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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题2 Z; ~; M: E7 P6 E: r3 B$ W
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS. M. q) A( m4 Z
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
0 O) _ G* e5 u! [' H" Y4 H9 }. koperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
9 r( K& ?5 W5 ~8 ?( v% Fthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
2 H6 m1 H/ J0 V" w1 ksolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
7 ^/ o/ u4 {( m" P: _2 e"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential7 s" h* p, m6 }, ?$ `
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel." [6 O5 _: ~# i) t- d T1 y
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
; M8 X' k+ _7 wacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
+ F' l4 S/ M2 B# X* Z3 ^trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor! d8 h5 b, D0 h* a9 J
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.7 A; M! K$ y4 G6 b9 w9 M
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal: M) I, p, v' a' u- W
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp0 o$ `+ A- B( H1 f' Y& O1 f
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
" [* p0 y5 N5 ffurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could# _ b1 V0 T; K5 ^% W
not stop her runaway Lexus.
* ^2 P% h: L- X3 q; ?: h"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
' S% I. ~6 I* g) uTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second# o" E1 W; E) C+ _% M( z
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.+ d. k ?2 ]5 c+ ^
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues0 t( r# t6 R9 n1 B( M) L3 J- l
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
( F( [% q5 n6 b2 ]! n W/ r"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has; n2 z2 `( g& Z2 Q5 Q) v0 _% V; [, a
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
N1 G6 j5 K" i( R' U5 Qthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
# n5 j# E# G) _7 R4 }) d& iinvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."+ ~/ z" q# h3 {7 C7 ]' v
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an. c* H% w; N, N3 \5 ]* c5 p M( f
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
9 ] s* G, c0 O; E0 @9 Kthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
4 c) W0 F' I7 z5 ^5 amalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he3 \ `% i/ N% i* l" h: b* t; `
said.
! ]( \1 u: ~- RAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what, n! O' O- X9 G- O
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
$ l* `* J5 R* P l# j+ Dabout driving our products," Lentz said.4 e* O4 {! s8 i7 s
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
$ z- A! J# W$ l' Uproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
6 \8 b8 a7 f: U2 qrecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 69 d1 {) [) n1 U3 ]1 G3 R) |
million in the United States -- since last fall because of
; U- B) j( ^$ g# @7 f$ vunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
: k a% V5 e1 O! y5 T1 k/ fissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
2 R V1 I2 C5 r5 s4 L' B. d) s8 H: w; Jconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
$ t+ D G. o; J8 v4 Rtheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
: U* e4 Y! w1 h% u8 L2 W: ]/ edown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has$ z$ ^8 U/ `& l
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration+ o& c) i, [. I9 p
of Toyota vehicles since 2000., |; o& i" N r& L* A
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
_2 X p! `1 S' o/ W9 r8 Pbrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he2 u6 T4 I5 M1 j9 r! N5 u
understood the pain.
! B0 j. T+ l8 c) b- `9 }3 M8 Q" }7 A"I know what those families go through," he said.
* e0 _# d& O& h- fLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's$ {# f1 X" I/ K. e6 q b
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.3 O3 A2 y3 o; D k
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
; J9 B4 {/ s8 x/ ]. SHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
- P6 f9 b! S K( uin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
3 W: @ p! h( L8 l$ R% S$ E# bLentz replied: "Not totally."; S% p) p) v* `3 X7 U
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were; F3 W }* ]$ e( E- u1 }
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said9 k; Z1 \4 S$ Z: E' @6 A
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas4 D7 U) c5 o3 o- a( m4 }
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its! y; n7 ?1 M( z: C, g' c4 M
vehicles already on the road.8 I4 ]9 }! Q" v q
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
1 k: n; J U4 G( G9 L3 L1 dbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full6 \6 w/ e0 Q+ Q- I' f' X
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
[# W$ \1 o% @2 Boffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
& w* E7 {) C. Z6 @. E6 wkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
+ F- ]. R& `- c9 v4 V3 D"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
' {0 v* E$ w/ [) n9 y$ Itragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony# u2 o1 P' P; _# R8 H
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight0 s. e5 ?6 i) p1 m8 _# X
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal I; H) @% ]- R, F
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
$ T' a& o4 _# Y; A4 \" p' ^4 K' urestore the trust of our customers."
. S5 x X; ]1 N# A0 ~Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from6 Q! P- z/ j; U, C9 b$ W: f- O
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly4 L/ l: o2 L# K
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
2 f3 c5 A3 O( |- T9 _) \7 tshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
1 k6 `: {6 Z4 ^( b5 phitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough, i+ C: b3 A4 V1 A. b2 V
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
) [' p! A! ]4 w" }; T2 k+ C5 o% qturn off the engine.. C% f) |- f2 h; ^
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
4 b9 j s- P! F; g; @4 D/ uOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
% c; S7 F. X, b. z% A. T& t"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she# b* f& `2 G. O7 b) B1 [) \
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
( v3 ~3 D3 W& w$ u0 v/ Ito her complaints.5 w. p( N8 ^; g7 N3 `
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers9 @% b: d" H& H" b5 y
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
9 G' j% O i, T9 a( X6 U; v' }9 _- r' ]malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
9 _/ n1 \+ J9 m"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
# B# P! E0 A0 [* \1 A1 D$ S+ zthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited* a9 t9 q* j- u
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut7 ^2 K& N8 D1 K8 U* a# I" g
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
9 J! X$ a( P& J# J4 DTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in5 ~4 B7 K+ [# L' L1 `5 y( e1 _2 B
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were" A! {6 c# W. R- ^! V
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
. u# p5 Y& G. e' C8 Y" Qwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
" X4 O; M7 _+ [) ?4 levery question."& `' S5 @: q5 e5 Z+ [4 c6 Z0 a2 L
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
/ P9 h& F6 c& ?1 ~ telectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The2 E1 [3 l. I$ _
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
4 n8 o6 y V7 W$ vcommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small
% r- { C/ e0 q: ?# cnumber of vehicles
- V( d$ j& R5 p( n/ I& r3 YTracking down an electrical problem can be far more
; m/ U- s2 F; t' ddifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a& x& R# Y C. R
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
" h$ I5 Q9 @: p. v, `1 p; wsource, and they can come from inside or outside the car., T) M+ L4 n+ t7 {* D: b
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
. c+ O$ f& \# j1 s& R0 g/ awhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
3 y' m, g- Q; l. Vtrace at all.
5 b0 Y! ~; R4 p2 T2 L, lHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call( r' \2 W. A& ~3 ?& _& {6 z
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
1 b" g. g- g8 \% j* V6 uacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the6 M: g+ M5 q0 q2 t# S0 {
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
6 n7 O. n0 x; @" RRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee," d% B+ m2 @8 Q$ ^! m
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and7 \" `1 s7 u% k5 z0 Y
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the5 t3 m7 _3 O7 k* G4 c8 }! ~9 n& P
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible1 n( _7 G0 H7 @( m0 o
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only3 Q/ p% p4 b* ~! c0 p- `
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
% `+ `9 o* \5 v: w! yby Toyota's lawyers."
: z0 Q4 N( Q y3 [1 {' {# R1 M3 hLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
4 B, I4 u7 \2 Qproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
( a" a+ M0 [& B" E/ [/ g" lcustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he" C3 q+ E* q0 C. [, y) E+ G0 r: {
said.- W- x5 o+ M9 D( |8 n$ i: u
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with1 h! ]% v# ~/ Y/ w6 ]4 l' K
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our& X5 C) z/ t# O6 I. ~
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating" _( a0 C/ Q. v* c- H
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
% C( o( g, V7 i! {7 HSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying. V; T- ~, Z: [" m
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread: C2 J8 h# ^9 @4 T
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
0 S1 w7 X- O- B1 Wautomaker, at least in part because of the government's+ y$ c |$ g! G4 J
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and% j4 s4 ]. R% q6 o- ?: y# O
Chrysler.: k; {1 j: I" R' q$ H" w x
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax1 a! Z; ~! f. z a
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a" g0 G! n* @) k* l& T% Z& \
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
8 k- X4 X0 L9 K7 f$ aserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
# }1 F% o/ T9 ^8 N0 Y& o* T1 I, [1 rwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
6 X. P1 n4 n, b# t0 j" Btough."$ I7 h2 S V& }7 d( j
---% H3 w9 h$ }* G
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom( t; S; X6 s Z- `
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
4 F3 i) ^) x* G) R$ O# Ethis story.6 R" A+ z2 H! }4 E- M4 {5 A
! o; e% q2 x) i3 v8 _
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