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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题4 \. @# D- m" D Y: L& M
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS/ {! l! o- H8 n7 }1 b1 E* |
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
& M4 K. ?0 s" {operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
1 @; I% e1 }6 C1 L1 ?" g1 m2 E! h6 ythe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"( j$ t& B8 ]7 n, _' H0 L& _
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
0 C- s4 d1 t0 E% V( u"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
3 n' P/ Y) c- ]) c0 y# {causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.- a$ U: k3 ?9 |; v; j" Z( z
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
* k: g3 l' A( ?; Kacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and! f9 x/ m D1 i3 ]' @
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor. f- p# B/ w; K1 a. {
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.
1 o+ E, B- v# aHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
/ ~/ U* ~8 n; l/ cand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
# R* j7 Z5 M: T3 R/ Acriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be' Q: b% R: n# y+ D8 N
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could' ~6 D9 o& p) |7 [* `/ U' t9 ^
not stop her runaway Lexus.
3 }5 V6 S' v6 E" i% E: Q: t"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
( ~+ j3 w/ @# o3 }# X$ MTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
0 C% e/ B% v ~/ d' h"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
6 {) Y/ X5 D, B# gTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues7 f1 ^/ D5 }" u) ^5 q! b
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said: Z( E) e. n- J# G
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has! w, @& d2 p" r1 }3 {
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
8 L) v" M$ M. {* Pthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
' p2 e" y0 A4 x- l- U9 Jinvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."5 R0 `2 s7 e" ~4 p7 z/ B3 X
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
/ i8 m5 S5 Y- Q6 q: q5 celectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
, M9 ^5 X) Z7 \the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
) i% [8 G+ w; I: J' tmalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
" u2 h! d3 u( {" rsaid.& u% v. C6 {7 a: d
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
! v9 o8 P4 e' J" W3 K5 U! H. ehappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe8 b8 E7 d1 E0 U4 Y. d! Q8 b+ f/ r ~$ ^
about driving our products," Lentz said.
& X2 Z5 H% O, G7 cThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
( a" O; s2 M* _; L# b1 qproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has" U& ~2 e, J) B
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 65 f- E* O% J+ G, [- c/ b
million in the United States -- since last fall because of$ F+ U. i, Y8 j1 K0 p" Z
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking! e& E/ |3 r* r; y+ j, \
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering9 q& g1 `( ?; A1 W# y8 U9 H
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
( b1 b3 ?# \! j8 z* ` }- r) \their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow0 L$ u2 ~; H, ]! p8 v+ }5 }
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has- U* m, ~( V! B$ K9 c+ k- u
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
, v8 Z0 @- u9 ^1 d; Yof Toyota vehicles since 2000.( g6 h P; @* c
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
: k( a5 S1 T. X( f5 g9 Y% h% D$ Cbrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
- B) r K6 \# o( x! B' @understood the pain.
3 }( @3 }% E2 B: i$ z"I know what those families go through," he said.- C. V+ Y2 s4 W( D9 e$ C
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
/ I# A7 B. V1 p0 Efixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems./ k$ j4 I; w1 z, g; H
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
0 r; X4 E0 w KHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put1 s8 Z6 _. y4 Y0 P& n1 B( A
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
6 [# l! g8 j1 E, C; _/ OLentz replied: "Not totally."
& b$ Q2 z. H; ], j1 t" C9 x4 RStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were8 s4 }5 ?/ U. T" G9 d
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
- d2 r) A; |" I4 j7 o* uToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas, f" [1 t( j7 p$ ] h
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
2 v5 t# C N4 D% hvehicles already on the road./ U `7 U5 L1 W& l, M/ E& Y! W
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
0 M5 {+ B/ H5 z, |- f' Dbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
$ ^9 x. p5 B6 s) M8 iresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and9 O4 H$ H( S8 Z3 A0 \5 K( N7 H0 T! Y
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
% [( v) j- z) }7 Ykilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
]6 Y( m4 U: b' U"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a# _1 C5 b7 C4 }4 `
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony& d2 R' a6 V( ?" `
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
2 l& N9 ~+ {0 T- WCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal' B8 P ]& X2 Q: D
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
* d( H& J- h, B* L7 T6 Y+ |restore the trust of our customers."1 U3 D! Y, b+ k6 C
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
/ ~1 r O* Z, q& o7 C' j$ nSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
( {) @7 w& ~& ?zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
8 r G8 b: n+ @) }& [0 w2 C. S6 j! z" Zshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
5 Q }! x: y+ G5 x3 B' rhitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough/ D* X* i5 v, ~1 q, W
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and0 ^6 N/ X; q2 A+ `3 ]8 c0 {- s. b
turn off the engine.
) N& |' \) O' U' x& w0 z0 hFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of( L- O0 Y; P# z @1 V3 b
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
+ ]% M3 D0 }( U9 I$ d"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she. ]% f; O6 m7 t$ F6 U
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond, q- {, [0 {. W5 n% L1 N4 W1 S
to her complaints.
$ r) F" X! C8 g! \8 \/ DIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
. V% g6 W6 W9 `+ F2 n( w5 r- k- s. Kreturned again and again to the question of whether electronic; u* E; v) @ z' O9 V1 F2 w$ |
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
6 `9 e2 I. j4 V% x) H9 Z- x( T"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric- [: _: c: t: P" ]
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited' C& ^. I7 L/ ~0 j: q) |$ r3 R
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
+ v/ p8 u: Q& C uoff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."7 S+ ~3 x* ?+ ?# I4 B
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in/ z( {" @, e6 E+ v8 W, p
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
# n1 U* O$ w; N+ _being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
8 ^( D( z4 x9 B0 i0 Owere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
) m/ p; H& f8 E2 r7 Aevery question.": F3 T+ ? j9 W0 T8 o1 _$ L
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
+ n# L8 b1 ~, ^: ielectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The& t3 u5 p" p+ w. N, J( @" ?$ d$ `6 G
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But' `' `! Z9 ?2 L8 G6 K
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small+ r# c! R0 F1 f3 }3 E; d: I: K' I
number of vehicles
" F$ l5 Z. @$ tTracking down an electrical problem can be far more
+ o# m3 g; ?$ Edifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a( M5 T- W- b( a5 v( P# n3 W2 |1 L8 e
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
. y8 r1 S& x: q+ t2 {source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.+ y; w- b" \! x1 {
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,$ A- ~- }: F0 H1 T" @
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
/ D' v) a8 [7 @+ Xtrace at all.
; y/ n6 i) F$ J! |* ]House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call+ b( u! q+ y1 ?" R3 Y1 D# x
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
" e. _1 ^+ o0 `acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
3 n. h n6 ?2 k# K# K% krecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.! n( u4 q3 H+ c+ c
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,' R0 f" L8 L) J/ l& s. {
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
) R1 m' ~: G, D& w& [other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
/ W" z- q) Z9 N3 g# D3 S* [! t$ C$ melectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
6 W( C+ Y, d# v9 @" ^! @' ncause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only1 c& |* j" l- [4 Y8 o; i% n3 t
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
1 M( q! i' j+ {9 R1 V4 bby Toyota's lawyers.", x9 [2 W& R7 k, [0 `, O
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of6 c0 }) n A+ B/ m8 n- `2 n
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
' s( y- D1 p1 scustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
2 W. U6 x( c* }( lsaid.2 t9 O" U! T$ q
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
# b. D0 J2 J) A8 }: Ma rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our& U8 P, j4 E! X. V
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating0 L$ m: V! \ L0 B
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.9 P- y: g: A2 e: M5 W# M
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying2 V- B& c5 A* R0 A
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread6 \4 u8 U# u X) q0 B& W
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the& }- a2 m& t0 \$ [4 |. F* o
automaker, at least in part because of the government's7 Y/ |6 L4 G( o o
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and8 n0 k1 b7 E; _+ A4 J$ y, e! o s
Chrysler.
) Z/ F+ j$ W: g+ S" V, n* }"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
3 S e- }1 A6 ^3 Vdollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a' U; M0 J! M: Y! X& n
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
4 g' Z; N# X$ f) o% qserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
# u) ~5 G. o) h. a" O+ ~with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
) u- G* `5 M8 |: i' o) |$ t6 Qtough."$ y6 K$ K0 R% W# I
---' ^3 g, J* ]# L) n
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom" F+ V6 u: n, h" s
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
/ r- i! N# m- B+ E& othis story.
8 I) d2 R) {. K+ [& {" \
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