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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题' ~3 e8 B+ T( o2 X: V' v5 y
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS/ z) T5 D9 r& d [/ b4 Q
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.$ |! x( g* J. g# z, W" I( C9 ?
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that) h- \( s& A' w, N: Y
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
: N# C4 W+ }+ q0 H" Psolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
+ X8 }; b% L% o. r' D"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential9 F/ o2 a0 c& }. q
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
" r$ t; n u* t9 f1 d- WHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected2 v- e( Y9 R3 N; r
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
! s: h- m; x. n8 s+ strucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor$ k/ l6 O8 E N: F2 B2 r+ c
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.! n; q* Y) Q6 u
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal* I# z: V& L; I- V* ~/ @
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp1 |7 l" P3 V% F3 B6 O; j
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
" y" ^" j: ^5 C( R% [+ Bfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
+ j6 S+ n0 i5 `2 k( D% Anot stop her runaway Lexus.5 ?4 D I: C' q3 f
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
* R2 ?7 O! j. O3 |1 W0 [# ETenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
# T) P1 H+ f7 g0 y- V) \% t"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.& r# V i& p I: [
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues( m% j, \8 |# h$ b! m8 [
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said4 [- C7 G9 W6 x2 D
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has6 s' ?6 ^) {- q6 j* ^) \
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway6 `8 s K" B! c: j3 w L+ c* N
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
7 X- }# B" H7 ?( n M# z6 ~investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."; ^( M. a; l& x$ V/ {7 ^& s$ W
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an+ ` Z/ z. f \3 Q' J# s2 V4 L
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of1 z3 P$ _% \ s( t; c: D8 E8 k3 X
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
" ]. F" _% e4 D2 |0 g: \malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he' d( g8 R7 e! B: Y L- I
said.
4 Y2 N2 d/ X- ZAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what, y0 |: W2 Q/ p5 l' |) \+ W
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe' [# P7 o% b! }1 M
about driving our products," Lentz said.
$ D9 a9 S9 I. }3 d2 z( sThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's1 m8 v- o" h0 D2 H' F; ]4 W! s, `
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has' v9 ^. m8 _6 s j! f' e
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
2 E. n+ l3 o0 c: z" Lmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of
$ X2 O% L/ d" Q; iunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
. J2 u( Z5 r; ]issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering+ f1 W" Q' O8 i6 e N, `' C# x
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of4 j; [# {9 g/ b- R) W( Q
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
, I! u( e. s' v% g. T+ l4 jdown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
L( L) r2 m( F. F4 v. ureceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration) H2 {$ z: b. p7 s2 t
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.* q( R, {8 A4 l% T& Q$ H* B
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
- h. t5 k! N# g6 L" L1 [. Ybrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
6 g- K% @* [1 C e% l& tunderstood the pain.% V5 [0 H3 ]1 v1 V1 Z! k3 c% N0 i
"I know what those families go through," he said.$ [ @* {1 h2 l1 p6 f1 Z- J
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's1 s2 [4 m5 h! {, z
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.5 y" w8 [3 d5 m+ t5 { t" f7 G
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
. p' o; P3 ]6 E4 XHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
( b3 `* ?5 V8 Uin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
h% {5 }4 N% Z* xLentz replied: "Not totally."* `: B A' R0 F3 Y
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were R: x( ?! }( g( `8 O5 |9 [
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said7 _ W1 s! l& W+ n, ]3 Q$ A" F
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas: z% b6 i* X7 g0 S6 |# Z0 t& q) ]
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
: X/ ? U) j, J9 X8 _ q) `vehicles already on the road.
6 b i$ j# ]7 s7 D* k: IMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
0 u% k7 T; b7 t9 y' K7 obefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
2 I# a6 q2 c( f7 z9 ~responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
$ ~3 R& n H' G- t1 e4 Xoffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
, w0 w5 L G/ i. s( x7 E4 K$ t2 U6 [killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.: V% U1 m, M, W2 p( x
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
9 [$ m8 S6 c6 }7 S9 M1 ftragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
3 H+ F3 {9 w0 X X8 N [$ tfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight- b, ~; A5 y+ Q6 w' e
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal' ^# Q( X9 {4 g; J" E
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
7 f) k- X- G& D1 @restore the trust of our customers."
! @. J; d, j7 @, K* g; ^% o3 gLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
7 h* M: ?" C! b1 xSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly/ G& Z i( Z" V2 h- {( T
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
8 U8 y! N- |0 W6 T hshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
' x- `! N# W* c1 x5 Yhitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough" v+ \1 W [$ B: V+ Y% v6 B
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and b9 Z" f, a. V* i2 M* `. O# o6 _
turn off the engine.
8 W3 T$ j: t( r# b0 S* KFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
$ T2 S) G# ^8 O. v1 O+ f/ FOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
& C' X {* R2 d2 v9 l"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
a, a! Q* e x6 k% C4 r$ V: b: Msaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond2 S' F/ z- c0 E8 V: @5 w8 d
to her complaints.
5 }. S: P5 \# F' w5 x7 GIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers7 ~4 O# j- G6 l
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
T2 u- { V4 G; C* w& T$ cmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
; e- F% K# y" j; I"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
9 k) e! q, F& {( N7 _5 jthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited- E# r+ W4 L' Y1 M! L
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut% d% @: I2 ^5 d* f
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
% M+ E8 s1 Q Y/ J, u. R7 dTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in# p. r5 r$ e& ?( r
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were4 m; _$ k: @5 T- w9 \# E, `$ w5 x
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
, H; y: X1 f9 f/ U' v" @were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
7 t1 n/ h' a4 y5 c$ F2 a" Z/ v4 Bevery question."
: v& \4 |! |% M0 @Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether* x. x7 f, b" g6 n* _) C- v
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
8 p k% s* l6 D1 {" E1 sfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
" D. H% I! q# ~4 {$ h+ Scommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small
2 N! \1 j' [3 e( Q/ ^number of vehicles
0 U7 n+ ~3 r- r. I6 i' i, ]Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more- o0 X2 w# I H# H) }6 v
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
9 L! I& I+ J6 Imechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one2 h) D- b; @' h& W* i
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
' c7 I# G6 M+ F/ T {Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,6 m2 o5 L) m; Q) [7 ~! d
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no/ W2 K9 ?7 b$ c5 v: K* s% S/ f
trace at all.: c& y: h+ g/ }2 S: ?
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
6 d6 |; A( g$ W4 B: L% k3 mdatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden% m8 m* _3 r0 C/ W
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
$ M* B2 n1 W- _2 arecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.8 S( u0 s! {1 a: `: y/ D6 L
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,/ ^6 f1 l" @ K( y$ a6 p9 d+ n( w
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
/ o% X R! q: U: w4 N6 aother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
! J! A3 q6 \7 n2 [electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible! L# c o* a( E0 |; O, _) G
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
# w% h6 \) I1 ]% n3 gsuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
" t0 `0 K, u8 l$ H9 vby Toyota's lawyers."2 I5 g# K2 n, Z% r( g
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
7 ?1 R6 x; B2 ]4 W) fproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
9 ^3 ^8 g. z: x K' v& {. bcustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
, o# Q- B& v; Esaid.
. y# v+ T' I0 L- I4 u"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
- s/ A( A% i2 ^5 ^9 V2 G% Ka rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
9 U, g5 }) h2 Dgood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
6 W* p+ T( {. k7 [1 wofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.- q# H8 ?7 Q4 d; E c t
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying! g; _, J' g" {) p8 i
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread* ]* i5 e7 y: w1 J
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the% p7 [; n( W8 [( I: \
automaker, at least in part because of the government's' {, M3 f0 e- R5 }; V1 p
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
6 a. P, v: ^4 ~8 k- O- s% M2 lChrysler.
" G! ]* E+ }, w `6 U ~% Y( y"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
! b) K( b: o5 Z; @, m. }dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
) F- V$ s6 k. m& a6 U5 [1 e w; jHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
F7 ]% h9 i3 U, ^served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
: t# ^6 ^1 @, y+ w; O/ [with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty \# Y6 U7 x5 y8 U' Y7 l" I8 k
tough." h! m1 O" P$ | J& ]
---
k+ [5 j# o4 D6 JAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom$ i1 b# D- N: z; B
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to# {% Q. Z1 Q4 P2 g5 |. m3 K6 ?
this story.
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