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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
' \0 O) `' A% O9 P/ C' wBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS' `( K9 t- a% e
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S./ o9 s+ y4 i D8 h
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
. p4 d4 q/ h" J' Gthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
7 g1 e1 A. T! A: D, l# M+ Asolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.7 K) Q- L5 m/ h$ t
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
0 x# x: m' [) s: Y0 u0 tcauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.% b+ f. S* Y8 _; A v( B1 w* E2 l' {
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
9 X( `+ o4 M* G: R$ \" j, N ]1 Racceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and4 J& c2 o9 b6 H8 g% g3 Q+ |
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor+ m: v1 N; u8 r# M, ]7 }
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.
$ O" }8 p9 r# [- }He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal, V/ f4 X& p; n0 E! F/ c9 S$ D
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
' f8 p' G0 e% |9 a5 o7 B; wcriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be1 t3 u- j. y8 w: i# `& p4 {
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
4 a7 Y C. |+ y% w1 _' s0 [ Bnot stop her runaway Lexus.) l3 j f$ p) e% r) p4 i
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,% B9 v+ U; o0 Z- a
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
8 t; b9 Z9 ?8 d0 x"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
4 l/ K3 K) p5 [4 v! w. X, Z hTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues8 F9 Q7 n6 Q; n
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said/ ]& m% o/ b2 L
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
7 ?- `/ t( i# @! e0 Pdone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
& p2 v# P5 u! d- q+ A' vthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
( |5 U8 q( b& [8 T1 H" ]3 A) `7 t p: finvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."2 f2 v; G" `: v7 a# W2 K
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
1 x1 e2 m- c' u8 u2 q* K9 Z" P4 welectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
% x5 h& a P' J& c6 zthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
' ~# _" u2 m4 E! G& z& l: q- }malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he* v S* p. j$ x% W6 E% _/ W1 A
said.( C$ m7 e8 i( p1 h l( d
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
( |# v0 A6 Q: s$ ^$ }' T: G4 m' Uhappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
, P& N9 p D# @6 babout driving our products," Lentz said.3 c/ a( `! }4 I* @: U% J
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
, v2 K; N, C# R% _8 Z( V( `+ G9 aproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has( I2 t" E% i) w a
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6+ _# l0 z! c' E$ P4 F! H% v
million in the United States -- since last fall because of" s) r) T. w) o% c( _+ i
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking4 H. `# y7 b5 V) i9 S
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
6 T# k$ t$ C, t1 ?6 f! I D, Dconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of/ K+ u/ O2 Z( Y4 y" g
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
# _/ D% b& K5 ^down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has1 P2 n" q+ o9 S6 t
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
) Y0 A$ p/ ^# j Q. {* Hof Toyota vehicles since 2000.
# W9 p1 i% A1 x/ SLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own4 C( T( P! F! p# Z
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he5 \$ h% x3 f7 I& j' S
understood the pain.
, u% {( N: T; v0 v"I know what those families go through," he said.
" i1 T. N' B! t) n7 r8 ?. ?" YLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's' p- L. N* Q1 B X7 _
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
( S/ o: y5 i" w2 TBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman, C" ^" U& @2 ]8 ^
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
2 j1 [% x/ Q# C7 Min place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
1 p P4 Y( y* ^1 sLentz replied: "Not totally."2 L0 I5 b% I: B, B* T0 W$ f
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were1 `0 z5 c; c( ~1 P3 [. z
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said/ v4 y$ r3 I v+ I
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas# y6 I. G7 ^8 z9 M0 r( \% w! j
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
7 l7 h" G0 Y6 O, i+ c1 jvehicles already on the road.
; e% ~5 Q/ Q% o: TMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
/ M5 C& R) H- w$ ]! H: S* E" Gbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full7 X/ D; Y$ T* p; E1 M2 n- Z- c
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and' K( X A& Q& B, Z
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were& `. V' d5 c. j" L: M
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.! `( ^$ X( h: v8 O% m {7 V% \0 O
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a/ J+ n) ~0 t0 l9 _9 p# { ?1 d8 v
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony2 |1 x9 ^: S: `9 a0 u8 @
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight5 ~: Q" Y# n0 D- ]& t2 H( s
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal# Y) k9 l, `' X# W& y% A; R1 r
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to G8 d# p* b" u o, H
restore the trust of our customers."
+ K+ n; V9 S+ a; }9 PLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
" F8 ~$ x7 H5 W" {# I& q1 _ eSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly: v( w& J' p4 R3 z) }# u- r1 D
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
% I* \- e" W1 Z! T) m$ vshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
; V+ P3 ?" m/ w. `- o. Dhitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough/ w+ `, p& @+ G1 @6 P
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and8 p& t0 z! E; D9 I3 ^
turn off the engine.* T$ {2 i* `! P0 m B
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of3 J6 C/ y# a7 t* f
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience.", Y, S! Q3 x% \9 t4 q6 ~; T2 @* F
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
6 e- V% u3 w3 Vsaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond; ]* J: d1 d8 Z+ B8 x" X( ?) }
to her complaints.
3 p2 N6 ?' \/ r9 j- |# m9 iIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers ?! M1 w0 h0 c; d+ i
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
* r: z) ^/ P0 H# r3 C% e- Dmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
, k, _; D# c* ]( A4 {"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
( B/ ^3 b7 Q3 @$ X3 Uthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited1 A9 T) K! L% e' K" F
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
* M& @" o/ }6 Y. e: ~) L! ooff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."+ o$ @- E l- W% x8 ^4 E
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in) T% f. g- [: O
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
# q3 A J1 m& cbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
# D* }# y/ j* z' f+ u, @7 s4 d- e' Ywere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer" y/ C8 X5 y2 D; d( U: x
every question."; h1 @6 U: h, G k
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether8 H9 |1 g4 K0 N- `% Q" @
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
* h" @: b' L. z4 ^/ C2 Gfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But e2 l9 ^& ?" J
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
. I( K- e6 f0 ^( mnumber of vehicles
, M2 Y j% e3 A, eTracking down an electrical problem can be far more
- |7 s4 \4 w4 H) Sdifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
Q3 q: Q7 `3 s, ?4 H8 bmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one. h% r; N& b8 p0 n
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.. a2 W% ~8 w" ]+ w
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
$ |/ S0 m7 ^& swhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
: Z& M, ^% s/ U3 `' ?% Rtrace at all.
$ y6 E% R6 \0 l$ XHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
( ^/ M# J- O5 L( y! B/ Bdatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden3 K0 P, E2 u2 z& i) y2 N$ K
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
. e' V, B# b% q2 Z9 b3 H/ urecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.+ m) F. s8 M7 L1 c- h
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee," i- l7 j5 q; Y/ t, q) V% Q
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and* ^ w. l1 {% w
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the W3 y3 q; _1 V Y5 `
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
# d, T5 J* v5 ]1 Zcause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only# e. M$ x6 ?, W- {8 w7 E- U; ?
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained1 s# t# j0 K+ Q0 Q0 D
by Toyota's lawyers."
3 V; W: n$ s+ k$ ~Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
. |! M) q {( J! oproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our; p/ ?/ R9 i7 b3 I- z
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
1 \/ @& u3 |( D7 u3 msaid.8 M$ b: o5 d U" B# C" |
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
: e: ?# x' `# e* \a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our. w o7 j- t7 H, @4 O/ c
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
& g% B0 R) l; |$ @: q) _officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
$ j& C, {7 k, r" m. R/ wSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
) h( s; Z$ I5 A. ~members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread- F' v, f' \' t' n
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the8 t, W t0 g$ k
automaker, at least in part because of the government's6 O* z1 h: o8 L2 ]7 w
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
7 u3 @2 }4 b! q5 S: I- OChrysler.
( U4 `0 D5 v! d* `) C2 `"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
2 t; K; R# P0 p* F2 Mdollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
) M# F; C1 r. L1 rHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also) z' C2 H- J8 a Y
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete, m3 q* `. P& ~" f2 c, j# S
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty+ N, y9 U. U, P! U$ c& v
tough."9 ^* t5 g# e$ Q; \# R* \/ K- h! @4 i
---7 S& f/ N6 F+ l- ~ e: P+ T; p( A
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
. c9 C; s3 M6 v7 ?% VRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
2 b) d! G; i e2 U% ithis story.
* O7 V" Q$ s+ m8 `/ \+ ]( t5 H! @+ g' v3 C" L4 K5 o: R
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