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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题% j4 Z; ]- ?/ D& w# k, C' ]
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
2 q$ E, w1 e# p/ i' zWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.% z7 N' O! r+ n; v" t( P. r& t' m
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that" ^) F4 j7 x5 [2 i$ u$ z0 p9 ^
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
) Q" l, G) O/ F7 Fsolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
' Y/ {. _! d$ c3 v! |9 | L"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential7 x' i* G0 c8 n+ L
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.8 l) u5 Y# a, q$ p% |0 B% r L
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected2 _% y K* Y2 E4 F0 Z8 k3 v
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and( f* p5 n' P1 G' o$ B
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
2 l4 F5 v2 m9 D- l3 F, F( imats and sticking accelerator pedals.
( `2 u3 H( M1 c& P" UHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal, b" J( e0 V ]
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
& s2 {& K. S6 g0 O7 Ycriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
* X2 N$ s! U4 n$ ffurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could9 I! W& o9 S1 U% X" W1 y8 U( g
not stop her runaway Lexus.
7 X4 J( a3 K& x) H+ ]5 R) ~"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
" d; {, s( l/ t( O. Q9 w- K i% yTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second; O% @$ G% z% A9 ~% L: h6 `/ e
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators./ \9 Q8 C* y- c/ H6 l# z9 |
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
" n1 t% H% c" w9 ]! wearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
: `. X4 L7 O: a, n9 d7 X0 W' X"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has ~% e$ a' X& g1 `4 `
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway# I; s* o8 v2 _+ t8 K* G+ V
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's2 K. l1 i* P5 d o6 \# ~- ]. b
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
1 r0 I9 _; h- q7 k ILentz said the company had not completely ruled out an, O, j3 } P* G3 ~0 S; z! O
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
6 R$ F4 P( u) ]6 i Z% bthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a, Q" F6 K; b1 D6 t2 K E; m
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
8 M$ G5 Y: l/ r7 Rsaid.
, x4 A; M3 a) k. t4 a* ]: KAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what" r9 y8 M3 M2 \4 s3 W* Z z
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe n/ v/ @: e' V$ B- i
about driving our products," Lentz said.
3 [) t' M2 M* LThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
. Y4 ]/ @, Y( {+ q0 `7 bproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
& p% u' d+ V* S+ r& Z& qrecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
( a6 R! ~- J3 v' {1 Q4 G1 tmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of* y9 X8 i& J2 f0 n
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
( _/ M5 m$ O' J% T( v2 xissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
4 b' e" H; }6 \concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
% m' V" N1 H' ]their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow" N' q2 y, g/ A. I* ^) \# J
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
0 B* E1 k! y9 ~+ hreceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration5 ^+ Q& e* m. R; |# a2 B. Q# e
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.
8 W/ Z4 a& E: _/ T8 ?Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own1 g( D5 T$ s' T5 f0 \0 P
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he5 k6 }# Q% g- j9 s, F6 y
understood the pain.+ F* y# M( C, N
"I know what those families go through," he said.+ z5 m/ W U: f( z# @2 F
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's3 J( P7 R0 L: a1 o" }
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems., q& _2 i- h) H/ c$ ?8 T0 v
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
$ J7 }( L: N8 G" x% u! C/ fHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
) ` Z, h0 L. k$ }8 i. o0 fin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,5 B ]: `. S9 N
Lentz replied: "Not totally."* C6 B: M0 `* T6 |* @! w! f
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were+ U& \: ~0 f a9 D* t
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
1 X4 i& x+ k. I$ P9 N& ?2 e' p$ ?+ RToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
* E3 W0 Y3 k( F6 b! R* h" Mpedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
; ?/ x: K5 X6 Fvehicles already on the road.4 B7 c9 N9 n( F3 x- @
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
1 w; }4 s1 r1 ~2 D% Q" mbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
, ?( g2 I# e; B( F/ B2 M) Rresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and% G0 v) ^9 i+ S- U+ a
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were% @0 X5 l* v0 f R, D" |
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
# }6 F) Q- F4 j& G6 Z" Z"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a3 }5 Q8 I; V1 g6 K
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony) [% e, U' p' ?7 O0 ~ S9 `
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
3 j) V7 @6 T [1 qCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
* t4 Q" f; p" [7 X4 g3 c' Wcommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to8 a2 O* ]# P; f
restore the trust of our customers."4 s0 _- [: V! u- U! [+ m
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from9 P+ @; C! Z/ Z
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
/ A6 p; _, l7 ]# k) `) ^( ~9 E' Fzoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --1 ? O9 |" S, X9 X( u
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and- U; q$ u( `0 @7 n1 G+ M
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
4 A( b0 b/ `5 f9 b' ?that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and2 }8 B! Y0 P5 D+ q0 A( C0 W8 M2 ^
turn off the engine.- P3 s4 @+ A& p, ^+ J6 k7 T" m
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
' o& L3 L* L1 b% v1 t" DOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."* s0 [5 O1 N+ a# X$ M* h
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she2 R$ }- E+ \ q7 e2 o* X
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
" X+ c) @4 |& \' c6 G1 c, Cto her complaints.
$ U& [) s& n1 s6 tIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
2 _" f! N% ~% u' a% }# w0 Creturned again and again to the question of whether electronic5 j. @- b& M4 R' c, x: B4 m* n
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
9 a; e3 P& R- R. ?$ E8 l9 ?"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
% b3 L. q2 ~6 Z ]8 Z$ I6 jthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
( K5 m O$ T# P4 _8 B"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut, `- G5 P9 Y0 }$ l) y
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."6 l6 ]$ I! B" ?
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in: X/ \; G1 i7 g
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
% K; O" l6 l1 J2 Wbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls% A4 T5 [- D) _# ^
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer4 A7 {! E( j ?0 J$ m
every question."
* z B4 n% q% HToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
- ]5 v& }1 _* e. N( w/ V8 Z& melectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The$ p, y/ F1 f% S+ z8 L
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But2 q7 V3 ?1 H4 k/ |
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small. P/ p) f) P; ]- J; ?0 ~* K# {" ]
number of vehicles
& n# c3 f' x7 WTracking down an electrical problem can be far more
3 D) ~% N" a$ G/ J9 C( Ddifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
0 M) B5 c- p( Q# J2 h. [" ]1 }mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one& f; X3 n9 P+ [! U! y- d( M
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
* M- n4 i6 e. i# s: M2 xMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
* o0 P7 C9 o9 Owhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
b# Z+ Y5 k1 @ G' _trace at all.8 k# j! z4 _% o8 D5 X. v( P% {+ A
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
& R$ k# {2 H- W! Ldatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden) ?8 Z+ ?/ F) |( p1 M
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the/ m' @! V, W3 n- T+ C
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
1 Q% v: H+ f( ^! [" tRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,6 P2 G0 k K0 W2 D. w/ l
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and$ U% {! r! Q; @7 k; Y
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
& N& k# B3 \/ `9 N$ velectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible1 O% {# }! ]3 B6 c; r2 r$ x
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
% C; n' K' H4 Z) h! n \such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained3 o; p9 H' }; {5 M) e
by Toyota's lawyers."
) W9 K3 l e. e7 B1 H Y) eLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of7 b5 q6 R; n+ }! @* H+ u4 e
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our1 |+ C/ o# j( y' P, Z7 Q
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he) G5 k7 W: W, w, N* R+ r# q' f
said.
( |( [9 }* A, _/ W"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
6 W! H5 t+ f2 na rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
) Q7 D# R/ p' c( wgood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
1 o; @0 y3 e9 t! @+ J& y9 g: @officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
4 _8 V# v7 r1 [4 Z: RSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
( H5 e# Q' Q: |9 g A- [6 X; I, Zmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread( J4 D# z% s7 N
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the% i; h/ O' R, W! t
automaker, at least in part because of the government's* r( N& F* [# u" F! v
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
% K/ w- Y7 V( B3 Q0 ]/ KChrysler.( B' d0 v) |1 x K' m) [
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax7 R+ Y( |: T3 h* s
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a$ B) I5 W6 W# M/ }5 f
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also& {2 U; z+ K0 R
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
' o% Z6 J4 z& d- D8 m" c: Z1 Hwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
: y- r4 `; c3 X2 m2 ntough."6 k) U F' x6 }3 D" `' v5 a3 Z/ \
---" @% ^8 p- h2 k$ H3 K5 K& e
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom+ O/ O3 F6 S5 k, @( j2 Q4 _
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
; n6 B) x2 w! F; k( Hthis story.
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