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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题5 c5 L3 f( E. c0 G, j
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
8 U/ J; Q# y/ J7 t7 ?% @' lWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
" n# K) t1 y! E _% ]operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
/ V7 w3 P! ?0 s' [* r8 J2 Wthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"* p8 z9 v1 f. f- L
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.5 |7 Y! \: L u; q' X% Q1 w4 M- f) S
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
& h( a7 x5 U& W1 B" N5 rcauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
( p+ I1 @6 R1 e: U; Y' o6 iHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected& P1 d1 Q- N! a5 a4 \0 J. H8 o
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
* ]/ f2 V) C/ E" D9 C: U, I; h" N. Atrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor+ q& _5 `* V5 ]) I7 ~) O6 ?
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.
; v: ~ U, K1 y5 I6 P5 s, f; iHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal* S! `( d/ {% L% ?
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
) O( B3 H- _" z c. Qcriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be+ j8 ]! a9 L1 h, l; }0 v3 c
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
2 ~6 w! l+ s- k0 r5 v" _& Wnot stop her runaway Lexus.
0 f: I+ Q5 L. I5 \1 t D+ b"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
* f, b K! Y6 H5 Q& K' Z9 gTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
. K7 G, k; b1 v& U. ^"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
9 D4 l3 n2 ~) G# _ J$ KTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues8 ^" e) }8 o6 \8 @& w
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said4 N1 C- M2 t7 d6 y- V9 s9 y
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has# N: k9 C( k. ?! X3 Y) V
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
, G4 q$ o9 j7 Uthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's) \3 h3 j& z" r0 v3 @! K6 K2 A
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."+ L$ Y6 P, O2 v3 }
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
1 A- r' R- s6 eelectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
' o, S; N7 g% ]+ y8 G3 Kthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a/ D: m3 B' E0 v) H1 j% r# d+ t: Z. [
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he2 V7 U, m0 M4 T4 V f1 d
said.
4 }& P4 \/ M. @+ mAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
2 [8 f8 G9 N. s; @+ ^happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe: Y, k$ _- P. ]
about driving our products," Lentz said.1 S+ h h2 @' b; z% A
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
8 s" X( p% U S9 f; O3 \5 b7 }problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
& n8 `6 o; n. l- x# V+ e# _recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 67 O6 e" t9 T- ^" c _
million in the United States -- since last fall because of% f: }9 E. Q* O
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking% x' w3 Z+ D$ d! _
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering8 x" q6 G8 }7 s; t m) \
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of1 z/ _2 B/ t/ y+ t j
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
3 T! }# q/ |2 {7 L' G8 [down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
( S+ o+ s9 W+ X9 t/ y& areceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration. ^- [ Y- {) Q1 S; h. D+ V
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.
. l- E; q: t, RLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own+ M) M9 \0 Z7 `$ y& @
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he3 S+ H8 r# B- d5 a* {
understood the pain.
; |" \- g) z4 p7 u"I know what those families go through," he said.* T8 [, x6 H9 u/ {2 |( d
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's4 J5 @1 j# C" @& J1 \
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.0 d' q8 {9 q9 p7 s- H1 [: L! r9 ]
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
7 Y7 d( \! Q( S xHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put! e( ~+ i* {* h
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,, w* H$ c( r7 i( W5 |! X
Lentz replied: "Not totally."9 L/ W9 P$ Z. o8 _3 ?, n7 W
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were, C4 v+ y' C* E/ p& s$ x, y
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said9 [0 W0 c- h7 a' e9 E
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas" N" U' ^6 Q9 T+ U f
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
3 [ ~1 b+ U( W# `9 s) @vehicles already on the road.4 T, P% u, @' k O( C
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
0 r- z. }1 Q! ?5 h# e+ @- w9 i% j6 T7 bbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
2 Q0 s: l( d4 O$ V; Uresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and6 o0 O4 Q3 j( p
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
, _1 M! T4 l; x& t+ L. l# gkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
+ W5 C2 e# p" W, F) x& ~& c# Y) x6 }5 P"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a8 U! O/ m. Z9 @
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
# b7 Y' V* j0 ]6 q! Hfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
# d- W9 P& J2 B, D1 G1 pCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
- C9 i: }- H+ ycommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to* t$ z* v7 O- O+ U+ r
restore the trust of our customers."& E/ k# K* p! ?) ^, K' F7 P
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
. I. {; `, X% l; `6 T# qSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
! I( N2 K4 c$ M' ^* Uzoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
9 b5 v" x% b+ z, f+ c7 e6 D: Ashifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
+ y. m7 n6 W+ V$ S: s6 \& E, Vhitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough4 r5 \% s$ L- ?3 f; m
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
8 h8 e% M2 p0 l/ d2 l8 F. g& wturn off the engine.
1 Y& {4 J6 ]- Y' HFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
0 ~5 m. |* r+ j" n: b! n' t: F: IOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."( h, P) e# \0 E4 a
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she l5 \! }3 K8 A, I2 o% t* ?$ h
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond: u i8 f$ I$ X
to her complaints.$ A, h4 f* b/ O4 S' q( a* s4 K- r
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
9 E+ F9 r' F5 k( G6 qreturned again and again to the question of whether electronic6 n' u( M; _) ~
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.8 z8 ?* E0 X5 G" I1 ~+ `' W- c5 s
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
* M* W9 g7 S& D1 ]# i' n$ w5 Zthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited8 c$ _$ I: K, N- s
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
! \, t# B+ H9 d Q& p1 S2 e. t/ T* O$ zoff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
; A+ I. n' p6 Z, f9 ]Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
5 x. G+ @1 h, A/ J& T9 x0 x/ Eprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
5 `) C' O0 [8 p! t' s" tbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls' f8 t! A! {$ y7 j6 Z9 g, c
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer8 L& L, `) \" q; y- ^
every question."
1 k" }! [: K& @2 N+ vToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
$ c W1 B6 i0 m6 Jelectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The' @$ v5 a3 \* Q+ v4 p
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But) ?+ B f1 H- G
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small8 W2 G3 L9 r! U/ W
number of vehicles
% N! }0 ~' t9 [& D3 E/ k9 }1 _Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more
. W F$ \7 ~% e8 B6 _difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a' n4 z2 g& x0 {$ A5 C4 k1 L+ P
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
( m# u& O% [+ T3 h6 q( ksource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.8 Z; |2 M% q& B7 p/ o4 U
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage," c: n. M8 ^( n! T
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
7 u( d* B9 e2 ~4 g5 k. v; ?1 Jtrace at all.
/ T/ F; r$ e; Y; K' o9 {3 I8 NHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
. p" Z. {9 Q4 j2 s! U+ g' e, d) }database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden6 f& A6 P; o8 v8 e
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the8 c$ [; T( j! ?9 R
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.& l! ]) y9 a& F
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
1 j, o0 _( T4 G7 x; X' H1 a7 msaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
0 E. L" I1 K2 @4 d3 {+ i- eother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the7 ?# i9 r( I- d# a7 m- m( c+ ^
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible W. |; h+ p- N: W* s0 R
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
- j$ x# l- ^3 g, O! [' S* C+ lsuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
" ?) y7 a" m" u' v9 ~by Toyota's lawyers."; J. u6 L, n+ Z/ j" q4 W# ?
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of4 `4 f/ n9 c* w* v* I6 n) d
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our, O( Z4 ]: j) n5 \
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he2 Q) W! ^3 r* f2 `8 y7 l
said.9 x9 W) N7 ]! L
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
4 D* ^) c$ j2 I6 ?) ?' B% x) ka rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
/ t# V1 e$ K# S2 q9 W0 R1 Ngood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
4 \2 T5 B3 n, ]officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
; T: N0 t9 o! g& s( `: N Y! qSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
/ ]2 z' }: L8 S2 K% ^. pmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
( G3 h- `( J$ S9 d% W. d4 prancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
/ ]- P6 `/ U2 l+ t1 ]automaker, at least in part because of the government's
" n/ e5 @& j+ o4 Minvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and! P) b# ]7 T- j& q; U( I
Chrysler.- z+ I# O1 p) n# T' m
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
1 b- V: T! u; u) P: Udollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a1 ^% W! R* ^8 w: U
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also- T, @" v. c% X W8 [0 W3 W
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
; j8 b; Y9 H; y, B- W# D8 awith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty; J" E4 V. H8 f* i6 B9 w
tough."$ f3 }0 @# H# o% q5 b8 P
---
1 l3 e5 J+ l3 W3 ~* IAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
' X7 S( [9 B, S; c3 Q, DRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to3 c4 }1 G+ M m+ l! v+ m' i: ^
this story.9 L4 o9 \- T8 c
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