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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题3 ]; h7 |+ E) j0 N
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
w4 E+ I+ |2 q0 _, C& m g) {' _ GWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.0 n# W) ]* U" i3 y1 e6 b- z$ c
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that& z4 V4 q& q3 ~2 h0 d6 M
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"" A; L" q+ U6 J* g
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.- c# G0 I2 ]) f! F7 \$ g/ C/ H
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential8 U7 W3 x" l( e1 o9 ~! k
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
/ B* a& u% u, g3 wHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
; D$ \" X" b1 G6 F, N( ?$ nacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and4 i1 i! z+ I" q& u U
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
$ t0 o, B. G& l+ c, w* Pmats and sticking accelerator pedals.
, B& Y, d+ j$ y+ M0 HHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
1 s2 g o3 q# vand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
* K! G* J F9 Q6 \4 kcriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
$ ?6 d9 T* L" ^further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
) c# Z3 E+ d) S N4 Dnot stop her runaway Lexus.6 R2 X& j" P! C1 I( s
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
& }- t. ]1 w) N ?Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second% l. \0 `; G1 N n& f1 N/ n6 H
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.* p8 \& L. |; V2 b9 K
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
* J$ B% f5 j8 _# B6 s) s* R1 fearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said1 Q( a" d5 v9 X2 w" x3 e8 G
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has/ J" C8 s4 r" P1 U, [; d
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway+ ~+ v6 M) |& \/ c) R0 b% c
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
- Q0 z: X& N$ s% C! Vinvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
; \% ?* l4 ~2 Y3 I9 Z- B/ BLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
6 x$ T! o4 z F; `: g$ qelectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of" M4 j: H( E4 L; a' q
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a0 Y; l! b6 A. H% p, r' v& ~& D
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
: V9 N) `7 ~2 W$ @0 N( j7 b; @said.
, R- }) }. H8 lAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
) x( [) T/ D: V. b* Ihappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
9 [) I. D" ]# d. I. t( E4 Uabout driving our products," Lentz said.
" R( x) w* |6 qThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
! t( z' c' y# \1 ]3 ~. w5 uproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
2 I/ y# @) L6 g) \recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 64 g7 r+ D. t( C! Q) y7 r+ R
million in the United States -- since last fall because of
( g+ C7 A4 a! e6 W) ^3 tunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking" O/ n; ~- P; @% G1 l" S- _/ h
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
v$ }7 h* r3 B% T/ ~; K2 b; Dconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
4 o% D2 t) R$ M4 ]: z3 W6 k2 T F2 Etheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
. ]- J2 f: z1 `* B; vdown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has& W. }" v' }. y' ?& K i
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration: H) D/ U" X6 e
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.' A( M1 B1 N; x! d% Q/ Z7 e' [4 c
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own& m3 }* K$ X6 J: L# X5 k5 |6 A! X& q
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he |8 [2 Y1 R1 m9 w% q( L
understood the pain.8 W: N0 H- F! i" h' e
"I know what those families go through," he said.
" S( e8 b5 h. ^Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
, |7 R$ _. K# u4 r# lfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.. _/ Q7 N4 Y8 C6 W0 r
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
' H0 ]" Q: W) p8 |5 P# f0 ?Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
2 p. [5 l2 [. ^) kin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
& f R5 }( R0 j) zLentz replied: "Not totally."
, q& ]0 ?8 v: V& mStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were. M" [9 J+ q( [$ U# ?* \
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said. J" `& f0 V* y/ h8 l9 k3 B
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas! i4 R/ @7 Y5 h- i! W
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
" K4 y9 q' T+ Hvehicles already on the road.& {1 {6 ]% V7 b( u
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify5 T8 f% {1 r! @( v8 `! Q
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
) b$ z% b1 {9 rresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
, C, L# z) l- u1 s+ k& xoffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were; ^4 f* P! z6 u" N
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.# H' M% g f- _. Y' o, c
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a3 _; ?- j- G7 J7 P. u$ Q/ ]+ E
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
( ~+ J2 ?! s1 {9 `8 K M" Bfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
8 e% n, i/ m+ ~+ TCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
5 z ^7 z9 D0 H, R' J- J6 s, F. Gcommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
4 A/ W/ I* c% T, |5 G+ [restore the trust of our customers."
- a: G4 V' w& v& sLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from& [5 o% a* _' t6 U3 U9 ^
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
m; @9 i4 J7 ezoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --# ]- H6 Y0 Z7 s, `% o# q# ]
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
3 K' G( m" \8 w' b' S/ dhitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough6 H! O% S7 O! ~5 {+ s) W9 y
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and. V7 l/ e" m( J h4 F
turn off the engine.
; ~3 t/ l3 W. j! V* ^3 }Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
5 \$ M& W2 I: p) D, h! q0 a1 _/ IOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
# {5 F" P8 M0 o"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
) z# y$ B: M* a) ]& R+ c& k3 ^' Asaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
" l; p1 N% i+ D4 X+ \! N4 h/ @to her complaints.
5 b+ k* h0 |5 Z# f0 u3 z9 g' E8 H+ \In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
! v" s4 p. @3 {- R" qreturned again and again to the question of whether electronic) p$ e2 E# z" ~1 z5 Y! I4 p
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.! J+ ^1 Z7 d2 [) @8 \2 l
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric& K0 q9 R. N$ ^( i- t
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
! i' c' V2 r: w5 Z7 E# `$ N$ b"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
( R+ c# o/ w) [/ Coff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
3 u+ H3 q+ f' j0 @& r5 e7 _Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
& [- ]$ i2 Z- F2 Zprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
9 w' T6 Y' P% v- h6 _2 T1 hbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls2 [0 Y8 S- h- ~' J7 ?8 o
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
/ q* a6 c. r0 d+ Z% ~; Kevery question."( r/ }. Y' e/ l1 R
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
! f. ~! N. Y, c1 f0 ^5 Y& R, K! d# Xelectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The- y( m2 g, t8 I' M1 U
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But7 w7 @1 A- V2 ?5 O9 I) u
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
" W1 H1 h, a G6 S* v+ G$ a0 @2 d& ynumber of vehicles/ F# ?4 x8 w2 |9 I& _, A) ]
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more
) T6 b$ E( Y) S) Sdifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
9 H2 E) O; ^( K$ G# a( m8 m$ wmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one: `! z! b+ m2 q! n, F$ t& p9 l" g
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
$ Z8 {" h: z' X# nMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
" H5 e9 n4 T$ ywhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
! R/ c1 V$ Z0 B; o; Z0 h4 ftrace at all.+ i: q& S3 K* `9 S& L0 [
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call: n. U# ?) y% A' z: |0 c# q. c6 H
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
8 b; u. k# {% V3 X: ]0 Iacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
5 R( P# T- k5 [recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.# ^% H, U# H9 o) f' q" C3 v# H
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
2 ]* S; y, F# m. y' \said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and. {; c0 U. T; l$ B1 J H% `6 i
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the2 C0 h& }* ~8 s0 T8 y. r- P* |# B2 O
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible* P7 L7 g; R7 P6 ^
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only2 W; S8 J8 Q% i" t
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
" f8 K; x8 V8 D3 K- W6 M% Z, \; [6 dby Toyota's lawyers."
! G8 _2 ~% `" m; L: F4 C* CLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
a4 F: H+ T* h& x4 kproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
C; I( ?* K/ Z j: ^customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he( `) r8 Q6 D" r' y* L
said.2 Y& j; D6 z9 \; z4 ]$ a
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
( A$ P/ t/ E+ ia rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our1 p, I. z( Y; u
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating1 B, n! j0 n6 J; m" u
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
3 E2 k; B5 M, f! h, b8 x& pSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
5 L( F1 y7 i' i$ @! Amembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread4 e) d5 o7 d* U. b1 G0 o5 Z% p
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the9 v2 F6 I: L6 |9 c) S: y, p1 O
automaker, at least in part because of the government's
9 A4 V/ k% R+ `% R; p5 minvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and7 U, n9 E m& B( U3 [. M% B/ o0 r- F
Chrysler.
1 l9 o" y& s0 Y# K' k q6 n* ~"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax$ {2 T& l0 V* n+ s& K
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
3 B: \$ K% [" t' i7 U1 }Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also! Z5 R! n$ A; {1 n1 q4 j: r
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
5 J* J: h0 S7 _# h* T4 Dwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
9 h6 x( j, o4 Q& h5 w& P3 Qtough."8 P6 \$ }7 ^; d8 t- w8 Z- O; a
---
" A% B. D" t' F4 lAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom' D2 d% s1 {5 y( b; |) H
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
# d! S: q# T$ L d' mthis story.
4 l0 G4 O' ] D; Q3 i2 ?7 H4 i5 `2 F+ G4 d$ b
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