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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题: m4 c* U6 I) B1 {2 ]. d
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
/ K/ ?3 u! i' j, M0 J) K" w5 bWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S." |8 v! P( D" ^% b
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that$ \5 u7 ?, n( m1 R
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
5 p4 D( O3 {& k3 p7 r' a1 ~solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
7 s, ~" k7 a3 {- u2 }8 h# g1 d"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
! e) G! k8 d4 N1 v! p- q( }0 ncauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.0 f6 j7 m/ Y" N% I
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
6 U& d$ Y. U3 z6 W6 u6 j! Zacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
+ v# |: |: z7 Jtrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
# M7 X9 q' o( P' D, o1 c, X+ Qmats and sticking accelerator pedals.( [; P+ s; Z3 X; q. |
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
5 \3 q, g5 U* ?' f5 J- zand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp2 t) M9 e: E! E1 o
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
# R. x( ?4 E6 O8 E! Hfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
. y, h5 c, a/ _8 M# _: S% |not stop her runaway Lexus.2 }$ u! z2 F" N3 y) n3 b. _
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,0 |7 }, _/ a b7 }1 G" H" i
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
4 ^# p- t8 B# x7 G7 Y2 b( U2 w"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
! ~& J+ K6 D8 H% j3 E WTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues9 G0 r7 k! T+ w) ~* j
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said) x' _$ W2 R- g9 j+ B) C
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
/ K$ G$ s8 ~6 H7 u; c r* ydone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway7 I7 R- J' L7 t) h# i. } }
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's ^4 a9 _( a' k6 ?8 i9 J0 n
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."- E3 y3 S6 _2 R# K4 n
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
/ L! ]9 F" a. A. Eelectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of7 Z0 D, q9 R" t$ A2 r
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a6 k* c4 M' x+ i/ p7 |5 r
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
1 n- ^5 f1 O+ csaid.
% |0 {: ~+ |5 F6 _* W9 aAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what& O! q3 u0 [( {1 e
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
0 B- A* T( V) gabout driving our products," Lentz said.) X' T+ C( N4 f5 l% P
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
0 K/ v: D4 F8 Q8 U, }, Y( hproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
) `. h1 U, p/ I7 K: F: r' b$ x$ Orecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6. M; Z0 {# F6 B% U9 d1 J
million in the United States -- since last fall because of
1 c( w& ^& u. |8 f/ bunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking( y P* [) j0 Q4 }: s2 J. d
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering, {( W' C, ^- G& |2 @& o' O L# K
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
3 ?* S$ D- e p$ Dtheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow. a; L' [! `- o$ v2 U
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
: W6 H4 r- f" x3 }received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
& B9 r# w6 {; U" u# I+ B+ lof Toyota vehicles since 2000.
4 I0 C! p4 M& }Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
: y' B8 v) D ~# X0 X' A% w ubrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he+ I6 @3 N4 G+ |4 i. [3 [& F
understood the pain.' v# H8 U% Z( r5 g: H
"I know what those families go through," he said.
4 t5 o& h7 g# eLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's) Y7 y! A; k n' S- M) V
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
4 ~6 o4 c E) vBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
( w6 \. p" u. {% }$ A) e/ XHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put" H9 x4 | M; V6 l4 i1 d9 B( X
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
3 V# `" {% O7 Z% tLentz replied: "Not totally."
{! j* k8 w! CStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
( O6 K8 z" ~" w+ y8 x"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said5 @1 N, j$ R. w6 @' c1 Q
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
7 R* b/ V$ r2 l* p0 z+ v# @" xpedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
* e2 G9 \0 [4 E4 T1 ovehicles already on the road.9 ]0 g) {* ], t3 L
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
$ G+ P9 z1 s L/ zbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full+ j. L8 ]9 e) P( F
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
% C4 D9 ]8 P$ ^8 R, K0 Y d R3 n: boffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
( o. T9 _* C0 S0 w2 L; Q6 Rkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
' y; N& T# W4 H( h# T, d"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
3 k2 D& I- K! S8 [% Y0 P3 g- qtragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony7 a, `. w, ^4 C( @9 g* @0 Y
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
/ l% d# K# y- U- UCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal5 K6 z! h1 s( D- U5 f7 V
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to. w% o) b7 P0 d9 n4 |+ r5 m* P
restore the trust of our customers."
1 W! c; Q# w# bLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
7 o7 @$ n: D5 t. d6 ]Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
$ t8 Q* R2 S. Z) ` Qzoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --4 ]2 E* h6 ~' `& H W; [
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
; p$ ]+ Y& O2 i( F: Fhitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough9 G8 D8 G* @3 q9 R1 v Q( m
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
4 Z8 z. T( c* _1 jturn off the engine.3 f: b, E9 z# Z/ v( Y
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of) H5 W: f* ]8 o% A: \
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."' ? W3 g" g/ Q
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
* E* L/ P; {: @& s$ Tsaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond4 T, B/ Q3 Q9 S6 G4 R, D: X
to her complaints.
( N( v3 a( g" f; x. e2 CIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers+ {8 j' W+ |( Z; M& n
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
: R+ B8 f1 D. Q# Jmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.3 `" P- m \8 B) J' x* E$ O' {
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
: H4 ?' H. J% q, @, B$ d, kthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited; Y' i$ i: |4 w8 y% O* U4 Y
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
- D" K0 F- J0 Loff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."& I& `% k# o, X I5 F
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in# e% l! @- _1 k2 W) |7 |& m- l9 `' I3 [
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were2 v! A! t: {# ~/ K2 l! Y( b" D
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls7 A" I7 k- f5 ~, L# R( k+ J
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer2 x! @+ U" f3 k
every question."$ l; o5 a3 [+ S
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
, Y; K: s4 @, _6 s: N% telectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
1 ^7 J$ F4 G7 n: C8 E1 G& Y1 ~firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
; H% e1 r1 r; Bcommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small
' \$ Z4 `4 g- r: Vnumber of vehicles2 I9 `9 D! u' _0 x/ m9 \
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more
) U5 y4 t, s2 a) S6 q) q0 n" idifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a" P- k% ?6 \# u' B7 a+ n5 M
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
: w$ X9 P. x2 s" y' s% s) asource, and they can come from inside or outside the car." P7 Y, c' F" J5 p
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
3 D& b# G% m: Ywhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no# F5 h+ v: J9 R4 M* u# Z
trace at all.1 }) ~# ?0 U$ o3 ?# p- c; q
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
, a! l$ x$ S- U; H$ t" Sdatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden* n# J) \4 K) L, d4 m' W$ k6 \
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the, K+ D, t, r, F" ^2 u) z' Q! H
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
6 [9 h2 z5 [1 o1 T% l' dRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,$ g' t0 Q8 @% ^% k0 k" V- e) ?3 l
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
# |- F3 ?, o% m& h/ ~! V' Fother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the# s" L( n- j# a, t
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible& n2 D- W0 L: T1 I* H% _
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only3 O* `+ J( q! K) h
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
; C" R, G5 @0 } dby Toyota's lawyers."
( E. f6 }3 T0 `& g7 YLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
/ {% d6 c# i4 ]5 Y% I( T, i7 jproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
) l. f% t7 j& O2 L6 kcustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he- t3 s" f. i5 a5 Y# b, B
said.0 B) e) N3 q1 ^- V7 b
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with7 K8 A5 c1 \- Q! w0 n
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
, F& b2 }+ N1 `* J! S5 Fgood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
# `0 j& ^; T( ~6 ]4 q0 L# }% Lofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.' S" X' v+ g' B" B; W6 @
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying9 d! j5 z" `" C: K, b! |
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread$ {+ V' Y4 g% t$ W" N; s2 N
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
8 V. s% r- l) [# L# Cautomaker, at least in part because of the government's) B8 x0 `6 [3 _( p1 g
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
5 | X, F0 q: NChrysler.4 N; a# t; {3 `1 B+ b8 r: T6 n
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
$ S" B. V# W/ ^, Y4 cdollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a; `7 Q% ^; W- Y
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
, T/ {3 L3 d6 eserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
2 E9 }% M8 f \ Zwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
2 c, V* B" ]; k5 o N4 o3 U% Otough."
. s4 W+ ^0 Y, f" L C4 E---
9 Y* i, ]" d9 rAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
( o5 ]& H) q2 URaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
x2 n+ _# ~6 ~) R8 }8 P8 Y1 W+ ~9 `this story.9 x7 a# o5 j- Q
; B7 O5 j! D6 F8 D2 X
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