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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题) `/ N' m( j8 o+ z% H' `: ]3 ^
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
6 u4 ?5 l& b p" O6 w' y- hWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
+ U2 S1 u9 b d# Yoperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that/ _% m! q! R7 a: H) B+ V5 s" h
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"0 T Y. \: s* }( w. `; ?
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.' Q% K; L# V% r0 j2 e4 q
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
# A0 t9 w7 r1 ycauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
& [+ n4 r* z: ZHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
0 L2 {9 e* N5 O V1 \: eacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and2 N: j5 C& r( I T
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
& G. T0 T( |" V! P$ Smats and sticking accelerator pedals.
9 W' T/ x5 p% ~: E! oHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
+ x' V/ \+ [2 [, |0 y7 \/ B+ band fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
( X7 N9 ?: Y) J6 tcriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
% k% B( S* V. D' ^9 D! bfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
' s! c! K4 \3 L$ y: M2 Dnot stop her runaway Lexus./ t+ W/ F% e( O
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,% C! ~" d# [0 U4 k: i
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second( B# b# Z) l7 _4 p1 f/ T1 U
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.8 p' S& t7 C. z. a& T% O
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
5 K! i3 _; ~: J4 p' Searly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
4 h: ]; Y/ s3 S& Z- x# x"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has4 x- O0 \& O% v& V3 G) s
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway, G" U I( s g& \
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
" O0 B7 ]* Y, a' binvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."4 x' }' r3 o: o- J
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
. o" M4 a! }+ r" H: N% X' ]. Celectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of9 s0 u3 `1 I: B1 h
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a' Q8 |, I4 t! g. q# \3 ^( I
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he6 _) g; i, u) T& V
said.4 ~9 ?4 K* t8 O! T
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what) w: P( |3 ?2 X
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe' z" H; \( G# _( ^8 J/ F+ N1 q. h$ ~* f
about driving our products," Lentz said. C' [8 g3 U+ u- ^
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's& ]9 \6 K) S- `
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has- ] ?4 ~, x- C8 w8 h! A
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
2 T! `; v0 g$ k" Rmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of# w/ l# k- i5 {& i. j+ H/ M
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
. T e% T$ `8 Y' N3 ~5 T: l; x8 aissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering% T7 h* g$ P. F' u8 L( ?: Y7 ~. U; g. ^
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
, z2 c A6 ?, b5 Z& p; M$ itheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
6 W& M! F7 W1 x+ C. r& v& odown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
; f/ X" F# K( ?4 Areceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
. d+ c+ A* u3 y' C& ]3 L# jof Toyota vehicles since 2000.9 H0 @+ M9 [" v0 Z+ a, w' j! E7 Y
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own0 ` R0 n6 w" r' }% H8 [
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
+ b6 g5 D& _% \1 d( ~2 F7 Tunderstood the pain.
6 Q6 ^" o& s9 d! }3 u"I know what those families go through," he said.& h! O( m, e# R2 P+ c# F! i
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
/ f: l* N( Y+ V9 t: N t% Kfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.$ O0 d4 ~0 C, {3 r. L n) h
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman/ E6 J3 I( p8 ~1 |9 Z1 p
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
& B# o- T" e$ I/ l0 `" Kin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
1 V9 J* [ e! G" v, r, sLentz replied: "Not totally." r5 x+ D" _3 t, O: L5 t
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were; R( B( Y. h" K6 U g* }! m0 v) C# n
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
9 n: ]8 ]& u+ r0 g6 pToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
5 h% P3 e# d9 A# w* a5 d5 a! }pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
2 @0 y8 t% V' R0 n9 u- }vehicles already on the road.
4 ~; U1 j4 F' D/ R6 q/ g: m" SMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify& C; B1 u1 s9 L
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
4 [) }# H! u. z8 M& C+ Rresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
- Q1 F: j: h- j* yoffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
0 j( W' @; l, N( L% @& }killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems./ Z% x9 ?7 d! ^# l
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
5 U3 e! @9 B, gtragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony' x0 {% [* n/ s4 s+ u
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight) [3 Z" ?" W6 u( B8 v
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
0 j8 F5 t7 q/ M- F# { H4 Xcommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
# {3 e' C& }. I- Trestore the trust of our customers."7 f( T* ]2 O, d4 @/ i! [8 ?
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
* T# w% j' Y8 m8 Y, X9 @Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly& T. r; N9 A# U8 Z
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
6 q% S! m; v' F7 R/ w, Qshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
$ {7 |$ k1 V5 u6 g1 k; ghitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough) _8 V6 G; H( m" {* Q0 c6 _
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and5 _5 V! w' p6 O+ t P0 W- |
turn off the engine.# V8 _3 m$ ]0 Q+ C4 G
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of9 B5 A5 d# M# n$ E
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
7 g3 w- l1 B4 C) e0 Q"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
1 r2 r+ v. q) z* O/ s5 vsaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
( p8 ]- j& |9 n* H3 |7 V% }4 j+ C- Zto her complaints.- w( s" J" u) W2 }
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
+ S# ]2 u0 J' X; Greturned again and again to the question of whether electronic4 g8 G( N) H2 R/ V
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.! n7 f0 e. r, n& q! ^
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric9 M/ ]0 n0 E8 p
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited6 I# m5 A! ~) s$ N
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut) |# F" v- b0 _8 A7 L& @3 B
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
/ m @# K( K) U2 k$ A8 UTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in% G0 K7 K/ A ~) p; I( v, \
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were; t" _% r3 _; \( b
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls' r' w ^# ` A4 _
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer+ \5 W- F' w8 A3 G* \ Y
every question."
5 @2 S4 |) z# n2 Y5 s ^5 T" lToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether- E9 [% H! s* d
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The U0 {2 S& u/ {2 N1 X5 X+ W
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
: w: g. v- L4 o3 j& ^committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
; _/ y9 O0 v' ~; nnumber of vehicles
; u; ~" j/ u3 f# ^7 r/ tTracking down an electrical problem can be far more7 F) {8 ]$ T# C, i; `2 n
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
7 L' D3 [9 z4 }+ ~mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
3 O; L9 j p @ j2 _3 c Csource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
6 W `4 E" W) c! D4 X$ LMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,6 y/ I$ u7 E p# {! t3 Y
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
) m9 l& w# _7 O+ Etrace at all.
1 s% N6 Z8 W" q& B! E2 F' f d3 eHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call* M( c6 P9 A& X( ?: K" C$ b) p
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
8 s3 `0 p% M( z- ^$ Racceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
& N, C+ U C9 precalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
* L3 i/ @$ R6 {Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,) t/ D# O f6 T! M' T
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and# h4 U7 H/ X" E
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
" v1 Y( w7 I$ I5 D Helectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible6 o/ W1 F4 h$ t% |$ o4 s
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only3 G- q# k; ~6 l" W4 b1 z+ J
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
3 Q t4 I, S! l7 yby Toyota's lawyers."
6 \$ y6 C% m0 @9 N0 f2 \Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of7 J8 a2 q: o# y7 T$ H. X$ @3 q' ~
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
+ F8 @1 f" Y( P0 Zcustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
4 k: v6 U' y& r" p6 Z1 f+ e2 o! @said.
/ W* K5 e# `* r9 `' N" p"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
) B( I& M& C: e7 n" _; Ra rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
- e8 Q+ _& }! k1 O) Z/ n) F ogood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating7 ~5 t: F9 f, }9 E; w& c& |$ k( e
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.2 R1 `4 l0 e! ]
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying/ x5 S9 m( v6 P. j- e+ R
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread0 v. p+ ~( A6 P/ f, R$ {
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
9 n8 @ Q0 z& v [: vautomaker, at least in part because of the government's
! a/ o) h, X b/ m, w# [; jinvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
2 W ]" F$ I/ {Chrysler. k7 s' h* _& e) v y. j
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax# K7 [, J- e6 ~' o; x5 b
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a! a6 ]: x( Y" H P
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
+ X' I) a, Z B/ c- vserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete3 \1 V. X, s! e- @. l: |% `! y& Q- r
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty, M( E% b, \5 l W0 P6 }
tough."5 A% E9 H: i+ D1 m& `$ w
---+ p4 l7 a$ }, d" w: y; K
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
4 {8 L+ [3 e$ Y4 mRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to, \) M5 J# r, H6 p* o% n/ r8 ?
this story.
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