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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题0 b: O% o7 u& c5 A" O
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS5 H( C4 f1 T3 [# R
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.' h' \/ S" t- l% u; e
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that0 l0 @4 w% i# J4 @8 C9 ?( U
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"/ c- _4 u$ K; J$ ]% D' m
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration." P: d. p" F5 _
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential, f5 y' j9 F# A# N5 @; J
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
, a% u& g- \4 K" {However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
% A! c! Z1 ^! e# U2 Q; h+ D* C# Yacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
- ?: d; s/ f( D- q* Ftrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
$ B% |" U0 n3 B% U2 C8 qmats and sticking accelerator pedals.
- J! A4 {, N0 _& }2 @2 y1 aHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
9 S+ j, g9 i. o: R4 m1 ]and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp, g3 ?, D9 X. u6 `8 g! S- S
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be8 j# B) K2 W: I, d% F$ r/ i5 [
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could) C9 o* g$ T7 d& y5 j F
not stop her runaway Lexus.
9 u/ }$ Q/ F6 K' _"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,& n$ ]& S* T! t5 _) k! s: q
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
- J: t6 w) \& k% G8 F"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators./ [$ o( b' _9 r4 K w3 }" R9 N* M, ]
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
8 L- N$ _+ `5 a0 n6 Hearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said5 H' [& G5 B3 M. @
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has! n4 i9 W# W* ?2 `1 ?' G+ E8 @
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway. Q. o( o5 E/ C
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
; F2 D+ n4 N; X1 P( N; P+ O5 kinvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
! u7 y0 [- }& jLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an! _& j" @ P) }
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
# I* c p2 y9 v4 _$ h% W" i- v2 g& Sthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a" D Z* D/ [+ J7 ^$ p h% J- ~" T
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he, n) O. _2 `; V, m2 X! r
said.
! C/ Z7 D6 L/ X4 z vAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what! A2 R3 ]- N+ [3 c
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
6 B) f' |+ X/ g4 i* rabout driving our products," Lentz said./ [$ Q7 z" o# R" f; f4 @) ?. b8 R
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
5 [! G1 a9 Y3 B( ~+ Hproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has' h0 M+ a) _; w
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
2 u$ Q9 O% d% @" g2 o' Fmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of' i9 z; ^8 R$ D; C
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
! \ V2 b3 E) ^6 [; y) Y) Fissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering, Z+ q* ~% e! _8 T9 A$ e' d* d
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of9 |: m0 A( v7 m# l3 L
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow$ t+ `! l# R5 x* j$ H1 @. D& F
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has# G+ G5 r$ k3 ~) P
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
: x7 B6 N$ h+ T, Q2 a" uof Toyota vehicles since 2000.6 d5 ?! ^5 J. T; v' v* Q
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
% j8 o# O3 y7 @- p; a; _brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
" W0 f& ?) w( m- C- [. |7 x, `understood the pain.- O! i0 l3 v- C( S# Q% H; W
"I know what those families go through," he said.
' M! O* D+ p! W$ F! G! hLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's$ W3 n [* I N5 R+ |+ {
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.$ z5 Y1 q8 g' l! T
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman" ]( @& e) e2 F
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
9 R4 y5 j/ W) E& J* r- F: O' ~in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,7 ^8 B- W* x5 f, M: i: l7 A4 d
Lentz replied: "Not totally."
) w: V" q" g. c+ |1 IStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
0 L- L" o8 Y2 j! {"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
3 Q [; Z$ U- \- b4 `8 `3 cToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
! _5 n" k" M* Jpedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its& ~) K' U+ G1 x/ Q+ l# o
vehicles already on the road.6 l6 Y# d/ [& x+ I ^# _- I
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
7 n, U' B) t% x; r2 x% n3 ]before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
* y& E* ~! r. Z8 zresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and) g" d6 A: |: Y' i o3 Q
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were0 J1 J/ `" R6 X/ |, H# O% u+ K6 k4 n
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
' o% o! `9 U: ~. V& m"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
0 x; B2 g4 f: K$ N" f% f) w( mtragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
8 {* n4 s/ x+ x' k2 {9 N$ ?for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
% _* v) J$ J; ^7 C" z. {Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal) S; u# e* ]8 |, v/ {4 V
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
9 T, x/ h$ ~2 n7 C7 d5 hrestore the trust of our customers."
% G; I* {+ G: D+ k* T" OLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from4 E" W) V2 H4 i5 W, J: [) g
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
9 K! g, n: M; H' C) ~' o: tzoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --1 Z- L' \" O, i
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and- d; W7 M* s$ N' |. n# T; {
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
- Z3 F; _) r* b6 U+ Z# Ythat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and* }: v) y% t7 u) O9 K: s1 B
turn off the engine.
& O! [, V! }$ v6 h3 s5 z1 W1 `Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
& ~" V( w" D7 g4 f. I" s" w$ vOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
( [* _1 ~1 M' a' N"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
5 p6 n6 U8 ^& u. Xsaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
7 K ?3 L' i! a$ j! {5 _to her complaints.
. ~2 @% |/ U8 R w) H6 V6 i( sIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers2 @/ \7 r+ c, v& r* y
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic3 c' i; L4 x% P1 L; A2 c
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.& H9 E7 R" y" v. B- a
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric- S: M; w g2 ~+ C* v
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited* _) C3 n: A' h. Z) k# }
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
4 l& W3 |' q- G1 g% Z% g2 y$ zoff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."9 ]3 y) |! @0 [( y
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
7 r& s1 o# }/ L1 xprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were/ b3 I0 o$ a7 g6 x: O }
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls: ?4 y& i, D5 j" i, ]+ x
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer$ m5 u2 g! [* E7 a' A
every question."( g4 X% g- X; c# i! ]! o7 V: m
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
% Q) d5 r/ {2 z# A1 p6 Delectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The E* a/ d# u5 q7 f: a8 f# [
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But0 q( c) R, u4 d
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
+ o" x9 O; X. Onumber of vehicles
0 ~' n! h5 o7 pTracking down an electrical problem can be far more
) N4 ?9 X( N8 l% r* l9 [difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a# U! E0 L; a9 d, {& `6 `) h
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
+ g2 W# e9 C; [- r+ R3 r: b! Zsource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
5 s2 e9 e1 z" n. n6 U9 K# JMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,% d! w3 {/ e; J' j+ R' ~7 Y+ c
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
V9 v! B2 J5 `$ v# [' W6 G6 ptrace at all.: x" D( h! s9 _3 I
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call v) Q- @" h; N8 Y" ?4 i' U
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
& ]5 f+ I! s+ G7 `$ q. p' Pacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
1 K+ V( {0 e6 M1 Q9 r+ m% l1 L. @recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.# J9 B( E! L$ m: j* d m9 K; w
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
( T' ^0 X! A* O/ D, I8 a2 K2 Xsaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
* [ _ H; n+ y0 e" P3 Aother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
( s( e* v7 D }) F8 \electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible$ t' C, {8 K' a2 f* \1 Z
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
3 E# N2 e# @/ I/ F! a8 X6 Tsuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
7 @% A( n* O7 B! \, U4 ^& |by Toyota's lawyers."1 m' }7 |5 P/ I4 B' {
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
& k8 R$ \* `) f4 S2 ~problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
& l0 ~# n+ B C9 }6 B+ R" |' C- Mcustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
4 p0 I' Z9 S5 v. c. nsaid.5 l7 N- X6 n- Q4 \( c! q3 r2 z
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with0 r: n# _. Y, A
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
* s1 x' h/ v! P8 t: W3 ggood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating' B" X/ w+ O; {
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.+ T8 \& A q) {6 ~
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
3 i, }: Q; @- W2 ~ }members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread2 l! _# X/ c" } y( W) G1 x
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
7 q' U5 S5 r* Dautomaker, at least in part because of the government's
. G5 b$ Z2 t1 v9 yinvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
' d' e6 X" b: s, N8 O# d- M" u/ nChrysler.- }0 W3 n1 z" w- G ]$ J
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax$ `0 C; H4 j+ M9 p% T% t
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
" A0 k- p2 D+ N: z, N- u; eHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also" W% p+ ~2 q+ ^3 r6 R0 Z$ ~0 x
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete6 z2 k9 H4 l; n
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty5 h/ L. x( K/ h6 h& B% q+ X7 _
tough."2 D" u U5 t& a- i) m+ E
---
i. {4 B; R; H% |6 X* Z; p7 [* pAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
) W" H& Z1 r6 I! |" i' HRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
, G. {; i1 Q+ `5 v9 ithis story.0 ^# j* i: a- W1 J. J% o4 i0 f
; G! f* X7 R' O- m5 S
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