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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题6 X1 Z4 [% Y' q. `/ q! I
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS% _$ `$ [' N& h6 i( T
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
) g- G1 N" C( M& @3 i5 Woperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that" {5 r! ]& o% U1 ]% t8 i, |* T
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
4 b4 ~, w6 n% g6 l: xsolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration." G4 Z9 B( j* O6 Z
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential/ P2 z. n* E5 j8 m p) r5 N1 Z
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
# z9 j' \& ?! M+ ^% r1 IHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
. Q( b4 n: c/ T$ Sacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and& @6 d1 g7 `5 ^/ N3 C
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
. Y. z' M, P& O7 kmats and sticking accelerator pedals.8 P* _! _" J0 y/ w) i; X$ j- \
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
1 j( ] ?8 x2 Qand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp6 I9 z' O1 @( Z n. B T
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
+ P- B8 k& @3 w( Cfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could- c! G3 w; |+ y0 e0 @% x
not stop her runaway Lexus.
# M' ?5 e3 E5 e* _ C7 `4 N"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,: r% @ T# a" V1 R+ ?
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
1 u$ R; I, I5 }- H3 A! r9 B"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
* J) J* L6 Z! l fTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
5 r1 H4 A" e2 H) U3 x, @early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said! o6 D2 B. [) {" h8 s
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
% C6 k: X$ g8 G' K; A+ V! ydone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway2 u- f% o0 ^& w$ g; Q4 }) G
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
2 ~/ b) F, ~; N& J$ [: O4 ginvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."* S' \5 N' D1 m0 [* t
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an/ }( Z: I* U$ J, A: R
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
' q8 e# d) v* ^* s @2 [# K3 kthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a9 C9 T0 x: g7 ~% H+ T
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
6 N7 G7 w* U2 A ~- C7 gsaid./ t- S5 L2 R' O7 L, y5 s7 d
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
/ [6 f: F* \1 `- v4 |. @happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe1 Z8 H! f4 e$ d' {2 I
about driving our products," Lentz said., f% ?' B0 I/ Q5 n$ p! p
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's, c& H: J e% \5 } L, G& D7 p
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has+ F/ e1 G( @) v0 F
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 66 U7 [; v" v- Z( y
million in the United States -- since last fall because of4 @% D2 D+ x5 M$ b- H5 f
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
9 D/ |5 Q& s& r" A6 k* Missues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
2 \" N; V6 [( ~7 tconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of) N( f8 u6 f) p$ M. _4 m
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow% F7 A# K7 P4 ~* H! u `
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
" r5 J& F% l: k* A) s$ H2 |& K: r" S) @+ Wreceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration. U% ~6 L) o6 k, g$ ]
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.* H/ @0 ] U% b$ h# l4 v6 V: J
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own. b9 I/ j! s/ k4 A `
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
3 G& P/ ?) ?( w: punderstood the pain.& g5 v8 {) c; T1 f6 ?
"I know what those families go through," he said.
# m+ D5 ?9 ^2 ILentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
& Q5 n: E! X$ @% Z$ Y' l. Zfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
" ~. B: D, u- }But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman2 n$ v; {% u. |, v7 \/ l5 L
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put$ R8 s8 p/ C- W: {$ f5 B' ^$ q& }3 s9 z* {
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
% }% m. L) c5 B2 y6 H) B" N+ j0 RLentz replied: "Not totally."5 a+ g0 I* g1 m7 G9 W% A7 L
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were; m4 q. ^& @0 t6 g+ G
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said( q9 l l# ^; N
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas! K* t" C0 ?+ A% C. E; a1 O
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
" u3 E3 w; ~/ e, K- D& E/ V# pvehicles already on the road.$ M2 |/ Y& \ V% G, `$ f7 v0 e
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify) j. |8 j( Q+ u6 T M; [
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full" v% V( ~( d F; o _; S- _! i
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
4 y% E! T$ W% l) ~offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
% H5 [6 g6 V. S( [killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
" _7 G% _# V/ o8 N3 x5 ~"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a+ z5 e# b7 c: t5 @/ I& A
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
3 p0 d d1 | D/ h2 D; g$ Sfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight( V) }9 k& v$ D) M0 y) e* B* t
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
) ~: ?" c# P3 pcommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
. Q: B4 e0 L- P" K5 s$ P Jrestore the trust of our customers."
, a( K+ L. Y! R3 g0 T/ qLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from& V/ A1 `8 W1 w0 B2 H! q, k9 N
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
1 }1 ?. ?4 l0 o2 T; j9 Wzoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
& I9 Q5 G. \4 X" Kshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
- [ a5 n8 \. ~( j* zhitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough4 Y, M0 ~1 I. r; V
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
# F; \3 o" _6 R5 [/ w+ O! zturn off the engine.1 `$ t$ n; g% l- _1 @' K3 ]$ j
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of! o5 b) P+ w$ K+ z0 m# Z: \
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience.": o5 q" M9 Q; A* H2 C# L- k
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she8 l$ R. ]* ]( w, _6 w" F
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
6 \6 o9 }# @) w# Z( Rto her complaints.
7 K+ {3 C7 N- W2 NIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
2 O! P* [7 ]" M2 o8 r8 Vreturned again and again to the question of whether electronic2 b: @( b! R, x3 u
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.; c) X3 m' E- t6 l
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric5 N G% I$ y8 P8 y) R3 d
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited4 N( L, o0 @3 x( _6 o" [9 ^
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut) T/ }5 c! v, e( ]0 T# A) n
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
9 K4 s8 `% t3 M7 _Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
, U4 l. S3 e/ R$ E* p* Xprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
2 O9 i& k e$ A8 _' s5 t; u# qbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls9 S* @( h+ ~! @) {1 D& }/ u
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer, N7 W" W% }+ _% c0 j
every question."
1 L+ h2 c. W e, O4 OToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether7 h) @, f4 C2 F" B9 p0 x R
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
& k8 }! D9 b( i1 _firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But8 f/ E1 V5 [4 _, c2 _ ~
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small4 X3 w! t- J2 w+ I& V3 e
number of vehicles
S2 C7 G) Q0 Q- |Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more
* w9 {$ A( w. k" q. |# ldifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a# N; F$ v8 l" y& Y1 S
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
: T3 J+ R8 c8 T) Q; d3 l' ?; N* dsource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
3 Z. P( E3 e( ]2 |/ E A6 IMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,# i& j: H8 G7 W% H
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no/ D0 s6 j. z, R
trace at all.& r* j0 _( a7 {0 e+ b9 N
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call0 k# A: r, Q& _, v
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
0 b$ r' Y. y) Z) z! Wacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
) W, }4 K+ ~ Q. S# c3 W' hrecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.; s+ N: j* B7 r: z! W6 j
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
( F+ g4 v6 K3 q7 d, Ssaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and1 r* X C6 e4 v: q
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
6 B! w7 ]+ G \, z! delectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
; M( k7 Q5 x8 Z1 Z! [. w- rcause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
1 ]8 N a% j- o4 Psuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
8 E, J! g/ \( \3 x5 ?7 h7 lby Toyota's lawyers."5 b: J! q! K2 q5 o3 G Y
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of! I# l" c7 l9 A& z
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our2 F. \( ]) q3 R) G# U9 W3 [' e$ H
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he* R* M/ ]; H [! X" Q& B( A
said.
" A! f9 |# L/ ?* M4 b7 U6 a"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
& U5 g0 Z+ W+ U7 I$ u5 w; [/ Oa rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our. l5 A+ U7 \2 P6 b& F3 |$ \
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
* c7 U9 D( R( Y6 a3 P7 oofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc., ~, v* X0 {+ |# R" v& d. t
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying% R- E; Q! r/ H" v" u& r* \* |- ]$ p
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
3 D; K! |8 e7 V% ^rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
% i: v: N! j6 f$ M# aautomaker, at least in part because of the government's I5 k, q# U+ x* h2 `
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and @& h# p# L! Z& x
Chrysler.
3 q6 P5 L8 [9 F8 \5 }"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax" ~9 ?4 T) B0 ?0 f
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
0 n9 g: E4 R/ a5 {2 j- i j# iHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
+ ^4 F$ y# w6 b, \3 L# V6 k% {! |served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
6 Q# R! i! t2 {7 `2 \with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
# z, d# N% _4 x8 w U X' Ktough.": j; F9 K% P1 \$ o. f% M/ \
---
' }/ z+ q2 E5 xAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
& B- y! B1 u6 y' K* x$ m& c3 O, KRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
b8 f t/ X1 {! lthis story.
& b2 M( x. c) `5 r1 [9 Z' Q
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