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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题0 s4 g! H. W8 F, m. P4 v
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS f0 g# x* D/ O7 e- }6 F) ?
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.( Q: U: v* J# |8 ]
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
0 n; r: `' a. othe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"$ X9 o1 ]# v i( a$ ?
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
4 N; A* |) R" [. m. [' j"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential t% M/ S5 M+ B5 z* {& l! B2 P
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.' [5 f) j+ l7 W" n3 J* z3 w4 S
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected6 u) h5 F2 c0 ^) q
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and0 m( w7 ~5 s, d. C
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
( x% _0 s8 d7 I `) Y( ymats and sticking accelerator pedals.6 w* S. f+ \2 Q% M
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
7 H& X4 v( S1 A+ b1 @. L! Sand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp2 F! o' q( M) b; P
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
2 t6 ^9 `! |1 f( X1 a1 Zfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
* X; T2 M; g2 W! U( m, snot stop her runaway Lexus.
! w, }) H4 g$ I) t8 D"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,2 q, o# B7 R2 W! ~: p; g+ k
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
8 B7 I3 l2 m# [" O, ]4 G"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators. w) N/ A& X3 d9 B' V/ ~% B2 G7 ]
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues, B/ V7 N F* U) h+ k4 K/ ]1 i4 J
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
1 ^ u7 _% s' Z, x) @' V# M"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has7 O& }4 t0 `- V5 ^6 f% m
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
9 N5 D; L1 d6 Y( t+ [% u k' vthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's6 F# W) s: w0 ~0 _2 J! X
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
' W1 I7 a' o& z: t( l5 ~. |Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an* B8 l$ }( A2 R/ G, D
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
6 \9 A, H3 T" u8 x+ Q4 ithe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a" `, E& n- }; ^. b' H* x
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he( U3 ~ C4 L3 A/ K D
said.+ j/ i) L7 v- Q/ r: D; r* Y1 f6 Q
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
6 G. X* C) ]0 I- A" u' l; K) ?happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe" W2 X9 E5 g% S6 C8 [
about driving our products," Lentz said.7 `0 q# A% {/ C' A, f: Z2 D
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
m, k% {( _$ V: \! ^problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has& L$ g8 v; }, [# q& i N0 r J0 ?
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6" ?, s$ ?4 \2 \/ L3 t
million in the United States -- since last fall because of
; y6 D+ ~4 b g$ p7 Lunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking) r( G' p- ~4 M3 Q s# Q
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
2 e1 M2 [6 H7 h O" W: Jconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of; d5 \1 `* @0 F+ i9 P' K3 y6 S: c
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow+ w' O0 X: \$ u
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has# Q. v1 O5 M5 U& e
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
- ]& d0 e6 n& p, R) ]of Toyota vehicles since 2000.) P8 @, B+ k4 ? G' N8 B y' u N+ y
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own- f3 z8 [% G+ l. m8 ~( k
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
" P! Q5 Q- c! v- Z) Funderstood the pain.+ P# S+ K L/ }
"I know what those families go through," he said.
$ ]. h$ I$ K2 o6 C: NLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
) G4 o3 g7 |$ F' m4 vfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
) |5 e. z: s& S; zBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
& N* a- p. N ^- f* R9 {: ~Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
" {9 W( X' \4 g* m! C7 f. z. d. d) Sin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
3 Y& \4 l& L# G) r* q7 BLentz replied: "Not totally."0 z, B5 N6 B& |8 Y. V
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
! k" {, L: J9 i& `# L"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said: l* j5 a4 v3 d" d% s3 s( {; K
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
( u3 s4 U3 C9 y; |' p8 Jpedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
7 |2 T1 B, d! f0 V% j2 yvehicles already on the road.8 s4 h; a4 u: G( Y- C; c
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify% a) s. `+ K, \' M9 l& ]2 [: R! D
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
8 p( c$ Y8 V4 F8 N) aresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
5 F7 i9 K- _1 q9 I8 C( q/ \offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
4 c% |$ @# l6 fkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems." l3 w+ P5 l: p$ I! ]
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a2 g, I; X2 }9 |
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony$ U# c% r* B. r0 G/ c4 S
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
2 y/ D8 }; n# X+ k5 H/ ICommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
: B2 U I5 X3 u5 ~commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
# `# ?# m* P8 w8 {" {0 Hrestore the trust of our customers."
" |7 E1 z P/ d( a* ULawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from& x+ N! z/ s1 G; H* y9 }3 d
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly0 K/ W3 E1 k8 j% Q& t; d
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
P- f( S/ E& g) g) W5 B2 k$ Pshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and* h3 D* ? K# t- u3 e! `
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
1 j" e' z- E& i. a9 Athat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
1 \& }; U* i4 ] j: l6 p! {turn off the engine.
0 E1 b# P, |( A1 z; E% eFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
2 S# a- M I2 VOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
( z* `: {1 c1 W! i3 v"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she8 m4 T `) Z. b2 X# {7 f
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
+ Z$ Q5 R @: lto her complaints.$ W& x' _4 ?" X! x# S
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers+ G6 c) F: l. x. m6 j& [- k
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
9 T# @$ o: U) b L3 U2 J+ lmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.8 F+ w# I1 |# u% ]. s6 ~- R0 q
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
" P. ]! h# `" n" t( J% b. h6 ?throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
( T& ^6 x3 j* T1 p9 q1 u"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
5 E3 {" P( A5 X1 W# Yoff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
1 H5 B$ g6 S3 J' F1 p* J/ bTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in1 s9 p8 z/ n' Y/ Q/ @# r6 ]
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
8 V! T1 K" z( Z# R" r0 \$ O0 Abeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls- g% M; r6 A& F$ Z( S9 c8 d
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
7 Y$ V% k, k# G: ]every question."
7 | k5 |* _- ]. o7 E: L2 c# TToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether; s0 q. e4 Q" U$ n
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The% u" q6 n5 A7 |" d5 F
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But5 v: Q2 S/ Y$ O1 {- \9 ~
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
9 G! @6 r: a. V' Gnumber of vehicles# ~" h% Z- o& P! l4 k% J
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more0 ^, f: r1 j$ ?/ T, l3 Z: M# B5 @8 l/ ~
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a2 W. B8 N# k4 K" n
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one2 A9 @& L. }2 |
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.6 u7 p9 ?; P0 [9 Q$ s, S! Z( _# J
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
' x) `8 u' f" t* F1 N7 hwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
" u j. A8 _/ z3 I! `) e: btrace at all.% W2 M/ X9 G+ w+ ~" Z- C4 d y5 D
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
" a8 q" V. ]/ o- d2 qdatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
' J; ^ s$ O7 L( n) S9 zacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the5 B9 S8 F! ^" h& k7 a% R0 O' i
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
! t6 {) d7 @2 J5 r( g" wRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,6 Q2 h5 r$ Z0 W; v- I, H
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
5 Z- h) O9 t2 j# o0 N+ eother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
' ~+ k. g. X. R! q+ x% `5 [electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
& d* [2 {8 k' |+ ~7 d& ?; Gcause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only( ~6 J( _% [ B$ o$ g$ I+ k3 \
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
7 Y9 X. _( s' E6 I- h) Zby Toyota's lawyers."2 |. l! G& Z6 }
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
- V- d2 c" Q5 R0 xproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
& D1 c% Z2 @% ]3 @- Icustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he0 O, ^! }, b; ?( E' X/ T& E
said.
' q6 y6 p3 l6 e* B& s* Z"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with0 y K7 s `. }$ v8 U2 Q/ t8 U) J
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our/ Y6 R! k5 C% g& W6 A: D
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
4 g0 j% E' U' M1 Yofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
+ @7 p8 _ X7 ?2 i R: q& lSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
# ~) k3 z! y+ @; Q$ O# Umembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
- f6 Z! {9 g" }# q% _! ]# drancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the! x5 |5 t- x1 `/ z- e7 x6 b, [
automaker, at least in part because of the government's, o, q" z: w: I L; }6 [
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
9 n- o2 i2 c* m2 m+ a! _6 g' R$ VChrysler., y4 h8 W1 S! b& P' ~7 i* J
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
; d6 _& i6 R, L+ udollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a9 K! M8 n+ N# z) G# J: z
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
2 \( f5 {7 U" f4 m1 Iserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
6 n8 y& ?9 f1 t- vwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
6 d' z9 J0 A! Y7 q* k! I( ztough."0 l, a j) p/ l5 B+ D
---
# y. c2 |) r/ b- a4 IAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
a5 P w, m. v3 I& @: j" BRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to e, L+ L! z2 ~8 [ A
this story.
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