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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题+ p% o1 F5 I- J# K
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
/ g2 {, f" m) f$ j% rWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.7 b* h7 L# r7 ~) p& i
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that3 ^3 v+ @# G/ _- l; v1 ]
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
) Y1 n' ]" L; F' H5 H3 esolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.; M6 C W* o: u
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential! i% K ]) G5 C8 B5 W p" s) e# D
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
# _1 A& e' |$ V; e1 t0 F2 ^' VHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
1 `/ i$ v/ ]4 M2 pacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and$ `3 ~, N8 J e6 F5 `1 X
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor; u9 ^) D4 T8 [# D
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.
% s0 {" z2 P& e% `He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
! |! k7 c$ t7 d5 _1 H2 h# sand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp1 i( L7 Y, [3 q, M/ v
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be9 G3 _7 u/ _1 _5 `2 H
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
4 N- \2 E, N& l4 \1 fnot stop her runaway Lexus. R; v5 `' q5 M4 b: }( f
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
% t7 |# [2 P: TTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second. u) ?% j! K9 l7 S" G
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators., ^/ L7 n9 b" g& A5 v) i( }
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
: l6 j$ @; h% K/ Z/ V) r8 wearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
# G0 I* C; `: |! W) k"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has# e0 W1 ? C( G& S* A
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway s6 g' Y/ _6 {; x( [ \* v
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's, w* H' h$ l6 q# ^8 X( C' C
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
- x4 l4 Q: u5 M ~' ]Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an. Y4 v9 Y; R; s3 k# X# m. N
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
/ Z+ S) p$ x/ U- xthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a# `& M0 c( ?; q2 A
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he" z! o- t: {8 p: q1 ~$ ?8 ?
said.+ R$ A% @0 \9 \3 Y: m7 e
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what+ f. A, J9 M, {6 \7 }
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
9 ? z) F- m% L% A% y+ R% Xabout driving our products," Lentz said.
1 X4 N5 q* p0 h# vThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's) C: B# k l' J& i+ J
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has# [/ k$ o2 g+ k" ^' G) c1 s1 e" S6 v+ [
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 67 p7 Z/ ~+ x7 x1 b: i1 t. G4 K
million in the United States -- since last fall because of5 l# M3 C' n4 R: H
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking% ] `7 B/ o+ v4 E y! x9 a; B) X
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering; f. M- a% Y5 b
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
7 B2 n' r( Q/ q& } Mtheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow O5 {' k& b& g& b
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has0 C8 I% w1 s8 @. {1 _0 y
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
$ _+ ]( J$ S; {of Toyota vehicles since 2000.
* S% [4 v3 R' U2 RLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
( v* ]& C0 H2 V, S6 L: [brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he4 P6 q2 h% B1 j. }2 ]
understood the pain.. q& x3 `$ [1 f1 Z; v
"I know what those families go through," he said.: R+ p, B$ O I1 i; G7 }: @. z
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
. E2 p$ \ ^/ i Efixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.5 \/ E) W0 I8 R) Y3 l* y. g
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
0 f& I% g4 {: {4 _8 |$ ZHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put& c3 O z. U. F# `0 i2 V
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
& H( v) l: m* M+ R0 k. nLentz replied: "Not totally."( `" [7 u$ ?5 }/ F6 e, i! ~
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
2 G( ?/ K d" ~"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
+ {1 v( K7 m6 L, [* _( U1 d L7 BToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
) G2 N j! v- l) Dpedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its! _7 _! P3 M2 ~0 X/ o0 P- Z5 F, R
vehicles already on the road.
2 f3 F6 O! a. QMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
# F, x }: S- ^. C1 O$ dbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
2 n* E2 g; f. M4 w0 Xresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and, P9 G/ Q+ Z/ S. t! s' f
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were+ S1 X3 D; [8 O! U
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.) t7 v9 b! I* f* T" k# Y3 W% A
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a4 q% X; g+ x$ Y7 G; U& w! D
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
3 N; f9 }3 N$ v7 P# Ffor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
9 F2 i8 r) n% i; f$ Y3 M; fCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
5 o0 A! i: X/ ^- w" d& G; ^8 x- jcommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
# a+ N$ R0 V$ A/ Prestore the trust of our customers."
" w; f5 h! V P% W' ELawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from3 H3 J) H& Z. B& S* D' K# l
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
' Z5 [: @$ O" p8 ozoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
1 E3 i% Z! d$ ashifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and% ~0 c/ Z) D X8 e$ F: a6 N
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough! h3 Z! @1 x n2 j2 R% H
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and# a) [, y/ u9 L3 X `
turn off the engine.; ~/ ~& n* B" N! O& q8 w* \! G
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
4 ~+ ~+ ]) F7 ]October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
6 T3 V8 d; u8 E2 o+ H8 Q/ Z4 j x"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
) @- X* n0 |! h. N. ssaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond: _6 V' l- z1 Q- t
to her complaints.
$ w4 J! B# R' PIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
9 P2 I4 C5 h+ j6 j4 rreturned again and again to the question of whether electronic+ w8 g; U. M# U, V' w$ I' I
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.- l1 X& H3 d4 U! g, Q# A7 r
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric8 _7 H( Q; C: G" }- w0 n
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
0 j5 o/ @" O4 W& U; }"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
/ u9 k4 x5 j6 f9 P' G* boff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."2 u$ {0 p5 Z! B" A; l, H
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in7 J( N' H/ s3 \- j9 P
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were8 p( y, P' [2 D& b) q0 U8 d* Q
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
! F) D* [! e2 u2 t Ywere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
1 h( ~) V4 Q" E+ z6 C5 p! Hevery question."
$ [) m3 U o/ ~- u: {1 LToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether Z9 i+ n6 z& Q8 k P
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
# w- G+ X2 l$ a* Y, r7 H5 }firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
6 k8 }9 I+ a- @8 [9 jcommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small: V3 Q/ s% A5 o; Q+ Z5 v
number of vehicles5 g8 Z+ w8 g! {* ~9 y3 L7 r
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more
' |( j6 r+ j7 i! d, n0 F* M* [# ^difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
! ~4 A& }2 @+ m! q2 \9 g0 y% ]mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one" J* V6 g" z+ p: ~
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.+ i: O& a0 m. t$ ~% r3 ?: h" b
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
/ z x- g: S$ Z7 g4 c& c. Z pwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
" i0 e. M, R8 E3 @% B) t3 |: Gtrace at all.
! L% D1 I. {& ?$ k% W) QHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call- Z; ~; r1 S* t# M$ I& }* X) b/ l
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
& ]- U W+ T4 `$ V, Racceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
7 B9 }! B) E4 O: r& g1 brecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.5 a. b# J0 i& K& Y8 O3 S* n
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
, K: @ R$ ~! Tsaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and# f5 V. F( K& d+ C
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the" ?9 I/ j+ d3 }0 }+ G3 l
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible9 X9 h6 b" ` ^& t d' y- H! M
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
$ x( l! i' d( O! q* A, V8 V$ W2 dsuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained+ L) S, g6 J, w4 @5 }4 Q+ f4 ^
by Toyota's lawyers."( R% ?& d$ [$ Y1 G" E% ]& w6 v2 a4 @. C
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
$ d! c4 Y1 j- R a/ gproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our, [/ u3 m, [, t p4 E) n2 j9 z
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
7 d: m3 v6 R- W" T9 g4 @said.
! f6 |- Q% {: D"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with: U# {+ j0 q% _7 B4 I H0 J
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our: W7 R7 V+ g; ]7 A1 A% J1 w
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating! I, |2 M1 x7 j% l q+ Z! V
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.* W; X1 s1 w( V! X# ]
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying" Z/ k$ ^, O( S+ {( ]8 ?6 b# G: Z
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
& i1 D* }/ A$ U& Z/ P7 \rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
. w' ~1 ^- t' f4 [: Cautomaker, at least in part because of the government's
9 ]$ [/ H$ c9 V% ]investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
: ^& I6 q& ?+ I% q2 a" `Chrysler.3 p+ U: Y* k8 Y2 B+ h; {$ h, S
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax' i2 Y4 e8 ], m) j0 u; i
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
7 x# l5 Z- D! V/ {3 `+ dHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also4 b1 ]8 M1 n8 ]2 f4 b& V
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
- y+ G/ A ?% z1 l# a! Swith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty2 W; e; h( \: q% R+ `& j$ \% S( i1 l0 ?
tough."
( Y& }; ^; q2 _( d---
' f: A+ d/ b, K: E: F' KAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
1 C* l! e1 P9 pRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to& f7 V( j3 ^) R; c6 ^# X& F2 J: I
this story.( \5 f, F$ e( ^2 w t9 J1 D
) ~2 a. I" n( Z
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