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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
4 h: B7 z/ e! o, r. }3 ]By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS: H7 k% _( ?1 ?$ S+ u
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
3 u7 g( p8 W9 ^) C5 c5 Doperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
; a( Z6 u! M' e: I0 pthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
$ b* T* c& M" v# E: Csolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration." f$ e+ e2 |1 H' R% l! i
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential% p! C/ a# Q& R1 }+ Y$ Q, R
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel." r! F) j0 k2 r0 Q; V
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
4 o% S! I' Q5 g& B8 Yacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
! P: Z" g+ O6 R9 ?% [trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor) P9 B0 Q+ K2 k5 V& N7 [) V: w: C& \
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.
8 O, P z5 K/ u# }4 F2 ` mHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal3 Y* S; }9 R# _9 `" G
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp# o: p* P. f/ C: d/ l% a
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be H* {" t! J" V3 y6 c; L5 j7 ?
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could0 [ O W8 X4 T
not stop her runaway Lexus.1 Y# x1 `; \ X p- o0 _
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,9 v" b; o$ U3 O) n5 a
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second3 G; V/ Q* N7 R* C
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.; {9 @6 [- f; j2 ] z
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues4 i; }+ p3 ~) E0 r8 Y/ \; | B
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
' e" N: v8 Q$ T6 v"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
" T& I6 V7 O% u2 `) Y+ e; ?done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
2 n |; s3 [ p+ V4 I6 H1 a/ Lthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
' ] {2 F0 x! n7 ^( _' Tinvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
3 l0 i" l$ ~# LLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
' {+ h( u$ Y( \electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
* E) [! a. K0 s% r- N* u$ Cthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
. K. ]7 D$ U( J) t9 a4 Omalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he% E- d; O4 \7 r2 d- a1 i2 E( i
said.
' d' O0 b; z& n8 v( p$ c. NAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what! d( w, e6 \; ~% U/ @+ X f( a0 Z9 x0 p
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe+ C& U) O! G2 C1 O+ R
about driving our products," Lentz said.8 D$ m, K# Q7 b2 o
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's; v+ k$ i" ]& Q* S6 d$ X) Y
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has' `! ~1 L$ R6 j/ O O% A
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
6 D. @- p* p, B- O, D: J* g: N$ Dmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of
* L: v8 V7 Z( K2 q, e/ e) qunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
; O+ Z* {$ s( T2 \( |7 c0 i( u' oissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
# t! d) N$ j% n# L4 Dconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
( y/ K6 k# B! x6 m+ G7 n. S( Mtheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
2 t7 i8 i$ k. T% c" Y* Cdown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
- }8 n# }! r; k' m& B' U, o' B6 Ureceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
1 Z+ |/ x) N& ]) n7 i+ C! X& Zof Toyota vehicles since 2000.
+ `; y- ], ~4 l8 K. {Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own! P" t) Y: ~4 u7 K
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
) d5 o z" L9 D* h0 s" c7 \understood the pain.
( h+ X: @2 X$ C"I know what those families go through," he said.+ A' K9 x5 [+ W( n
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's: y5 g" K4 ~1 n' Y0 S' }7 n
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
" X4 ]' x9 _/ O6 _0 eBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman `- n7 r: g$ r2 t9 M
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put3 a ^' J* {( g; ~2 Y
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,: I( {3 N+ K. T: E0 ^1 h$ t2 Q) w
Lentz replied: "Not totally."
# }1 S* Y; r# J+ E7 r$ gStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
8 h4 u" A# D& |4 u7 z; _"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
0 S5 ~- b% i2 A0 [0 f4 s6 LToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas4 V# _# Y* A' }2 X M
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
7 n [/ u# }, h! ~1 K8 S3 }vehicles already on the road.6 @7 w7 ]" x4 R0 S% _* E& N6 u) [+ r( K
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
: Y3 Q6 X; B( X! t+ L- _( }before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
/ w. g8 E% z, P3 Tresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and; c" s6 O) e$ I M( j) s
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were. Y! L! S6 _' @/ T* X6 K# P
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.8 X/ _; H% Q7 x7 u& q& P4 N0 b& k
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
- ^, ~! ^. X9 N9 k- rtragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
9 I4 S# s! G4 Vfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
! T/ T, U5 X! P! u% X6 b8 b1 _Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal2 t7 C' [* @# J, M
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to- e. L& d; E6 P4 |+ f& c
restore the trust of our customers."
4 @7 P% |3 C+ V! A7 T4 E1 x% ZLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
. M) _; H2 S) aSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
7 u# ^" }# ]. R7 P2 ~zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
) \- h+ v2 n3 c) }$ Yshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and( M3 p( M$ A. h# D
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
0 Q ?& U1 p2 Q; C- k# X ithat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
. O5 C& O6 O' G: J9 v6 ]turn off the engine.7 w! y. O) e3 k r. D
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of( Y% o7 o$ ]. ~1 i, v2 o$ g- i; W, u$ ?
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."* y' M. [6 i/ C0 m! g6 N
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she! s% H" a9 j1 t, x% h! x
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
$ e, }3 L2 x9 T4 Mto her complaints.
! q5 b4 l+ l# j lIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers, ~8 Q% R- J& r2 y
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic, E9 R' ^/ ?. p. M. }9 p% w
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
% \9 H8 K" f8 i1 H& D% K3 x( g# y" |"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
" E: T) y2 r0 l3 zthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited y. ?7 q( R2 H0 J3 |( w, E
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut) w8 _1 o4 y$ x Z
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
8 x$ F, R X/ i9 ]* [" @7 ~ p7 ETransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
; W# f' X* N3 A. k3 Mprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
q: {9 j. F F1 `- Q% Z f4 z9 L# E5 Zbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls1 a5 B" U' C, e+ V9 u
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
# K7 R5 F' ^. H) i6 o0 N/ {) devery question."3 B7 T* _& q u! i5 P/ N
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
2 p c# y3 P2 E' L$ {& @3 r9 \electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
- x; _4 N0 c/ P; F* t! lfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But, I5 x, I: _2 z9 r9 ^
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
) T9 @* d H) o) bnumber of vehicles
8 a2 f! H& p+ V: T# D. {Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more
7 f! o% w+ `# [ k- B/ p Rdifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a: [6 @# Y+ z* A6 W. t) m. p
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one" M* N% T7 O1 c4 M
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
) d7 i a, J) d+ hMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,6 `2 p6 s, B2 n2 W+ A
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
# c9 G7 K; O/ ^! L2 p( p' Ktrace at all.
( w7 s# L" m+ G3 D/ S( M! a9 dHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call3 H+ V V+ ]( D) p! x# Y
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden. T l* q$ D' Q% |
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the0 {, l" `9 H3 _7 \, D
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
. J% B: c9 ?2 O6 yRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,5 u! s, Y% E) j* ]6 x' \, k6 C
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
( H6 V! U# n; ]5 d. g; a4 z% `$ nother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the, ?; `% S$ m* c7 [0 Q5 C0 z/ n( Y0 z' C
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible# m5 ]4 I; q0 C3 d- b
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only# [1 [( D/ ?" a3 ~8 g
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained. }! V0 F+ q! Y% c" Y1 e
by Toyota's lawyers."6 S) A9 P }1 O2 e0 t0 J
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
" c- ~8 c g& |! L+ T6 Rproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
0 T$ r1 E: G) i$ U" P/ F7 T/ Q# Lcustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he7 W- G0 j# K+ U+ [8 w' S
said.6 v9 R0 ?' L z
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with+ Y$ @6 ^0 Z; S3 a. [2 b' Z+ f% r; b
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our" G1 O6 S! a `( T g5 O
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating$ _3 B0 ]6 v X9 \0 ]8 Z
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.' E3 g5 s" v5 H/ x4 |- S% J5 H. P
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
/ A# L* m( K' bmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread3 Z2 h$ Q0 D# U' ~# X! h# ^6 a
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
% h ~% A1 u- B0 i+ N* pautomaker, at least in part because of the government's7 W U. R, Q5 D6 {
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and1 E _, L3 k7 G) ~1 H; Y
Chrysler.
/ ~& C' ] k: W% a"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax7 C! s B( o, Q& O. ]
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a5 `5 E) C4 [. V5 G: `1 g% b
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
# q! k2 w' }2 c8 g0 d$ {8 Vserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
; {3 W/ T; N$ {with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
5 w' L6 O) C1 J; itough."7 A1 x+ ^) }. e) z" R2 d/ G$ N' p
---
2 z7 h7 ~. p) l0 S vAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
, [- h! B- b' c* pRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
# T5 q) U$ p6 J& Q. ]/ ?( Pthis story.
& I# [2 [, [5 I* ?: ^+ D a4 [9 G* C- T7 t% C
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