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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题& e8 z0 F& [! K9 o1 x
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS: r& s! }2 N% I% o
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.6 o: m- t6 Z( K% @3 R& d' _
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that" b; b. c% ?. z
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"& o# o0 f5 k: X- H1 s! e" D7 ^4 q9 w/ K
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
( [% `, P, V0 E! L. e" z& U. a ?"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential- a# Q. n9 u9 ?8 i. g9 f5 N' ]- [
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
4 e0 y# w" J9 D+ A( ]. zHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
1 s' t" F% F& n" i8 G+ macceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and. J3 |: Q' N; Y) j8 c# J2 e" q. U
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor" U& Q: m* k r2 N Y: b5 K
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.8 w: ~9 B* A9 f/ g
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
6 k8 B: z; r4 M9 U) P) Jand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp O$ l: S3 n, s. i0 H
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
" Z' k G8 z" }& Efurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could5 n1 Z! Y# g+ C. g' [) ]% }
not stop her runaway Lexus.; U T0 l( ^3 ~6 B0 M! M) ~9 M. q B6 [
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
3 o4 m% n1 z# U/ u% {Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
) F7 ^ i, G7 k0 ["shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.0 _1 Z1 j$ \( S3 l( d
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues w b6 K0 a# d4 { G2 D
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
+ c4 }: T; b2 y/ ^; j"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
+ g1 Y( C' I) K2 E3 L: K/ X; rdone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
8 J. c, j E2 I# vthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
: R! Z+ z* g6 g E3 u8 {' e1 |investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
0 x" [* H# k4 Y, ZLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
0 L! d( B/ p$ g2 o) w& R4 E! {6 b) y2 felectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
4 I2 x/ g0 Q3 V2 u) p% a7 X3 Othe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a) L9 A5 h) t; I' E# I. l
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
6 L- u% _3 A& C1 d qsaid.- a) U+ [) ~! e! M- F
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
5 p5 P7 K" ]2 D9 d) S1 bhappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
/ e/ g/ E" s2 r3 Oabout driving our products," Lentz said.
- O$ o1 R, M% \* S0 u, BThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's; M2 ~0 R" W# b7 B1 E I [
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has# e) x/ H, m, h6 v- r
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6 o8 S1 Q5 Y6 B* [# H- Z9 ~8 R
million in the United States -- since last fall because of
( p7 r" I/ t0 m7 Funintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking0 ^0 t9 }: g5 b- u, s; m
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering6 j+ A) g* N. l8 `; p$ l' o. L7 x
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of9 J$ V; @" A r) L3 R4 P
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
: {9 l. h* Y( i3 g1 H$ n( H! mdown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
) J6 t7 U7 \, freceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
9 N8 l9 z# }! p& |2 Q [7 }9 r Hof Toyota vehicles since 2000.: ?* {6 q) D. F
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
/ @% h/ ?3 y0 T! b2 Abrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he; l7 i! n# j& F0 b
understood the pain.
2 A6 r) q% |8 r* V# q" c+ u# P5 ["I know what those families go through," he said.$ n5 L" \, t+ E
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's1 b" ]$ I. A, N2 R5 `, ?" U
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.2 E/ D n/ _2 M
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman+ c: s. }* F6 u; W$ I! @
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
; b# Z& l0 g. q. x- \ y" ]5 a* u2 Vin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,! H& n" C- ?- t1 W/ r `7 T
Lentz replied: "Not totally."( y- s7 Z$ [# x5 b2 W( g4 _
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were% B- ]9 a/ x; D' B8 {
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said9 T5 i. J7 _; K, w9 p
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas* W) H2 ~9 N( }, z/ f" }; \
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
0 G# p! h) o6 ?1 T( V1 M7 S$ {; pvehicles already on the road.( ^/ Y: F* `$ X' \5 p- r+ W
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
( e ~0 p, ^" i# S1 Mbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
% t7 j* ~% b+ H, m1 Cresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
1 s" @3 b6 G5 woffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were# o0 b$ a3 e- a7 R! G
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.' G4 {! e. t4 q7 ` b
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
8 \# E* E% G* ttragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
( Q( M& C' Z6 E3 }) z4 p w4 kfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
0 C# Q2 v. g$ _; ]Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal0 ]8 X: u$ |5 i& G) D- `4 `- q$ u
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
& a0 w& a0 v$ p8 P+ a8 {& xrestore the trust of our customers."$ I4 R* I7 d+ [+ M! r% ^+ |/ h
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
$ Q6 T3 i. _8 J3 c% Z" JSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
1 i: B1 V4 T8 {$ wzoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
' ^8 e3 Y$ q0 |3 ?6 `shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and1 \ F5 N8 K4 Q- Y. q6 f* {" V+ v4 N
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
5 c0 H d' R$ _; J7 ithat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
# i$ h0 e* |/ h* d) Oturn off the engine.$ Y6 r: F9 }8 `: d& \5 U! V- r) v
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of3 H f$ J' d4 n3 N3 e9 D2 N( r/ D7 Z
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."0 a! W& j/ [& Y) K. V9 \
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she$ l9 y" u" Q3 Z% k2 C
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond+ I! i% a# |9 f5 x$ M# l0 E& }5 `0 d
to her complaints.! R, l! |7 j3 {) `' e6 c! S& R
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers3 D3 `2 T* ~' J/ [% Q( m4 s9 q4 @
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic( r, e h4 o) C, \( o
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
) z/ h" O5 c: L! y! j( K# M"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
+ I, H7 e$ V3 h% U2 |! gthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited! V2 N" d+ {: o/ k1 \
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut1 u/ D/ F" Y% L2 y! h
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
( z& u( {5 F$ Y3 p) F" vTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
$ e# e% f8 i1 Z) S) Hprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were( t% @% N9 p$ S1 K* b+ p4 e
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls+ d% v6 ~ L& q/ S( [+ i7 W
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
9 r. W' k5 _+ q+ i2 }& i- L& severy question."
: x8 G# ~7 X3 F4 AToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
. E6 A( C" ~; P4 w1 o$ ^electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
4 g* C& g4 E7 m6 J6 r+ S* Bfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But( J9 \5 I9 t# U; t- S
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
, u3 _+ U3 _0 w) O* G7 unumber of vehicles
, K3 g5 |8 |( x- pTracking down an electrical problem can be far more
6 b1 j1 d& @5 ?+ ?difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
- X* q) E* z* Fmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one) l4 J* A4 A. _
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
' H+ J: X3 i# V! x2 E; \, c. K8 wMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
/ H0 D4 R M) qwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
/ D7 ?, g! T% X/ btrace at all.
9 C1 F0 Y/ p' F0 nHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call" r6 j( J' z- [! N$ L1 ~# S" g
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden2 Z7 W3 ^! m+ j) y
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the9 D, y' n! i2 ?7 C' h2 i, Y2 b
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
" [* M( l. e! L, d9 S( {# y2 IRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,1 L l0 l& k {# K/ C3 f) R6 F4 T
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
% ]. [1 t: z, d- `other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
* S) Z2 H/ o( S, q2 lelectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
) v$ H( [% u( O5 k. d# \0 y5 Icause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
]! Z6 M6 u1 a8 Fsuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained1 J2 T7 ^' \% V% N6 e/ _
by Toyota's lawyers."
) a( o, ~- e. S( h( uLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of- h j/ u6 f; e; b* Y
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our+ [9 Q0 I. m9 k
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he$ a: I9 L, C: k5 b5 D
said.
! m' h! x: }) T4 Q( A4 v( e$ D6 Z* v' Q"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
2 |8 f8 t5 T; T. V4 \/ Ta rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our& S6 \% p2 @; x
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
1 i5 _1 y! [4 wofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
" Z2 H: o1 _/ S- T! N* ESeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
0 z( S( {3 F7 ^! _. O8 mmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread. P9 X( M6 s) g- V
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the& `" l$ ]( H% i' a G X
automaker, at least in part because of the government's
' P6 o0 D9 y, I% [) b5 l% |8 r/ Winvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
; B# u2 Z7 C5 ?* nChrysler.
9 T. J2 \- y1 ^' d! h& E! L"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
3 G+ w3 t) p5 n. m y+ g1 g- idollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
7 E. Q& c5 H- L8 PHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also( Y" q/ i {% E* z3 i+ m. g! F7 V
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
" L' z3 Y/ T J9 }7 M$ {: t' ~# H; twith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
$ D( U1 a* r5 w6 j4 F6 O1 |$ Ftough.") q1 v# {' r6 V8 f7 v; g
---! \9 d7 v @+ W& A
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
k+ B+ Q& l4 K9 C7 @, V) HRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
( J' E$ a( D# A( b# jthis story.
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