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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题6 {+ T. ?! u5 \; y8 }/ m
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
, k' `0 P/ N+ _1 ?' y. uWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.. C7 Q" q3 O& w; q: l+ e9 |4 [
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that/ ^. l# K; N$ W* {" z4 I
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"( Z+ h" `- T* R5 ] W0 G
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.$ B: u& I, a- L0 e, f& O
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
+ Z! D9 e) \+ _) f7 G. r8 Lcauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.; \; n9 ~0 \- r$ C, N
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
' ~' N; N2 I$ \; m! ?% N$ o( Aacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and- h7 s6 @, D8 D. L. ?5 R" ]. j2 _
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
# l0 q5 E5 s; X# U; |mats and sticking accelerator pedals.
# ?# ^: \0 N! V0 j- qHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal$ a, i3 E; u. I5 w8 w
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp% r' t" b5 o9 Q* m
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
. ?( f# |1 A5 C8 v6 mfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
+ F$ F0 q x- D. _. q1 S' C" Knot stop her runaway Lexus.
3 ]' B+ h2 Z5 B0 w: M: n4 l+ ^% }$ T"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,- L7 z; j' _0 E/ {! T
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second: n0 c: x$ L4 {' T! ?
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
: c- ^+ x( b0 zTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues! E- H& K( j% ~) X; M0 O
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
* p) _& V8 y5 k& O; I0 t: ~"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
# p/ |0 J6 }- `! zdone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
' d! a2 f& l- |9 O& m8 z$ Jthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's+ \9 ], Z$ T$ O0 ]( t+ K. w7 y
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
, y' T% G* Q1 N& zLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an5 K5 b5 V4 ?: j/ Q9 M* t
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of( c/ v8 K7 `6 i- F
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a) ^0 f# D; r( _; k
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
+ h2 x6 U# \, K+ }* w/ I, |said.- g6 l$ a: W F* I
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
( ?1 d! q. x- v$ B& phappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
9 ]; T6 W- }! K( o* L3 \" s0 O4 v# rabout driving our products," Lentz said.. E! T0 H) G. F+ X! }1 ^. e- b$ K
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's7 O) m6 H' H; a. C, r" X
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has5 W. A: w* Q/ P& ]4 w6 M$ g. o* P/ ?
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6+ R# L% W- L/ G% T/ C
million in the United States -- since last fall because of- o9 O- p2 S" m4 k! q3 A4 i
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
+ q+ Z- ]: y5 S% Q0 U3 k7 n, Wissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering: s9 F4 s& v i
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
/ J1 u8 y% c7 @6 J& B* ~( vtheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
, _* _; j- P. Z# D8 edown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
2 R5 A9 X$ Z9 A* D- _received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration/ u- S) o. p2 ]9 I% j1 t, F- ~, G
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.! u& E- o5 r- d, ?- F
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own% t% \0 B- a, M1 Q' L# V
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
+ e! k7 U3 s, z3 ?: d& R6 G e8 p! @understood the pain.
( s$ g& z$ _/ P2 ]5 U; T6 r"I know what those families go through," he said.
/ I4 z( f) B6 y/ ?" y4 rLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
' {# D: x' O/ Q, Jfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.' G; D; |7 H! p* x
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
# F e; O1 y# q% UHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put; q# v/ y/ R6 u4 L
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
# b# D8 y9 n- @Lentz replied: "Not totally."" G+ v* H; V7 U) O2 s9 m
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
1 g0 Y/ B' o9 p% N. x, S4 V"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
Y( {, S) I) z+ f6 U: Y! sToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
6 k5 ~9 g. u$ \; t% s0 n1 Npedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
/ ]! _- n8 o/ T' Avehicles already on the road./ g+ O3 x* o* Y1 n4 s+ ?* ?. j; P6 l/ C
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
0 g+ r r: Q- o F! jbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full8 Q) f% Z5 D' S0 W V$ `' p
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
$ I! O/ q& h7 N) J/ X: Roffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were; J ]8 s1 H5 K% u) W
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
# U" j9 v" u* Q6 \"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a/ I! j1 V3 G: p) F8 c2 \
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
! y( @' R) C) X) ^for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
: b' m: v) g/ d$ l' x9 _* S/ f5 O- oCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal" s! ?7 q0 H R& X1 O S1 k5 o
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to w) j# N( F8 X0 s4 S7 K$ E! `
restore the trust of our customers."
- z2 D+ B0 ~' Y+ `$ GLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from5 W3 j7 A4 r$ I- [( E. f7 J6 O9 ^
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly3 N) [- A% L2 [! ~4 T
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --. O3 `! m8 g/ o& n, |
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and5 x! e) B6 }0 n! L3 R
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
: b0 o& B/ r- m9 j, m0 y5 rthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
0 P C( @5 |9 r! K! K( Sturn off the engine.$ E& S7 U% L# ?4 a5 @
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
0 } M' x, |2 E! |: V% c7 V! @October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
5 z2 U% k3 ]: M( v"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
+ U6 b1 M3 m% ]/ }( ~4 \said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond/ \! o( T& ~0 V
to her complaints.
5 N1 ]5 [( H' k WIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers* e: n( p# Z% a4 y, j
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic4 }- g3 }: k# G& [4 U
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
P6 m- d. D& E+ Z) g"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric% i, y0 E8 B7 B! j: @+ N
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited, g7 F1 j2 p% _1 b
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
5 Y4 d' f( D' T; coff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure.", ?& b6 m. Q7 I* i" R
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
! z: u+ A1 M" W2 Bprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
. }- u: V( e$ D, t% Q$ Lbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls" U. r" P5 `) z: h, I
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer& l! j8 ?$ d6 Y! g& @; @& V
every question."
2 ^) Q; b& @: N4 pToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether: q ?- ^1 x4 ?/ H
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
' d+ |9 _. Z; @0 o' R. Y* V# Hfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
; H( ?6 n j' F2 C3 w/ Jcommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small
( v- ~4 G+ {8 F: J& knumber of vehicles! t) t3 L; Z0 o) E" k# H
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more+ [5 N' s6 i* G+ x" ?5 e6 ~ p' ?
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a" F s7 H [9 T" t) k F
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
/ t% L6 N8 J1 ]* Wsource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.7 [2 U c0 G- j2 n% M1 J
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,+ j! \( l& Y4 z' w% [" i
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
( o- g$ x& G# c# g t% mtrace at all.$ o. q) a% B7 S8 f& l3 h! @! M! r, f; s
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
& i) X0 p& p9 o6 R- {database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
, ]( M. T* @; Lacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
- `9 Q; Z! p# v" v; Arecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
/ A9 r, ?. k3 ]. }$ r# A" cRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
& S$ c8 O$ G2 E4 u- T! z( X( d6 u7 Asaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and$ g2 o% }9 }& i% `. L
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
( c3 o% u/ B4 l# v) u# Aelectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible: H2 T& d' l* N) e9 X
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
& ?$ h( K' Q/ P& Asuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
/ v. Q% U' q) h& aby Toyota's lawyers."
0 I( e8 q4 z* W/ J* W" }8 \Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
8 j. f: A3 g0 aproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our+ c+ v$ b4 }0 m& B) d/ C
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he8 s9 h: E, N+ m+ b. K. c+ w1 Z: p
said.
! C% `0 E. Q2 U) e- A/ x"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
2 a+ v9 ?, J4 V; [" h7 _4 |2 @a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
9 O& I) O, H7 C0 W0 X9 V% Z; T* Jgood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating8 v* V: h) E0 z+ h% I J
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
: B, `0 x& l( U: } cSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
q+ G" ]: K3 q2 \1 W+ |members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread! T) _) Z# }" B2 r; f
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the U F' b! q# P9 L, w4 \
automaker, at least in part because of the government's8 d+ c% B; K0 d. s
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
, L- c9 Y$ y5 I# d" b* _Chrysler.
% {& [* O2 j( m* s2 M; V( h"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax u' l; w F8 K( \& N
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a2 i5 N6 m. t. V/ r
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also, p- x1 p% n/ |: O( P
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
/ P' m; { A4 x- I% y3 {# owith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
. Z$ z9 g- N. W& k' q$ Q Ttough."6 Q e0 Q: O H$ e- x- P' q4 O
---
5 P$ ~" R4 C* B- u5 N( B5 rAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom. S+ x5 X% I% ^+ A
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
5 I; G% s: d! H6 h" z, Gthis story.* b) h1 B# }/ s
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