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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题5 r0 B* _, j' c t' Q
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS6 }6 U) T1 L3 q
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
$ R; ^" ~% i/ Q, n, Soperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
0 e+ t$ `0 O- y1 othe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"7 u6 B! ^6 @8 P) U2 x* \
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
9 l0 j6 B: N i, u* t) P1 A"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
' ]( [$ E# G) T- [' h( r* P8 ^+ X, \causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.5 Z$ X7 X' g4 `; s. i0 n
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected/ G% _3 t- Q, h" Y, R+ O \
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
+ i$ v( K, d9 {& \# n+ ~2 }$ Vtrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor8 _- F/ z7 j% {( [! g- \) M+ D2 |/ O
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.+ ^( I# h. w! f5 P
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal: V. J0 L) Q B
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
# `: d- I/ k0 F7 i6 A* Q2 z2 ocriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
8 p! w5 B' Y0 e9 D! Rfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
$ ~) |: @0 Y0 x# Anot stop her runaway Lexus." u2 m1 U. S: D/ s& T2 y
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,6 |! N# {7 |: ^; W3 D0 h# ^- `, v4 P
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second1 D) ?2 K; ~: X7 p W3 Q: G# t
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
6 t$ b# _$ s* I1 Q$ ?. ]8 X# [6 M# wTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
8 q1 }1 K7 O: S2 S6 Y/ nearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
4 i! @6 o- }( l- E+ k V"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has" X, |% W, K2 s3 `6 ]* C, b4 z; }
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
- e3 B" N4 {- R/ d W Lthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's: m$ o! Z! o2 T! w+ ?$ u" O6 Z4 _6 }
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."0 n+ Y3 q% a" e& A2 c9 O
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an, p( z7 n, B3 M0 g* Q, X: P
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of$ D% q6 F3 e _4 ?1 M6 f7 m3 U9 Z6 Z
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
1 D% d6 z$ Z* @; X# {malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he4 S6 x: w/ l3 O r9 s4 K7 x
said.
: d ~0 q" d- T2 q0 D: {As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
" o; [' {% ?5 _1 Rhappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
; e3 `$ V; p6 N! X3 Uabout driving our products," Lentz said.
+ R- A2 E. p6 IThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
1 h, ?: j: @. S4 J9 S$ B6 hproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
: s& m/ n0 S7 {7 Lrecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
3 j% f5 D8 ]4 Q( k* J1 Rmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of4 H! v3 P( L9 l) a7 H3 b
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
: `# W! W: a/ r( X. E% qissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
9 O8 {, e/ P; Z( gconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
' x3 D' H- @! B0 Ltheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow0 l- T, Y. k2 ?
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
/ {! @/ z- g! e8 M4 Y* `received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
: k! `+ e4 P/ O( e3 Jof Toyota vehicles since 2000.
V# d3 |3 w' O8 N% `6 \Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own# v- l9 s* ?1 d0 Z$ B+ A$ d
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he0 Y) D: Z1 s% }' p i& A( f9 A' E
understood the pain.# f; x6 g3 c6 c
"I know what those families go through," he said.
! f, ?9 h+ j( Z2 D) h! A% SLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's/ M$ [8 O2 Y1 W+ Z5 K8 X+ p& v
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.3 w" @' R; q; C( ?8 q& z& K
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
1 a5 H, A! z# R" S/ T8 a& a8 jHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
: H5 [: N7 ?: ?7 _8 G) s' [' vin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
0 Y) i# y' x8 C$ NLentz replied: "Not totally."3 E1 d: `# V4 Q$ [1 `2 H% \1 M8 a! J
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were, @: z1 l; P6 X7 M- S, r1 s' `
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
* ~- W4 X; \1 h* b+ @Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas* ?$ }1 h6 f* p6 }4 T& [
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
, D! k1 v- g( c( e, Nvehicles already on the road.
: x) j3 |! w8 b1 f4 N# ]5 ?Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
8 I( X, S0 e8 ebefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
+ V9 q* r' d2 E2 Q) lresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
1 J$ R1 }. t. Q% c# ]* C* J; }offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were* f9 s$ D) R# ]0 _) _% W/ x* C
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.' d2 z9 `2 w- m& V3 N. u
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
! g Z" S* z5 M* Y xtragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony6 ?, q/ G# c& D K4 Q( ~
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight8 p0 K) B& D5 `
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
n$ R4 G4 w3 ?1 ucommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to: o8 l: Q8 I+ M" i' d L
restore the trust of our customers."
0 Y& o; @' N, r9 TLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from6 z5 V' B# S- y$ K" P: d: W3 I& m- F+ h( Z
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly# U+ q. a8 Z% D2 r: o7 [' m
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --" N3 }# R* s0 ?
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
: C: k, Q" e9 F$ F( m9 khitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
* @. u/ j4 i( K3 Y* Q5 ]9 Xthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and! s* u! [* e# r2 v
turn off the engine.5 C0 V, F& ~" p0 `4 i7 L% Q$ u
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of, z( @2 N' }) J7 T; n
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
: `7 h0 p$ `; P" J) m U"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she- M T, n$ p1 B' x
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond, G3 I( q3 A+ Z
to her complaints.
* H$ A: b i" EIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers; l- v# R$ ]/ q, n+ ?- c
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic# S& A; |! [8 K# e1 _% u
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
8 Q X, Y, L+ D/ u8 M' X"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
8 I. o1 y& J0 Wthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited, I5 V; a8 ?) \, \
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut/ `' ^& p! n# N8 j9 E# z
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."! r q: j( w' O4 j
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
6 C# z' U. ]: ?* t( ^prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
9 I3 Y6 K- s. F: k7 P4 |+ Lbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls/ `# Z/ q5 \$ v4 Q! }- j8 A( G- `
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer/ k9 l3 |2 T7 C0 S$ X
every question."1 ^/ E9 w4 `% ]/ k9 L! N8 W8 A
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
2 R: `, ? l9 z/ U/ relectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The# s* d! E) Y7 L) p6 O, C, ?/ ]
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But" P" N6 q2 T! R+ B% k3 N
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small" \4 r! b+ t0 y. A. @ V5 P
number of vehicles
6 q) C2 L9 A$ ~: ]4 f7 I' ZTracking down an electrical problem can be far more3 U# x5 o; G7 N" J9 J, S! M7 J
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
% Y" Y1 u a5 |4 v' s: n5 E# ~+ y3 Emechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one' E: M+ I( Z! X' b" i8 I1 |
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car." K& D# \ k0 H7 i, r5 W0 e
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,; {. a# w. h8 [* j0 o# [) }
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no# q+ d4 N+ z" ~& Z& z: D
trace at all.
4 @* h0 Z- K' S$ I+ {: Y, YHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
! c6 ^/ o3 n; l8 m* C; ]+ n1 Adatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
# O' F0 I! s* j7 X9 T/ Q) L9 I' q3 cacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
/ k* }: i9 p, W5 c( j4 crecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
( A# Y8 S% i2 Y8 W/ ERep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
( k5 e. W0 |4 O* ~# s' e7 c" ysaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and3 A5 s3 e$ l6 Z; w
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
& C6 u( }" ?: p& h! c0 Y7 Q0 |electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
: L; l. o. P" f8 u5 X/ E7 Rcause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
9 w, ]8 M3 V1 bsuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained' t) k, u+ k7 g0 U* m) H+ [5 o
by Toyota's lawyers."( i. x& Q8 a8 L6 g1 F' i" O3 p' M; [/ v
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
! w6 ^. t+ ~5 O# o, \% \& n: b3 hproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our& U: N0 ]$ r( u5 o/ n* m" a
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
9 i4 I- t, W% i y& Z& Csaid.1 G3 l$ C+ V* X. m: x
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
9 v( v& Z$ p+ H. W6 Oa rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
& T, F5 b8 t' ~good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating% L- x# F& p! t
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.* q+ f% b E+ ?1 w% n( r+ R
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying: S' H, n k* K/ L/ K
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
3 `/ Z& A9 Y# n) N4 yrancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
0 D5 k9 E% A' \1 _; K3 l1 yautomaker, at least in part because of the government's
+ w# {% U0 j; A8 Xinvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and* W! x& s9 L4 f5 h# |& z
Chrysler.' ]6 V* g9 P; k* k. f9 a; Z
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
& g; {0 ]$ [1 s1 w( ~! S) c( s/ Gdollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
5 p& n P: C4 n2 F; SHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
3 R. H, \/ |6 M4 `7 t1 @+ xserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete5 }, p V9 B. r$ r5 U* [2 C
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
D- Z( f9 O2 o$ d. X- K% d8 N0 ntough."& w* h" E, s) r1 ^* b
---& {7 ]" t% G( {
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
8 q. A! c! d- q; ?+ ]9 _Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to/ S) t a) r* x
this story.1 ?" [9 K+ ^$ M
6 y6 b6 ]) Z/ U, E# l5 x6 M
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