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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题7 S0 Z4 o, s! K) b) X- U
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
* ^- \6 a' m# p' z6 tWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
( C7 U( y+ g% o: w# Goperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
7 x0 K- d$ c3 K% _9 Xthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"& P& [1 g+ C3 U$ L# W
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.0 v0 ~1 x, [" ?6 l# @' Z' W8 u
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
( ^- U- v/ L- n0 |causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.! ?$ e$ [# x1 P, ~; n
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected; u" U+ V# c2 Z' N/ d! [) d2 [
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and) N8 G9 ?. C6 k7 B& w( b$ x( }; }
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
: h2 b' L+ `" E) U0 Omats and sticking accelerator pedals.) U2 n$ g2 _ J, X# ?+ q
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
) T8 \- [6 ?6 ?+ B( fand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
6 d0 V, `9 A& y8 ^criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be) A1 L, D. n7 L M0 H
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could ?; r8 n: r9 V: |( W# p
not stop her runaway Lexus.( X( b$ j# J" {: p" U# D( B
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
" B" `, Y' `2 l. TTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second4 J* a- N0 B/ _# m" q; f
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.& Y9 s' [' G" z
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues/ F: |9 F4 n" f
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
" O/ F! C2 g1 g1 p: v# j"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
( e5 r" T0 Y6 h$ Fdone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
5 c3 U) i1 O& E5 fthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's6 X! E: D1 u g4 D3 {! I0 s0 E
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
/ q; g5 u* _0 ?3 I) A; C2 tLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an: x: G4 L6 A0 G! F( N
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of/ l) q* Y! f3 ]- R. W
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a/ J5 }" r. F: f/ F
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
6 z' [% T* v% ~5 a5 h8 T6 w) _& Vsaid.2 e% p- ]# k7 B- [: B% \; ^0 k
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what) }, y1 N+ W- M" S4 s) d7 G
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
1 u" V# `. H! f6 A1 ~about driving our products," Lentz said.1 e, e0 ~7 m' ?
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's+ m4 P- ^ F& {" B$ U' Z* l0 J
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has2 ?8 `2 \+ ~$ m6 h, H' F1 n! Y6 a
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 61 H, l7 i+ g; n6 O2 f
million in the United States -- since last fall because of" w9 e; Q# x/ Y0 w: |. @/ w3 O
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
% l5 S9 a6 |, {; A( x/ sissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
8 l$ O2 ^7 ]3 {# Lconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of4 I" p- |/ A! _: X `% H. Y
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
" v/ _$ ^) B- q# L) k) qdown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
6 [% U: o: w0 Vreceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
; ^( g. L. v' I: O2 D8 Oof Toyota vehicles since 2000.
4 C. D \+ H6 E0 x; q& FLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
* x2 N4 C) w A$ Bbrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he. Y: U& _7 k5 ]8 Y
understood the pain. E7 b+ z5 T9 w$ _0 G
"I know what those families go through," he said.' M, e- H4 ^0 A9 d, e" [
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's; h H9 o- A$ o* A' J, E
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
8 {: n4 Q/ o7 D: FBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman0 I% C' i) i7 W) P( x# G
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
6 U0 J+ w& q0 W2 Win place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,( @- Z+ g2 T# d4 ~
Lentz replied: "Not totally."
) r# n. n' \, u' ~- ]* kStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
, f5 `2 c4 G9 r" H1 B' ~) v* i"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
; i( I7 q- |6 b! i( J. c4 l; A! ?Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
1 [9 d4 C1 K& D6 N1 G9 |1 ]5 m& D% zpedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its) O3 X8 Q* W8 z) t% u) ]8 Q; y
vehicles already on the road.
0 |; p! p" n+ Y' S9 Q" o# W. J! MMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
) W. p/ G5 R- y* r: e/ \" y4 wbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full% q8 x. @9 F& E$ Y7 e* n) g
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
6 n: u& [: F- a) b/ Xoffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were7 y$ y& v7 W, X* i2 W; {& r% H
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.: R& g3 P9 w g& m$ R$ p& U, P
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a* n& Y& n. J. H1 s5 }/ E
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony1 g: c5 g) g. g1 W
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight: Y& j% q' d5 `- K
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
0 @, ]+ }% U! R. T# a' Acommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to: L4 h" K% Q3 }8 ?
restore the trust of our customers."2 \1 x y; n% v8 a$ Q3 G9 I7 L
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
* U! w; x' x& @5 s) y$ qSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly6 H* K* f0 F! b5 r
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --$ \2 K' W' X. ]: J0 k B# |
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and5 ]/ r1 m% G2 H/ B- k( h* [
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough- m9 M/ v- t8 {0 Q1 W) |1 t+ }' B
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and! C0 Q' Z3 R4 j0 ^+ Y
turn off the engine.
" Z1 r7 z( w) bFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of2 }7 j9 F+ B( \. {9 O7 h9 i0 y/ Z1 S
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."6 w5 ~& E) A! y7 Z3 F6 |0 g9 U
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she7 g2 R& `1 y7 M1 @5 f2 i6 s/ Q
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond: v: Q$ c: m9 i* X1 j% d) O$ J
to her complaints.5 {5 d$ I. g. o- E4 `
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
2 j" E) n7 d) n8 L5 k- Wreturned again and again to the question of whether electronic
% B9 m' X D/ `) ~* \! M0 @malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
9 m+ \1 L* v. Q- v"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric8 ]) ]( s+ D8 Q$ A; P
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
+ x! Y$ E c( G"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
$ E/ e( _3 Z. E: m5 Loff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."( f* P9 |% I P+ S, |
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in& A6 y+ i7 T4 \2 P, e9 {' K
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were9 d* |; P9 m! D2 g7 A0 v
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
9 A' ?: ?! _$ s; X, y& Rwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer* a V5 q U& P5 M" r: h/ L: F/ V
every question."
9 F, V; R" D# c. M! B* FToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
+ i# y( `$ s( V7 celectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The, M! s+ o* r: x; @7 `
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But$ o8 o; G" c+ V$ d* o7 F
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
7 B4 O! s3 ~" Qnumber of vehicles
& t' C7 j: a% w+ \$ JTracking down an electrical problem can be far more3 r4 n/ \ ]5 c7 N: F1 \- n
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a& M0 l/ h! y/ x( ?
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
9 U* O- x7 g- O. lsource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.' r6 \5 t& u, [( s: O
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,* u- J+ C* u1 I3 y7 T2 y; {
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no: [* n* T& h4 ^& F
trace at all.
& @1 M" w3 @1 d' m( a+ n. kHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
, O$ f/ m6 V. K0 f6 j/ ndatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden3 T. B r0 |3 B7 g9 s& r
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the4 c _& J+ L5 s3 M6 h1 f
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
G5 D$ j! \9 \* Q9 ~) D9 ]7 PRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,- A% L2 P s. ?# O# ?( X0 X3 Y# W D! O
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and3 k0 r: O! F4 ?. J6 B3 g i6 B: G$ J
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the# _8 R0 d7 Z9 [6 P
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible' l2 P3 U5 I* A; ~3 f" w b* Y
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only6 f4 w# K a* j4 M" |2 x
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained! g! e/ q4 i. `! d* A" p. ^0 k
by Toyota's lawyers."
. ?2 c: R( P' e1 C0 R/ {Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of! L, S) p X( W' E# k
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our# O9 { y$ I! O. J( s
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
8 Y: |; \5 u4 B1 `# rsaid.) X% V9 R6 q: B+ l2 E+ \
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with2 f2 R/ O$ H( [% T b$ O
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our7 B+ G0 f7 B% f9 T; f* T$ x# B
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating: l4 @4 [* s( Z$ A, A+ z
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
/ Q1 ]+ u) V! Y. u" g0 e. _6 oSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying* w; }5 l8 W; S, A! R
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
h6 F5 N* H3 I, P6 orancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
7 Y1 ^. R/ |. l2 L/ }& Xautomaker, at least in part because of the government's
2 l8 R! d/ W3 D' L, K4 minvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
+ y/ l# M- B; ?2 l0 QChrysler.. g0 b* r& t4 b! h$ K9 |0 ?) H# U2 t+ H
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax- t3 j8 V7 y# ^+ v
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
, K4 p2 \: Z' h( H" RHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
) X6 t- d& f, n7 C9 Cserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete# |9 ~9 Q- x* B
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty- B) V! x9 E2 M
tough."
; f* W. V' Y$ }; c---
. y0 f* w1 o( t/ H- v/ j8 M! _Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom* W1 o1 L/ E5 x! ?
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to2 D6 [; S) {; U& f5 I; e) Y
this story.2 D$ Z }: U/ ]: ], Y
* \2 L" H( E, E3 g& g0 \* j U
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