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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
% ` O! F. [7 hBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS4 y i% u- W% f n( O- ~
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.7 y) c7 G% W: C
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that' u* k3 s4 O. p% h7 d* c9 t4 a
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
) u* m: ?' z1 B3 C+ i4 j- ksolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.% t' \- Z. `! P5 f) U3 W5 S
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential( |" V6 n Z" u o' j' l
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel., |' T- I9 s4 h/ F8 J
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
+ |8 U2 f! }( r ?8 m5 Y3 nacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
6 Z2 y3 j) D4 y, T- ~. Y6 @9 d5 [trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
: t# |8 u- ]5 s o, \1 ~ dmats and sticking accelerator pedals.: c5 ?2 T& M1 U4 ?5 {9 R
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal6 e' J" _4 V6 O/ r
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp: u* R! [6 M B( v1 P4 H1 _# G4 [
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
1 X+ r; \; [( v5 [/ j" n- L2 cfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
: _* Q) u; H- j3 ~not stop her runaway Lexus.3 S: _& P8 N8 ?: ` E$ L. p* ~( D
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,/ _0 |0 P8 _7 Q! `
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second+ m! v: o2 b4 E+ j' r- f* h
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
& @' I6 T. S: M% U" y# WTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
; A5 t' v+ G9 W! D% Z* x- R4 T8 Iearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said1 n% N% _' h$ x/ L& b- t1 l
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has# o3 _2 v8 B& J1 F
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
3 j% E4 I8 y1 n% wthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
' N* |! j9 x: m# t/ `7 a3 W" Einvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."# Q9 T! f7 q2 R# Z7 X: o; d7 @
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
0 O, S2 k$ P& D$ j% @electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
; k. {- j; S* P8 y J- R- Mthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
# U& \+ @$ L+ S4 lmalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he8 W2 p/ O% k& N( }4 ~0 F/ _$ L+ W
said.
: J$ q7 T+ |2 FAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what) ] l8 L# F% b' k9 E( |9 d( ?; B$ O
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
; n) e( @( a- a" l& e# pabout driving our products," Lentz said.9 r7 w3 Q3 k5 T
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's* Z+ L4 c/ N) w1 r4 m* m
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
# r1 o+ M& t# T& jrecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6$ U# \6 k4 {5 D% w
million in the United States -- since last fall because of" a( {/ o) T. G8 s- m
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
8 F1 B3 e. k5 _: y! c/ ?; F) Vissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering4 A. @8 j, c9 T& d o+ G3 \
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of( K4 j& \+ q. }+ B, I5 Z2 _
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
; |) C u% I- D4 d8 Pdown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
% J! n: K+ `, j+ E; `- b: Jreceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration9 K) G: g8 [; H9 Y9 _
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.
& \4 `! {, ^; \Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
" z& L! z- g- N5 G% F3 u2 y& Z: Tbrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
8 C5 d) `& \& \understood the pain.
: g( |- |) k4 B9 ~"I know what those families go through," he said.
( x J0 F' `$ ^; |( G9 ZLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's& P9 g0 J2 G9 H
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.# n# ?1 f3 W1 y8 p* R
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
5 Q6 q8 s+ C$ v/ f" X) JHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
& i6 @9 |4 _) \# Lin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,+ k0 G$ P7 B- x; o M' t
Lentz replied: "Not totally."
. ^! Z* f$ \8 x6 ]Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were' E# R' f0 \: _, h' m' ?
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
, W0 E; c7 k- m3 f) Y6 |; ]6 [Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
$ G: p* e# r5 u( n/ x$ Y. G4 Wpedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its4 z: @+ N( P" Y$ o' G9 f) a& F# {
vehicles already on the road.: b9 ]) o) E, T
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
0 n& `' X7 s4 I$ q9 q& Nbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
1 D8 h2 Q `& {0 B, B0 K, D* bresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and, R6 Y& ?6 z: f+ g3 K3 N
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were1 }; `/ L) a, u6 |( L
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
* e, G0 S$ q }, \" r1 h"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
* d7 m9 h1 ]5 P% b) o% M/ ktragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
( Q( [6 A& r, D3 j& t. y% @for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight( k/ _* N/ w% s9 G
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal: i4 T; r4 ~) |' Y$ L% H i
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to$ d. Y7 s- c! c0 r k' n7 T, b- X! M
restore the trust of our customers."+ O: V( C' [6 K! A+ a
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
- [/ N; t, ~8 zSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly" J/ i$ N2 l2 h- X& \
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
, Q. @/ J p0 X6 S% Cshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and- q1 H7 |( o( l$ U2 ^$ a# S! D; w
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough2 p" G' L0 A0 n: }( ], a$ S/ A
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and) ^6 r2 k. \+ h
turn off the engine.
# v! d3 y! i3 Q, N- K; f& fFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
) `6 f4 C! i8 J8 b* k A8 xOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."6 h4 k6 A# B: \7 S7 u5 P
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
4 M& I% P) |, Q: ~/ msaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond" G1 M* t/ J L. [. O& i
to her complaints.; {. @% o; q' }6 @
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers& l, a& ~/ W5 S% n1 R0 c
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
+ U; a+ h& K& V k# N/ A. umalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.( n j6 |8 s& u& [; X
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
. x! j2 c6 _ z- kthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
" Z+ V1 K* ^8 g) T"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut: v% g) L% W* D M/ j E7 e( h
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."; u+ E Y) R$ _& Z' W. t; T
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in6 n _& n% ?2 Y
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
* D. X. z& D4 I; R( z8 k- Sbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
! [$ K* ~# n# [2 [. Y* jwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
. M& k3 u0 {+ q# T$ A# O$ zevery question."
+ p6 g+ Q0 Q& I4 n4 gToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether& ]# M, C( e' d, M- w9 b4 l
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The8 T3 P; d. ?, G. {( T3 T- Q
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
! w, j& q O4 U- z3 icommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small" `# M* U& z) D6 b5 O9 D2 j
number of vehicles4 C0 r6 v4 t) F& ]8 g
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more* P3 U3 f" R l# q
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
7 c7 ?( `$ i: D" d( H9 h' w1 Fmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one3 | S" z" ]8 Y T7 G& m( W$ x
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
- n# ` z) _$ L+ L2 ]- F qMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,* U7 L5 e+ f0 {3 T7 Q( ]
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no0 k8 |, v& z( `) M* `
trace at all.& t4 S% |+ o" k/ @
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call4 `& t% p9 `# f+ e( E
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden% X+ j3 N( p) M) o( e+ J
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the( t. r2 l4 ]$ [ n$ a
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.; `+ {* O, ~- a. S/ V% ?
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,+ S% P8 } f" Y/ X! b
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
( i! F! i, H* a$ tother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
8 ]& T, g3 z5 g( V1 `) j4 |4 jelectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible U9 I0 Q; `, t! z
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only. W; k# T K' U* c: W# A& Y! U9 F
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained$ C9 a; k! V5 ~# P$ A8 M
by Toyota's lawyers."( r5 P- o! q- g5 u% C" f( r3 b8 k
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
: }! ~- n( [3 j' _; C7 J+ S! H0 V: cproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our1 u# i3 x. F) i& @1 Z( N/ d
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
+ x2 m( p! u* S1 T* }, z" Zsaid.
2 c" j g4 z6 {. D; c"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
. }9 `* L0 l7 Z6 d ia rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
% B& }7 ^ w. k* m# Cgood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating |9 p! D5 C6 m- C, M+ j1 O, M5 u: r
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
: D; y5 }# e( Y+ w$ ESeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
) ^8 Z+ H! u& d" B4 _ w( t: Pmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread( `- r0 p& m* ]6 z+ }0 g T% _
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
# K9 ~ @# j1 O5 D* _automaker, at least in part because of the government's
+ J% K0 S ~9 f/ u/ m" V* | uinvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
2 T3 ~& d- z9 u' }Chrysler.* i: Y9 Y" `! f
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
0 q# Q% k6 ^5 ^, Ddollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
( G/ y+ ^6 u8 h2 |" Y5 M1 zHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
3 w' I# e4 A8 P; j) Hserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete' b$ P+ O9 M9 C
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty: X& P& s e& T3 |
tough."- I3 z' x- l/ s& Y# ^
---
/ g' h3 @, \& T0 e; M" o" rAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
7 _0 B: Q* j0 T: BRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to4 R' k1 R/ T0 Y& t: L5 K+ m
this story." N# b! H) B# A7 v. R
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