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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题3 q6 b: g+ P/ r7 F5 k
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS! x" E$ y6 C. \, k# Q' P9 s
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.& Z) L5 Z: g. s% M
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
& e/ {/ \5 u" P3 m2 Uthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
( P( T5 Y0 b4 D& n) `solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
5 C& @9 ~) A% _"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential. u% h; }: |, ^8 B
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
4 n* ~6 p) z' G0 y3 V# L! yHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected* n/ E. k0 w3 l8 O
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
' _3 W7 V7 C2 utrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor9 O% H/ K( O& r4 r/ z
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.
5 j+ Q9 Q1 f3 N- S0 uHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal' _0 n) O: \2 P, ~9 ~
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
! ?' o% w; ^) }7 Zcriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be m1 N1 a1 ]) F" s. G
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
1 L. H; b# u o# P: Enot stop her runaway Lexus.! h' t' Z1 a0 v1 m( K
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
1 @( X8 o q* J. `Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
. V: }$ s! F/ ^7 f"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
9 B) i J$ F% m8 z( rTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
! g" g9 Q+ o( v/ B% O5 Y# g! I) mearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said* L, k( D; X( x- K/ W( L
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
$ I; g }* s2 |& [+ b8 A* Fdone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
4 z0 O4 ^/ [) h$ l% J, |through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
' u/ C5 {* C, E+ y" @investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
/ T0 M& b9 f2 O$ C6 ~# O, v5 R) hLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an/ P- [' C/ B) L- w4 @- o/ d
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of# o v$ J: `' D, E
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
, a4 z- T1 E9 [; C( r) ?malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
' r7 Z$ t6 x0 r0 E( jsaid.
7 a% {, ~/ ?3 ], }As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
/ x- n) v F9 [; n$ Q9 lhappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe7 r. j5 x/ n$ B8 {% S& u# k' r
about driving our products," Lentz said.+ u; T% e; b, K1 ~8 r
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's; Y3 j4 h* i% x" d3 U5 M8 C# _
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
' Z3 b7 C2 p; H O: C/ [# arecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
' o; D! x4 q) N: ~6 R3 Smillion in the United States -- since last fall because of
9 y/ G, [* {9 h G* Nunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking! J$ J& w) d+ E4 G' ?* h
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering' G/ D" ?6 |" ~5 E7 U
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of/ S/ Z% Q- q" l
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
/ J/ B+ K! ^ M( V& }down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
" i6 n3 M1 T' ?; q9 n3 H1 p3 ~6 {7 Xreceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration% q3 q1 h# |9 ]9 c7 @& U
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.7 L j) u& U& ~" ?+ @# W
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own. S' _0 x" A! [. W; u1 [' e! G5 r0 }' B
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
. q I$ w' Z r. g* c0 j6 Tunderstood the pain.9 d' i: t4 T& Q! o V; a
"I know what those families go through," he said.
! c1 y% d& y' s* u- ELentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's. Z8 k2 X; H& ^2 G! s% w a
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
* _0 z* F% x7 P' \" w7 D" MBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
' I# d/ B" V5 ]5 p# EHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put. {: q6 B4 C- L' T4 X: S
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
/ \+ K. T3 m" t6 _Lentz replied: "Not totally.", B( s# u( x( Z( l3 u
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were' d/ j% p8 J: W
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said9 k* Y: M: o$ r
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas9 z" a* G/ S p9 K+ z
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its' F2 X) ] B2 y& H: s3 H9 L
vehicles already on the road.
: X Z$ D0 i( ?9 _9 j, ^! O! FMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
) [* m" O& p6 J; [: B0 dbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
6 c! h5 Z2 {& }# q; Cresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
5 U, l9 l: ]5 F7 {& ?% Eoffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
0 ~' ]+ c3 P, U; rkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.' q8 D, k. W" x; Z9 K$ E
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a7 \- q3 C( O& m! Z8 e% _; ^8 A. \
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony- U) c6 T' ?- c' Q% m0 h
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight/ d1 d$ \" R# H+ l: ^, w
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal) o9 @9 q3 L( s) R
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to( J4 K; Y- h% ?9 j) j( B8 j+ w8 R
restore the trust of our customers."1 j6 x- d f7 x
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
P+ l' z8 ` O3 `Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
+ H1 W: C2 |# |6 azoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --: ^) o. z3 O+ o' t4 @# |( T3 t6 k9 A
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
0 h/ z$ y" F$ Z/ K4 w- X2 X/ nhitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough7 D1 i3 E) z4 B7 U
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
. O Q4 Z# j( {& V {( Rturn off the engine.
' [0 K4 s5 _: y5 t8 v2 mFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
S% p/ B, B; Q9 KOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
$ t! U( \) w$ T* [1 o, X0 }"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she' k3 H8 \1 Q5 [! o! I
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
& [6 m. D1 T ?to her complaints.
$ X/ u/ G4 K" ?6 BIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers$ o: v# U- P2 \
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
; \% N$ ]0 n3 w* @8 ^0 W/ ]; Ymalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
3 R1 J4 A- g |, C$ v. w"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric4 R% ~+ k. }' I4 E! X1 X% N
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited2 z/ ] }. a, ?" I
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut5 n; I. s) _& y% f3 Y r# h
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."6 l A2 `+ ]9 G4 W& M* C
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
5 U3 E7 g: E* a8 k& c2 H; Pprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
! r8 D" z+ ~! W/ w7 C# X$ Ybeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls4 d" k1 f9 t! W! s, j! d% S& {
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
( W* I- K. r9 y$ vevery question."
% S0 E6 }. Z8 e$ n9 ~# u, gToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
1 }& {9 z) B! welectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The' m2 Z% c8 s& f% d
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
, x! }3 A8 L. Rcommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small* f& x i3 f! v6 N* G
number of vehicles- l7 \. }* V4 T! n3 O4 U) O
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more4 p% D" R; I# e9 z* \' a! w# L& ?
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
8 G. N! C) B! ~4 qmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one) e- F, E7 s# _1 h& Y
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.+ k, b+ Q' ^6 G7 s+ F6 g; m4 p
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
0 X( E ~; x- D/ L3 ]8 U( s7 kwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no2 w7 Q' I' m7 o& {2 {" P2 p
trace at all.$ U1 ~+ f8 y) L+ m
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
" C) A2 ?; Y8 I r! a0 d7 o+ L0 Edatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
! a: a% Q+ A& m0 X7 eacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the2 g J& x; q$ M0 D# h/ X
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
- P- _# M5 m( h, Z; ~Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,+ K8 Z8 A, u% o. L+ J
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and. d) x E$ k1 A* e( N) R/ u/ K$ n
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the9 g- y% Y0 o! N) F
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
+ C. M$ @& v5 r: w4 u" p: e0 kcause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only. X$ T6 G1 N8 u1 Z& t
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
4 A. h: M0 b3 q5 b: a ?0 hby Toyota's lawyers."
+ L8 a) K8 q) z9 G6 z3 ~Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
1 l# ]' G8 \% Y" H$ Bproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our! a! X8 r8 F) b, g
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he: X- e8 ], U! R
said.! A) [, Y0 I7 w% p0 T( B0 o0 o: v2 q
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
. p$ [4 m3 N$ J" Z- {9 ka rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our. W- B7 P! M9 G+ e* ~8 ]( ?
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating( T) C/ o, J d9 x/ p5 R
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
; [2 x# Y) s; e) H% g5 [Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
& `' U+ G( F4 _4 O+ tmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
; q9 J8 y1 x. r8 S6 {) y, mrancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the) u ], S, p1 [8 }0 ~* e
automaker, at least in part because of the government's5 D' d/ b/ o2 w$ J
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and) x: Q% P( {+ _
Chrysler.
6 S, h6 K0 V4 W2 S0 I. E/ v"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
. m6 u T8 M4 R$ ?6 L6 mdollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
9 M. J E- N- c6 {Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
1 ~, R- w1 c& Y0 \served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete1 c# v8 S3 r- Q
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty7 P# t5 U2 c u a0 |
tough."/ X9 @, c9 M, ~( h- p: E8 e
---; F; W7 Z- h. {5 f1 @: ~' _
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
. @( C6 r. E: U4 v- b' LRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to1 w* ?! G3 _- B% o0 P
this story.
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