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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题2 V: q3 s. M9 W6 Q( f
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
& O5 V, ~+ d- ?5 G2 t" q( f/ d: MWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
$ n) m% ~6 |2 Y, O% f* Zoperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that9 h) b; R; ?1 K; c8 q5 B% }
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally") x/ D8 o/ B+ f: E# |2 g
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.' X; M# ]6 I! b
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential% ^) d7 A2 O0 N
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.) D) H R2 m* k3 Z( U, k
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
^! }% G! x# G+ _ h6 P2 p Pacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
6 J0 \+ _3 H) [trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
" N$ O( F2 I: I' c- [# G! q# umats and sticking accelerator pedals.
" _' Z0 t) _" N" {! R6 ~He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal8 e& M, L3 M$ [3 M
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
, n. s6 H8 h/ @# ecriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
# Q+ t' q P f+ }: [2 w3 ofurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could( | O$ a7 I& m& q, o
not stop her runaway Lexus.9 E! X9 X. @& P2 y2 V8 D% }: K
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
8 Q) h% h5 G8 B* R- I1 UTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
- y8 M0 s- B$ e- ]! F" H"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.: H0 p8 p8 E% W2 w9 W
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
+ K+ q! o& i$ h2 @7 \4 Pearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said+ s# V) [2 G* z
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
' R: k9 d3 `" `3 j8 c0 r( Hdone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
- p( b0 g+ w3 G0 M; L" G# G# kthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
. O% Y+ b% y. i2 w9 |investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
; m5 _* P/ m* xLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an" u3 R, q0 E9 N0 W
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
+ v H9 n |4 L" ^the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a; r2 H, \6 k! ^! Z% J B( _4 V
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
. F6 F* a, z% A7 Ysaid.
& ^* V% K, k% l( A7 Q# |; F8 J1 DAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what5 f' m9 ~3 n2 [, {; v- e
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
3 k" y8 c3 ?5 U- r* d; e5 t: Q; r1 r: Gabout driving our products," Lentz said.
6 O$ i, ?* p$ h8 q9 V7 T( _8 wThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's+ p6 h, |3 c4 b2 E6 F, _; D( ^+ y
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has. F- z/ t1 K- ~8 M1 i- j
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
, o- X, v6 m8 D7 T1 z1 B) ~million in the United States -- since last fall because of- ]7 e5 b( j1 R* _$ t
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking$ W6 o @0 ]1 ^5 v7 `' o
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering8 x( s, l) Y1 T) Q9 Z n* ^
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of/ P2 E2 \. w6 U. z+ `1 @( V# H* h6 Y
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow% F3 b6 `4 i5 _. B/ m
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
" r$ k# B8 z; F+ ?# \( }: N- areceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration+ x9 `* _/ u. h- T
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.
# H6 ` X( A! P P, k' KLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
! n2 R. p! R4 tbrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
9 Q: `( T+ y/ \understood the pain.
- c! E; J: W) B2 y! u"I know what those families go through," he said.) S4 j6 O4 }) [: ?
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
, o' H$ c" I: j( F( @fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
" J7 m; U8 j4 p7 xBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman) ?5 V# R- {0 x8 Q
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
6 @, B% m5 U* ~3 Win place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,! G$ g2 x; C0 k) p- c
Lentz replied: "Not totally."
7 B0 h1 s" w4 T9 ~6 P' E# P2 {8 {Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
! y2 g2 B m% M"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said$ V+ Z& @/ U9 [) z6 c1 h# v
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
5 \* X! w- A$ w7 ~0 s5 G. T4 bpedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
$ H2 u4 {/ [$ v1 b0 Yvehicles already on the road.4 o: s0 f- o5 C @; G5 h
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify: \& P5 q0 O* g" r% N: j, X
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
* V L9 M3 Q! Lresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
0 D' J9 G/ T0 e4 U% `: Foffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
, A4 I( u+ N$ t/ G; J* s4 Akilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
1 p- Y, @1 U6 s$ b* Q"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
. r/ K; N' P9 ^% I7 Atragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
" h6 g) Z( W6 ?. L/ q. P/ U6 W* Tfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
0 S# e- c; \( @( c9 |, L) RCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal9 B8 {' o1 o2 }6 t, o
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to! z* V2 E L; g5 o7 c6 Z' a
restore the trust of our customers."
$ [+ |3 U( h9 l8 oLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
6 w# H8 k, S( c+ ~Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly+ `; F3 `2 @0 q" [! ?7 R, T
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
* S6 F, N6 W" v- J6 k6 _shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
& j$ v. e# G# f7 I+ A! A- b( d- Shitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
# }1 ~. G! l- p6 K- D7 uthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
0 f" X+ K: b- o4 }" v. fturn off the engine.
9 t: T* }4 e0 T; s4 C3 A( E9 J* [9 W2 VFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
3 \9 X/ e0 O$ ^* FOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
$ s3 _+ z/ l5 k6 q"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she0 f% a* W4 ^& H+ \* ^; Z4 i9 r ^
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
- R4 j7 b2 L, u$ r3 c7 ?" dto her complaints.1 D* Y1 J* |: H
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers! l& _8 t5 E; [8 z
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
& k; `1 u) u! V8 Ymalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.$ q) z/ c+ u( W/ v, r
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric2 F& Y4 t0 c4 Q6 N4 F
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
, D" \3 L" ]& h"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
7 ]/ ^' r7 T; }( qoff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
& P8 b+ Y; O3 xTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in) P' Z2 u' j @* I4 \4 H5 y4 f- L! b# T$ v
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were6 b" e7 C, y; ~+ T t8 C: }( X
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls1 K: z) c6 {& C1 i+ Q# @4 t8 u
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer! h% |/ i c' J4 ~
every question."' G5 z K9 i+ f& V$ z
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether& s( n* ]. g" }# o
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
+ m* M9 n5 }! g+ u) R5 n% [firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But) H D& B# q, P: a6 I* e6 A
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
; {3 m0 b7 p/ n; \& Y7 u! Dnumber of vehicles
& O! r3 z2 w$ b2 |Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more6 i6 d* s6 p! e4 [ u8 u' o
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a8 c( F4 H6 x) p- y# e
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
* h' L( @! U$ ?/ y2 H5 {4 Zsource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
% w2 @& k: N1 J4 }, b5 g+ p) K. o ?Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,- v$ H( e9 y, u9 w2 A
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no/ x& z& w* s$ f+ G$ a, P$ q5 m6 j
trace at all.2 P) X( Q4 f- u: D: U5 k
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
8 k4 U6 {3 |; S$ x) ?. y- Ydatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden2 N1 J$ H& r2 k- O
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the6 N8 d1 o" c# b/ s) r; f- R: ~( e
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
- }1 I, z% Y3 g4 zRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
8 X: s. S- H0 S0 z. m1 {; Lsaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and; c! Z0 N" v0 Y4 d7 S
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
+ r) P4 h4 H5 O( V! J3 ~8 velectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible. i# B- G- F! _
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only3 n2 `( P$ R$ _. l( P. B+ l
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
. q# A t: b6 Y/ O! _8 hby Toyota's lawyers."
- o$ p: O! \0 I9 b3 s7 R$ WLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
4 T% |3 f+ B5 ^& ?7 @problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
' Q* k/ [# i: ^0 ocustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
2 z3 Y$ m1 ?5 [& S0 |said.
4 @2 f* a! R" n7 L+ c" j3 U8 Y# q"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
H& ~+ Q. r9 ?- ?a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our3 |) `: A2 T) k5 P8 w, H
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating9 I3 ^! t0 Q& p9 Y& T8 M
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
, {# y# F2 R {4 w( USeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying* o. v7 \0 Q: ]( \& ~- T' p
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread/ E& x% x' v8 d. A8 M: e
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
# ]6 m9 r0 s7 ~* l5 `; {3 M6 zautomaker, at least in part because of the government's8 W: D( N% B: o r5 X$ _
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
0 V/ S- G8 X. o% o5 @1 wChrysler.. j( V1 [! Y' P; ?2 d
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax/ [) F ^; b4 z6 ?
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a+ J, N- H! n) g5 y0 u# u
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
/ j& U9 ~4 u' x0 m/ d. n5 `2 Kserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
# `$ t8 W- P" d, Y; H- A- p+ iwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
" \4 X+ f' v* A1 M, {% z4 Vtough."
7 F/ @; Q/ w( U6 x0 p---7 Z) ~0 g& ]; o
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom; C- d+ ^9 Z% C0 ~! |
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
7 [& o; s9 q, [- ? gthis story.9 Z8 O( O5 r! t# w) n# \
l# n# Y! C5 D5 @3 A5 n
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