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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题/ y$ k3 ]3 ?" d9 x3 t/ Z
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
) B3 m! W' n7 l+ o1 Y! NWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
/ d; D$ e6 U: }9 b/ Uoperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that& h. G" z; v* B; e8 \5 ]
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"6 e1 p8 U- {: n5 a( O
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
4 k& e, K* t" x1 t"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential4 q5 {7 Z" a7 y& b. B) c# D: ?7 Q. p5 ~2 x
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
% |* Y2 L: T1 J5 p" N, y P8 K9 gHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected* M: N# `7 A0 u2 R
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and! E7 v5 s7 ] a
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor, G, b' _% a# ~- c% l4 h
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.
6 N+ F) u8 H7 [, v' d( JHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal( A& M1 Z# K1 _8 c; j
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
8 p5 w; S) D7 H7 J3 T: acriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
# H- Q/ P; t7 [0 ]" {& T8 Vfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
) |! |8 e0 ]/ k( y' G& c8 C9 fnot stop her runaway Lexus.
1 b; L7 Z3 e0 l3 P: }& B"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,$ e4 e4 n; s% J0 q% o; S' a+ w
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
5 x+ }9 x! Q. F9 Q j0 R"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
5 T1 p: m! m5 }* ~+ `Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
; x! L3 _/ F% qearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
6 f3 s2 v: _; Y/ s* C"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
, E9 r6 S9 d S! l. \done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway4 S3 H/ s) {9 { p% y4 e
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's. r- O, X9 J$ ^2 b
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."5 y$ ?5 A' w" C
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
1 Z( j# o2 C) c& [ a4 M! \/ ielectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of9 l; n: G1 I: n. D4 c% D
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
( I( K [3 i; rmalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
4 E1 L/ T% X6 U+ M; T) Asaid.
5 T3 @- @2 l/ W& j. x* yAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what& x8 a% D4 i! p4 R) m
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe. D4 _- O; Q3 e8 L
about driving our products," Lentz said.1 a$ d' w- X0 q( B! P$ E# ?; i
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
4 }1 g1 N" C" k9 D2 `/ \% Sproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has9 n) B2 K& J' g r' \5 L) F
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6/ v" ^/ H/ d0 \/ q
million in the United States -- since last fall because of
! ] T% {0 W z4 R$ ~! S# I- ?unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
4 c H B9 b F& Bissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering! [/ S0 T" ]# { D" l5 q8 S
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
4 @- ]. z7 z, R" F/ jtheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow" [; N& i. {3 X! V- K
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
2 Y w J2 i7 v4 x: ?3 Wreceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration9 N6 _" `& u8 s L3 S5 X- N
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.7 U: t! S" j( Q( f' t& F' F$ b
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
- G* d' z6 P L2 W2 p7 Zbrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he. f. G7 j% n/ h6 |
understood the pain." K, q- V/ ^$ F1 l
"I know what those families go through," he said.
/ a9 ~* K; Y- U2 [Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's7 K% Q1 j8 Q: {! @' ^ ?# p& P# n& M1 B
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.9 E/ h( u/ l" F# u Q( T' u
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman p9 G! Y) q, h# r7 b3 U- g% f
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put: Q* `+ a- ?7 ]) }+ b
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,6 B8 _& h6 o6 I4 m" g
Lentz replied: "Not totally."5 y0 B. H: H$ N: m0 I b4 \
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were: r( M$ O- n4 \1 a: S* J }8 s
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said* n, N @/ t( H/ V5 a$ D* p A# t# `
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
* h$ H2 v( N6 v4 A2 c4 e; Epedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
7 I; G" k3 `+ Jvehicles already on the road.5 B3 z* J) ?0 F' x1 C
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify: }* b- t( W% T4 s" M
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full# N+ A2 X, Q7 j ~) a6 S5 A% ~
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and8 W( H7 R- V+ c' a2 w9 s. | f; B/ V
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were8 r' @, N6 k+ g0 b8 J2 U+ `- P
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
- k& h/ s. Y1 r* w"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
: R' q! H5 ?, T" c- U( s9 ytragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony3 A l, x7 V+ ?# g
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
! L9 U7 V" @- E! Z; x$ \( d( Z2 GCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
0 K. m& L8 p# P! ?commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to" ~4 `; p/ s9 e, y7 ^
restore the trust of our customers."
( V8 c- j) C- P6 J% n$ m5 X3 [9 fLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
5 R. m3 A% [: eSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
& V M3 X# _1 ~$ Mzoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --& Z3 n6 ~* Y# I! q/ U: H
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
/ _0 H: a% O3 X( I _hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
- T% [1 v) a0 v7 a" ]+ x D6 l: Sthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
; H. C, Z5 L# k6 @turn off the engine., p9 \0 J$ F" M
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of4 F. X6 A3 n4 L% E* P
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
& I) |! l& F7 g( }5 x"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
+ v' p7 k* g. wsaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond# U' K5 N5 r6 z! m4 }8 F1 o7 q
to her complaints.5 \ }& J: z; b; |9 T5 S) X' K
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers4 d( h; D. ]; }$ [
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic- E8 u( R( M3 t7 T( \
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
$ {0 E+ y' M8 ]# _3 ]- l4 q8 U"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
, J3 j* G. d, Q9 qthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
, x! b4 Q/ |! p e" ^/ G0 `6 K"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut# V# @3 @, f1 v
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
/ E) Q6 S0 Z' V3 r+ C. f# I7 MTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in& b) R& h: o* G d( h0 h0 y
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
! @, M& a! @9 L9 ~8 i0 @being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
/ C: _& v! }1 A) i0 I0 ewere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
. E1 g' m) R- u) a$ severy question."
' `/ S) \; O! uToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
3 [7 p' v D$ X ~! Relectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The2 V1 s0 o6 l. O; h+ o3 ~) a4 p9 H3 N
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But/ i9 Z7 `; r6 x- T' G" l3 z) e
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
& w9 N( W2 ?* w: Z1 |9 g; Cnumber of vehicles
8 t: s) L* b9 H$ Z; N) B7 w7 c6 k/ PTracking down an electrical problem can be far more
$ ?: ]/ d$ ?. v+ \* U/ m0 vdifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
" P; O) s( ^; V" _mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one+ H- E. f, C. G/ @
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
+ z6 f) U4 F ^0 ZMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
% ?: Y* Q" u9 ~, q' [where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no" ~5 k6 h# C& A2 T3 I1 m; S
trace at all.
: k" x( E+ {2 {1 s5 D; T' F8 DHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call/ F5 b8 P |7 t5 ?5 ?6 f+ u
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
- m5 {6 K( |! C! c" j6 {acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the0 Q- `2 U j! }: Z1 j% e
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
2 G0 C, `( C4 P& `Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,5 q; w* \- g& S3 Z
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and ^# c m) y- Q* s: }3 {
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the1 ] a+ }3 [- _% Y. t. t! u {
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible ]; Z1 @1 S; D5 E
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
% e+ v( \3 X' g k1 Zsuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
( N; O: F3 D; Bby Toyota's lawyers."
! J) [) m9 O% C1 q+ T: ^Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
$ V' }. e. E1 T5 T' P$ `problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
+ q; L7 g$ ?' @: ocustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
3 ] M/ x5 e& q5 U. G9 Csaid.9 ^, s: Z5 M9 Z/ |* Q
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
: W( s* N+ L) {8 aa rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our6 S4 e6 I7 h$ x+ d/ m" p% N; s
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
; X& e2 j0 ?" ^; ~1 ]$ Aofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
* y [9 p; D% J1 FSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying, e z; R- W2 e K; f: F
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread L8 P" c2 h7 x
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
- L% Q: k# i/ z: O- T5 mautomaker, at least in part because of the government's8 N, B- ]7 f) \6 y
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
; P. |8 B% ~- s, F4 j% jChrysler.
7 n: j! k) V' N: k9 Q2 j"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax+ O9 g% q0 c, l& h: U. @
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
2 S& h& Y# n- i8 lHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also: O$ \$ }. e( A- G: ?+ h+ h3 o' c: r7 n
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete" C& ]! R7 q2 _! p0 q$ U" k7 e8 G
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
& B+ X0 `* @& y5 [- E0 \8 g" ^tough."
: |0 d5 t# \; d( U( l, ]* ^---
/ o6 O( a# \- W0 J- ~( }# xAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom0 O3 w% W9 f1 o3 c
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
4 y. C0 A$ w/ R k9 f7 k1 W1 I; }this story.5 ~) o$ H" }! J8 [$ N+ g
+ W3 I% w* a1 |0 i; X6 ^ q
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