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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题: [$ c, g# A2 a+ ]) H
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
B& t9 U w9 K4 }Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.' _5 s) K2 e, E- R1 O) ]$ A* ?
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
# ?( T! E% g- s( j) s% R) M) k7 athe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
% a2 q# _: L6 m% U7 U% Y& a5 z4 Asolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration., r% _. p: h: z w8 `3 ]$ `( C+ d
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
, J; k6 F$ \8 ]5 B! R# \3 rcauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.3 T; F, ^" P+ }. _* A& B/ [
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected8 G5 @$ }/ v$ U" s0 n
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and$ l6 M z- ^3 L3 z# _
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor7 f4 e# ]' f- g6 t5 L
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.
& g* [" q- |# b: kHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal/ P. H( o1 n' D, S9 [8 W6 _; o5 S7 B
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp5 u9 O1 L$ P7 N# N5 r+ p% J
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be5 K" q. k" ^3 ?. v# |
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could* e; E9 F% d) `+ g
not stop her runaway Lexus.& z5 `$ z! d$ O3 a+ k2 @
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
3 E4 M8 G( w9 u3 S" k4 STenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
3 M$ f9 S+ `" ^: _0 e; J+ ["shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.9 n8 I3 ` k: {. D& f
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues% U& t2 g: G8 s0 B
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
4 ~3 T9 l8 T5 Q; @" C4 h# a"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has8 D* p7 y4 ? I5 Z' E
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway$ R: |# n4 Q1 W5 B3 m- ~
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's& g- L1 ^8 [! N
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."3 Y3 k7 P! p( p
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an( ^( N1 @2 [9 B. _; l% D
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
* m! J; }2 l: P E' {the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
/ `6 { f- _1 c* L$ @4 ?. M1 F1 Omalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
d# I% t( Y; @+ A4 Q. M! Bsaid./ u5 E# H4 G. }2 ^' P0 Y) |
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
* x! O' \) ~/ Q& c) Shappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe; W6 r5 f% d- r( t) ?- O% Q# ]- o
about driving our products," Lentz said.$ d* e( g1 x/ W: w1 }8 @
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's+ H! w, N& k0 y0 K4 m1 Y& t% `
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
2 x- d. G/ q$ }: g7 s7 {recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6) @2 c3 h) q) O* e0 m
million in the United States -- since last fall because of
0 ^* x' Y# m! \3 ]- [& `3 munintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
5 w( M. Q( D6 b2 G P$ p% Aissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering$ z/ j' P$ N. m; s; |% j* C
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of9 I R1 s) v# S' u3 z
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
: a( y2 w0 _; z9 _# ?2 v( Z( Bdown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
H( K5 y" `/ w. G3 Kreceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
4 t6 i# c4 p/ C, d) wof Toyota vehicles since 2000.
1 Y$ {, P1 {# D. L: M; aLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
8 j) I1 z, I' L0 L! M* ebrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he: }) }3 }6 P5 k' \% b0 e: ~) g( J
understood the pain.0 K' C- N( ^3 X5 i
"I know what those families go through," he said.. m* l) B6 y7 r4 E+ g. ]
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's ~/ b/ @/ ]9 j) d& K" z
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
' g l- z, y& C1 t0 D' `/ UBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman# t3 p3 {) a2 t
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put' k @, u5 ]! }) G7 k4 w
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
3 i/ @! r5 ]# Q2 oLentz replied: "Not totally."
& ~ s7 |7 L3 \5 G2 f* BStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were9 ?- X# Z8 F; [8 \0 U: g; @* ]4 L" s
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said( ^$ w/ U" w `+ f8 M: a
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
' D' P( e" G1 @2 D! f2 Qpedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
, c; j2 k( d5 g5 s, h3 C% g vvehicles already on the road.& e+ v8 R; K4 L; Q
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify. g8 e- t. U" N. Y4 C- s1 m
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
, J5 d5 s, P: W" H! d; Wresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
3 ]( f7 T; M. a* p& {offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
) v. j: Z8 K* h9 f; ?# d4 Ikilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
& x. S( T/ p5 j' b+ }3 P% Y+ q9 d/ Z6 t"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a g: @) K! t3 C, @1 R+ k+ q
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
& P) m* b. Q2 A/ \( q8 cfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight l4 X) }. ^8 [
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
* ~% n# h& {4 K0 m0 k } ]8 ccommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to0 u" j% [# P$ j$ Q) E' @3 N% }2 Y
restore the trust of our customers."
' S! F6 E+ V2 K2 I0 |. e2 ALawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from4 P4 A2 h4 q+ W7 G; O
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly" \7 G# X9 V* V" A+ l" Z
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --" P: B% r4 c M+ M* ]
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
5 a/ R8 ]" V- W' \* u0 [" }hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
m( M) B6 T( `- A* m6 rthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and* d! K6 _( o/ u
turn off the engine.3 k9 ^: X2 o# `1 A+ G/ g- g) C
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
3 H. t* i. I* S! SOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."9 F4 P. g# i% E9 B, y/ S
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she9 i5 s7 O) w3 s! R) f" Q3 f& [
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond& _& {# H% [! W1 c
to her complaints.
5 b5 t9 c- q( k; _/ s! U$ y$ bIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers' h7 g' N; M8 w. H6 p' C
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic% |. D) _" p- t! ?
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
0 x! \, I/ K' `& i7 ?"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
2 o D8 s9 S) m& u8 {throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
9 I0 V( H8 V* C2 \. a; R"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut' Y, j l1 m* X# U( A' X( W
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
8 y m1 d# n2 T+ VTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in+ T& X" o5 p* {: g/ P" L
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were& _0 L; w3 c1 Z1 g9 x
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls9 C1 ]' B8 T- Q8 L
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
# P/ `7 m8 D# T. A& I' _! Qevery question."
$ K( F" K) S6 L1 ?Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether) G C6 c7 D& j3 X$ M6 q
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The+ M) D& T2 f3 {- u3 z9 @( ]
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But ^! [4 G' O8 z
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
: F- O |! t( P' `number of vehicles% ~& `$ r5 R0 ~9 Z+ o' S
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more8 l) w; n0 V8 W7 v/ k8 t% e
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
: ?# q8 K' g& s9 [% j0 b1 Dmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
/ w8 |. w' x2 y3 b( \# W! Bsource, and they can come from inside or outside the car., Z5 m* L4 M4 ^* B% K6 d7 b
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
: b$ ]/ T* a1 V# U. O' Dwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
' w5 U3 X H O- C' W3 ?trace at all.
* ?" L: ^( ]. t8 aHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
# j0 U& J" J2 ?: N3 s- E6 H/ Tdatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden3 P; m# R; M$ j! Q, l' _
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the' @- M/ d; G# ?% k
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.1 F8 r; Q+ w' U2 c9 d
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,' H0 n0 H$ A" B$ ^
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and! G0 I8 h$ L4 o' s1 C! H
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
: r7 e, C# f( O8 @electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible, n% \# `/ Y3 Y) V& O, ^
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only% Y2 u' M- r, k4 V% T4 B
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained: W Y$ `3 [- b( A6 N
by Toyota's lawyers."
2 w; q4 z% v' H, n7 O7 lLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
- {- t) k; O: J: c9 `- f3 M! Xproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our3 w' a( E- _! j2 y' X8 T0 x8 L
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he# \# d& N! A2 e3 ~
said.# {! q5 T& C+ B/ T, q& j
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with/ e6 A5 s2 |7 D7 `
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our! x9 V2 E$ p1 ~0 ~0 N: c
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
1 Y% J" v0 k( j; D3 B& fofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc., W# l5 \! M' O4 Y3 a4 A; i
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
& m; w7 l$ N* M! ]7 Kmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread& `0 ^: v. l0 [! J
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
+ @9 p0 r) \+ C X, X. l$ `automaker, at least in part because of the government's
, F: r7 F% y. P1 `* sinvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and9 ]: M: s W' i1 T/ c! o
Chrysler.; R8 f9 M! D6 R0 T# S; T W1 d
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax8 d2 C* C+ z7 u8 `6 d
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
6 O! f5 Q: P+ vHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
& i0 p% N5 v1 H5 ~; |* r3 B& pserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
8 q- [$ {. w) L8 }5 ?& _with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
) Q8 y& d) d2 a9 Z0 L5 Z7 H9 O; u# Ftough.": Z* P. h2 [) ^4 d! O: T1 ~" m
---) ?3 |0 c" x$ |$ j/ F9 T R
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
+ H& d& d8 _! S% f, P8 H0 ]Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
) D9 Q) c: f& h) S0 qthis story.- _" i4 h8 B* x4 Y0 y( A
2 c2 F( v0 W r1 E/ ^" U" t6 a
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