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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题7 L0 \/ S# k5 m8 m# B+ [
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS L- X' h1 v) a" U
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.+ [! Z2 v- z! D/ h
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
) J8 \# F- p9 p' k- C+ h6 [the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally": R1 C l5 Q: ^+ `
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.& e) z1 i% \- ?
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
- j+ I& I3 d: e5 w R2 Ycauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
! A4 j! X+ H! k, PHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected4 r! I' q! H2 B1 V
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
0 s1 y/ i6 |0 T# P7 c O) _2 gtrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
' k$ Y3 L7 p8 r$ pmats and sticking accelerator pedals.
8 e' k7 |4 p& |7 U+ ?, ?He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
0 a, m# X; B* H7 K9 g! t% ~and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp, N' B8 o5 ], K i3 P/ Z" D: y
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
, ?' _% }9 `! z) l, C `( Pfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
; F0 V/ m$ i5 I1 B Y& lnot stop her runaway Lexus.: _, x% ]- t5 g7 y$ `9 \8 v
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
: E7 \- z% B- |Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
9 Z7 O5 T. U7 \6 B) K"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.: U+ R6 {* M) e1 N" A
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
4 Q1 j& @7 x5 R$ {8 h6 @ r/ S' Gearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
) P' N/ e6 ~; }" q2 P' T4 s"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
' \* I+ }4 ^- p8 g. wdone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
- ~/ j; L7 k! H" J/ ethrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's$ |% h( v# W$ |% f
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."% x/ ?6 n" C/ u0 [. D0 ]* S% W1 D
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an+ n# c, F, |/ u: k; b. g
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
/ |2 A7 m) A# F3 S/ d4 C$ ~% W; A: _the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a4 ?- d4 h( S' J8 Q" u
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he! n% O. V0 ]. e6 t: j4 N7 {
said.8 S2 X. X; E0 m/ O1 e
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
* Y2 t4 ?, ?/ Y: m) phappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
/ H2 F7 `2 Y0 }1 O2 A: {about driving our products," Lentz said.
: X2 h! a0 w! p( PThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
$ S- X$ r3 h" {0 i7 a4 E2 ?problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
2 U: h' a9 y- C/ v5 {1 krecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 68 \1 o; C! n' J- N" b; L! ~
million in the United States -- since last fall because of
5 r( l- \% Q0 W& o' t' c5 A: ~2 hunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking! M- f+ h5 k0 w# V
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering& |7 @% _" ]" O5 N# o
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
' O# k4 M$ a5 ]5 I" Mtheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow; h; E( @& f& {- ?$ K3 ~
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has3 K* V2 E2 a8 B- c
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration+ c) C% P9 L1 W* c" x f
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.
/ c' z! @& m, h# `Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
6 G! W8 k6 ^0 Z4 h" E/ J9 Kbrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he9 H. f3 ?, A/ S5 K, o7 @4 H
understood the pain.& Q4 W' L8 |! X: k1 E5 \/ V. W
"I know what those families go through," he said.
" f; h; S8 ?7 V+ wLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
* e5 z, S _6 @- S. g- Dfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
: J) a' E) R3 ^9 |0 [But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman* A* l/ P9 B$ z: ]
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put6 h& {1 c: ]7 ~/ a% b/ h& ?9 i6 A
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,! n; h! E9 i4 U, ~1 p
Lentz replied: "Not totally."
9 F" O' a; @ w+ @; F- _6 F9 BStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were3 C- y/ _- Q( N( ?: {$ W0 `! r
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
7 C% b2 C# C" g( fToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
7 R7 D- q% \; t5 u& r8 n3 _pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its4 w! I, H7 w d. k5 V1 O0 _
vehicles already on the road.) X4 `( T2 B( u) Q$ l3 r6 C
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify: T5 o# o7 w6 ~& v/ u. R
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
7 Z& S0 i4 | |/ c4 B/ |responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and2 u1 t1 _! g' ^7 [ _) g
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were8 F. O# p0 }7 a. u& i3 X
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems. i) {7 `/ p+ q5 K2 ~- b- ]1 m
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
5 P9 ^( W$ K7 Itragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony% w8 p( r0 A. B
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
W6 k1 ~5 `+ T9 \, lCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
: ]8 H1 T- u5 L# v- _commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
+ d+ w1 K6 m1 {restore the trust of our customers."+ V3 \: G; R4 k! n
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from4 U0 z/ H4 y: q
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly% ?; X7 r. G' n( a) g
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
( t, m% z& |4 x# X- G& U* Xshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and9 z6 ^' N; \. `( g. @
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough: c7 _' H: t ]# j: R. @
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and: K, s, k1 _% e8 o& d0 o. s& x
turn off the engine.
5 Z6 q, @4 q7 I3 `4 kFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
! `6 A ~! O, `( h! x4 }) L( UOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
' v& e( Q5 E/ \"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
9 O X$ i' D6 Fsaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
0 r9 Y r/ ?: t F' d" J7 H; i3 l! ito her complaints.
1 o" T- u% W: \% R* a$ |; f0 \In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
4 S( w) i; F* t" O0 {- [returned again and again to the question of whether electronic, k& M2 m8 a1 s* W1 q$ {
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
* h8 c7 |5 L9 d"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
5 w. A, k$ D* M. y# j Mthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited3 f) T! C7 P( q- |6 D% Y
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut8 ?1 O: h, v4 d1 m4 v9 d. `
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure.": F2 }) O& K0 ?4 G' a1 m6 [
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
9 p+ N. q x$ D& A8 E- pprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
3 x; a5 W$ v0 m7 \2 [6 Q# gbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls- y$ H) E! Z1 N# y
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer; b; f" \9 w' o8 T
every question."
( f( R3 _9 [0 n5 U9 u/ WToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
2 t5 S: I% T+ J4 F8 r5 lelectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
+ e% k' L! d$ M6 kfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But' t' K+ U9 J0 Q5 L1 m
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small+ y9 `8 d; |* e: \% e
number of vehicles; K$ F$ {, I A- ^
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more3 b, _0 q1 ~" L, F
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a% ]) n- o7 i c) ]( `+ R5 t5 h; H
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one. k4 c5 D# i& |* Y0 I2 V/ G. z
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.) A, O+ D- R! V3 Q! ?% W
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
0 q- B* c/ V$ I* ^8 K" q8 D$ D- Lwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
* u* q9 C* z0 F, q+ Etrace at all., Y1 k* U+ O( _' I
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
7 F i$ @3 t- G( ~# Ldatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
; U$ m& O; x3 R/ G5 R: [acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
/ F( q6 T+ c+ K5 u. ?recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
- `# q3 B3 E. U4 G; J3 BRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
7 W* j" P0 O3 Qsaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
! Z) e8 e3 v: hother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the2 W' S- j2 ]# j& w$ W c' y
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
# U: N- v" \! r1 dcause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
3 @" [' d0 l K+ ?such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
, @4 e, j F' rby Toyota's lawyers."
, ?& Z, o3 L, }7 I: |( n, Z) GLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of- h9 G, A0 @+ s# J+ D
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
3 P/ R! p& m% ycustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he, v0 a! ~1 N! r+ f( d
said./ \% M# a( `( R0 p
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
" e0 Q% x; a6 B% @1 Y& `) Da rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
- p) X. ?4 {. c& A+ I5 s- P7 ?good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating( k" z! E# r: l7 w) _% F
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.1 n+ Q" {2 a" A8 {+ G6 v
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
( K3 {6 e W) y5 gmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread) g9 G. R7 O, x0 s+ H) K; b- O D
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
: |0 m3 k8 C* p6 j6 J9 g/ O' e& \$ wautomaker, at least in part because of the government's- h$ ? R3 S' J+ |
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
& {7 i5 w5 Y5 cChrysler.1 [6 [, n; D; K [8 N! d
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
3 t: v2 H \" T+ Sdollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
7 y1 Q# I9 x/ A# c/ V. k2 kHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
' | y. u+ a# U( z1 aserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
; F- I0 O- v" twith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty7 F' [+ Q7 k; Z* d, x9 k1 W: U
tough."4 i( w3 H4 ?' I4 k) B3 V
---3 S/ V0 t* b7 s* ~% z! p. v
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
2 |2 K* w5 H) iRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to7 L, S/ d4 i/ B# W) B
this story.
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