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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题+ c4 z- s$ y3 R$ I! [) V
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
9 M3 q! {1 s$ w4 gWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S., o% G$ a) Q9 Z$ A5 l' ]: c2 C, K
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
h0 t! X% E3 s- g4 X/ D8 ]the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"% A3 @ ]# j9 N
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration." m% L& O1 d* M
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential2 N' ~ a* s) _6 T5 i5 G$ z' F
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
! r5 b: d4 Z* b' |1 B' xHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
' I, T2 _/ C, P' w0 Jacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and& P4 g N! M& w% h A9 E, K% Z
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor# z! o6 c. U* _0 G, }
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.8 l- }5 O- ]8 s I- I# a3 k
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
( R. P$ L) C: b2 k$ S9 ?8 }and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp3 I% K% A) }" f( X/ L. L d1 e
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be, _0 i# Q! g/ A o- ] V3 D8 Z
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could1 x2 P; ^6 L: m- @
not stop her runaway Lexus./ \0 D8 T8 y* v4 X5 O+ _, ]
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,, s! Q8 G# c% E7 ^
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second- [: L6 v9 T Y9 t' y
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
/ v" N/ Q1 x" c9 x2 YTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
5 h5 M& _0 U* V0 f5 Kearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said! [* J9 ] d" `
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
# t7 E* ]5 [: V, }done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway1 ?& X5 \& b8 J
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
q( V( Y- J6 F- m7 B* H, Sinvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
3 q0 u, T+ u$ p: r" A' [Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
/ R9 d9 r" E) S5 e/ k7 s" Uelectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
- |) R- L: _! w: |3 I7 uthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
8 B* u# d/ _6 S. s1 r3 w$ k* Dmalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
; Q( ^ F5 \$ j" V9 i2 k, e) tsaid.
m4 S0 Z/ g6 j) m QAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what8 W$ ^* p; q% D# \ p
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
" J( A, A# }0 q" O3 k3 t# G1 Vabout driving our products," Lentz said.
5 Z: X# W7 N& v% D$ K6 gThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's7 |2 A' S8 G: ? ?" T& F
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
' R# D% C; Q) {, {8 @# trecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 60 ]+ a# N) t7 S" _. r$ |! |3 i
million in the United States -- since last fall because of
# i: `5 J, j0 x+ yunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
& p; @' X7 d/ G3 W* Lissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
8 p3 w& |/ v2 P& I. p) aconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of/ y% N/ V l. Z7 y5 Y$ u, i* l/ T
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow& U- [8 v( R7 o! z' b
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
1 T: C; s x. F A3 ureceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
8 z' u: Z6 I# {- K: t8 uof Toyota vehicles since 2000.& X7 L6 m2 V0 W V* R4 X/ p7 B
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
; u% z; ~; t5 x( nbrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
3 i+ n; |5 d- v) ^) q) V" qunderstood the pain.0 w8 {$ k/ {, D/ \
"I know what those families go through," he said.
) L' x9 ^; _0 p: {Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
' o9 W' ?6 m! S; _fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
: H& U2 A" F9 F; q( X# U8 U; fBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
- k3 n) n% B) B# a0 CHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
4 `6 n7 q! K* c7 r' E" uin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
/ H; u, G" k8 I& y2 ?Lentz replied: "Not totally."
8 L; M8 o- p5 R; w5 A4 U/ c4 JStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
8 [8 k% T! |) a$ _0 C"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
6 s6 q" Y) T8 zToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
- \2 Y p3 ?. o/ k9 P J& i4 ?pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its* N) E; k ~& ~0 a; w( U. G
vehicles already on the road.: K* g8 X- ]( _$ T$ }2 I
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
& F7 O3 j3 G3 Q2 d+ obefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full! G" t7 L. r8 |" }
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and3 |" e+ Q4 z$ t( N
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
) l0 W6 }* S( j( ?) z: u& ]killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
: u/ s+ U! `: e4 u) w9 V4 j p5 D/ p"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a% |: A, {, X0 F5 K1 f6 A1 D
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
7 d* T: K. U+ Y2 ~8 K& yfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight6 ~% `; [5 @* v# x1 m
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
0 d5 J: u# D1 Y0 v5 z9 rcommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to0 [* x }& P5 P4 C) i
restore the trust of our customers.". K6 R# n$ b I7 C/ _: N
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
3 z! ~7 m& @" ~- Y oSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly3 D. S2 W5 A% B! a) x( x6 e
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
|$ p# R# |, ]6 H( ?* k: T1 G- s) Rshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
2 f+ ?# M$ v/ D! ~; [hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough) l' Z+ B* r$ F+ Y7 \& A
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
2 A) S' i0 M2 R- k/ X p- f2 _1 Yturn off the engine.1 h: V% ]0 s# v! I
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
7 }& t m. o3 w& T1 V) XOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."' `+ W( L( d1 |- C# E0 H5 D3 f
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
0 ]6 Q2 \/ i C) Y4 i* {( rsaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond% e3 E9 y- K1 M; J% {6 M8 K
to her complaints.
* K5 |& ?; C' n8 B3 @" H0 l& xIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
4 L: \+ u" A; p* E* oreturned again and again to the question of whether electronic
% s' L% F r" jmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
3 P) j+ @ C1 O+ V. [% R+ w5 P"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric- C; \) U2 r c1 N) d
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited1 [) h; [9 y& \$ M ~. N3 S. }
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut; J- b( P7 a3 J% {% \. K
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
, d; C# _6 e! ~; ]2 m6 T! m1 p0 }Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in9 Q" d- k1 Z; ]! \& B
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were' w0 i/ J" s" N- f) W4 h8 U) J9 Z: f
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
3 a2 Q+ b x% W: \; K) F) u* {were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer T) O5 t; R: F
every question."
( ?! l5 s$ T! E2 E2 T) r# D5 M# nToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
- g3 [; v5 H) [4 ~0 Belectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The" U( K. c0 {4 }: m" \: z
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But7 S' @7 \! R+ p# `) w3 j
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small6 ^) @- c. J9 I0 y. h+ ?- S4 P
number of vehicles
5 n: l; W/ i9 V! x0 }Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more
* K7 u( ~: D- v0 v$ C' Q. Jdifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a' d0 M, p! m% j1 R, m/ P5 @7 b
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
( O% H* U( {+ @+ o- b5 l( d0 ksource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
$ ]4 ^" }, `. T, @0 |9 p# }# mMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
+ ]# \# s0 b4 kwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no; L/ I5 t3 j+ n1 _& U. i
trace at all.
& t: I# W, Y3 w+ K2 h- |) }( J( nHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call3 U3 F: H) ]( {, Q1 v; i
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden) V% Q& _2 b* x* b" L2 V# q9 S' a
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the% }% f. @7 Z2 }% j( b: q) ^- ?. g, w
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
; E @* \+ o- Y7 P( pRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee," V! i. G" V1 j0 Z) _
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and2 R8 D3 ]: o6 t) A: N
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the3 K5 l: d7 [' a
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible3 N: U$ q& t. ^' U
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only1 Z7 l# ?) ?1 o; e' C% P7 g( S% H: [
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
; T* j1 i1 h c6 c& dby Toyota's lawyers."
) P5 ?1 W a2 E" kLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of7 ~, u# {: B5 y: X
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
5 J' d2 U" l3 Z& X; ucustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he5 X T" g' E& s/ W$ v0 u! }/ `
said./ Y# `; t% M5 m6 L# E
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
3 |1 e8 \- E% c2 L, y9 ba rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our: X a3 ?# A+ g/ F
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
; `% `0 Z! e3 J$ ~% f% R/ q" Cofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.2 j ^) P! m# A) Z/ h
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying, j! x x1 N! y, j- L
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread8 v6 a! l5 k% z7 t% h
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
: b8 j' }* y' |/ N' o7 mautomaker, at least in part because of the government's; O8 `# x( p* h( K* _) a8 h
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
$ I; I5 l/ s. z! ], t" D3 ^Chrysler.4 }8 @, l6 @& w' V
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
) j z) }/ B F9 B( fdollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a, O) W0 v* x" O; |
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
1 H+ ~$ `9 @* p7 w) ~- ?; Tserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
8 k# E$ P o; G) Mwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
' c. \7 J ~0 ~tough."$ @1 ^8 \1 u% P/ |3 l
---
% V; f6 g/ z+ [* d. F A0 SAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
; R: j1 C5 f$ Z. K2 vRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to7 @! J& o! a. q
this story.- h+ W7 ~; F) Y$ _
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