I' A$ M, R. X; T9 R& n1 F
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said* d1 h3 x3 [8 E6 U: t1 y
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
& g3 {; T3 [* m9 npedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its: i- s% c# t# d! p# h+ {# A
vehicles already on the road.0 ?4 o$ b1 J5 b
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
' T4 G( r8 y/ Jbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
$ D% U! ~: H Cresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
: H# g) G ?' F/ q$ T! I$ [7 Hoffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
6 O+ q: F: L( c" ]2 e L/ Kkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
, w+ w* O8 w) _; g% L: p( {' T"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a4 r4 } K4 k. E" Y: t4 c0 ^( a
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony0 c8 p/ s t) [4 d- @$ S4 T0 n
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight/ T0 p1 v0 v2 m$ C$ [5 B7 w
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal" j% E9 Q" R& m. r; A5 [( ]" T
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
u7 M7 W' o5 e& R4 ^restore the trust of our customers."
, c7 f9 ? f2 a& K$ JLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from+ Q( |) ~/ P/ ]4 K$ W, d
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
, j- F8 ^ j4 b' V, nzoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
4 Q" F; {6 U# k: O. Kshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
9 F- n8 C5 \$ Jhitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough- C3 |) T, L( q5 R C
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and! }1 E7 P# N* W: G, |$ Y5 a
turn off the engine.& d6 r% N, y& n, B+ G* }
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of( ?$ i. i) a, F1 H, M
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
; N7 u9 E5 n* E2 z" S$ B"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she5 R3 |! l& P4 x4 A
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond; c- d7 T- M! o, u
to her complaints.
u0 ~, D! M; X4 K+ Z& j4 ]In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
3 D# ?, D7 a; i) M! Preturned again and again to the question of whether electronic
@2 v: y5 o2 ~3 [ L5 c* qmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.( M: z- J9 x: ~) R
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric% Z. Q) p) m7 @+ d8 A
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
. s4 P. a3 W4 X& p4 _4 j8 H+ g"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut# }, }% z6 P" p
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."" ~+ a% S3 Y k' s- v9 y
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in0 \- T0 h- R! j; W, H5 @
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
7 x* u, W z4 z; e/ ]; c) \being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
- g7 ]. W# |8 K7 q. Y/ N0 Twere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
, b* u" a% \- Kevery question.", R8 J2 |( ]; O
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether5 {+ b) J$ ~: o+ K8 Q3 ]
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The) [5 o! A% N* I, M3 t' E% I5 k2 R
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
: Y; { j1 w+ xcommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small
: K' `. E( ?9 \- jnumber of vehicles8 x4 s4 }3 S. w8 t
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more& k. _1 s1 B) t% |; f% G
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a V" |7 E2 c5 w, s
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one$ I5 l: x2 o# T8 b `# ~
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car./ Y0 F- o0 K: g& e3 U2 c3 \: q
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
8 D ^% N# o! v0 z* @: Nwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
/ F D. Q( G, A( {trace at all.9 Q s5 S& D6 X; X; A$ L
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
! d6 m; j8 L$ Kdatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden: Z4 m$ p( D5 H6 S7 ~* s
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
+ K H! O& s/ Y7 r" Frecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.- f8 M. F7 z& A, l' L; ]2 F4 L: S
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,) Q4 [6 ~# ^! Y( Y% x
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
; L9 F3 \/ C E& xother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
% |& B) d# T4 ?$ d+ ?electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
- Q* a8 @% S- ecause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only m' }9 l( z. d* [, U2 X3 K
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained2 J7 S) v8 I1 @9 U- m: _
by Toyota's lawyers." ^7 r5 E% `# F
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
8 {5 y, L. u3 \. i$ ~( Tproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
% C O m0 h# l- \% }( f" [customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he3 V: p# l+ c7 V" H# `1 |# S
said.2 G: Q0 Z5 d% Y A) c: K$ L8 V: o
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
8 u: d- u& d/ V/ l# B, B9 ~a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our9 L, _$ b0 T- {" S7 ^+ T
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating/ p8 d9 Y7 g7 F. g
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.3 J( _: f7 X! g9 `' q. z" Y/ O
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
! @: I, a+ v. F5 H, O2 f" }- wmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
/ F6 `) t j# k; e3 hrancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
3 V3 F$ z" L# m, d5 bautomaker, at least in part because of the government's% g/ @) R4 X" }5 @# v H
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and; b; c3 Y: J5 r/ j! B$ J& M
Chrysler.
1 }! B" O" X' s, T' w' K: ]5 m% u"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax( @9 L( a- E7 w5 J/ E4 Z+ ~. t) O
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
2 Q3 }9 i2 N7 f9 H% {2 lHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
& |& [1 s& h+ G. Fserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
' \4 ~" e/ c* M1 L3 g* i( Qwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
# @, M# k1 Q1 c" Xtough."! Y" N6 \; x4 r8 {) e, G
---6 ~- i5 ?& l! S& |9 ]! }
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
- c Q7 p# x; I% } \Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
& D$ u$ R& T* _$ J' K+ Z Wthis story.
8 Y9 h4 T/ |) i6 Y7 ^, a/ z% @+ n7 g1 [* R Z: R
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