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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题- }# @) L# S+ @# H
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS6 ~) A$ B `# _ }5 n5 S5 l3 a' A0 O; b
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.7 m& m) l) z/ {5 x' t/ P
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that8 _+ p6 E: }. N, i$ E; Q
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
4 ]0 n/ K5 P& }( }9 j. U o# X1 \solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.; z: P# q% M2 [/ m+ y
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
1 O4 }; K7 q9 o2 Jcauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
2 v- m5 O5 e+ w" U; O; _# GHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
' L6 F2 H& A8 a. N: \8 n7 sacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and+ X) u7 ]- A- |8 E
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
+ \. u- @1 [( E" v9 c. o+ |mats and sticking accelerator pedals.. n3 \$ x6 Y( z- Y. \) ~& |
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal$ k: V# T* F1 C; n
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp, T ]! G8 V+ c6 [
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
3 _1 Z3 p' Z! ` V! ^3 ifurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
) i3 N6 S5 J5 ynot stop her runaway Lexus.8 c+ ^8 L# I1 Q3 m7 y/ B
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
( a+ H: e1 S; O: `+ P) C0 m) bTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second7 _( s: n5 { I5 u& ^8 C
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
, d4 N; B2 F9 O/ h9 g' G5 p5 R- D- iTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues" X* P1 H( ?$ g/ @) R( g, T
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
5 m1 S- n. b3 X' E0 |- a, t"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
$ ]8 y% y! a4 H( _3 C8 gdone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
; m3 v; G; m9 E0 d6 nthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
% C, n9 I+ a; T4 U1 yinvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
0 ]/ T: x- |* N4 VLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
# `& D0 J: Z. _electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of/ l0 ^8 k$ G) M7 U* n/ p p1 ~
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
y- k+ t; Q! J9 Y$ u. Y5 Jmalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
% r& O- O% L% @( Q3 f0 fsaid.1 N* ?. S: D2 I! V0 D
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
4 c, b7 P9 y2 V. t9 dhappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe+ z, j! m+ J" X# P) g: r
about driving our products," Lentz said.7 r4 ~9 h7 I$ G
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's" h ^3 u' _$ }7 Z" H' B" W
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has8 Y( F T# B. T
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
7 Y% _ z: Z1 }- imillion in the United States -- since last fall because of
5 ~! M% C: r4 Wunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking, D1 d9 v! M- {1 p m5 L- P* x& ]
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering: C1 [* @8 q$ ?7 P2 V8 ~. E. E
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
. K) j. B4 S8 X) C* F$ x$ K0 {their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow4 R1 R! k0 l+ R9 H0 m& H) g( p5 J
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has/ p, H, \5 U2 z$ D
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration. u# a- q0 q( g- p5 v
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.1 C4 F5 f' M6 R, ]
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own2 N, Z1 }# w0 P$ _6 ^
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he) e4 e5 p5 a4 W: Y' p
understood the pain.- J8 Q/ q. Q7 l4 Y5 _
"I know what those families go through," he said.
& R: w8 ?: V# u- Z% R* KLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
/ F9 W. h$ h( z6 v0 Vfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.3 k/ a* t! O* a! u1 H, \
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
# G+ u3 N/ L) C0 L. F/ R! iHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
6 l' B, s2 `# R$ r9 J- k& `/ \in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,$ c. X4 G p$ g3 d5 |3 @" X* I# K' i
Lentz replied: "Not totally."; B5 j# b+ x. h% f/ w6 Q% i
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
! k* {2 D6 J# u3 @% t! b h* p"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said% ~1 A3 H: N X6 J; Z
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
2 d. k0 }- I, c! Y, `+ Q+ ^pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its+ C: A. d2 Q- A A
vehicles already on the road.! A6 x/ |8 X8 g* o- W' Y- G+ g
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
p7 @; k7 Z6 N0 U2 W" Bbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full+ b+ f5 D$ J( v, ^
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and. n8 f: @! T3 f h7 B' ^9 O
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
; L! K# N* E# Z7 U4 o8 p7 gkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.6 F: d- A! K% d: m* \1 R
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
! s& e+ H6 a9 a* Ztragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
0 M. @8 |& B' |5 a# z: u7 @4 r/ [for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
4 p" l& L: X( R! [! bCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
; u- y" e5 [6 I* X* Dcommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to- ~3 |" w# t/ Y/ E. _) o ?& ^
restore the trust of our customers."3 Q" P8 J. _) m( ?- x7 i: t& k
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from( g X- F/ j3 N0 R* B
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
2 `1 X3 I- |/ h9 ^ X' dzoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --1 @ y; m: k9 K( j/ E8 b/ q
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
- Z" v9 Q v' w) n/ ^hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough0 w9 L9 L# b' g4 s# s
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
9 p9 j2 `9 P" x9 K: x5 n# ?turn off the engine.7 H4 S8 j- O" m
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of5 m/ n9 q5 K9 O
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."& W1 [; b5 F: y
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
7 G; {6 c, H& ?: Qsaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
# v" Y$ w, B; Q" A! Cto her complaints.$ }9 f) r Z$ ~' g" p
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers9 }( I9 k0 v' [% ^9 {
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
% @8 A8 H& m- U s# @malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
5 L3 \& u1 [3 m. ?. g0 d- ]"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric" D0 m6 Z8 b0 C
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
( R$ o' @% p; R2 J& Q: N' d3 t2 X8 U"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
+ {6 S3 n* {. ?off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."( S3 M5 E* c5 l) g2 Y- k
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in7 h# y$ D- a4 @; u
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were8 h- A l3 t8 [ m8 L. `! m: y+ c
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls* P J9 l; s: o+ s$ H u
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer6 u$ v0 q9 R9 Z" W. k
every question."" c" b) {1 y; J6 C3 i) }
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
$ {6 N, L r5 S/ Uelectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
2 N3 n# H- `7 v% t; U2 Xfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
* y* e; c, p7 U! N( Vcommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small; f3 g# \# T2 b- _3 g( J4 F/ q
number of vehicles9 G% \* l( }+ u8 {
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more
5 R( v, M8 u) S# I& ^0 zdifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a4 y6 M* K# X @8 `5 g8 K. |( O
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one: A4 d( z, Z/ m
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
7 J/ n" J8 j# J$ n9 B: d3 j, A, FMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,$ `! @1 k/ i ]8 V) m9 J, L, n- t, E
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no$ A4 A! @# i2 C( O2 r8 o+ R
trace at all.7 a5 L+ }8 P: C$ d V
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call& S! x1 `7 u- A& ^# c" p7 I/ E: @7 q
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden* r" E* F; S* J$ m9 s e
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
+ F8 v7 ~3 c2 }. x& irecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
& @% e) G0 p/ S& a7 y9 FRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
/ k6 J" \" \8 m, o0 b- g( \8 wsaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and' ]0 O& c, w9 e" M" A
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
+ W7 M' q' r j$ z8 |electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
2 ~% t/ j' [5 w( C* `/ xcause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only2 N7 K/ j: M' F2 O
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
6 b: A) V! s# M7 u+ T* X# G, _3 Jby Toyota's lawyers."
8 w, a. C; l$ m# d9 oLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of# w, a% i- n4 Q4 r7 Y3 c% `0 S0 Z# m; U
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
# `+ s: f2 `7 T8 fcustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he- p* S; N6 ]4 c ]) Z6 G i
said.- ?3 q6 m: g" O5 l$ Q
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
' Q! r6 ?) ?+ u, Ba rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our; l$ O5 f8 j1 }, L S4 k* J& o
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
* ]6 f8 S, f+ l' B) I- H( sofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
6 N1 T1 {2 {, Q+ xSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
4 Z- v% t/ s! Vmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread# O" Z4 C; j9 [5 N
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
: K2 `% {" l0 L1 J- N6 Pautomaker, at least in part because of the government's* x) U- T( a0 X t$ u
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and6 j4 X/ s# o' u" v- f
Chrysler.
# c1 J; a! U/ V/ { ~' t, |"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
! A, Y1 g( {1 ~2 v' x2 }dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a; E- D2 }( [4 I! I- y& g
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
& ^! K; l+ B4 i) T1 Vserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete* t; h: R( d* Q; y5 T1 ]6 J0 y
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
Q* m' F3 X9 Qtough."3 {7 J9 F# [& Z) }1 G
---9 Q2 r: k2 y) v/ a
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
4 D$ s" `% X k/ C. ~! P; F1 E LRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
' t Y: y& H, I- m1 t& othis story.: ]- b% o2 f ]$ l
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