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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题; w5 E2 |& z& C6 v; n2 C
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
% u) X7 Q) L3 M; ]7 r6 pWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S. B( H- x0 I( U) z# N( H
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
+ V8 j( W/ B# f0 W7 ?the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally") R* T+ P# o; l" _0 I, f
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
# `* N2 M. n: u0 v. d: j+ R"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
& ?: J* t4 `8 U0 n4 s' Y y+ Ncauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.6 k H# c0 S) Q5 i# Z9 m
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected. t- f* _# m2 o& B, ^; e- R6 |
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
5 B6 D- p* z. K! K$ O: W# _3 S% D' @3 ntrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor' G2 b% T3 E" I
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.
7 p7 L, l, J( D) OHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal) d- ^4 I* y8 P
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp2 S: ~$ v6 e$ E$ \8 m2 u
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
9 m; W) y8 k- l3 s- o# O/ W# B4 `further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could% J- u' y" a% H1 ` x
not stop her runaway Lexus.) o1 t; t# X( q( y2 v! f% H3 d0 J
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,9 z! O. H" n1 g
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
, a) |2 ? j' m' `/ R6 L$ M"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
6 S( n$ r9 h2 P. qTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues6 Q) W/ S6 j" ^: v8 e
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said6 b* C# {4 D: H; O. u; W& s: s
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has+ k3 }6 L( o1 U1 Z& g9 T* A. d
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
, V( t% W k5 c: Vthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's, v/ w/ R' O- f5 a/ v
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."- c* t1 y9 }; ~7 g
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
Y$ f% y5 ]' R H1 a8 O w# \electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
$ }% n. J2 ^ z8 _+ \; Dthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
8 R# _5 j. E8 E1 @. U0 V+ Emalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he3 ?& i4 Q# c. u* ]* E; Y0 Q& I. F
said.
6 D0 x. {+ t D3 z4 f, J; oAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
7 B. k, w* s7 Thappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe$ I* P2 o0 k8 s% b) V. q, T2 { g
about driving our products," Lentz said.
- R- F" g( T4 ]% q8 GThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
1 [" T$ Q# r- T fproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
" d, W6 b+ ^$ ~' m! H4 u5 Yrecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
* V0 w, j6 _/ `million in the United States -- since last fall because of$ u0 H& G. L. y t* l7 M: a( F* F0 ~* t# q1 G
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking9 f" O- r# q, T; v/ {. f
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
7 b$ \: H6 z5 K( O" U6 I4 q0 cconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of. B! T8 c" w/ F6 x7 B4 N3 E
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
|$ r6 n* x, }9 m+ T2 b" Rdown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has1 R( y S2 [4 j# ?# C
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
4 r6 G1 p! h7 u$ f6 bof Toyota vehicles since 2000.
4 \/ J: F+ ]- t$ T0 x- v8 GLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
$ h9 `. [8 F/ k$ d) k sbrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
7 h+ h5 g4 o( T# E+ Bunderstood the pain.
! S* X& m7 x5 y! S5 k6 w( Q9 d"I know what those families go through," he said.0 j' B4 M# t- I
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's: K u: ]* C* J$ u+ @2 W
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
# P' T5 s. P1 _; k4 ^But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
/ e$ m6 L" L) y* F& ]Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put5 R' r1 A0 A. x$ e% I; ]
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,/ ~( s: W/ Z) v
Lentz replied: "Not totally."% M n4 a- {) h) j2 x: ^7 F
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were9 q( k6 g' i/ U7 `1 |
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said( o, H! f' n. p% |
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
8 R- {0 z& D3 ]# E4 l7 cpedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
* F9 l! h, A6 O }vehicles already on the road.
# E Q: l. o8 ~Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify% @, M0 K. q, E
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
1 B% k F$ m! V, c$ p6 nresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and- e* w/ T+ L' N0 R$ q) O! o k
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
- A7 a% v, w2 R% C6 M0 Pkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
4 @( b$ _# O2 B3 h. X+ J% K"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a% J% ?1 T, E! V
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
, y1 Z/ I* Y' g& ` w4 Hfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight9 t5 T) b; ^! a6 s- L1 a) B" ]
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
4 U( ]" K# b3 L% c/ w/ acommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
" ?' x7 l9 u+ g1 T$ Prestore the trust of our customers."
! G! S( D3 b2 r0 u1 V2 Q* N- XLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from! ?1 {$ ?! m$ r f }$ ^
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly9 ~' D+ W3 z$ `- P
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --$ W9 e# j& K; A# i, ]4 U' W
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and& M: S9 L' r8 Z
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
- z7 n: R6 Z( G0 r7 Dthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and2 q3 U' [$ T$ _' P: e
turn off the engine.8 y8 B+ n" `- H. ^
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
! y- W+ p0 ^3 @& p2 Z% ~5 MOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."$ y( N- _4 [0 W2 D
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
+ \7 @" z- a5 s: X) K) W2 Gsaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond/ \) o3 F! y$ {- T) Q5 [& @& i
to her complaints.
4 F. Z8 Y. _" i# lIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
3 B) c. K& o) f) z* freturned again and again to the question of whether electronic
, \: p" }) ]0 ?( o" umalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
+ G7 [ ^$ C9 s; |: R! |"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
7 B- E$ Q, C/ e/ A7 Q* _throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
& s2 j9 R; o5 f2 S" U! E"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
6 Z8 {6 v' ~1 \9 r$ koff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."$ R# |% p/ p9 v) d: Q+ I
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in# H" j! O, R/ }& }* m
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were, Y1 f! G- f9 g6 n/ g. g
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
, c* U% s7 S0 i2 E' dwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer/ V' j& u+ V$ |9 @6 L2 f7 A
every question."
/ V4 e4 f& i; ]7 @Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
' G( T; w2 ?+ Selectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The' s# ?! e$ \" N
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But2 ]) q% @; @* H
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
& V" m+ W' e7 v @) r/ ]number of vehicles
* @0 Y% A& |! |$ `Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more. |5 D' [9 r7 w9 F$ @ x
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a$ m) H2 {* c3 ]1 z' ]* Z5 Z
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
% u7 u+ N/ P' n/ jsource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.7 Y" g& F4 H" ]' H
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
9 F* H9 m5 o8 ?( zwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no& O. U) [, O. u
trace at all.! R8 t5 {4 x! k3 z8 m- x$ m) e
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call) y; a/ T7 W3 [5 r! o
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
6 e& n# z7 p, _, l: ~acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
- G( H* d/ @, brecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.5 P& e5 k6 D# ?" L/ B# F
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,' h1 x( @8 p" j9 G3 k0 e1 d
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
; k) G3 g9 z) nother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the: R; t5 [' o! j. }- g) u& d
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
( h/ Y( Z2 Y3 {7 y- Ycause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only" |* `3 D4 _$ |8 R' V0 z% A0 N8 g
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained; y8 i& ?$ @$ k& N% ^# Z* n3 W" W
by Toyota's lawyers."
( G% \+ ~8 C- k9 r$ g1 G2 LLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of( t( v4 I# F7 B
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
" k1 Y! V- F( Y$ I6 Z0 Kcustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he' `4 ]9 Q; x. } _/ o- d5 O7 c: K
said.) D9 n! r3 M, Z" B' n7 p
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with7 L- {; l6 a) e
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our' h, m- O. ?: _) S, F( i! k
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating' I* v# M H0 l& u0 _4 g, ~7 {- ~0 r
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.* `4 D6 {5 P% s6 k, M& ]- O
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
: T; k& _4 r/ ~' pmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
! r. Y/ y/ \" c) I: Krancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
. i* ]6 y S. ~: c1 ^+ aautomaker, at least in part because of the government's) T" b1 W8 k5 |' R, [
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and/ P0 h( X) A( R1 W! h3 p$ W T
Chrysler.4 _: y& c0 p: O8 h" _( U
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
# W; R$ \+ G1 Q# C5 `) Sdollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a$ j4 z" `& c# S6 R# A) g4 h
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also- y+ U8 w( ]4 @3 N7 w
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete4 a: A" Y/ u% y- H0 d
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
1 W3 x8 E! H* gtough."
: w7 v+ Z, E8 ^---
5 Z1 r! A3 X K; p3 `$ XAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom6 C+ m3 |' a) L+ p$ E) ]& c
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
# u$ G2 e" l" A( J, Qthis story.
% B# K2 G) _ B4 D: M6 u7 B4 I* e7 t( T: z- ^, r
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