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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题 t$ E. z7 |. f
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
$ S/ t G8 `- U% n2 j* K4 v' gWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.; l$ Y% V0 d) d f
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
6 j6 p: Q) W8 ^6 qthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"7 ~8 k- P. o/ @" u: J
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
7 c% j2 q5 b$ |( m4 w"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
: T( g! |* c: j0 j1 f! ycauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.5 Y' q% }# K/ v% Z5 M) T
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected) H( t, j% l% h$ G
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and7 Z* Z- o4 v( C% j5 U; P9 k
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor9 r0 ~$ }, N) {: a/ E. ?- N
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.
1 Q$ W8 c, k6 `: x! C' EHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal, v, x! z/ y7 l4 i0 L- n P$ w: h
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp8 x; Z) ~: B2 L9 Q n
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be4 |. @- T# c, |, M3 P! _0 q
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could( J: L: U; Z3 Z# r5 n( l
not stop her runaway Lexus.
- o* A( [" A, v' T$ s"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
' R7 O# V6 w1 jTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second9 ?- @1 i( d, W+ o+ p4 J
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
/ S) |4 s; ~% u* {4 y, HTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
1 T2 `6 s# t; jearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
' ?" v! G1 `3 o"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
! t) e1 B) |5 gdone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
& J/ ?" s$ e6 b& ^# Q5 h9 Wthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's+ C4 ]1 W$ @7 A- o6 L+ H+ f* b
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
/ ~( z% `) m* Q5 G# S. @4 f( XLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an ?+ X) U2 }5 A- q9 B
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
& \, W9 T$ N0 W: ]% [$ L3 fthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
6 I {1 m: n9 f7 P9 S, H# Ymalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he9 }2 y( t2 B) H9 L. w
said.# S" \1 I: D" ?% D, c, N( v7 a! V( M
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
6 r/ y; v6 k' ]happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe7 q- Q) b7 K3 q4 M ]+ ~
about driving our products," Lentz said.- g, c% L5 ~7 w3 v) k4 }. e
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
' L! ^4 ]1 _) X$ _problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
7 S9 e" p0 s6 M) H! ~, M8 `" w) `& jrecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 66 h1 N9 k% W8 p2 B! h
million in the United States -- since last fall because of
! l( N; E9 V) O, T7 I; Lunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking( \) m# {% |3 m- L! ]5 {+ `
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
/ x; v: Q: F& E. i3 Uconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of3 @3 J( H5 L) `6 i/ {' X
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
) W& O+ H# G5 J- g& T" jdown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
2 ?; l/ i; @& `% h2 }' r* \1 breceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
" ~8 ^3 W$ H* \6 `$ r0 ?' Hof Toyota vehicles since 2000.
3 Z5 d$ I* U# Q5 E2 ZLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
' Y: |1 C' G2 [, F& b" sbrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he- |, y9 p/ @; Q' [6 E
understood the pain.( w- E. h6 X0 Z' A) a* O
"I know what those families go through," he said.- n, w3 ~. Y/ }& B+ w# `7 ~6 `. C, V
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's# y+ F9 J1 j L0 B- O- q t4 K
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
0 p0 G0 g# E n& G) b9 CBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman. d, `) k1 m5 ^+ [( \
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put% Q( `' k/ } O4 h
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
8 d5 a, ~. n& r+ gLentz replied: "Not totally."
" ~" {# o3 |) d! f! s: KStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were- Q, {% J$ y! @) X3 c e" c
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said9 P; M, [, `8 ^" ~6 Y
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
* A0 A4 L2 U/ Q$ l; S3 \pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its6 @# f( Y: b$ ~/ e; x
vehicles already on the road." c8 j. x& i4 F! {, t9 S/ ]. u
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify6 w/ h6 a9 p8 k! \! L: J% E
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
% T: _7 V6 M4 @( l; c _responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
6 D3 S# }; q8 qoffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
$ y+ q) z3 U8 R0 t0 r; t: y$ A3 Kkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
! m8 [0 t3 H ?& O"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a9 Y, V7 C ]! e
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony! E' \( g: V1 B9 S9 O9 }7 d
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight+ e' G, m( F) d$ s/ q" q
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal9 Q8 M- g1 R) {! v
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to' [6 I q* H# q/ V8 T- z: L
restore the trust of our customers."0 h% D. C6 a% d7 y# b7 ]
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
5 Z! ~1 ]3 O4 q) L' `* R4 x; n) QSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly# _* S9 ?: `: D" K, S/ }
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --! {/ \5 P! D; a* R$ ?
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
% ~# W. }$ Q& @* u1 _# }% Yhitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
1 C+ J7 d* n H% A, D5 t- _) o7 pthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
6 V, U/ f: A& Q. k: ~* hturn off the engine.
" G; }! a0 }$ F4 o4 J: ~Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
; F( V* h+ {+ c7 [October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."' J, V/ ?5 ~+ C5 [2 }& K, Z
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she$ w7 i1 `/ x3 l! q5 X2 [
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
' g6 ]+ m. N$ L0 Dto her complaints.
K* Z @3 _' p* ?4 B2 }" Z: jIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers8 @+ b* V7 z% R' ^' O* ?) P
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic% u+ f! U0 U8 L+ J- t; z
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.8 }- _) R' o0 G+ K
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric) T" Q8 l/ B2 J$ S; |
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited) U5 R' e. y) b6 d
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut3 p# R' K8 K9 x) B
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."3 v9 M! z7 }( w$ Z4 ]
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in( `3 m- l# h2 I, v
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
+ v& _: s& z$ v" c3 H, {% bbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls" ?( ]9 F; t3 W( c7 {) E* ^5 O
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
' G( r/ q% @( c$ f4 d2 W' W6 Aevery question."
+ f/ w" ~7 z. i4 xToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether$ _) p, j9 R% K/ u5 a
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The5 G( h, z# S1 |4 e8 E: S3 T4 I
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But& o6 s# ?+ D- g7 @) C6 L/ ^2 \
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small* U. D. o: Q+ `3 G! P6 Y' r
number of vehicles8 ^) W5 i: }% u& U; ^2 Y
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more5 e5 ^4 ~3 \' Y0 D& l; S
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a( N- G* L U/ I9 F" b
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
* w# W8 x+ i4 G \) u( B8 u( {" qsource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
' N+ c S( w% n, v( ^* W8 oMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
6 b/ m+ ^' X) y8 _; zwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
+ h) T4 c$ A, K7 Ntrace at all.2 z% ?" K6 y, {& S q" |
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call) w; S+ o, C' N) v8 }
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
7 D! W; k/ H$ P. dacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the' Y) Q- g5 K4 t4 a# N. b
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.# g, y* o7 W# p9 o5 o; u* S* A
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
q& G; M1 g1 D" T4 b; |; }said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and5 j, {' U; X( L) Q
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
6 C3 z- n; A! e9 D- r: a8 I/ welectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible6 q& J' I' Z1 K8 f4 f8 c
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only) y$ M9 U- t8 D4 Y$ |. N. S
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained3 A3 W) T! X* @+ l$ N
by Toyota's lawyers."; {# p, J V. G
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of" ~* p% [. n, F; H
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our8 b/ N9 p9 }* f; K4 t& ^
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he. ?6 ^( L2 ]( U. r, m1 y" O
said.
8 ?1 A8 K, ?& r8 n9 h, E" }# l"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
5 o. {" z; N8 ] v3 L# ya rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our8 |8 r5 M$ y8 T U- j! Z
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
9 ]7 q, b( z5 y8 Yofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.; ?- L( Q/ \* d" }# f
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
9 S+ g( d* ]( C0 B: Bmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
5 Q# Y8 v1 w" Z6 ?5 r0 Qrancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
1 _+ v7 F1 D R4 Iautomaker, at least in part because of the government's+ a2 L& J4 G, ]! U( f/ P
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and( {( z- e( S5 M) u& ^2 l* o: i' A _
Chrysler.. ^0 s+ J5 J0 u5 B* { C
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax( { Y5 S+ y8 n% O
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a7 i: n, y0 Q1 u
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also$ I8 C' n7 n0 Q2 f& E/ Y
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete5 m. a& l; _8 Q e# m: I" W
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
% ~+ g( J. Q! Y7 J+ r) ttough."
; k1 [1 V* P9 N4 Y" o---. H; N9 f( o9 A- Y
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom* [' ^4 k" Q% C# }6 a
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
1 i2 U2 q4 ^& o" ?4 F" G v+ _this story.
+ Y3 C% e- A7 F7 k9 A2 P4 P: L8 x1 v* ^3 O& u' g" D7 w
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