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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题/ A' _2 L5 k4 D, u
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
6 }: t; x3 y" bWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
+ O: P( |6 q8 o3 u( v* Poperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
% J% L8 e4 E" Y( xthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
( ~) a) F3 t/ d4 T6 o4 U/ Hsolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.6 P* W' Q: ]- K# n. A& ^2 n6 `" ]% S. C
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential# L. [( f! L7 m' f4 l. d/ Y3 J8 F
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
+ L& ^4 \/ |' fHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected9 R( r7 ^: `* c* P
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and0 u- F8 Q+ }+ B9 Z9 p# b: z
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor2 G- M7 l+ f9 D; W& V( C
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.
, a- A& F6 A! ^He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
) u$ y8 \; ^+ N7 V* tand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
6 Y$ A2 y8 u& h H2 j* @criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be$ ]7 A" H3 g- p3 W
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
( W- _- x( I3 h6 Dnot stop her runaway Lexus.- ?5 P, m; ]; R* S
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
# V( K2 a8 W, _2 e0 ITenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
3 ~6 j. G( m0 Y2 s( b# T"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.+ o% [& p7 Z% P' d
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
1 `2 p1 h5 n, Q; A0 @7 }3 |4 Tearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said9 e4 A" U# t5 `7 Y" c u' {5 X
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has4 ^0 S$ c; m4 o, q, m2 l4 K, W& r
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
7 n7 N8 T% N. T( C% q; Hthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
: S+ O3 K2 f' tinvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
' y* G2 P, Q5 v, @0 ^Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an2 o5 r) r1 ]4 Y7 Q5 w/ H
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of+ E3 { }2 L( T0 I4 F
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
( q h/ z7 x* ~malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he2 B2 b) y( ]0 B; L+ O8 S1 A" Y* ^7 u
said.# R0 o9 n, Y; j3 A
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
l! [9 k! y+ {! a: mhappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe/ q1 l. i* q+ R
about driving our products," Lentz said.
7 G+ F. {8 \3 y4 |Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
! w0 `2 o8 L, ^) H$ M& L% S6 P" b' nproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has5 {9 H# U% m- U* v
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
- ~( F+ T9 {: t; Rmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of5 f9 W! Q. ~: v8 w9 ?
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking5 z. M1 U8 Q( j1 J6 o
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
! k, a4 Q- n# Q( g; bconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
5 h+ s8 L+ [, \( h2 B- J- P* i% \7 ttheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow2 p- Q8 M5 y3 ~' P
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has- X* v& ^# d8 Z7 ` p
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration" d" Q" T. P& q; _% i) W
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.
4 F; `5 U: w/ R+ V, j" g8 [Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
. x, a) V6 I3 I; Ebrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he% ]: V( P# p, o# d, |/ t
understood the pain.& X4 {% i. N d! |8 M: S
"I know what those families go through," he said.
9 T/ V+ p- B, A( l/ g0 wLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's3 A4 M$ o" S% Z$ J& \$ b; |+ z
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
9 E0 g( U# w) q3 r6 JBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
; [5 H4 v/ y, C: QHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put: y9 ]- C4 Z% N. V
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,! ]9 X! c5 a# l
Lentz replied: "Not totally."
' Z9 g, Z+ c1 G" v6 MStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
( |& b; P' t8 R"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said7 p- E, g. n, k. a6 Q, I
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas- [$ r$ S |& c% s' Z% Y4 f4 T
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
/ n S; e# x& @2 fvehicles already on the road.
% R- P9 b! N X* Q* ^" D9 b% v8 GMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
1 C9 a; m* a4 Ubefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full& A+ G+ m- J. }
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and' I2 u+ j* c7 {0 ]4 w x5 `. q
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were) M+ M; {# c& w) m6 R8 w
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
4 u7 m4 p# ^ n& F"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a+ B. A/ u, ~) H4 r
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
k7 V& p( @0 \( a( y$ a. }" Jfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
% ]6 _: l8 J+ T% I0 jCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal9 i$ ]' ?( L7 F) R
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to. Y: B7 J2 ]3 o
restore the trust of our customers."
. B9 q+ d( G. L" B, s9 s7 ~4 f' ~Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from8 ~' a# b5 U! u' Z
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
6 n- e. t: o1 \zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --6 w" H. y3 d2 U. D
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
8 Q1 J {, `% Zhitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
/ A3 Q. [" |/ e1 w0 _- ~0 O# B2 [that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and! o) T3 Y) _2 a1 m
turn off the engine.. w0 ~8 S) W3 I( e+ C
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of1 W3 k5 a6 L' j
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."6 R# Y. D0 g. D) E$ R
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she0 ^/ g5 K7 r4 W2 O) l; u
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond4 _/ i# o5 s ?4 _
to her complaints." @2 z7 `$ e- e# `1 h! n1 K5 _: J8 z7 b
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers$ E+ B6 O* ] B' u ?
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
$ y- X8 z' O, c Nmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.* p# @ K1 v- s) }% C. ~
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric0 J( U X! [/ h9 |+ i, E
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
* _1 Y# |) G$ }7 _1 ^$ r* a"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
! [+ e- P+ l4 h7 ]" {! f \off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
6 n; I. j6 `3 X! V" C U/ I4 GTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
% ~3 s% y- @0 m: v0 _5 w6 Tprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
% ~/ x4 A# Y4 Y. c* g. M1 lbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls7 v# s" t6 i( A/ g- A, V% Y5 H L
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer) d$ m! W2 L; a; I# k
every question."" G& N& o+ i1 }, k
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
- @8 F& J0 X/ Zelectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
. O' }2 D# R6 g0 ?firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But6 c9 B5 |$ c* c2 ]+ s. o
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
1 q2 d! p* a4 ]/ ?( _number of vehicles8 J- ]$ p: D# H, p& j
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more
" \$ N% A9 p8 b* B9 d# ~" gdifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a* S0 j4 ~+ c& S3 p/ L
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
2 D% L8 E6 Q: W+ y4 \1 Q) Fsource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.' T* r7 }. w' {% Q, O) F R
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,6 D& o2 m9 @# v! R7 |& Z& e4 G
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no: l# g" B; H! D% m# E: [; A1 ?0 M
trace at all./ r& y8 Z- Q3 d
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
% `# j- G0 O0 x& [5 q( t) e# \database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden- g4 y( T" H, I6 z9 _ ]3 B
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
5 [' U4 q3 h* l/ [0 R. X- s$ `recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
* D' h1 u' G- x, V" kRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,' i. z; Q2 E) h6 {" i
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
% G: ~4 I3 j/ ^ i. ?- R# ?1 aother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
$ z' s- h% [* W* C1 R/ A+ Felectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible& k1 E# ^( P0 ~6 c
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only [6 x0 w1 G2 k# u' n! b6 @% s
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
% D; O# d' @8 x: v" ` Iby Toyota's lawyers."
* I; \1 s) H! YLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
- y6 z+ ]8 P# b0 ~$ V+ P- y) k" q) S+ Cproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
, f; |7 h* ~9 `+ i$ p! \customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
# ^# c' f2 _5 R6 U! Z+ u4 f+ Asaid.
8 I) H, `% |9 E6 t5 y2 r"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with/ h0 I, j. [ G8 A6 T1 V( [
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our2 X7 W$ k+ Y# w/ d7 {/ \7 R
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating7 h# g6 I- g3 w& D( w7 |( T
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.4 W8 J0 P5 e! b6 a3 ~- F
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying% t* C! \: b0 o. ? r
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread. b( o3 G# f2 h1 m% O( `
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
' {6 n# P; V! b* T6 P, ?6 V" ?% p) Yautomaker, at least in part because of the government's
3 c- a# i @* I! C$ V, k# h, [9 |+ [investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
& E- G2 G: j/ F! R5 _% W: Z% Y+ A0 |Chrysler.# k+ a! V3 r& N+ t* ^
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
, a$ q$ H7 Y7 \4 Q+ r6 ^% B# h" qdollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a) o$ P9 N% [, b/ Z( d! U
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
( n* s% m7 S, Vserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
, \: B5 u1 a/ `; r2 u$ z/ Cwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty" f! w! Y( }3 ^7 C
tough."6 M T6 b/ n& l- ^; O
---
3 C7 d2 r( w4 k7 h1 V& MAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom( ] a2 W" I6 {) [; V: G
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
# W' S7 }9 Z- sthis story.3 ^9 K. G: r6 `: z8 _4 j- B" z6 ?
! T6 U0 g" ]% [8 o9 [* x! G
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