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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题2 i" T5 X4 A) J; a
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
) g7 M7 f4 ^$ d6 w0 B) JWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
" O2 H- K( f; l$ K0 J+ G, Z8 Qoperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that$ v# X5 j _( o- j$ a' k2 e9 K; q
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
. I7 m: ]7 G5 ?) Z# ^solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.4 ~. Z+ w1 M0 ^0 L9 G O' W
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
7 m$ F# n) v3 A# ]& T$ Dcauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
4 K9 o- _6 v5 D2 M8 ?However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
; N7 o) h, e4 J2 Macceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and# v) e1 d5 ~' ~7 M
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
4 O5 E( F- o* e3 p: ]mats and sticking accelerator pedals.. G) S! h( h( [1 |" I
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal9 I/ G" [4 @, J2 b0 n6 S
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp5 a3 V7 t! R% h; Y$ S. a- D, a
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
' X% A% q" W! {( E" ?% Mfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
1 V/ p( `/ |* tnot stop her runaway Lexus.% H$ u* s, x4 v$ N; X0 m# F
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
' i* B. m, x E: _: DTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second( W. V: X+ A% ^0 W
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.# h, X/ R0 S" R1 m6 [
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues) C+ S9 c1 ^4 x4 R& W
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
0 G) K& a( c. _& B E& q) {% d"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has3 K) y0 W1 T* C% n
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
5 P n, G4 W7 F6 w3 C" Ethrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's7 h, E+ v4 ~2 Y6 N: o: S: J8 E
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."* c# q2 v7 Z; q8 s0 q
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an7 J! p' @7 `1 \: \
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
& d! {% J) p3 F" W. y% Nthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
6 ~% ]5 H1 v" V6 V/ q7 kmalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
$ L7 L/ ~/ h7 [7 `said.
0 E3 H e: Y9 c O1 z+ ~4 FAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
$ [, f p& Q/ Q% B5 r: z/ vhappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
+ C' w( Z/ b, D7 t- G" T& Yabout driving our products," Lentz said.
6 ?8 d% A* H1 P2 VThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
2 h# X5 i& q* B/ W3 |6 Kproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
) g$ M& Q( k5 o$ K, G' |recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
# k" ?; R) G' D$ d, ~7 Jmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of
' v# a8 q/ F4 w# `unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
h4 K8 L3 g9 K& oissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
( k6 r7 i I) X* zconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
0 r, c8 i; d- F# Ztheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow( x: V& q) Y. v) E" I8 u% }
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
3 X, o. h/ M" y5 G( K+ H3 rreceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration* c! Y7 ]$ P1 h; N: d0 C! i
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.& r* s% Q0 |5 J& P& D4 A7 E
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
7 {# [3 b8 n5 s5 d; Qbrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he& d6 Z, O4 i) F+ X" t2 [2 H
understood the pain.8 P9 g) Y* M; z& C
"I know what those families go through," he said.2 m; A, B& L ` e: M1 `
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
# v% A' r( J0 o8 T I1 Y+ ]+ Hfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
6 |2 q- E, v. N5 T6 oBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman! b: U ~, |; n! [
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put; W7 b5 J5 t9 g% G9 y
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
- R( |, z8 [7 V4 P2 H: zLentz replied: "Not totally."
# s) ^3 W7 T8 x" @5 F' y) ZStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were5 g6 S( ~( H# W. N' a4 Q
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
! [4 q5 Q7 h. ?) d, v: g8 GToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
0 J2 q7 U2 t* y. j7 C: p$ mpedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
. g* A v' o& ?vehicles already on the road.4 h e# ?: \' j' ] j# t" X
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify- K2 U% f, M2 H# R2 |! g5 K3 y
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
* F( ^# \+ _$ W- J8 O3 Yresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and& f. y: ^& R8 {0 _$ Y# a: s
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
0 Z0 J% q6 `+ t) e6 c1 ykilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.. H0 B' m! @1 j, ^
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a" ^' n8 H7 h% }0 @+ }! a) x! [) x- t
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
0 h$ }8 ?1 E. g" Hfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
4 l! d2 \& @9 J2 {0 A, k( sCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
6 U' A/ Q0 C2 R5 ]! _commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
; l# f2 d* s# r& C" Urestore the trust of our customers.") O( ]# ?; I$ u& a. S; w
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
5 s& z, h9 F8 ]0 RSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly7 y Z7 ?0 g6 Z8 T8 }3 Y
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
( b( m7 n- e! {4 Q' }shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
# B) G! i1 Y8 j" Jhitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough5 X! t* ?+ I; `% C; r; v; C# Z
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
+ J7 M8 ?! b: xturn off the engine.2 t9 a7 _5 @* g% F8 a8 x
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of9 x% c: A$ O# M* m
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."0 R2 b; ~. A. l% m4 Q, z4 |
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she0 z( E3 J/ [( x+ s" Y! G
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
" e/ O* l1 ]; M- I+ U& \4 Sto her complaints.( m* _) N0 j2 k' T
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
5 `- E( f0 d* ^) jreturned again and again to the question of whether electronic
, v4 l2 m* j8 T# Fmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
2 n% ~/ u8 j! A% N& w5 C( x"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric+ n1 Z: p8 L2 g$ ?, a
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited4 b- z7 _9 m6 j3 |
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut5 R3 Z5 ]) W7 C0 R
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
& e" L: L5 b+ @% u9 X p# XTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in R `2 _0 O9 V1 \# u
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were0 r/ L; \, t. e# U! {
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls5 E, ^+ m5 @( N, V; ]. F
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer6 W5 J( \$ Z# M9 s6 }
every question."
$ O0 l4 k* K, M" wToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
6 x1 l3 r# I8 x4 Q. C, [electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
$ h0 C) G3 T- _+ xfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
+ ~1 i* K2 D6 l3 scommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small
, { i- t) ?) c5 w5 Z: cnumber of vehicles2 I0 A. D" n0 O# s; f: k+ F
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more, p# H. ^6 C* w# R1 S7 F% E3 }& l a
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a o1 j$ g) o: a2 h& B9 V. `
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
6 T" a. |2 }4 H; c$ O3 o- Rsource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.0 X1 A$ j w2 N' t j
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,9 r% `( Q( Y S" b
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no& F {& S- q! {0 W9 a
trace at all.
6 A% S8 N9 x( j& E0 I9 z! m+ |House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call* m( s' S1 A" Q6 }' T# ~5 x8 Z# z
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden. e. I: ~* O- b! u: H; p8 U
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
2 C/ _" Z! W N: ?7 irecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
5 b6 Y. g. }7 Y* H0 nRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,! @. s& T& l$ h2 B0 P
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
$ L- |" S) ]5 w2 R. i9 [other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
' Q0 u) M% ]( C2 `electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible; }& ?; @; ~& Z: Y$ L& T: g7 c9 J2 ^
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
: ~) v \& n% N* z3 d1 asuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
4 c& C. z" [1 G/ ?by Toyota's lawyers."5 G; c' t. k; ]9 Y: P+ t
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
9 U! s+ |3 I( k. u6 C1 _- ~% Yproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
1 G; `2 J6 j) n& O8 p" ^& Vcustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he4 x" a9 a# r6 Z3 _5 ^5 a. t+ b
said.4 |8 ~* [) {3 u, E9 _- y
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
) M6 |/ F& |/ ?8 r" i" [1 Ka rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
7 X0 L( R( \0 y' P9 j: \1 \7 bgood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating; U, N$ x/ r6 O0 B
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
7 ^ {! @ v9 y+ L9 T. S" F+ D; `Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying: D* y; Q- T* m3 b3 I( c
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
7 y8 Z# p2 Y0 Mrancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the1 H" k4 a( l# I
automaker, at least in part because of the government's
0 o) o4 G/ G9 I2 ~ j4 t$ {investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and+ l3 g2 v, |( Q4 D
Chrysler.1 O, `, i, L! R: ]- n
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
7 r8 A8 R& L& ~' Ydollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a4 H/ ~$ ]. \" a( Y: ]6 s
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
, E6 g0 {1 D! Jserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
1 w9 G# F% o; pwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty5 r9 q. {4 M! J- }; w' m" j
tough."3 M7 V2 k# F& q
---% j( }/ v. m( C7 R4 @1 A; h: Z; v+ z1 p
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom% ~ z5 K3 l8 K w
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
: M( s' T5 z: P4 n8 T5 }this story.
: p- @# G1 u. n3 N2 s+ w" Z" K4 z* I) |2 e
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