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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题* S' v7 ]/ W1 z1 D2 Q5 K' G
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS* Y; K/ S. v3 `7 W Q
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.$ `, k, I' ~7 A1 O1 O0 q2 F- d X* s
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
1 l3 z. J6 B+ ]9 {- `3 J3 D0 w' }the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
9 ~$ j8 U( Z/ E( e$ P. E# tsolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.: u, {; R1 N1 E$ i5 P* {
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential, _4 ~9 g @) {# z
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
. y( {: ]7 p; x) A* RHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected2 G+ M# J3 I4 y, O# P
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and" }" w# C- `2 _8 m' Y4 z
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor# |! O: @! t6 |3 \! b% M$ E
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.
9 r" z7 g: ?9 VHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal+ m Q g: }* Q4 a
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
0 O* U1 p5 B" m7 W$ P3 e0 ~criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be1 E2 i3 J: e. P# F/ r
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
& z+ z- u0 n( T8 @not stop her runaway Lexus.1 ?4 T& Q) ]6 w5 |3 Z. g; h
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
' R n# Y( j# [$ r' W" ]Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second- ~. V* [0 x' _* R
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.$ N8 m; n' e6 r. `) X+ H5 a
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues2 \5 ^( J: `6 t$ @; G$ y0 }1 }
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
) k* k1 u% R% d3 O"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
' \. |0 M2 E* D, Q* Y& {5 ]0 Kdone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
2 v; r- k( g- `) Othrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
& z; B+ {& G4 {2 u8 _investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
" R8 y! e4 _- I* T1 R. ILentz said the company had not completely ruled out an5 ?9 r) n& H! y! R' h- ]) t ]
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of* R; l) P7 w( j7 j. b
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a: `! v8 a: U/ C+ C! w
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he9 a! r) k* r. Y* A9 X
said.
/ Q3 l. M7 f+ `, c. yAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
7 b" C; j: L2 }& _+ C* `happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
$ W* u. `' l6 r! ~/ \- _4 z' _- Wabout driving our products," Lentz said.
" L0 a& F. c, V, `0 j5 vThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's" b: r L4 `# G; n8 Q Y# }* l3 m
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
* G7 a! ?3 ?( o% y3 ^$ Srecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
}& K$ W2 ?# q' V: f* c5 dmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of/ w3 J7 ]* ~! p0 o: W/ G
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
/ k% A. [$ t8 i! K# iissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
! @9 F+ q( b& H7 s9 ^6 o$ _* ~concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of& d% U, X0 o5 G3 r' i$ z' j
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow/ f2 G8 a5 q& X x
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has& l4 G/ v- Z* z& @( w
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration& A2 E. m( A8 c& U
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.: E1 f$ K( R/ \4 q
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
! l' e; T& c- J8 o/ S1 k4 abrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
; `' C+ V* R- s/ yunderstood the pain.4 E1 h+ L/ B# O1 B. {! W6 j3 z
"I know what those families go through," he said.9 \ }; ^# R; H! G# L N
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
' o9 }' X! M1 q2 p* Lfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
5 T1 K% {! F6 I' \) f8 x2 h$ g' BBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman# p' R0 Q7 M% @7 h
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
4 L# ?3 Z$ g. w5 o' I+ s4 H. {7 b5 oin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
4 t8 f/ x2 p' H. T6 e; ]: @7 |% pLentz replied: "Not totally.") o) J0 G" f$ k+ o* O6 @
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
) p: }- b, @3 R2 D: C0 D"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said9 O* y% D1 w/ P; V. q( z3 D" p
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas, b/ R' `. I8 a# I5 r
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
" v0 }+ r( z9 X+ v) a6 ?vehicles already on the road.
* R* \# O5 J$ pMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
1 g6 `! _% `0 hbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
4 c- s! b. O7 F! w+ Hresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
! K: ~0 x4 f+ Y% \offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
5 o: Y. K- c/ @: t+ rkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
1 E; _8 R& q/ E! d6 t7 e"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a/ |) E$ t: f& K5 i. }2 Z
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
; u( ?. ] N3 H& \4 t6 \7 ufor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight9 `; O+ B9 v! c. }
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
2 @. _& b6 c% U7 o, X5 ccommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to+ l" I$ k- _0 }! Q. B
restore the trust of our customers."
& J+ A) f* ?" O2 K4 |0 m0 Y9 LLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from1 m( f* Q( v. R/ x
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
$ x$ `) ^2 e j1 s9 m% ]( v8 Bzoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
% E1 ^4 d0 B1 }0 g- W# bshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
3 ~3 q( O% c% k' u1 ]hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
/ G7 g5 X' U% w tthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
* m0 A% [, n+ |9 W% O* Zturn off the engine.! h" O8 }4 g% Y
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of; e$ X$ b1 j* D
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
& v7 K% x- o! H3 s$ v"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she2 w @$ G2 `0 A' w$ ^: K3 F' R& h
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond! V, G2 x/ x2 i. S6 Z
to her complaints.
* @! ]# e5 S/ z+ ?) sIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers$ G* h) U) q; ~- j6 C( k8 O
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
7 t7 N+ I' P( j umalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
" z- M) v" k; ]: m/ ^"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
! v1 |7 d) F; A) w0 {6 Rthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited% e* } @5 L8 B7 B. h2 \" k' Z
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
& |7 _* f* K/ S) S& r* @/ uoff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
4 U& F9 E# s3 @0 H( e0 i9 A' BTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in; L7 p1 d1 o8 |' n
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
% y, c+ X I. ybeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls0 p3 O; ]1 y' |, W9 ~- `" ~! L) U2 M
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer, ^( P! U8 W, M7 J4 }5 N
every question."
/ c) |. o6 Y! z# _# t) jToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
, S% ]3 M; w$ J Uelectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
$ d6 x! ^5 Q& x5 v+ L% V& q7 tfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
' I* n7 d0 }3 E4 T5 W. G1 E7 z5 Xcommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small& d" S7 u$ S9 T4 b1 F' C& d5 B
number of vehicles! ^# w4 U: I1 H8 |1 n3 u9 o
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more# L L, p4 k6 h! q% m
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a5 K2 `6 }2 B& y& P) {
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one! h& K7 q( |3 I+ H$ _
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
# h _! X- M i8 i. u, M0 ]2 ZMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,4 D% [0 l2 ~3 H6 i
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
) f* y8 |0 ]& htrace at all.
0 y6 y- h. i1 n& ]! \( ^5 t0 AHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call# y9 A% b8 @ y! O
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
* l! @# n) @1 ^' }; cacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
) E' P. e$ N5 |$ arecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals." |" m2 n; X5 t5 F4 @" w
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
6 W8 [; C( H, m- g# ]7 q7 g; O4 p: \said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and2 c T0 |2 l$ n5 U
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
2 B5 Y; k. ?( S, Pelectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible6 d G- X' g2 E9 l% w9 q
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
8 @4 o1 f6 {) N. {$ Y" u+ j3 lsuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
1 l3 @1 t6 d% e0 l& }7 O7 D4 D4 Pby Toyota's lawyers."
3 @4 R( ^$ q2 t. B. [7 nLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
! Q, T8 e2 `4 W' A( L8 k1 Uproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
! l. B, G6 E. D H" R3 y8 gcustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
! l; p6 h- X% m+ O. D* _8 wsaid.
6 S4 K' s( M! d4 L# y& G"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with, Y+ Q+ r4 ^+ D
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our* I" Y, G- D' Y
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating8 l8 Z5 p5 g# x% \5 ^( d" Q
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
* O# S. b! G' w1 l" ]/ O: `, r* gSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying5 e: l& H1 Q) j$ N5 j* u
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread8 t* ^3 _+ O' F$ A/ A% y( F
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the9 w# _9 Z& N7 U M- k/ y2 w1 Z( X
automaker, at least in part because of the government's
7 ^ K' y$ u2 a8 z$ ]; u) w7 l/ Iinvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
2 W4 z3 Z9 c5 V* k+ d; y6 n9 CChrysler.9 U' Z+ N: E& l- l% Y8 I4 S
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
) Z, \% ~; U8 E$ Q1 c* xdollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a! [3 u" j3 \( K# Z. T
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
) y. Y5 [3 Z( |3 H- Q) G7 i8 xserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete! w" P' g/ F# U, f# v2 b& E
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty& Y8 n# @2 Y' w* e: c( f2 W
tough."
, S3 x+ d8 h" u& D---$ x5 f" ?# D* u* j4 J
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom) h2 ?1 R+ c' S) u
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
; b8 V) T6 S. b0 ithis story.# [" f. ^2 t% G& j" q
& t4 j6 i7 A3 ~( _
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