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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题1 A. X. p; e) z
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
6 p! e. q( g* H) PWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
# ~7 r* L, X# ^; boperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that5 A! Z: U% ?! X: f3 U/ }4 |
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"% I/ j3 B5 X9 |+ X
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.; D- Z8 z. |+ T6 R' H8 w+ T
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential* A6 V; t! `- T) X O+ ?- \
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.6 h: Z* A4 h# _6 h1 c! \
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected. K0 M4 m) `0 v
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
- a d' I* z( B% d1 K& P3 R4 R* Dtrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor* b! o. N0 g: ?) P( m
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.
! \0 n) D! |' ?- zHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal- m7 E8 s4 C8 Y: }$ g) ^2 w
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
3 J3 y$ `. f' R9 y7 m& {9 R Wcriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be' _0 _" C, k/ {% h, C5 a: b
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
# q( D5 p) w; Q! v# E* f gnot stop her runaway Lexus.9 C" E4 g; s- L
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
6 h5 ]' l9 _# N/ h* }* xTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
. J6 [7 ^' F6 e8 @3 u"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.+ y0 W1 b. d ~6 e3 U
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
* m# ?. W3 \: b8 @ V/ B' Cearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said0 ?) g) s6 c4 L ?/ y
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
3 c- f8 ^7 @/ A3 E. t3 Ndone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
& ^ Q8 G; z3 j& {. [through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's7 V* m6 e* d" X" Q9 v
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
% s: \/ R, A% ^% Q! v6 VLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an7 A1 x3 T0 @& P) w: ?
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
" c2 B w& b# b# R+ zthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
" K( j" c, L4 h/ ^malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he3 h4 y/ h5 ]- L, M2 C: `/ `2 j
said.5 V+ e2 L, p. B/ M$ z# l
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what+ F: J4 y% V6 W# y3 U* j! L# W
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe4 E! \$ l! B/ ?5 f. C' Y& U% A4 w! q
about driving our products," Lentz said.( ~/ k+ W" C2 K& l: t
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
) \2 J" c9 N8 p3 Nproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has) \2 B1 Y( z* Q& s0 n2 ]
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
) y3 Y& G0 ?" W+ R! \* o4 G% E* ~8 Rmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of
# O, M3 i$ |) \. bunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
8 \# S, T* M( S8 ?* }% y( i. yissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
/ N' y; ^- `$ qconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
% f2 l1 e6 [( a* }" T1 k) qtheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
2 a5 a5 z8 d Udown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has# \! o" l' f( P9 j$ I" j0 a
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration4 W: ~1 k( `9 s4 ^/ {$ H
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.
; e: W; L, Y! F! G1 sLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
_6 j, {% }8 J. y9 O8 P& dbrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
( x1 M5 H8 l1 [" B0 l5 e! Funderstood the pain.
0 g' }: F* T9 a- @! L3 M2 b"I know what those families go through," he said.
( K& x9 H6 T: H6 z5 U8 XLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's7 z0 b! C. R' {
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
2 l5 q. q1 I$ \( i! }But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman) i7 S+ `+ y& Z+ i
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
! O" ]: c) d4 T. f7 S X# xin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
" w9 C3 t& ^. QLentz replied: "Not totally."9 i3 g2 I w z8 k1 s9 ]: b
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were. C8 ?4 W+ c2 O; S
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
& x' z+ n% `' M9 V3 [3 Q" H) mToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas# y" F& G2 X& l4 s8 Q' c: l
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its, g2 L% f& l+ ?7 x) C
vehicles already on the road." O; i# m2 j7 s. U: ^: ]
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify3 @5 O! x5 K. E/ \8 f5 I) C( `; p- [9 E5 D
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full1 }, G: Q4 Z7 {; ^9 p7 h
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
' Y# o; \) [. ?offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
0 Y4 p2 c* n' D; j$ G/ x7 ]killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
& q# l) q1 m4 B3 u$ w; @" l5 i" q"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
4 U& _* V: z; u8 \# F6 b/ Ttragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
/ u- d! w3 Q4 p% Ofor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight. w: |3 K, I& K; f/ _6 Z, X& Q
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
+ B- n4 C' Y8 S% fcommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to7 O' I- ~! j# [
restore the trust of our customers.", I- t i6 _* u, ?: m
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from; o2 Y0 N+ ]0 l5 y
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly) B' ^$ M! R/ I5 }: G
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --8 ]* d8 t* l& l+ W, W
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and0 ~3 T5 `/ A% q. ^
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
+ C3 m4 v# O# L, W( ?that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
P. s: p; K$ O; C& ~( bturn off the engine./ y/ p0 p" C1 L" m! ^2 y! a+ M3 h
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of7 k! M+ l! ^0 L: ^8 `1 I' \
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
# x; [1 D* B# o; v"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she3 w! g" V: s6 _8 t \2 ^
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
: f* J V% x: P% s; W2 ?7 {to her complaints.6 Z3 W/ W% v$ D9 t
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers9 X3 v6 }) y3 v/ i5 S( p
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic6 `. v" ?5 {" k/ x" ^- q
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.1 @7 g4 M$ _6 j3 q! a) |2 q3 Q* `+ ~
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
/ t4 v: `+ K9 o( I, J4 Qthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited/ M) y' r9 I8 z7 o. S' ]% p3 U
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
) Z' I8 C$ v& u* R( w7 n2 ooff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
. p0 U5 b7 ?5 e' P* YTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in6 D3 k2 @" \0 b V: D
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
. ~' {7 n. [+ _, h/ Vbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls$ S1 \! X# l: q2 p1 G- @
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer" I, s/ y( i/ v
every question."
- c3 L; F. N' ]7 D% \Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether4 M+ g* |; P. q! F
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The2 o4 N* }) k, u1 s
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But5 _ v% [! ?/ C+ ]5 Z- y: Z
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small) W9 [% S! }7 U% Y+ W6 P# L
number of vehicles
& _/ @% z8 Z3 n! sTracking down an electrical problem can be far more# }9 t9 S5 e& \ P# m0 {
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a/ B8 R9 ^. P' m( M$ H4 e0 B
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
4 I" e: O' Q0 P/ asource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
7 O3 \! T9 ^; D" KMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,7 H$ U6 ^1 G( M/ N) b9 C9 N7 K
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
$ e. A' |: ^) J6 e) xtrace at all./ W/ W" x2 G- I. _
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call% f3 V9 O# K; X8 r9 O# [# t
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
" _5 r3 f- I3 m! X/ [acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
- p. Q/ J( o9 N; ~recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.$ Z( Q$ U& o' L. ?* Y- ]
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,1 r! ^; y. H4 z$ M& o$ Z+ S0 U
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and0 f' k! t( |, c7 B
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
! [# I* g- d) Q, Z; Z* Velectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible% v- E0 L( x/ ^% c" _8 K
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only6 u; C0 X3 w: G% q3 O. q" \
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained/ Q5 r! i/ K% r* P. V* q$ c7 m# G
by Toyota's lawyers."
+ V9 Y: `4 m1 K% |' H$ c& p8 OLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of- w9 s3 O* W+ [9 T: R# z
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
6 q8 G2 t0 i. l ^3 O8 {2 f0 j4 zcustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he0 ? [& m4 q1 G/ @' [) G9 |; L
said.
( Z6 ]) C% I% s( w* R"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with/ [3 v7 _8 Q6 C
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
- I1 J9 J, Z5 V6 X( ^8 ?: |good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating9 @3 f. ], @' j, e9 H1 Y
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
' W) \3 T1 E+ T$ z2 l* ySeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying2 G4 Y7 Z$ q$ C+ U; L6 K5 w% H8 {
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread, p: w2 T7 C8 @ R- o; \! j+ b0 ^
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
, P' J# {3 H! \7 i$ h8 z: n' A& Nautomaker, at least in part because of the government's
6 p# i4 X, U- u; y( m$ _$ I: S) T& Linvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
Z, W6 p- s' u, I4 ?' yChrysler.; i# E1 ]6 c" Q( E
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax# n( @4 I1 U! N j8 a8 ?
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
) z7 C- h) Y; u9 {5 NHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also. ^! N7 e5 h; _2 I3 J( W
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete% R0 X% D5 m1 p3 b; H; E7 O" k/ p2 ~
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
& X6 I- g9 V K6 x% _tough."
9 u z$ Q0 f2 O8 B4 h" Z---
, T3 o0 M9 ?) m, P+ Y! _1 t" ]Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
- K' Z" \& w6 U% E3 C1 J' P) u5 H$ qRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to& W3 g6 x: q6 X& d% ^; x+ {
this story.8 B7 h1 V" V- M$ C
4 X0 h: t- e+ q& i5 N: k
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