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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题' M7 j+ }! t9 q; H2 a P5 f
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS( ~9 A" Y! l# y4 D- o8 N
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
" O/ M9 J# H# ~, goperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that3 ~/ Z% Y+ H, x7 j, R* j
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"3 w1 r& x/ {) [! K) m/ h1 f
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
0 n0 s0 E5 Q" z0 ]. t% \2 P$ g"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
f6 Z4 t0 D9 Ocauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
- P: K; X4 t& f5 y! jHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected7 N( Z' z' G9 G% h
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
0 U& _' Y6 _6 p& ?0 |5 Wtrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
& P9 h' b- X! o7 X2 Cmats and sticking accelerator pedals.
2 |3 Q. }9 }) Z1 v5 p1 OHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal; E+ f8 M, ^: a" j5 k. L
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
& Z/ k" I' }2 }0 z7 }criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be# O' p8 s" w. {( v$ p; T) j6 n
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could9 U" Q# K% m' K
not stop her runaway Lexus." o" |# v" l8 }( O1 h% o7 T6 M
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,# K3 |/ y' ? S8 `7 P1 X' B( t
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
' A: l; o0 f1 a3 D"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.# p! V; k, h9 s1 R
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
1 X( Q; p9 Q1 O8 b+ e) e' i2 a! m K6 hearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
+ q" {1 j: S3 Y3 m' c, }- l' R, L"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
. B9 U; F$ i. p. X* L- h/ ?: y; Q0 ^done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway% B, s; d+ H* V9 H$ a# P m
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's- {4 j! z' H' u% w6 E
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
* V9 l, v6 _4 }- ]! p& oLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
- ~- x! s6 @- a1 G3 u" oelectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of7 e: o9 X% o9 @$ O
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a. Y4 z: c4 S9 U' K9 w6 R& v& o
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
. t, k& O8 |% n' S4 q+ l8 Psaid.$ w9 P$ q- X7 Y% e, a$ g- U' N3 a
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what; l# e2 l' x" s4 ~8 l- |
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
& W3 c8 ^* `$ t: J, }7 Gabout driving our products," Lentz said.* V& f1 C0 s. X% I0 _% Y8 e' t+ g G% U
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's+ P! Y+ [/ K6 s+ A2 B. h/ Q
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has y# k# }9 Q% s8 S* M
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6' C( {" R: L9 x/ G D
million in the United States -- since last fall because of& X8 I Y4 \* Y) `/ N
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
" S8 F! l/ ~+ j" M+ X0 t. nissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering4 o6 A9 j, z: m$ S( j
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of+ c# a! ]- s: p' |
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow4 j0 ?5 v7 I# Y' O5 ^& |' o+ B
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has' r( T- f* H- A
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration7 s8 ^8 t: D; t
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.
- [) j X3 m, j' d% s- LLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own' O# \0 \/ @& p3 w7 k7 ]
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he3 {' ?7 u. N! E& t
understood the pain.3 O6 q# s w; w. o Z+ i3 ^
"I know what those families go through," he said.4 K* r# T2 ], Z9 m7 h
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's7 A- P$ S1 C+ j: v; @" t& i
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.7 R; T6 w5 A& h
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman5 H+ W8 h2 m; [2 @
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put; P1 v7 k" H* S
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,) ]+ y: V6 L9 P
Lentz replied: "Not totally."! G- I4 l5 a; t
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
8 T! `" o# D" e h"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said$ q" ?% m) ^( }. x
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas$ y; I. o; k e$ M& ?
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
1 ]& w5 u$ I& |& vvehicles already on the road.' S5 T' E) R: A7 F- c1 d; X6 I
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify6 N' _0 b4 v' m; W* p; h) I
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full; ^! v9 D. Y% @7 T9 p. P9 o$ _$ C
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
3 R: g& e) G3 ? o' }& r+ ^" Hoffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were' j% Y" Y# [ v& M. k
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
2 w4 G5 Q) L8 G, H% f0 M"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
3 T& ~8 T! m T. \tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony: X' T* @) Y% n d; z5 X) p
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
8 T' [' h& F8 ^' g2 C2 ^Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal5 q9 B* V2 M# p5 L
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to' ^9 h2 M- L% B2 R: E- l) i( Q
restore the trust of our customers.") l7 u3 z5 H; Q! {1 W
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from# E8 g; ]1 j+ z
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly3 d# a5 R: N) l5 D
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
% t) R9 `+ m* x' q8 fshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and+ z! q. I" ~" M% O
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
5 a% H5 H/ M7 ]; U$ wthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and; A& W4 S. ?; U8 K" x1 i y8 \! }1 D8 n
turn off the engine.
- u. {1 ?6 M7 q$ ^* [ J7 ^) UFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of- s. Y; Q1 n2 H1 ?7 f
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."; H; r- L2 S E/ ^! D8 @
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
. A" p# p/ H- i' M+ \said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
( ?# U) S, D" |7 U' Z+ `to her complaints./ s( a X: i3 i, i8 ^
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers9 _& i2 p, ?8 W5 `
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
% }7 \5 @; s5 I' N' k- W8 _% p& {malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.6 S' F) } `. y
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric* H/ l1 Q, ?" H% }9 ^8 {
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
+ } I* g [8 w- ]# D4 j"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut5 t& w0 C9 |- X* S: S% D7 N
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
8 |# M% G! r, ]) LTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
- G3 ?+ v. I5 x8 Q# _" `. E: S( vprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
1 E' L0 Q( G- F# ?8 Ebeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
* w6 N6 @9 R6 u9 Kwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer& [. Q* l+ H9 m5 w, u: Z
every question."
) S3 A; K- o2 A5 t- Y9 QToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
0 K- U6 M1 i5 A9 d# e4 i5 nelectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
6 y/ ~4 d7 K% m( S1 N. cfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But. T' g5 s; Q% n0 t; Z; H) a3 ]+ c
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
3 ^. f" a* k; x. Rnumber of vehicles: }% V% ?3 z2 |5 }
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more: l4 l" j: b* r) c2 ]
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
" [/ K4 b! m! c: S, p) dmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
" V1 o; M% H. J W1 p! b; ysource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
. f* s. H7 W) r1 \: Y6 A4 kMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,9 x" P7 n$ g9 T
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no8 s: T, |! _- x
trace at all.
8 b% F [3 L. M U9 @: x& YHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
- u* Z4 v/ q) P2 `) Fdatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
b* p Q; G" {* P) y6 ^9 o) V- V: Aacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
0 a- \& F% f. o% q& _) lrecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
5 M, t; n% o( x; A4 ARep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,! N- h# K" I5 b
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and- t- B3 s# T6 a+ ]; C, A; w6 [$ ~
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the2 C3 E. I7 z/ P7 y
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible" s# T m; \' D2 F; U4 E* D
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only# A t7 R3 T0 w9 u
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
9 w/ n( O9 u; g- _8 k- H6 zby Toyota's lawyers."3 H$ u: B- k/ ?& q& ~: K% v4 |
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of7 y7 K9 l7 F0 u
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
3 _( K- }( l, G" h; H; @, Fcustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
+ t0 G0 \( b9 R; E9 msaid.
5 j0 w1 k$ ]0 c; ` V"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
- j, N6 X' Z) p7 ^$ Na rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our1 H$ t( z1 P7 Q ~! [9 e
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
; K/ m2 }$ [2 H- o- zofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
" `5 s5 f X+ R, u" }. XSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying' V( r. c7 B; H1 R1 P
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread' H8 R* P0 `0 X
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
w$ d9 Q4 N! Yautomaker, at least in part because of the government's
b1 v- S$ r% cinvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and: T# s' e3 E$ `1 H6 g: O H7 w6 z
Chrysler./ h m5 R2 q) I, F7 ^: T
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax$ W2 i/ s- q" D- G5 y
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
. K* Z- c0 \) P2 lHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also- R, m& z* d. g8 f$ F. n
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
& z; a$ ]0 A2 E% B$ r% D% Jwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty) D7 J2 Y" }3 E+ H
tough."
5 @4 l: L1 l0 G* U* B. l: N; c: h, U# H4 i---
, n( Z, s# [/ n4 WAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
" H$ l8 d* I" O _" mRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to4 j; P# L6 \/ f- i4 ?
this story.
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