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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题" D* V. D6 h! G+ q7 ^& y7 T- ~8 _
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
. ^1 ]' n" i6 [& f9 v0 s+ mWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
9 D# k6 Y: C W3 R- d7 R5 \% }operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
# ~9 n/ _$ y5 a+ d2 r \: uthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
# q5 T3 Y5 J( b. Jsolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.5 ^% S) o/ W) ]
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
( W* }/ g/ C" x; w! n) L2 Ecauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
: j' }8 ? Y C' o+ c8 p) ?However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected J4 ?" ^8 L& \: {/ B! D2 `
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
# w3 ?2 a4 ~6 t8 `/ I; n6 T, h5 Ftrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor; S2 i0 a1 E" e6 Y
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.
3 g; O9 U) \5 [, E2 q) ^2 OHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
( P* A& O6 q }- p" aand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
; G* X) T- [6 wcriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
+ t8 W' \9 Z6 {) _ E+ R* u5 Sfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could6 t8 o/ P: Q8 |: W: q
not stop her runaway Lexus.
, s- }1 ^0 |7 b+ h5 w8 `" t"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,0 r3 d: y- j @) _$ E
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
( Y8 e8 W4 p0 ^2 ~"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.4 |4 S; Q. m! t3 _- N
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues' K/ E3 T+ e. C$ X
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said: Z* R. _5 a& G* d4 c
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
& q1 ~. o- C, I, Y9 sdone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
$ C2 i# D, U F' n( Mthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's4 f( n0 |/ r7 G3 ]
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
7 e( L# z8 C: V; ^& NLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
2 Y# e4 e3 @8 `& j% p1 relectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
, f; d8 e( J9 n# o4 B. Tthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a) F3 w. @5 K+ L; V, X8 d
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
) a& T* S& ^- X2 O6 ~1 \$ k8 rsaid.
4 V. V2 f s/ {( ~As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
3 a5 D- z' p0 khappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
. A/ y S! d; m% Y1 g7 L# ~- Pabout driving our products," Lentz said.
3 W. q/ u4 g2 S0 d3 WThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's$ q6 A' n2 b* W( t' D
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has% V9 d5 g! W- _ n4 N
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6" }/ h: E: m! W$ q
million in the United States -- since last fall because of6 @" A! `: [# w0 ]$ U
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
7 `2 H4 f: L: {* R7 ~1 ]issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
, L- m6 G4 @$ W! v: m1 y1 T, uconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of% l k; W5 M7 A7 e
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow/ g7 H+ p1 g, r y/ [
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has- m; o- e) _' X7 ^4 ]
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
2 o4 a' r% [% Jof Toyota vehicles since 2000.
' Q" @: u l" C. i7 wLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own( b* d/ h8 z7 W# L! L6 ~
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
' l9 P2 D$ E+ X" a, Uunderstood the pain.
' t" P* m+ L$ l, }6 G; K"I know what those families go through," he said.
U+ B L$ ?. l/ b. W3 ?5 rLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
% q- Z1 w$ f3 @fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems." H. y2 S% ~1 ^( r. x
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
9 q6 Z, k' ?; d. _' oHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put! k7 _8 i4 C* g! d7 r
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
6 X8 _4 w" g4 V# @# _; sLentz replied: "Not totally."
& X) a ~' R/ p/ k; J8 ]Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were2 r9 W4 e4 j6 Y0 }
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
: s9 \& I! X" i* ^- ZToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
0 N, W# B J6 I7 M8 {9 U5 z- upedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its6 z& q0 ` L$ N% n
vehicles already on the road.
2 @. m$ y7 I4 V9 i# L; gMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify) X! m3 N, g! K4 R6 t
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
& a: g! M& M+ w$ w$ x9 V! V0 kresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
3 `3 I8 }9 w: r9 v) P3 qoffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were9 V9 T b2 b3 G. i+ l
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.% R3 s5 E4 a3 a. X# o
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
% w& f7 A. m4 l# K# K& [tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony, ~; T" {, w" L2 H E( y" x, a# ?
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
% s; d2 r& i$ |Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal0 o, a* T4 x3 U6 w7 P, w6 d
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to4 l1 ?# A* z1 X9 i
restore the trust of our customers."
1 s3 T8 m2 ~* H0 Z% `( I% FLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
; Y( P9 n* N3 ASmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly, F9 S, _" \3 Z5 L$ J
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --% f* e5 Z- Y' z/ s8 w5 E
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
+ v7 A$ b( J$ Y0 _$ I* t7 hhitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
: M# a; K0 ~# Y8 f* _+ y5 qthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
0 b( R! ~( N! Q5 s9 t/ H8 l$ x8 Vturn off the engine.6 ^8 V" G: E( F* z
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of- Q7 ]* Z: z( B v
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."4 q, P( j3 I9 V8 ^
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she# @: A u, @9 o$ P8 @
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
+ X2 t( B/ j7 B. Pto her complaints.! W& F7 b5 y" W' \
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers+ F ` Y6 |+ i
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
2 s, l0 r- M0 r# W0 D {; gmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
R3 k) Q2 O1 q3 Q4 }: f4 ]"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric: d5 i- L. R5 Q1 X5 Y q F
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
7 `3 h* _# m) Q) H# ]0 R"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut* ~: r6 O4 J) I1 U' l
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
8 V8 r3 t6 n) s( X! GTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
8 J0 |, s; N; o5 y8 a+ Lprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
, a% }* k8 v* ~( x }; y* Tbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
# H" D1 x: k% U* N4 Z6 }) e8 dwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
8 [6 _( N7 P) B! Revery question."- t& o" [! Q) A2 X4 u V# y
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether/ D/ Z* a: C! W9 Q% x8 S
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The2 W6 |: }, F" D. _5 U
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But8 Y8 i% M/ L1 h% g {, ~
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small/ g# w( s! r$ x/ ~/ Q
number of vehicles& G9 |4 h0 t9 R% ]
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more
. F1 J' {3 |7 V: `; }1 N( S" w. Ddifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
$ E; D0 v) b$ U5 S% L! U" umechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one' {8 T" S A( B; c6 `! {
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
5 {% ?, U$ I# o$ v* J6 C1 l+ gMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
6 p8 _2 k3 f* T' G8 i iwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
/ R* v! q; ]1 r0 p' o+ \trace at all.
7 j5 M, r( H$ L2 YHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
1 v8 Y) h% C T+ H4 [# y$ ndatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
7 p" C3 d/ C1 I& O4 U2 l8 Q" @% x% Uacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
* R. I1 z# F1 v" ~/ a4 }recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
+ A- t8 p" R* XRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
* ^' \, `( l' |/ |0 psaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
; A: X$ K$ u8 ~& Xother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
& A4 e/ I6 e% F Welectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible6 T& ~2 X+ {2 Q
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
k1 T( }+ j( ]5 a2 M' V/ c/ I0 tsuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
! g Q5 S% `! D6 N3 d* L# \by Toyota's lawyers."
$ h! B6 \3 F% y1 `( ?Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of4 v) A( ~/ d+ D$ y; B$ Q& c* ^
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
' ~# A0 a; ?# `$ P+ J- _! H T0 i1 w& Hcustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
' E! I' V* V2 B3 Qsaid.) Q l+ J% e$ _' @
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with2 f5 S6 L! ^7 m2 X- [
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
9 L1 F: [( z6 U% r1 X% a" X0 Jgood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating P+ S; W& g" t: t8 s9 D/ O
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
+ [/ f( v' A/ [& E% eSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying0 a. u8 {, s. U2 R/ E* i
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread: B4 D$ c6 p9 I" S5 @$ r
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the3 e7 @" k( Q( n
automaker, at least in part because of the government's2 Z0 j: Q& c- X: z* @8 [' |8 p. K
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and' u1 @ T5 q' ]; s) g
Chrysler.
2 E8 K3 B% O# s"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
. S" _ K/ K; l8 |! z+ idollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a, G8 h! S" M2 X
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
* x: y, i6 }/ q) ^: Fserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
6 {1 D" W8 x: }2 }- n& A# S; M9 c `with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
/ P" d. w. q* l; h) Ptough."7 K4 B# I1 R$ r; C7 D( D s8 ]
---+ i) Y6 o0 V0 p; @, O* g- X
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom5 } R4 c2 S) [" G; g7 r/ g" R
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
4 K# o' T9 B. s7 {" c9 Q z6 e( Ethis story." y1 G. e ?$ i; {5 i
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