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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题+ E& _: p( K+ r0 k3 [8 `! A( F
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS, J9 i6 q" O$ C0 X( R, b& ?8 D! n* J
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.. G7 h( z# ^. j! r2 D' o3 k5 D
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
$ j& b3 }! n# Y% }% I' B: A! R3 dthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
* F, W3 c% F. b2 Vsolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
, P% O, X- F+ ]( ]# s" ?4 v"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential0 [: j" j! ^* ~ a
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
5 [" [2 g& W" QHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected X' z6 c# F; }2 o& u) J; g
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and1 ~0 L2 Q0 S8 l
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor- _5 }6 U& t0 k8 F, N
mats and sticking accelerator pedals." O3 i2 x, j3 }6 I- v
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
2 i9 |3 m+ F/ ^+ @$ H1 L$ j5 w1 ~and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
4 c- ~' g2 j4 M B0 Fcriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be! [% E2 ^4 p, e/ q
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could* U( d7 H/ k) H+ X6 [2 H- _
not stop her runaway Lexus.4 N5 Z" y( S* ^
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
7 f( _1 E o2 w8 F8 s0 o# fTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
+ S7 I' \: M, \1 [, V, W"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
" q8 E' v9 ?: OTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues1 V1 i6 T* Q/ T; {$ t7 X0 F6 i
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said0 G5 e2 e" q+ {' \6 G0 S4 ]* c: @9 g/ u
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has8 L# e+ H( b# W, t' f
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
8 i7 H1 \9 ]2 E5 z* q, p6 v1 X. P$ ithrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's. \3 n9 @4 E& h! G5 u
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
7 ^2 r1 f$ z& r$ ^Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
# Z# t9 N2 p, n' W; Telectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of( @& ?: R9 ?( j3 C& N
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a: ? M( I- ?( }4 Q# @5 G& C1 s. ~
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he. m) O% q) ~- _1 v) }: H- [
said.8 b- L+ f6 H& A7 o- v B% r @
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what9 `: o5 V( f* ~* K0 N9 u: O0 G) m+ x
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
1 P0 N! X7 ?+ {4 x; n4 Nabout driving our products," Lentz said.0 E; U& R% K+ V. y/ |
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's3 B% K9 N/ M5 O
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has" b( b1 R) d H4 @6 b
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
% Q# o3 i* R, K7 J7 s1 L# |& cmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of
: D! W# @* b' V0 m1 Qunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking, c' b; o2 m/ A. A$ W
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
; l. Z. n* M5 Uconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of( {, J# k! W9 K
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow9 f: a& L2 U( w( c" b
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has2 M7 O; m$ j/ D# Y; `, s
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
( W( p4 n% T \9 e7 z1 M) ^of Toyota vehicles since 2000.* t7 l( h/ V' a) d
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own" G- h1 [- N+ o2 N9 d
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
$ [2 H% y6 |! K0 aunderstood the pain.' f) w. I0 D& }: c- o
"I know what those families go through," he said.1 Y- M V. T% q5 @- L2 x
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
& t5 N2 C9 x! Y% f, ^fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
9 t6 V* K& ]' u( E' gBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman+ O- {, F! x5 C1 N: E9 b# c" y
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put Q# M: p! G+ S4 D% E: q2 n
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
; A- |" T |6 g" t1 ?Lentz replied: "Not totally."& q4 l$ p$ S# l" N! V
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
7 g- s) B* v$ v2 s ? z"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said( Z& Z. n7 ~& I
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
, x7 X' }# Y) l# c" R( G2 E& \pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its6 m: q: K) @+ P2 L0 S
vehicles already on the road.* k( X p" B, }7 w$ W4 g
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify. B9 y& J l. e1 w1 _2 n
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
+ k. ]3 `2 y$ u* W' ]responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
/ N$ l6 } I. h6 [* Z) Moffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
" I7 h& b; J- Tkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.( X& S$ Q3 r3 c# N7 I
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
. k% ~- k* Y' I( G' ?) S: ~tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony8 t' {/ g/ P# n: ]% L, ]: N$ X5 w
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
9 \( m' X, [+ K' DCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
9 l9 `' G9 `$ R7 D, \# scommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
^9 ?. u4 M: V! R8 j" Qrestore the trust of our customers."5 [: u4 a/ R1 @6 O7 x# l
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
5 ~& n. c; @# X+ i- {6 fSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly0 Q. V: |0 ], G$ k% t" }* y T2 O
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
1 Q8 f* n" j9 C' s! J7 kshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and( k6 u: r. r& u2 a6 W
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough0 S3 r9 I2 l8 D. l9 L6 f2 o4 w
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and) \) p5 m4 m/ [8 U1 ?
turn off the engine.
3 R$ n1 \- c7 ]: M- l) DFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
1 r: ^/ T. ^: j: w8 C/ [2 o$ mOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience." s# ?$ H" A h) w7 z0 r+ h" g7 s
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she( N8 T3 P5 C( U0 }3 l: @* V
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond9 t7 C7 w7 F* l8 _2 Z2 H
to her complaints.8 E' W7 p- S! O# e$ s
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
( X' @ [" _( k1 X ~returned again and again to the question of whether electronic2 ]# M3 R' \" r* R8 d' p7 A
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.) J+ s: T6 g z
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric9 i; t1 Q$ I4 i( F8 Q
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
1 x. U$ ?" f5 K) `" A* |"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut( Y, e* e2 @1 @5 e! z8 [) c, U
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure.", u! ?- a) _; k3 o
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
+ M; ~6 [1 {1 Wprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were M: _2 |* `: ^: F; E
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls! G6 B3 U1 }4 T! [: v
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer) x9 q- j2 ?: x) J1 P# o, Z
every question."
) ~! a. B; P+ r2 {Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
: @$ M1 D. f8 T2 `4 X0 Uelectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The4 |9 L( b! H8 \# |5 i) z, W( P8 T
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But+ K* p0 E' W6 i- ~/ T# K2 o
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small- T+ ]4 J! n8 f+ c1 F+ U/ M. h
number of vehicles
- Y* L7 h4 q2 Z( r* T, bTracking down an electrical problem can be far more
5 z7 K3 K: Z8 X" X5 U* ^difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a3 T( r5 X! ?7 h5 L: y7 r( w, g
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one1 N0 x* V- e3 X: {& R- R0 o4 f( Z- @0 K
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.$ G) H. v8 F3 x) o! D [ [
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
. T8 h7 K/ I" I6 [, k& jwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no$ _( l: r! b5 z
trace at all.
4 \# S F8 P' x0 DHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call+ @/ J( ]6 r; \" P4 Y, K4 c+ }& N
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden+ d% e% l' T! q! ~
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
7 H- u+ T& i6 C1 h3 q* w9 f$ urecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals., Q% v6 |5 l" F& J7 L
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
) b% m# u; d: a7 r1 @. z0 tsaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
. I, [ u0 u6 p; n: nother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the; R- X; {+ I7 z4 h. B2 ^
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
" X: Z0 z2 |/ k; S1 i3 Y+ Hcause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only% b1 L J+ _4 E3 E, X4 M+ k+ y
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
S# R! z! f6 m- @! R% h) gby Toyota's lawyers."- A& ^, @* Q* i& X" _
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
, F+ ]) E) |' f$ ~. U" Y% C5 Yproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
: i5 Y& X" b( }( v, Q- [, icustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he! U3 ^$ z8 N% Y0 |) T4 Z& P
said.* q7 K* m3 S% s4 F4 @. x4 m
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with, k9 e. Q+ H/ w9 r0 J5 L( m8 L
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our8 |# c, {+ J( a
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
9 g+ D! B" G6 y* qofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
% F2 _ l% ?, q$ ESeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying' S0 ] u5 L; E" }, e3 V% x
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
: h/ X T% H8 d4 Srancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the) R$ ` G* l8 `) s# x
automaker, at least in part because of the government's- Q2 A- o6 i. Z- N0 N$ w! d# k
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and. B! t- C5 x7 M9 W" x. x0 M" Y
Chrysler.# Y; ]) ~ ?" @) m4 ?/ J
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
8 A8 _1 W3 n7 `( W1 [dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a1 I% p; }: u3 w( p& M+ E" |
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also- M4 f3 u+ c& {. p" O; t
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
- p2 _1 O8 {1 b# [8 m& q s) a" e' Ewith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty. ]# `/ C. t5 F6 B ^2 i, w- u2 t
tough."# \* R- n' q0 R* c% v
---5 t0 U* u7 M6 u2 \: i' u
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
! a' T. E2 O8 iRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to8 p* N) x7 s& ?5 K V" O5 {" h
this story.
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