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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题6 u/ Y( ]! y% Q
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
Y/ t" c" s% w( M% n- uWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
4 N$ ]$ F2 |7 _8 f) ?1 Eoperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
Z- b: }$ w1 ?0 athe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"6 h9 N& Q9 C: V. ?
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
- _4 w/ V3 w* z/ {4 u- D9 U"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
5 B# f9 ~ P8 L8 l5 rcauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.1 U6 i3 ^/ u" d! h9 N) b
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected; `- n$ N6 r8 g! c& p% S7 j" O
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and/ `! ^( L# j% F* Z
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor! W) i4 s% a& _$ Y6 u; o
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.+ e8 A# B! {" k' K
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
# F/ N: ` C3 A% g P' H% [and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp' q& h4 |, g" r# |0 z/ ^
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
: ~1 d5 [7 [# q/ R {) gfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could' _! U6 ]9 X# B# ~
not stop her runaway Lexus.# s' n. W1 j& q- I% T) |9 {5 L _
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,& H! Y% J1 Q/ r2 q' h4 q; h2 q% F2 A
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
4 D) z# V7 \2 @& I; \8 B"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.& ]# f# g0 `# {' K1 ^, R
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
& @- @* x, l' f9 g: Aearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said/ X9 s: m) D3 w! A7 N% i3 K0 m" `
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has7 [! S; `6 F5 b$ B i2 F% G+ z
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
. S( C2 x8 Y. dthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
5 ^1 [" C3 w5 h R$ z& qinvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
$ B5 f) |! B; P. B+ {, F8 @7 BLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an" \" P! Y- S' h3 ]2 T% i
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of: I7 Q2 Y# F$ g( l) W
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
9 g; O0 E/ e: G+ J7 _* ?malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
* p/ H4 [- f$ X- G# c2 s5 R5 |said.; e3 ~4 k6 X9 S( z: c: y4 T6 C
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
+ N2 |( t4 E$ |- j& Z) Z" Dhappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe) i D# L9 X+ e: [; @8 I% @2 ^
about driving our products," Lentz said.; s/ c( v" o3 s$ {7 [' V
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
: c. f4 z/ f. N* ~" g/ T3 aproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
b6 b# q" ^0 E( Q/ R7 Y, F' x* Frecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 65 b& Q1 e" L+ N6 }% a1 m: {; F
million in the United States -- since last fall because of
; ?2 t) n/ [$ d' s- {unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking$ G; [& h3 t/ P; G1 ?
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
. L. {& S- E- ^# g n; Gconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of, [- \" y/ r- ^$ b4 l5 [
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow+ {% G$ W7 W( B4 z' C3 T
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has0 F# @+ z# Q$ F, x7 ?7 p& `
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration& w! N( T7 f8 ~0 L! e
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.4 a2 l- y6 v$ ?& _
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own+ J" q) i P! ]2 S5 k7 X0 M
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he& b% w! f& H9 s8 t5 j# U& _+ O
understood the pain.$ m9 L0 W# q. H5 f8 Q3 n {3 t5 F
"I know what those families go through," he said.
& S! Q* \8 s s& j" k6 I5 eLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's. p' l8 F8 |- @! n$ Y+ {
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.6 ]+ K) u: V3 C% q# B
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
# U. C# w0 P) i: f( [* N" J" e C5 EHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put. m! e M M' v- N! ^% Q* \
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,% O5 x' r: j, j& q
Lentz replied: "Not totally."! J) J1 i" P$ |& D% t8 z
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
8 Y& J8 \, y. D% o" n5 z+ B"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
' z# I% M8 W0 R. v6 O' |Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
0 h2 d# I6 t ?* l4 H& bpedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
- Z" T7 U4 Q0 |7 G* [* W Ovehicles already on the road.7 `) V; E/ C& b5 C" d0 P2 ]
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
7 G( M- K, e9 C, N9 kbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full9 j L; V' h! c. s$ D/ c- X
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
( W# C9 G, r. s* E0 Q* b; Ooffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
9 I, ^) l; X/ j: Ekilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
4 X$ }* {4 D5 `. y E1 l& M7 O7 D"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
1 W Z. u" r, m3 D1 }! B: o* Btragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony+ Y# ?# V1 b8 E" S2 Y" i. E1 ~0 G* B
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight) o! _, L0 ~0 J8 z7 w9 o r2 j
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal* g# D9 `' W' p. S
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to& _: K0 ?: h: V) b3 w2 G
restore the trust of our customers."' x* u! x7 [! p" ^
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from* k# W+ k. n" }* t1 B; ?4 C' |' v
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly4 L6 `0 c. p9 G0 U% S$ M
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
: q$ L- j' y+ }, q' Vshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and3 M: Q# B, |# ^1 K' Q
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough( s0 U$ d& W8 _5 k+ ?
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
( F; B: }6 J: X% _turn off the engine.
! z7 g; R( O: }/ D6 B. O' ZFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
" w& X8 o1 {+ ?4 ~. VOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."$ a# ^0 R) T1 n; M7 r. ~6 P
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
- ]! Z* h2 P$ q. c3 S( |said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond! _, G- m7 |7 N! x/ W! e% c& F
to her complaints.
6 F$ U- a$ x9 F4 i# t) d. SIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
$ V' \6 x$ l. L8 e# Xreturned again and again to the question of whether electronic
9 d7 v4 V' }' L" K+ Z* n3 Tmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
, b* h c! s6 {5 v; A"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric/ a. J% ?8 l; W- I/ t
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited) Y; H/ t; z ~" c; Y. N
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut0 J% }) c* V0 g) K0 m
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
7 L! j* ~' Z8 S6 \3 iTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
+ s7 E4 m/ V3 m2 e+ q+ q; l6 g- Lprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
3 k' S# ~, X4 M; B! O# }being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls$ Z( K$ s5 V$ U# n3 }7 M
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer# c/ A0 }4 C8 W' y* y
every question."! K [/ G. x. G, t
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether2 T A4 m5 V0 b# w5 y( X
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
; O9 o% Y, Y7 v% _0 N3 Q0 afirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
3 Q4 R7 i+ d7 R( u- e4 Kcommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small6 E4 _* Z. v! H9 B
number of vehicles% n* _0 _& Y4 p' ]) C4 ?, F
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more
1 m2 W0 @& T0 y6 ~+ d1 Y0 Kdifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
, R% P H0 a6 m! c* Wmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one G- Y* L. Y1 [5 F' b! R! y- N
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.: e; y$ [4 f7 ^" V7 K3 X
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
# w2 l5 e& X2 { z( R1 r# t. Dwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no9 y7 j1 ^5 Q8 l* a: \8 |0 X
trace at all.5 }# C! y. ]4 L9 H; J
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call3 @( I1 s n3 a# c7 U- n7 |
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
0 B7 G) r) k3 [+ @6 nacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
' |3 ^! \: |3 i; y% [recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.; [1 _# A" N' q r
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,9 I; n" n" g3 ^- C, @! t
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
8 A4 W, [5 m" N: G* z; jother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the x7 ^7 h& [3 g1 j8 w0 K
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
, \4 a& J6 m. m0 B+ k! Icause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
5 m5 b8 }- }2 \/ W/ Jsuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained9 ?" b$ H- W+ F: q
by Toyota's lawyers."
# H7 g3 s7 P* C0 {Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of" t) L6 [ H6 p
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our0 R5 t7 Q# p# t6 N3 H
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
N# i7 P3 C# }1 i. }4 ?) Csaid.1 \; I( i: E1 ?- g2 }
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
, i0 e6 m5 n; F4 Z- V9 ga rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
, i4 x/ U1 E+ i# y3 Jgood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating; n1 {& p4 G7 n: r' q- s7 G2 c
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
! r4 o: E ~# A; P: Y) e! [Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying ~1 O8 t* ]3 M" y
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread1 m* |; w h. \' e/ j! V$ h9 a
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the' R9 a: g: j. z8 H4 `/ j
automaker, at least in part because of the government's; J U& X$ \! ~) B' G
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and l% G/ C( V; {1 w1 C6 E( D7 L2 u- C, t
Chrysler.
6 e L* i+ I$ S1 [; }8 k2 E% q"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
) T9 E5 f, D0 T$ s2 _" K2 v9 I6 Vdollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
/ K7 \" `2 y6 V# A- T3 y3 J1 ?; Q1 nHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
: J5 C/ @8 w- z: S+ N* j4 Lserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete+ v. @5 s( ~$ P5 O8 z* r/ Q- F8 s
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
4 m, \8 w- N3 E# r8 C6 T' }8 xtough.", W7 [" x0 m# Q* s i; o$ q" U9 o8 O
---
- Y* V8 O8 n* d* k$ f9 g: c! LAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom, H( I6 O1 P& u, y5 ~
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to+ g+ n3 B# t6 |% e& {6 ]
this story.
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