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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
) N: ?0 S* {- E$ U$ n0 \' HBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS: R3 h( D7 p! r* m& y
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.' G H7 I. M9 }5 I i
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that1 u u2 x' u ^6 s# Y% @1 K
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
2 k: P( @# v8 e( d) }" P; }solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
) E7 y6 C. q' d1 Y) c; s, K"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential6 a9 ^4 o7 Y; L- U4 k
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
, V& M& {" u5 m3 J4 `* M; T gHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected R e+ f( A, H1 g
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
0 f% o, M, ^* Z; V" t3 ^" Ptrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor: d. w# T$ H* |7 ?! j. J
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.
, Z' ?1 z1 B" R+ O3 K1 `2 B8 SHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal5 u0 H4 }1 `# u7 g: ^' Z
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp4 L: y9 k3 K$ }( O
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be2 e- W$ f" }' M5 u! p, j# [6 T, R
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could- u6 W9 S% X4 t7 M
not stop her runaway Lexus.- n. n- V- G, _; T4 x* ^
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,6 J- |/ Y3 c7 a o2 k, V8 L- I
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second! D) x! B: P( P- H2 t4 Y
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.$ D+ _) d! R. t! x
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
4 a0 c. C7 Z5 k6 L: w7 T: fearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
1 v' G$ ~$ d3 x3 C"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
6 N' d# Q4 |7 c' U" \done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
1 ~1 p8 r3 X% Z( T7 kthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
2 z" z: X B6 U# B7 O2 dinvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
4 f3 c) h3 H& K; c$ y1 f% Q1 t: C# \( \Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an4 b' k+ S3 m# M4 M. H$ F9 d
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
" ~& X; W7 E1 e: [: D) dthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
" X( W. s) s+ ~6 W3 Q4 z; f8 |malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
4 S0 i; n% m" E" A9 m, usaid.9 O( W1 R4 A( K! V& t+ u
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
) |4 o e; M' [- ehappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe; t2 r% G) V# {8 @. q/ D
about driving our products," Lentz said.
# G7 r6 Z% I! |# xThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
* @3 P8 E5 t; G" n$ j+ w! u$ Mproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has" u; X' Z- x) C, l
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
1 i' z+ a; }. |9 `million in the United States -- since last fall because of" R* ^8 F9 N% W7 _
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking- J! x* Q: O6 m1 o' ^0 }% ^
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
5 U: `4 c0 w: r! w. ^concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of2 C& q# n& ?0 G' V% u3 H; g
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
$ k) B1 ]/ m4 T9 wdown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
: o* |% h# l8 D+ T8 R: r% O( ^6 preceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
- @9 x* z1 c7 T( d' J# m3 b% }of Toyota vehicles since 2000.
+ ~, k# `: t* `$ n+ pLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
0 D1 v- f! Y$ y. g6 ]1 Bbrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
) g* {: R6 a g" u8 m2 H0 v/ ~understood the pain.! q0 X: X1 n( n% l& e
"I know what those families go through," he said.4 K: V# B' Z) M2 @( Q
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's3 D* j. R( s) K
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
) s- ^/ Q9 U$ w9 J7 \- HBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
! u" l. [4 H! B) z) _Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
% L* y# `( H8 c; c+ p; O/ U. W- iin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
1 S. T) S8 p( {! [4 p% QLentz replied: "Not totally."
1 V8 k" \$ R3 c3 n0 _0 D7 ^+ VStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were q5 n& v4 H4 w' @6 n. v% p x
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
% B3 ~0 G+ I: A/ D# SToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
; L) I" w& E0 n. ypedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
7 G" j' b" I D% o, K3 T. Svehicles already on the road.; ~# \: H) y- ?2 ]3 O6 F2 e
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
2 G, {: u# U' L8 N/ x3 D4 P% S6 T# dbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
: P* O y# C1 |. Q+ zresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and2 J& x+ |9 q2 d* f( q
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were1 s- [: r% S) ^- F2 |7 i6 `
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.* C1 l6 l9 \3 ~1 z) _
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a/ A$ ~4 E. G5 v) N; j0 s+ N
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony, n* }9 t3 G* U6 v
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight4 E. K# X3 J9 [% `! u
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal3 E; L% j! Y; g c- u
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
2 s I$ ~! X( Mrestore the trust of our customers."
6 X/ w2 W. |# |, I, H Q# F o, v9 RLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
A# L5 K2 u2 v. T6 n' V) iSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly2 t! X0 _& s0 }2 C8 N* S! V% Y. B
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --' ? ?# u9 d) S+ @
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and6 S+ ]8 a% U1 E
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough6 s. N6 C/ h" j5 V
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and8 |' P: ~! U% J+ G" |1 o4 [
turn off the engine.
P* J) U: u4 `6 t. h( T) SFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
7 P( z8 c/ \" NOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."5 j6 ~: c, v a- ?% B. l' t. \
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she# O8 j7 H4 D( N
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
7 P+ _' g8 b; D& O, {: s7 Ito her complaints.
; z y# x; z/ b/ u* d0 @1 K, t2 pIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
& O0 a/ m7 z- t1 J+ ureturned again and again to the question of whether electronic8 L0 ]* @- X) c& u
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.) |* W4 S, [8 t+ h) S+ C
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
) j, Y7 h. u1 q' othrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited' o8 I) k+ }( w
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
1 N* s. j! w( K6 roff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
- {3 u2 p1 }: f6 b; @+ {, l5 FTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
( x! S( b0 q1 B3 q7 {! d5 \, D$ zprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
) X' z, U3 w# p% r7 Abeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls& v( R! b2 a6 ~/ t4 i
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer4 z! t. p/ J: |: e* S
every question."! d2 y- Y, e5 J+ Y2 x& M2 u- T1 b
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether" C% U" I8 x& V, H C
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
3 |/ X; ]8 F* b! a" W$ k- mfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
; S) ^' X) W& a0 s+ kcommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small0 o6 q+ m+ s5 E8 w/ R k
number of vehicles
. w" C& o* U9 O d+ X% T* U- D) s8 PTracking down an electrical problem can be far more* E8 |! x" [# A/ J9 @7 ?
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
, E( R7 \: z& a- s1 _mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one( @8 e+ p# y* B" p, u) K
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car. c" b2 y+ D! ?4 s4 k9 V
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
5 Z+ A6 A5 I! u- |where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
9 k9 x" Q4 X c, N6 {' E& h; S* otrace at all.
# F o: @) v$ }9 K% }$ M( V {House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call: a8 T3 {# y5 p) G
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden, T' v* z. @4 ]) X+ s' Z4 t
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the3 U" B+ K5 _. u! a$ @( g
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
6 z# i) f) Y. S: o, s2 k* `Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
- ~5 I, ^. R) I% Rsaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
c' o# k; T2 l( M' I( e9 Xother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the* ]; a5 z' Z1 T3 v
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
( q8 I$ m8 r$ ]cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only) ^' u4 r( N5 m& u2 w
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained" ^# P: K" v& D- Y/ g
by Toyota's lawyers."$ Y; y( _) t# m6 F2 `
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
# x0 }$ H2 Y) r* Uproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
0 }# l, {7 F; z" x' Q+ Ccustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
- P( K& l# ?5 z1 b$ N2 usaid.
f& Z2 D/ f G0 A, x"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with* `- K: p* s/ Q- [3 f" W
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
' |1 Q4 T) `* v+ r! {) O7 cgood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating( v4 a" L6 e3 F; w2 y8 @
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
, f8 W/ m* k( W! CSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
! p# h3 Q/ C9 k* q, emembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
6 D, p, T$ ?- prancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
( g7 z6 r9 z: _0 f! D, Wautomaker, at least in part because of the government's, x/ ~7 w h& z3 q. X+ ] c
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and' M# g. u3 E7 X
Chrysler./ k, C1 N" k6 i7 j& Q
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax3 [8 l6 z" M3 j8 p" [3 ]5 S& C2 Y5 S
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a' O9 t' v1 f o; O9 ^
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also) X. Q# P2 r* ]8 z$ d6 X) k* n
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
1 Y( Z' U6 l9 N0 ~with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
5 r0 g( p8 w2 r, k" }5 p" Stough."+ D; N: d4 O, j( c0 h
---
- U" f: k s6 Q: LAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom& q" g5 f, _0 i' A2 i8 g
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to) @* }, x4 z2 b' c6 [! F' J) L
this story.9 f% h* H7 Y7 i/ d1 b. B
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