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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
7 ?# R3 J$ S1 `By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
% k( w3 ~* d$ c9 A) i r# b: e) YWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.8 {& ]8 c/ y7 y' }' C
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that' z7 W1 ^- R [) X
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
8 b7 Z# p4 t" B0 t6 {. q W4 Y, B; `solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.$ |& T& p, E( S; P5 h: q# Z) n) O
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential% `6 G* C5 m$ G1 g
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
) a Y+ Q1 d4 W4 s: r( ]) M5 rHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
5 A6 }0 `1 U6 H. ~acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
8 C' C& x' ^+ c8 Wtrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
9 h1 E3 \. S$ x. J8 ~mats and sticking accelerator pedals.
4 }/ ?9 k5 P/ |3 T1 V: YHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
; Y, L0 `/ T0 I' S& q) @$ L6 Mand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
4 F- e% u/ F8 T* H" [1 w- kcriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
. _) [! i1 F' n" l8 C: K9 A: J( Xfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
; z+ i3 |: s7 o4 j' q- Z% Hnot stop her runaway Lexus.4 P8 j, F( Z7 K0 X
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
# @5 I& U3 y0 l/ i- J" JTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second$ v M+ l7 i8 a" l8 V* v, X( q
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators., C1 K0 ]3 _& ~$ o* g j
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
' ?9 n# t' f( g7 ^' o' H0 hearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
& K, f. |; }( j1 d( z) u! o"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
: K. v# @0 @7 g5 `, g9 O$ \done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway, T9 x5 G4 M, ^! n$ m, b8 w+ l
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
: }0 i0 r9 y- x1 f7 p+ h# Dinvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."- ?$ a! V* R" g. r2 q& K
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an: y5 {0 J" y5 |2 Z& T& e
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
$ ?8 t! ]# q, q0 [: T. f& B* `the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
0 g5 v! V6 w3 Z3 \+ S! W: D% ymalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he0 Q7 p( V* E! s) o
said.
. B' f4 g- R' O5 z5 D6 `, {: ^As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what( V# g4 d6 ?, [: G
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
: m6 J8 b4 U" l( pabout driving our products," Lentz said.
, g* U' I" {' M* A/ aThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's& w( S! V3 a$ }
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
6 D- f9 v' s) j) `- b* Crecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
2 I& A/ _, u% f, @% _; {million in the United States -- since last fall because of/ @( l6 a; H [
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking3 X$ Z" M4 \' @- V/ Z8 H
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering* G8 m3 S' X1 R! F3 m, f" g$ Q5 Y
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
3 A6 ]/ i! Q! c! ztheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
. p3 x3 g: n& W- G: r/ Bdown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
' w1 p/ i" f9 h* ~, P3 [2 D6 breceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
8 T9 U$ F/ z I' o" oof Toyota vehicles since 2000.3 c6 E P" \* t) ]5 w
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own8 n, I! z& H7 b: m8 k7 f
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he s4 g3 Q- u9 ]* c( u. c& _
understood the pain.
* ^2 k, ~6 x1 m0 M"I know what those families go through," he said.
* u+ |: n/ L+ j+ |- [Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
0 b& ~1 ^8 R- W; vfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
# R* ^7 ]: m! }But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman# ^/ a+ L) Y: t8 T0 l
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
1 Z0 L5 N9 ~* Z$ @in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,' u7 g- i- N- H
Lentz replied: "Not totally."/ [0 \7 K$ j* h
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were& s- o# g1 z) T: v! m) W" n2 E
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said- i+ |6 {7 u6 b0 Z/ [8 `
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas7 m; W1 t3 V/ }3 ~
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
1 _) \% P: g' [0 ovehicles already on the road.; |6 |; o: }9 s) z" ~
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify% N. c0 H) Q8 t# }& H4 j
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full" ^; J+ X. J$ r) f$ I O+ i
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and8 e# x" n N4 ]2 c" A( e5 c! ^
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were/ B; e3 Y( h* E& {( U$ H0 f( O. L
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
. O, J) \# r; N7 }/ \" U"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
+ g$ Z% _8 Q" o; ^% `tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
8 V$ H9 X( b' ~: vfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
( B4 s7 m' ~8 R+ TCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
7 `% m( i Y4 j& pcommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
4 T {) |+ w% Z( }restore the trust of our customers."$ y! F; w. J9 c" [2 p
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from0 f7 T# I- a H" O0 ^; u" R
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
8 w. p* H5 }% {zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
6 K2 p' K. \! Y5 P' Wshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and7 a& d: m+ s9 [2 b' z- w
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough5 P$ H S, i2 i+ o1 i9 c& I
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and8 V* G& M, W' q# H( C: O, U. R+ x
turn off the engine.
; ]4 l: q$ u( V4 D1 b A9 |Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of7 B( R a4 n5 Z& {! u/ Z
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."/ E m" m/ \" _, Q6 j; q
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she# G# h% f4 E4 \ p5 ]" ?" b" `
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
. F6 j6 J' X7 ~9 w$ M" sto her complaints. n! T$ f0 Q! `
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
3 h: M0 P w# h. S2 ireturned again and again to the question of whether electronic
$ q$ O& E; T0 L: d" B( `malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
. P* G# Y7 Y5 ^"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
9 F0 B6 h9 p) K/ w! s3 Gthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
) o6 i- f% F o7 @8 u9 O3 s3 r: i* m"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut# A7 l+ \, T+ {& ~5 S: ]9 Q+ Z0 {% e& A
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
I1 h% u* `" F' Q" c( G# ^) Z mTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
- {& z& b" T+ z$ I/ e5 ~& |prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
2 P( g! o6 C, d8 gbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
: P) F) f. p* X7 s. twere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
3 d) z) h1 M. P5 |4 a, e. f6 E8 zevery question.", S3 R# u2 E: |1 J
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether0 R6 O1 u9 |* J5 O$ ?
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
: R) W$ V: G. A) G t* Zfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But) S9 T* ~, z+ I6 u$ C
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
5 E( W" l& x, q3 e7 | O6 ?number of vehicles
5 {; F9 X! ^" Y& Q6 `* y3 D; wTracking down an electrical problem can be far more
$ i" R& R% ]6 v6 v- j( Jdifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
$ n3 z( o; B% K2 l' `mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
$ h( N1 f4 P" y1 ?" Esource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.& k1 B, C- L3 ]. G6 K
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,' ^, }# H- J' y# J9 _9 a3 _4 b
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no9 U( J/ a8 z0 C
trace at all.* c1 k+ ]$ x- t3 T0 m7 }
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
2 ?4 i% w% X! q$ }database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
' |& |( l8 d9 M- zacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
$ }" q7 v( t8 p$ k) E8 C1 ]' hrecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.: ]% F5 ]* F1 a2 i
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
) \3 R3 Z. ~( j( O, Zsaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and4 u7 O4 @1 Z6 k4 I# C
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the9 {2 N: w9 H& b# b
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
# w" V# |; j8 d/ n% b1 Ncause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
9 R6 d# ?. z- A6 |; jsuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
) V- e3 g5 H/ nby Toyota's lawyers."
8 |, i$ ]- s, e# `Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
3 p( ]; s) A5 B J$ B( `" \8 u: Y6 Eproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
& C4 Z5 h) K dcustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
4 |+ F# M* q1 p" xsaid.
6 }/ e' U _$ ]"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with$ A. D% V( W/ y2 N% C" _* v
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
3 L7 R$ G" K3 H# E- u( agood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
( g, m# Z( f, _* i- j. Iofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
4 G% M. K5 ]* y$ w* [- H" LSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying* r+ g" t$ O( k0 c
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
1 F0 I9 J" h3 Drancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
! R* J! [: f2 z7 B# V2 lautomaker, at least in part because of the government's
3 g3 @0 a) @ `' `" A3 i& _investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
3 p0 T& b; i. Y) g2 F4 r& Y2 MChrysler.
$ {5 p" r; i* N! p) @7 Y) Z. n"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
* P' K+ r5 s7 S# w) h6 f, Odollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a# w8 z7 ~/ F0 \: u4 T
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
1 F. e/ A+ J. R2 S0 ]6 i3 ]8 sserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete7 H6 ^5 C* {& s+ `# b; I% O
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty/ P0 O9 G) s: F4 K
tough."8 E" h# H+ e$ V: T
---
; d2 d9 t& {# w, @Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom9 P) ~5 L0 s/ g! q F+ F$ |. x
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
7 T: M- |$ G8 E4 gthis story.( ?5 X0 Q8 A4 e( W3 J
+ E i4 Z6 I i7 ~
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