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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题5 {8 e; k& n/ ~0 K) P# _
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS: \/ ?7 c. X! a1 U! y0 f9 f s
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
4 J) L& g( P8 Z k- N7 K' c. @& h4 Ooperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that7 M1 N3 l" I6 q/ k( b# j
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"+ S3 W# D% y$ O4 J9 Z& U8 w. o
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
+ H: J" }% N2 o8 i9 s! ]% e"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
1 i2 {3 E5 M4 |, ^2 t5 t2 g' Bcauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
6 @" V" J, y; g% r) }( T$ \7 PHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected" p6 L5 d4 t' q) o4 v, m
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
; ?6 s. e9 ?7 m4 v# q% ~; G( Ftrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
$ k) i2 w5 Y' ?0 l Rmats and sticking accelerator pedals.
/ ^. y4 K6 J2 x2 S1 P( r& l: |He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal Y6 [$ L; d1 f
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
9 u* \: j* H/ D! L* k6 a- F" u$ rcriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be; z% n0 v3 u9 ?4 Y: ~9 x
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
) }. V2 K2 G" h2 ]. cnot stop her runaway Lexus.
4 Q# I6 [7 p& h- j"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
9 C$ Y) Y3 y( v5 @- q2 [, y6 I0 RTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second! P: _4 F2 K" t T+ ^- s! \4 z! v( @, |2 P
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.* |" f$ A/ e- q& w' }1 {& o: R
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues6 D% G( }; P. l( T3 R) R9 S
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
1 V4 S2 L* K+ b" G% W9 e4 K"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has$ @- a8 ^0 i5 X' ~% v H4 w
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway7 P: s0 V: p& R: w# u: }( D& K9 L
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
$ q2 ~) f$ ]* Q$ Z4 w5 ~% L3 C8 ^investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."3 q. I! `5 W) M, a( K/ M& `
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
( ?% j! r% I( v* z7 l1 b, g2 eelectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
' N4 o( }3 m0 d8 I; n7 \the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a; a5 \' N5 m C2 o3 J8 o
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he1 S' h+ z; G7 k
said.( I, Y v, ^! e' F! l
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
$ l6 T: V! h; O7 B, m8 rhappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe$ d) O! x- n# g
about driving our products," Lentz said.
$ S9 C4 f4 F, m) n2 ZThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's! }6 c, V! B8 W
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has# [+ D @: Y. Q. U! v7 a0 n
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
- J; F9 J4 M# Z9 p! d# }% Vmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of
5 G: L% ]5 S7 \2 ^5 F# D3 runintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
4 ?7 c$ c, r% a% }0 q+ L9 Hissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering. }8 \9 |: x7 {
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of5 U6 A8 ?0 L1 [. k/ T5 \6 K
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow( R S: h+ t% { ~6 V7 l$ k
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
1 d. _. J; o; qreceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
- P% m4 y8 e3 a: V3 s4 Uof Toyota vehicles since 2000.
' c4 r4 z4 j+ ~4 ^+ m0 o! `$ D0 HLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
" J# Q+ f& h. L3 v# J* \- ?) ybrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
' Z; N C- t& Uunderstood the pain.
, U; b3 G: C# ~# u"I know what those families go through," he said., i3 D* O, ~% U" z+ s
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's2 U* y( p! t' v9 J# y! k; \8 E! Z
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.0 ?/ i C* D6 i+ c6 d N3 V6 \
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
# f( C5 U1 H# y8 k5 ]6 w7 xHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put! I6 q! S0 J0 Z( i. @% }
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
* x4 c% Q2 b$ F) s1 F3 O# ULentz replied: "Not totally."
2 Z- u) x3 |" @/ pStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
6 X( H' h) [, Z/ l) J"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said6 d1 s$ i: a/ B: h* n3 c
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
R; v0 k1 |( r/ ~8 Bpedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its1 z4 v' n) z) p, _8 V1 y) @+ ~1 P
vehicles already on the road.
) m: S8 {+ O8 k9 a4 P9 I9 y8 vMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify$ M3 X, @, L0 r0 W
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
+ s7 g1 f! [3 s2 q5 K4 E& [responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and# u* z; H1 T( P
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
; @" p2 I, ~& p5 K. {- G7 rkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
3 \5 n' j0 M& x"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a* ]" y, t/ t/ Z1 k7 ^: G
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony7 u5 w3 E( j# F6 r8 w
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight. E% m7 t0 X3 ]
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
8 J; ]; D# c$ s3 ]commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to" \$ Z; f0 y# w! w- g% C5 e9 V
restore the trust of our customers."
) Z( m7 q+ E8 q* w G/ vLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from+ R2 U4 P: Q$ `! v
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly, g4 _" y, _4 A0 i+ g2 J
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
7 l! m- u1 a- d+ q. s) N7 j) lshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
7 `1 z; u% p) E" L' khitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
+ ]1 R5 b* i5 K& X' ~3 Rthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and: R, L3 S7 ^9 z$ H( x6 n
turn off the engine.
' {, |( ?3 k- Y/ w$ b( y. uFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
' r, d9 a* N0 }8 j+ f: z1 nOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
6 y9 k: y0 x2 Y9 m2 j"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
6 w; p l- ?- W7 rsaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond9 x- t; G+ V' j4 Z+ _1 C
to her complaints./ l7 l3 e5 x' c' e; F- f) I
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers* j, ]# {9 ?. X& w1 v
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic6 T% g) d! q5 |7 J
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.) c, H- i( `4 I" U
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
4 P7 N. f- y- c! a+ Vthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
1 `1 v) [& B& r& |; w"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut8 T; e8 O9 u0 _3 y
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."4 m- V, G( R$ C8 }0 A
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
9 X+ G \" q- A- ~- }prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
8 N" j8 F8 [, j2 A% Sbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls$ J7 s9 }7 h. l% E
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer% \4 {% w' X4 f4 R
every question."1 q+ ~) j( r2 Y0 u" Y
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether3 _" A5 ^0 j4 c0 s8 Q5 t4 Y
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The9 k2 u9 O% A Y: H- ^5 ?
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
5 F9 e' m1 Y! vcommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small
A$ b3 h I. }7 c$ b) f" [' E* bnumber of vehicles
* T$ E# M6 F" m' zTracking down an electrical problem can be far more! E9 G+ `. x+ m2 P8 K5 a
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a" f! C, R! a0 j+ o2 E: r( G
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one( U/ t( J& O9 c8 e
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
- F' O6 `: O# P1 p$ {( {: `: }Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
* t0 T$ W5 A. e9 S+ {where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no7 l3 Q; r$ B# {2 ?% p6 E
trace at all.
+ H1 q/ s- x2 s3 f; ^House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
7 e& n# h' b* W6 ]database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
) u! E( }: U6 n3 dacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
- }) f( n4 _9 _+ X N# grecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
" y" A4 q" @2 q7 bRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
0 _5 @: O& s' W7 Ssaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
" t1 M8 J" m; v# B& tother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
" ~! j6 W7 i" r7 delectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
- S3 N+ `3 s+ Ycause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
0 Y+ @/ s0 E6 z! }7 Zsuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
) d6 M$ n- R3 g; k" u' z: j$ T8 Nby Toyota's lawyers."
% X$ C( X, u8 v Z' A" n5 k+ V& BLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
( L- V! `% i" @( {4 y5 f$ oproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
! W9 o& r$ _6 z- vcustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he) E4 @1 X# P4 } E3 C
said.
- A6 n/ `4 Q7 X"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
# j5 ^/ w0 C w- Ta rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our) d" R" {: |' u3 o, j( Y* L1 P
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
0 p3 C& X3 B$ k1 @5 ?, Fofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
0 d8 v. h8 Q* I3 iSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
% k, c$ @9 J3 i) F; ^members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
( e" f( {) I* ?1 T& x* W8 drancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
8 y! F* }- E' i6 ]/ c" Cautomaker, at least in part because of the government's- l. X( K" U; o- L" n% f6 L( I. @
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and* S9 y# Q: a0 Y4 w" R [: O
Chrysler.
( D: J! K. H5 w) ~2 Y"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax% W; |% {9 E' y9 z
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a' j& V0 ?! u. z1 s
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also6 u* T4 F& P1 ~% ~- W- J" J n
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete* f9 v9 e) F4 c) ]
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty$ y q7 P Z; n: _
tough."
* a5 v3 C: \$ O: J: B---" F& Z/ z& w1 O4 q v
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
" ^0 y: _8 v' R5 ZRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
) S+ P" k t. y& t- @4 } |4 |9 kthis story.
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