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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题/ c# q4 m( r2 O4 Y
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
) [3 h6 ?, E$ o8 w" Z i; rWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
* O, D/ n4 V. I! _operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
8 ?# `9 p3 r! z* m+ {8 F9 I) \, Kthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
, v% A4 I( X, H$ n0 g$ Lsolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
9 E0 F$ |3 B. |"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential& P# ^( Z( E; \5 u5 X( A1 h
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.* S5 S! R( z, R% L% \( n% R+ K
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
3 ]3 N+ y) n6 Q8 ]6 bacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and, f+ u* Y0 E. b$ ~9 ~
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
# ^6 y3 q4 ]8 }mats and sticking accelerator pedals.& A$ |, j- g. A# I
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
6 b4 H& ]! b. w: g- L4 [9 ? Iand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp! P% D, o @( ~/ H& M
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be; g# B$ f/ y+ S: a; p3 a
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could4 t- b) ?9 _$ w
not stop her runaway Lexus.
8 Y: d0 m3 m- `"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
* p* K3 c. h& m8 YTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
# g2 i/ `! ?4 J: O! h& Y! r"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.9 @0 E' t; [/ [% p8 d
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues S, {4 x: w5 g# T- }2 t
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said3 x. R, A, D% ^3 p& n
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
8 R/ q/ i0 i. Udone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway$ W8 c# K+ F+ L( G6 q# [
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's$ o( g' w: ~0 t' n
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
) e9 S4 h- m3 `. u9 QLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
3 v. x. x, z( a* @ { g* {: N [electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
8 l# y1 b3 R! g" V, [! h4 m8 Pthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
& g' E M! a) o; t( emalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he8 e& k9 b4 ^( z4 M
said.) k L3 K6 M. l4 d3 `
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what; J6 \% a; E7 A. U9 A
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe# L& G# R! E* U. _+ Z
about driving our products," Lentz said.
' J: \( r: E/ `: D: p8 a6 n# F) ~Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's, l# J! ?; j2 s1 T, q* U, r! \
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has0 H, s5 m5 b' @4 z; C. v
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 67 W% g. \: n7 q2 w7 K, J& z& |
million in the United States -- since last fall because of
% K5 I3 \' K* W; p- xunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
! P5 U2 M N8 y% r \issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering. {/ g2 n d5 I2 ? V: d
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of! T( }$ |9 F, X* m4 \0 W
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
+ f" B, N( d0 \( S0 m3 W, Gdown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
) M" N7 u2 W; H6 {! wreceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
% E C& U/ f1 M ?& f2 U2 cof Toyota vehicles since 2000.8 L' z# ?. o4 D/ s0 t6 w8 m
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
: S z' Q5 R, _2 ]" Hbrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
: v$ K# N; I: r# Munderstood the pain.4 g- R# P3 C) x/ d$ l
"I know what those families go through," he said.# O' p6 q T+ C. p# x5 j
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
9 d4 a3 p( s) M/ w) Qfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.' O, K' P6 A; a4 J7 a
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman/ b! @8 L, g( n7 Z6 r
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
( J1 w% ], |% Q o3 H' V8 din place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,; V1 V5 P0 q) z/ ]9 g# s k, W; _
Lentz replied: "Not totally." m. |8 Z4 G) X3 W) ~
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were4 V0 `: I, n; Q3 V
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
3 H7 D& }' I( C# g6 G' M; e' ^Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
5 }; _" t, }' x2 f Vpedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
% B k& Z8 M8 K( B# v) I# U- i0 Zvehicles already on the road.
5 n2 t5 i/ I+ q; A. w7 x; U2 LMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify& ]: F0 U$ N4 S( H+ Q
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
: ~- G; {& M# r8 `responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
3 ~9 o w7 z/ ^1 v' xoffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
' d% V2 s3 A- Y2 w: Bkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
1 M+ z6 @. f" }2 U"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
* ]" W- `6 c0 b8 b2 B* Qtragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony! l; m9 j! q5 n" h. j; ^& ?3 G& ^
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight8 g- [, m4 S% X8 @
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
, r! g0 w4 `* P: U6 W7 Vcommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to4 \! k, H5 M- d$ O' O
restore the trust of our customers."
5 }( W9 x O- ~& u. Q/ a) N0 ?Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from: V4 E( c: e, a% B- t& t+ S' v' @
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
, h4 }8 g" R9 W$ Q2 Azoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --) i ~) L7 {7 v$ u" a" g ~
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
0 ~& j8 t; s& i7 K: d9 fhitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough0 R/ d: c# P! P7 d: t: c
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
) I2 V. a3 D% p- F. B+ b4 ~$ Sturn off the engine.. R8 Z, x( z$ x" f
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of1 Q0 K' ]" [* O4 C5 j% C* t: `' D
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
1 ?: n' g8 E* Q z"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she2 Y; ?4 s6 w/ k
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
# A; N" @) U0 W% p; G. eto her complaints.1 V9 m9 n, I' }2 Z0 R1 l
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
$ W& U: V, l1 K+ \2 Z8 @returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
) [$ r1 i0 O% umalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
0 h- v9 L/ [: m9 S% G+ _2 z) F5 ?"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
- j j- T' y: v* h. Zthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
% l+ X1 R( `- n/ a' D: C4 D' B. ^" {"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
+ e6 S$ p) I& T; foff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
! w8 Q( M0 K. c0 JTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
6 V+ k% d! f4 u/ [1 iprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
* u* b) I9 n! ^& x n8 Kbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls) t. E0 D- W- O2 D( Q
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer. r9 H/ M- O" R3 X
every question.": B/ H* M7 R. R8 a7 p$ j
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
, F8 l' E8 S3 {. ]! v9 {5 g$ Selectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
. D3 y" j5 ? Qfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
9 E5 m. b$ X! i) E5 fcommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small
7 `6 z3 H( l$ j* Xnumber of vehicles
% N7 I: k' @/ @Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more5 ]* I. v% |6 w* A( o1 ?+ ]
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a( j2 K( s5 i0 [8 r& `2 f% C& U. \/ j
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one, l9 _* }5 D9 {5 T8 q
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.$ P/ ?% F, d" p i! `" t& |: `
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
; v% d0 o8 \. `; s( hwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
6 G; q& `3 E8 Y2 _. m* j7 rtrace at all.6 z5 z5 @+ s+ g6 t: a- \) |
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
. i- E H+ z% I3 U0 c% P) ydatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
3 ]% Q. P1 S' A: j9 Y y x& Racceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the% A" {- |! G; u/ c) F
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
7 i# A& _1 a3 M! b; D3 FRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
2 f+ E) S# f& X. w0 W$ J6 N0 ssaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
: P; y; J y$ y/ Fother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the, \6 ]! m( a: U# I6 x, J
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible/ c1 |4 j6 Z5 E+ v1 E( t \. u
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
/ [. Y/ p, x4 s2 I0 y! i, Rsuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained- N. }+ M. `8 E) l- A a% @ w
by Toyota's lawyers."0 @2 l% [1 N- K
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of U% G9 u5 u- U6 j5 a3 i
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
3 ^! e I" a5 X, u% q) F2 O" K |8 Lcustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he! C' y6 [0 D5 h! Z' n/ w4 D
said.
' m/ a. u& c5 o4 Z# X"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
& g) T; v) M& V% Q0 t5 ea rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our$ i4 Z; W2 @4 J
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating& R f& l8 v/ R4 X+ s
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
6 t' \ g! C5 k" J* nSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
3 W. z- K* J2 }. Z9 z8 qmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread6 t0 |3 v* K* g3 J" I+ i( s9 j
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the9 Q* @. Z( a* \. G( D6 o
automaker, at least in part because of the government's. x F i3 a& ?* O
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and% @" h: x7 K8 p8 S. N+ H1 m5 t3 N2 u
Chrysler.5 I& G; U+ o$ p1 l0 D) H! R/ b
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax1 B. o3 y& M+ i, q% w+ X
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a+ C8 R2 Y d0 q6 h# E) n
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
3 Q- s5 C, h! o& cserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete0 c" y Y4 C: Q. o
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty8 j+ x/ k+ [; l, q" n5 _
tough."
% R9 H; R: {+ e0 X3 q1 D---! A% V) q& {* q, p3 {* A& ~/ L- G
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom% Z; W3 I# i- z, w3 |
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
: l4 x) R; |$ p8 i* }. Hthis story.
4 c6 V/ h4 ^. l R( P, R; Q0 c
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