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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题8 W/ `( ?5 N, W! u# k4 C
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS! x% m# q7 R1 W7 G+ ?2 C+ f) b* R
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.4 Y) K: d! Y" |8 M3 h& n
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
" u0 T( J5 e, _9 o/ L* f9 Vthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
R5 z! j% L" F* b csolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
! ?8 W" |: m" M) S5 C) U. S"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential' k; q. k" W' T9 k) B! l. A& E
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.$ }( G9 [. y8 V3 B# a
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected! E$ r' O* U4 z
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and: u; X$ B/ V8 k* Y# [
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
: u; x% Q6 {2 x( F; dmats and sticking accelerator pedals.7 F/ U6 ~2 F6 l( n3 I
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal0 x8 j/ J: i3 i$ n* k
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp0 W* y1 u, B; j6 y
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
U. ]* k# a$ H6 m2 s ?further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could. l7 G) C2 [9 w6 o$ c. }3 C3 V
not stop her runaway Lexus.
" y. u% r+ W/ |2 ^"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
0 o N( X' k) K6 m2 ?3 CTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second+ ?6 w8 N+ A8 A2 X% I% c4 }* q/ z
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.* r. m9 k! F @1 I, \
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues) N. m: I3 q! o. @$ f
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
, X) y8 }# e- F& `6 G"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
S# D" }8 D6 u; y8 m0 gdone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
2 V) N2 \( y% X& Q v5 \( zthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's+ B8 n4 l. \8 H: S% y, g; w( F
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."7 h- c! f8 v$ I4 y5 Z* E
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an0 D; ^1 ~# |' p5 `' m( P/ n
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
4 R5 L6 S. |' H' r0 y; Pthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
. w$ X& p0 Z/ k; [malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he& Q, }; ~. k$ |9 X7 G/ ^
said.
& x% D+ H4 }* q1 g% w2 jAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
! h6 J$ U7 T( k( l! y6 d% lhappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe6 L) P1 E, z! \& b$ B- D
about driving our products," Lentz said.
2 L% r. v5 ^- m2 }4 WThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's m5 |6 M8 x9 @& N
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
* ^ f6 l# y0 m+ urecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
6 m* H4 |$ t4 e6 g! X4 F& G# nmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of
1 d% j1 C) b: y& Gunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
- |+ K& K) _* M$ S$ |7 jissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering2 s1 |. V. f8 t: b# }
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
2 N: n% {2 ]% }" i utheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
6 V( Y \9 v/ _down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
# t) M' ^0 {9 c1 p+ N5 V% z8 Zreceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
: {' k c* W6 W: kof Toyota vehicles since 2000.
~" y% I9 c, ~+ CLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
2 a2 I% Y( _1 ]2 y; I0 Qbrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he- t( {3 m% Z6 `; Y- D" s3 n5 X
understood the pain.6 a- i7 _& t9 Y1 W u
"I know what those families go through," he said.
' O( |+ D2 k7 W! Z+ A* pLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
4 U0 Q, `0 c0 H1 U7 N+ m% Lfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
( \ l) Y, a3 U7 {! d2 W4 VBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman6 k) \4 E- ?! f
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
& r, |, D4 y2 E( e) A# b; @. Kin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it, a1 l- \6 y" d' q
Lentz replied: "Not totally."
( u6 a. T, R8 I" |$ R1 m! l* [- QStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were/ J3 i. J$ K A+ d
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
# q# I s, e- Y0 Z0 ~" WToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
" v% [2 y* Y5 j: Y" d* A4 h% H" hpedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its! W. B. V1 A& S5 J8 m/ d" S! B/ `* \
vehicles already on the road.
B4 f1 k- |- gMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify* F! Q: s5 g6 h' N8 [% ^! g+ c2 R d6 H
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
8 |6 N+ w3 d: M/ Y! I8 z- iresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
% T0 h& R' u2 V. \0 [offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were* x, i9 ^* ?% R" Y* j0 V" e m
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
: K2 l: Z* q4 `6 q: u"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
# K4 Y) e W$ i- xtragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
4 O y: `/ M2 A( @* V% Jfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
0 [* B; {; o$ W% |2 RCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
" O* J. s8 F) U1 \0 xcommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
: Y( Q7 W" a6 n4 u$ [" f+ Brestore the trust of our customers."( `$ G% @1 E% M/ J# ]2 x) i) n" j
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
! y' z$ \* N! V0 B9 E3 h' ^- B6 V7 qSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
- Z$ L/ j$ ?+ r# f5 u) G5 czoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --, @7 j4 W. f- }5 ?( _& k7 w
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and% n' N! x: `/ W. Z g/ d
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
4 b1 Q' I% @0 \8 V6 V6 P! Cthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
" q* @% k- B, @. `9 w" ]' U8 ^; Fturn off the engine.
/ Z7 Z& F' A6 _4 KFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of4 h+ v) N! y+ a9 x6 ?3 E6 h
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
! t3 I: p& q. n# \"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
3 F1 s8 F2 f% n6 l; {said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond) u- g! g8 A+ B# h
to her complaints.0 K" D% r' ?& d% \
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers( G* @. B0 X. w, O
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic% ^1 M( o; M5 W) t9 S5 D
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
( y" s: n! i8 u+ L4 _; N1 H"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric( b* v5 C* ^5 i
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited8 n# Q( j( g3 m2 @, E
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
' U( v; f' T, n1 u' g5 l/ e& u' [off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."; u% c$ f/ j) ~
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in* v9 H' u# Y7 f, q" j& O4 }
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
. Z; d& R. ^) Q+ s" E6 ?; ^being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
, \2 v& v9 N& }" Rwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer: j6 V# N6 |, {) R% }3 c" T6 O
every question."
/ S5 e1 P n2 O3 W& Y% dToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether# ?& I6 A W0 Q2 _: V+ y
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
. B+ ]3 E/ [% e, Efirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But# Q8 F3 F: o& b7 S$ Q% ~
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small2 l' i* }- p. L. s1 q; g; N
number of vehicles
7 U% K' w5 h. lTracking down an electrical problem can be far more
2 f+ _1 P, e4 r$ Jdifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
$ w5 v: }4 o" e+ |8 j# J0 Vmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
1 J/ d3 k N3 Y: i9 j* u7 Rsource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
8 i% w) g7 V: s: `, Y% x! F& i/ BMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,# {6 k% y- c9 }# m0 g
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no5 A2 J6 M3 {% m0 h" ~
trace at all.
" X& W3 E+ C/ m- I& x% H+ LHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
% E8 D3 `# f+ G+ S5 q; R/ J5 pdatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
3 s' y w7 [/ Y3 X n' { Cacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
9 e# {% j' w; t% Yrecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.6 E7 i# j0 Z# p! I8 N
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,6 j. \+ ~6 s* d6 z+ B5 z3 r7 r
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and, a4 j* O0 w( z/ r! e
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
0 g: u! v% n) R0 q& Telectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
$ d" ]! ^+ o# Lcause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
: J4 G' P0 R. p/ d9 Ssuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
* y9 m9 Z: z+ p* i# gby Toyota's lawyers."4 M7 q9 w( H# W
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of( n+ [- y/ l3 L$ D. j2 [3 G& X6 L
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our( m" B- B% T+ u& D
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
, f/ I: ?, _& p1 v) ^9 b1 y% {said.. N+ y9 ^* ~! ?1 o; n9 F, L
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
/ q2 y* `7 J5 Y+ Qa rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
" d! C/ ^4 e2 W3 s2 [; bgood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating/ Q `! i& R' L# B5 N! c8 H, w, |
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
S4 j4 j4 N2 l) S* Q, e2 qSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
V0 o. J. o! }; S# E: ymembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread( x5 j& b Y0 H" q) M5 e0 J
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the3 F6 e) z8 y, x$ r3 _
automaker, at least in part because of the government's
5 `. z' L8 ^1 k0 M; e! U% H2 zinvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
2 c' S# x& L$ Z; T( S& g( dChrysler.. B. J9 D) @! Y8 e
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
& X. U& Z/ {. @6 e* g u. b+ s8 R( @dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
5 R) x/ m; Q F$ w, B; Z6 C NHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also" b$ l) ]1 s, V: U( Q
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete( A" {; L/ V3 n* h& X# V
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty# p. g8 q! ^% @, c( l8 I* X0 I6 v
tough."9 _; w3 i& d) B" x
---' g+ B2 A* c9 n8 P5 _6 V
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
$ [- [' _. P2 z) d# BRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to* p0 d4 ]8 T# ~. F
this story.6 c6 B7 \8 J4 x/ j. F! r2 q+ ?
8 p' A% m6 _, B2 a6 ^$ ]
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