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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题* U2 \# F5 O$ K {* A
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
# H4 M" n+ @) l9 z c4 ?Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
$ Z+ F4 L1 b2 f! f$ uoperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that0 ]7 @; x3 ~3 N% u
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally": O/ C8 T5 [- I5 \
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
1 T- C, e# ~+ g"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential6 |+ ~* S% [6 V# d4 S2 m0 X
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.9 A$ U( f) L( S( O8 N" h1 C, I
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
9 G% }! [3 x* {* v" |0 B4 Hacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and" x i5 @' R& w3 b
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
/ h. S7 h# H# K* @/ q# P! Lmats and sticking accelerator pedals.
$ x. C1 k) _7 r! i- q* P( rHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal* M+ H0 C& a0 K" _
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp3 K. [% i6 G% s6 W
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be! b9 |- V4 V) R
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could5 V) z! |& m; h( @0 u+ B9 s
not stop her runaway Lexus.
7 l( [ P7 @0 E- \+ A- Q"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,3 i& r0 K& J M: y6 k
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
5 x, I p$ o9 _3 T"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.( N9 ` a' _7 J. Z
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues5 ]5 @3 g3 N( x0 O
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said( F: ?" Z; q h: c
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has5 _: t" i. d1 O" e
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway L* q9 S! g, a$ z' Y
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
' P3 B4 f# q( I" V* tinvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."; C7 @$ n \/ p1 C. V1 W; N
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
( k9 p7 a8 |' t: aelectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
% C; S5 T8 D6 V' F! ithe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
# ]% \5 c8 _) j8 [/ ]; \malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
& Q* s7 E/ H) ]+ b$ H" k4 J) V8 I C& Xsaid.
( X' ]6 S" r( z/ [ Z1 `As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
9 _% S7 s7 a0 hhappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe) o, C0 }! W. x# n3 @+ k
about driving our products," Lentz said.
( m! S! N' [+ G! QThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
1 Q+ J; g: U2 k @1 L7 x% ^) cproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
% Q+ ^2 C5 z3 S( ?. B9 trecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
4 A/ D- b$ p( U3 |3 s8 T$ Mmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of" m. {# p& H! ?# p
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
& ^8 I% {4 y& B- missues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering0 \% V6 ^: S5 R- v0 I
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of0 x- ^4 R2 G# j5 m& x
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
- K8 m' D/ f' l+ Q$ }down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has( \5 |- Z: F! _) Y4 T- z
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
8 w% v/ x! @5 x+ {of Toyota vehicles since 2000.1 C( x5 W2 ^, }9 c
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own9 Z5 |, G$ a( N7 d) G/ d7 U
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
& i3 ~/ `# _# r- U0 R. ?2 I9 v% ?! }understood the pain.$ J+ A! J/ ]1 E7 U8 m
"I know what those families go through," he said.% [/ y1 j* I+ M/ k0 A% r9 \
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
9 `% E" u, u0 d% q0 [fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.' X* b) r4 p# i) I$ `; M
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
+ ~4 _6 ^4 y* xHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
- u& X" Y/ W- u- G. c2 ^in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
3 d+ r) v3 H3 f5 |5 v" Y) rLentz replied: "Not totally."
) V. _4 I* j* ^0 ^1 Z6 u. tStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
" @! Z: W: P! U' u6 P r"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
9 D: L' C9 Z* S kToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
1 n8 N b1 t4 B7 ?$ v: r7 Wpedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its3 r& ]+ b% Y+ S: t- O
vehicles already on the road.8 }: V( B! w' `
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
8 W8 [# K7 N' U1 |; F' b/ bbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full# X% P, P$ i+ [# e5 w
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
& f; D) O. E9 a2 W7 v% x- p4 R" toffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
* G4 E" y" c9 y2 {4 a- Qkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems." z+ n0 D5 |3 T& R8 B t* N7 ]" f
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a$ \7 A1 R& |! ~4 M7 {! H
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
1 F R" L6 d/ u" x8 C4 t0 {$ v/ ]for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight8 T) n* x1 C7 C( \2 d& S# v
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal ~; k$ F. K$ f& M n
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
3 M4 N! y# D* u& prestore the trust of our customers."# D5 G O) E2 W" w/ W: M
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
5 {5 w( g' I Y% eSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly" {* l. C" L( o% Y. e( Q" k
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --" K0 I3 e3 A( R( M
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
# d, F1 D8 O0 G9 H( Thitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough! Z+ N( Q. v/ p
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
! [$ W+ C' `- |: y M" Eturn off the engine./ S( |: e' w+ ?+ v6 [0 _; ^& \ n; o
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of# ?' l5 ?; M5 I+ ^9 M
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."3 e# p; c/ x/ [9 \; R% X# {
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she0 P( x7 O5 I! K3 ?, B
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond. {9 Q6 I" k- e _% b" `
to her complaints.8 [' M u# n4 D8 X' e: O, ?
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers0 ?5 B @" w0 q( P. L
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic' k( e$ A2 C8 n. ^+ ]
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars." P0 o! y$ |; @1 ^1 g
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric/ y- D4 q: r: @* ~6 X: \
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
; a: [+ w/ H+ J* J" z3 c9 y2 p"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
. o) u" A3 A: V o& q1 foff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
3 \# b2 _/ H$ y2 Q. D. pTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
) y: a: r$ H0 t4 \+ hprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were+ `+ E! m" q$ C+ o- Q( v
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
$ k0 x( a0 I5 F8 F5 ]9 b6 P; Awere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer. F: i* _& e- i' ?( E
every question."
$ t$ H1 l2 v7 X" x5 K, q8 xToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether/ g- L* a4 Q: d& F
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
) A2 O; }" c! Z3 Bfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
5 S9 C/ g: E# @" @" l0 xcommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small8 e5 M- C; I, m- T' p1 n
number of vehicles& x8 k' I2 J! y# a, k, F9 R: k
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more
5 P3 m V9 b8 u. idifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a9 q4 d! J. ~- n- k5 \$ s4 w; t& f
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one' w+ G, u2 I8 h7 f1 Y
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.2 Q* y6 ~. I, q' \* X7 [
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
0 V p% W/ ~1 Q+ Y+ swhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
) h4 n; }5 I3 ]% d/ y! etrace at all.
3 f; a8 g8 t- E* p& a2 ^; X( THouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call6 [) y' h) k/ J- U* R' g
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden+ K! ^" q! Q1 E t; f$ R: b0 q
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the' e3 Z- Y. |0 v9 ^4 h+ V
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.6 A. N+ E6 q! w! U
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
9 f3 ~3 D/ N' G' bsaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and* O E2 A6 e- a
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
# w+ o) L! |- [! o+ J6 qelectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible6 ]- L0 e& ]0 ^' X* B
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only3 a# f$ S8 B9 J5 T8 D! p
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained% u i: e, ~) Z9 G0 N1 ]" N' M
by Toyota's lawyers."
3 I2 e5 ~0 \) H* ?2 y0 q3 WLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
/ \0 `1 S* E! b) X$ A: k" K" Y% Eproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our# U4 ~: j4 b( e" S6 u, Y
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he* F5 x3 b* _9 V. G
said.
7 p4 H6 F9 W) T"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with. @' L' l& a+ K
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our8 N% i7 q& F6 @* }1 p
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
7 Y; R' z d/ P" q; _7 vofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.$ E4 ~ i1 @" k5 c; l' m! y. K& {
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying: @- N. G9 r- F0 q
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
T+ J$ r1 j8 ^" F9 v! N7 X: _rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the+ V* }( L: V: ]- r5 q
automaker, at least in part because of the government's* O4 `9 @* k$ i" v9 _# E5 {
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
- p) w8 `3 V- a/ i/ TChrysler.( p' ?& [; P8 O% Z
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
% @6 y, X- @1 o( C' E( t9 S Sdollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a) j# O: V) B3 C4 ^+ v7 E
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also2 f3 w1 }7 J% h9 d' Z6 i5 D
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete# m' o8 d% p% p$ m. H
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty8 M5 o( X1 |/ H+ C: n& J5 X
tough."1 U: @5 ?- m8 M! O# t8 o8 z7 T
---! J" U$ d: j6 W% ?8 G" Y: Q
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom, [) N' G6 L6 F" B
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to& }, C) D& u, y& g# X& y& D
this story.
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