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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题9 C: A L5 @' K& V) W2 S5 b9 n/ ]
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS' s1 K! S/ r4 F' j" u; o0 ]. J
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
$ w" J1 V0 ^3 w2 p/ noperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
" s8 u7 [ q2 m8 |the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
% V3 Q/ k5 K5 l4 k% Z& q2 O3 z' E9 Psolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
' q( b6 B, Z$ a& l% k; r9 I"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential! H3 \; O2 D( ?. |
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.3 n9 w' T$ ~) z+ |( r! i
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected4 _' w4 y/ k8 [% _5 X, u
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
. r' ]! f/ z& Jtrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor" C3 N7 V9 h7 m# ]# B
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.* A% F+ ] J' i, ~
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
/ {; g* u% s5 V5 U. U. fand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp+ _/ `4 M; \- G; T- ^9 o
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be0 R+ o) C, T3 ~' k
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could+ e; ~& Q: _2 \- l* {0 y6 h; I
not stop her runaway Lexus.
7 ]$ S( |/ y0 H0 O8 L4 L"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
! H* l p8 @8 m% e3 _+ UTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second" w. L1 z" o1 m, l
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.+ ]9 B$ \% w; H
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues: d+ n1 I- w7 m5 t
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
1 n2 s1 f& W5 C8 {"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
) h9 q2 X5 J, S7 g* h1 {) @done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway" Q: b$ A2 D- D5 K/ ~; Y
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's9 o3 K% ]% E% r) W. T- m4 g, ^
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."% [9 `1 f9 ]5 ?: C" Y
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
- B" |9 _# ~* l4 T3 k$ B0 T8 r5 Zelectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
" d9 h$ T& z7 t4 k2 H) u' Tthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a9 D8 E: q5 N, |
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
5 I& u; ~ T% I! \, jsaid.
2 l/ w. W% d+ r+ T! Z. M8 DAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
& r1 o+ f2 ~) A3 jhappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
O5 }6 Y1 Y& U1 S5 |about driving our products," Lentz said.* o8 T2 o; b' ~* p. q: S
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
4 K& |! Q$ M7 H0 N( ~$ c- Sproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
/ D: e8 T1 w& T$ @3 ?$ P; L/ _' t8 ?% Grecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
) l8 V7 ? O9 xmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of# d% B! `9 a4 W+ w& q# D" O3 V
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking% Z5 w, K! @/ ~/ e
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
7 O+ |; w8 l4 i( vconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of5 [6 z/ U/ d8 N& l! g, ~
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow6 {/ k- E8 I I1 E; }0 e, r% l* ^
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
) P" L' q3 J/ K- j. W; ^) A" Lreceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration4 d( M; K0 ?- {# N# d+ y3 V
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.) i3 ]3 o$ ~6 \" g* K! Z( B- U( b) C/ W% J
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own0 x0 l. T8 ~; k) U
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
* I% B, d0 p4 eunderstood the pain.9 ~6 n8 B3 Y' ^& i. b. p
"I know what those families go through," he said.
5 `; M. M$ f# Q7 ?Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's9 B" X# P6 {. `3 {: c9 C3 I
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.% a. g# O4 ~; ^$ m) V% I
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
" K' N. L) o/ w) S3 p4 u7 JHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
4 v+ c: v! j+ B. xin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,/ I8 q! L" f* G0 d' `7 A. A5 A
Lentz replied: "Not totally."
# { n$ J: L. o! }+ }Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were* K5 K% v/ J# w
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said, ^4 C2 u! h% X0 I+ E; c, V
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
1 [/ M+ }" y" E% \( _pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its' Y5 {4 o1 p* @' [% w+ j
vehicles already on the road.
3 P( y* w, u C% b) H! f5 }# r SMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
) W/ _3 S' S+ u3 k2 qbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
$ D' l H' @$ aresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and# K2 H1 \8 h& s9 m
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were4 P/ v5 a+ O; D! D1 d) ?
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.8 G+ ]" q/ c2 V0 o) ^( M
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
/ e# R, v0 P: }, m& G, A: Gtragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony4 @7 @& |: r) F) P5 @6 x
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
9 Y3 N* S- \9 ]7 Y0 L% o+ x5 M, hCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
5 ?% V1 m1 C! Q. b9 k0 f7 u9 ^commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
3 g# k% r; G# j. r$ s" Grestore the trust of our customers."2 B8 c, a/ N! Z6 x% S
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from) Y* b7 ~1 b8 f
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
4 Z& N, a: _% N Uzoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --! A1 V" e5 b; ]8 M
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
4 E% q& {. B E( @! m! Yhitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
, o% f% y M! C7 E2 D" I1 ~' I% wthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and* N/ \7 r1 m; p0 W
turn off the engine.
" l; h6 _3 x0 A2 w0 bFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
6 o2 T% w+ V0 N" y6 s @; `& POctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
) f4 B0 J7 S8 Q7 u' [2 }"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
# z* j* B# V$ k" R g$ M; U* ~3 tsaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
/ f% u4 @# v& [/ C. A# y Sto her complaints.! X# W5 I' Y, D- ]: {7 a( g+ C
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers0 n; E. ]9 O& \# u
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic$ e: Z: ^' [5 O7 _7 D
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
& ~' K8 Y' S, H* N) Q- L6 n) m' E"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
- [9 } X% `9 z1 }2 U. O5 Q0 x7 A; Ithrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
- \2 ^3 z* q( [9 b Q1 q; P"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut% z" i4 d: S0 O: C# [3 k) d% w
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
, k b7 ~$ q! S; J6 q2 l4 h: I7 gTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in0 O* _) A9 p1 Q2 o! t% i
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
8 c, M. o) r: N, c$ d% g4 @& Pbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls) w8 z5 ^: [7 N/ E9 v- z1 |
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
% @# C5 h8 R/ R3 P+ Oevery question.". J3 e3 x$ F1 G2 z) b
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
0 x- i6 j. q& U: j9 `- Ielectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
: p% l# [3 i$ K/ f' v' F$ tfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But% n$ E4 C) z$ V# F5 }8 Z
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
- P! R/ _/ s7 z- Znumber of vehicles
, m. a$ D0 L. Y7 p; V" FTracking down an electrical problem can be far more
8 ^' l. }6 ]" ]. Z8 Ldifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
( R' o% P8 s% S9 j" q, `3 \mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
+ Q. @, e5 y$ w: v6 {. jsource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
. ~9 O1 ?, M) q3 v3 M: M( Z' Y% pMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
) @6 l" G$ b+ j+ @7 B1 W- ]) Twhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no5 u; b- E. [9 I: k. A0 j C
trace at all.% O: P7 q) s2 I- b# e/ ?
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call, y3 `7 g" B( \- j
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden6 a! [: ^: }- S2 m1 \. S4 N
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
7 R7 L Q2 w# l8 m( {recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.. {! M# y/ U8 [ b" c
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
) b# ]& E7 t. W( L2 u% b3 Fsaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and C% b% m: U) L8 y- c1 c
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the, I, d3 z; d1 N8 e' p" U m d
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible8 W" F/ \9 R5 A
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only1 \! y; ~( f3 L( j8 K
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
0 d- m6 L+ t- I G) n; |( _by Toyota's lawyers."4 g8 u/ _$ b8 N c' [" X5 i
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of! X& y7 ? e' Y& s- Q& y
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
0 H/ q5 `* i& e- x& }: vcustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he/ T3 Y4 P# U/ @+ P* [
said.
. X+ A4 r" r3 L }& W# p"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
3 I1 u! T, { n" f& Q$ xa rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
5 A3 K* k2 \0 t- d) i e% O( |# W: u- M2 Ggood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating# u5 m2 X# k n8 y# t* C
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
* k F9 a2 H4 L3 kSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
* V3 s- C7 J) e7 V% q+ Q) n: emembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
4 {, a8 {. {7 }8 Y) }rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the* |: u( U/ @: O$ h! T& m V/ I
automaker, at least in part because of the government's
; `" ]% l; S( e: H5 Y* |( \6 _investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and2 |# I; T' {3 o! g! V$ J: Z
Chrysler.9 m: Z2 y# ]2 k: J2 }" K
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
, D! V6 f+ t4 Vdollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
9 q2 e* L9 h* H! S$ u; k7 D m- ^Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
6 j5 a1 i* v" \( Qserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete! r0 E6 I# H3 r/ d. w# n9 q$ g
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty3 l p# V( R" X- }- m% G1 r
tough.", A- r# y$ m- }5 c- @% i
---
, b+ U( I6 C ?0 Y. U& _Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom$ J' N% y9 E6 `, f" r# i
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
/ K+ L- t& f4 I+ b: k2 b9 Vthis story.9 m9 O( T$ p0 \& {
2 v1 ^; q2 _8 {0 i$ h5 ]# y$ h
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