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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
) E: h- Z% Z9 K3 x YBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
# X" m) w4 H/ b# v/ ]Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.# i7 z. z! A) w$ ?8 d
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
) z: n. M2 n9 D+ p6 ~4 e' R& gthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally". z" m5 T9 R% D9 ]1 z( J
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
5 L3 ?/ D( f4 N) b( ~" T"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential I# T7 p7 U) {; k
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
) V4 T$ b; A' }5 D9 d" KHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected) M/ U) p- C5 i3 a E+ d$ P
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and2 G+ a: I7 R% ^0 ^& p; a2 w
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
/ h/ g' \$ [8 U6 d+ a! xmats and sticking accelerator pedals.
: X- m- q: h, ?% Y' mHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
9 }, O; |$ w* x2 R, Aand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp1 h4 l0 I& |0 }, {" h6 d
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
7 B2 \+ U1 z# y$ D; D$ Bfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could, F: P. D0 O% s6 U& I2 K
not stop her runaway Lexus." Z# n" e" h, X" `
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
i% T& K2 Q3 U' g* o4 ]# JTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
+ S0 t" Y$ U H( J, Y"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
3 }" O* j; Y/ z/ l4 ]Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues; F/ N; m7 Y& N) C
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said" T! Z! G9 d! p
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has' v, K8 k; X% R+ n* V; P7 d/ [4 Z" d
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway1 }& \5 v* f9 X1 r; x
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
2 J. m7 ` q4 B$ k* b* {) ginvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."- \9 W7 g9 s, w8 E0 N
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
1 T1 s: D) V# ?electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of, p4 S* k# ^' `- f4 [" Y
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a. m3 X7 e4 C/ R8 _) W9 s9 d+ ~
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he) W5 q; q4 \) w+ b. h5 C7 h
said.2 c* b0 g" y5 `! } y5 G/ d. F
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what( Q% l6 u: v# n& d' R. Z3 S7 z
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
, F' I H: z" r" T% O1 eabout driving our products," Lentz said.9 A$ \8 Q6 \ H# k Q
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's- O+ x/ B. H4 U( s
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
3 ]& G m5 a3 C) f5 Q! m" Urecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
( m* [! ]/ G3 I7 q! K( tmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of8 l8 l p$ {/ }4 G, Y: y" ^; Y7 B
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
' N: K/ a; F2 Y7 h: F$ nissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
$ Q$ j/ W% y* w8 w( Q# h- rconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
- s# J: J* `. b8 S1 htheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
* r1 ~/ J. @8 \9 P% A9 i; Kdown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
9 ~% K- }' @, D! breceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
; [) q, \; N( h0 o8 l! _of Toyota vehicles since 2000.
0 l6 [* i( U: ^# vLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
7 ^' ~4 [- ^6 L0 O" M6 xbrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he+ \' G6 V5 q3 N7 \
understood the pain.0 k3 n) G+ _( d! b* z5 S; [) B
"I know what those families go through," he said.
+ i+ d) |1 `/ QLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's a- T1 ~2 v# L$ m/ T
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.& @. b' `0 x$ P9 c
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman% X+ @0 G& X0 I# G' B1 b9 ~
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put- C( M1 g( Z% y# M. b! D
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,8 [1 W' F c. q- W% {" A
Lentz replied: "Not totally."
* o! t0 ^5 `% Q% e `Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
& A& F) @( x, |$ G' w"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
5 j+ i0 m+ z& H! z9 cToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
r& R5 D& F5 A- `2 q7 Hpedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its, k3 s4 a1 Q% k Q6 m2 w- H& ^0 S
vehicles already on the road." H, o! t6 O2 Q! Z* a" M- ^
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
- P3 R8 `1 s& ~before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full5 j* ]2 {8 ?2 Z
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
I7 T' C0 C+ J( r# S& F P- X. F" Z) h4 r0 ^offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were( Q0 n2 M" o& O/ F! P+ r
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
0 S, [( u3 N `1 ^2 d2 u9 x/ S0 G"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
. F/ `+ m! F/ q/ t9 G7 ?7 C3 z! Gtragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony7 U/ r7 x, l4 E3 ]1 w9 t
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
' p9 g$ W$ V/ @4 P$ k0 i' J& UCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal- ~4 Z8 F! y4 p9 N- D
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
! y; D% g& Q' G( @7 ]# i3 orestore the trust of our customers."$ p) {. I# ]2 S6 c( R2 s) S1 J
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
. f3 g/ ^& \- q( J& s0 H7 ?; v, }4 gSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly* N! ^3 }; {+ U0 z+ m
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --; |( t% h& k* J" U. A
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
( A Y7 x& @0 N0 w$ t: lhitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
0 O/ K5 E( d! |& Rthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and/ ~! c# h. J# W% M. L
turn off the engine.
4 g; U# W# G5 B; i* oFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of3 M4 c8 L2 t& O8 }# l. W4 z8 @
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."" g/ L& O0 p% u4 z1 s! x/ \/ b
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
* x1 K5 O; u t! |" r$ {said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond# I- o2 u! }1 ^$ s0 v, Q9 N
to her complaints.
, h; t( K8 c& A: GIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
& I5 p+ |! z: [# J) Nreturned again and again to the question of whether electronic
! W- D7 T$ c3 _malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.3 g! [+ U5 K- p" m# S+ S
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric H; T* P3 \, P0 j z3 Q# W
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
7 E/ E0 [0 O4 A5 U"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
m4 s" I! g+ a' T8 M9 ooff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
) s8 p+ g7 P& a. G0 y/ t4 ~/ bTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in; O. [3 ^0 l; j2 ]: D
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were9 r \9 [/ z; _' s& q, K0 r
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
1 {6 i. O' q/ dwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer# c" e8 k! |4 o1 v# K
every question."' S6 G; k2 ?% S
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether3 I* a$ v6 q/ F- Z
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
. N5 {$ h* z# J4 C# ?' c" M$ ofirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But6 Q# e4 u M. R4 o( |+ d
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
! p7 a S _1 N5 V) C6 S) g; @number of vehicles6 n- L" W9 r- V
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more
+ c0 y. R1 S6 [4 q1 \; B7 idifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
" g: \/ \9 i! }9 ~mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
8 I) G' w( [1 S9 m. ~source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.7 S9 _5 y" M2 n! k9 o& X" ?
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage, G" Z) P+ s& y. B
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no5 y x! s p- B- N6 L
trace at all.
8 N. y: f; l; oHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
( r8 A/ a) f. n# R5 {7 D' Sdatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden- Y8 n" P) B' f [, m+ ~$ r
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the. C- K* h# A9 n2 j
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.& Y# q3 n- F' A- Z3 o" d
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,, k# M$ J2 E7 z' \
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and ?. o, r- y! P3 v$ }' G
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
/ r9 w' J w' ~8 ], Xelectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
5 n3 |8 ?, z* b3 {% M5 D2 D! scause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only$ o) C1 Y% W3 X6 x" X& @1 E9 s
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained: e' ]' F0 \5 n+ E" i7 [
by Toyota's lawyers."
. n- H) {' ]2 ` U+ K0 LLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of+ h% V/ a0 t3 a( K0 Y( ~4 i
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
; _; Q' Z) h/ d1 L; f6 K8 s7 Dcustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
* a4 X& f$ K" f ^said.
; i& \1 c4 u* o" F& B: E/ s"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with7 d6 a2 g; G) x1 J# Q
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
+ f& g6 v0 s( N, h; O& d. Pgood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating1 P) z- }7 {. A2 q
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.1 S6 U( k c+ e
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
6 ~7 k$ f8 e R" \% Jmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
" f1 n0 _# S" Q" b6 {6 P( Y7 T; i$ prancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
$ L: H; V; y- a: d# L9 v" W+ Xautomaker, at least in part because of the government's
) I5 C: k: G. o K' b2 `* G; {investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and8 _" f! v6 e8 K3 v8 ?3 v2 Q- V! T- F
Chrysler.
% D; {3 y! r+ E3 G% p- x"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
7 @) C1 @7 j' |1 X4 ?6 I$ Zdollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
8 }* _. o- R7 DHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also w& y3 M5 w5 F) k/ J1 M
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete+ {/ f* s* H* \6 l- ^5 t
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
% ]6 O+ t+ f* T" s7 K( k. \ Dtough."
/ D' L8 A+ @# |---+ O+ Q* ]3 \) W" j9 l J# k9 f5 D
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom, f% n* @/ {/ @! k3 S9 N
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
( N! C/ @- V/ G' c8 {/ d2 d( ythis story.
) K% C7 g% G; I8 i0 ^& y, U+ W4 b7 x( b d: |1 D6 V) A: q
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