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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题9 F+ i: I7 {/ K' r+ h& y( e2 v
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
8 q' P7 l. d1 @+ p) LWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
" J; w8 S4 s: @0 Woperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
$ ~ i. C; g4 E% I0 X5 Nthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"! o0 M4 ?" n2 }
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
7 Y& L( I; b& |# [6 Z- M4 v+ g"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential2 a' \6 s6 s( |+ l- |
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
5 A0 {. o- \5 f( e" i$ q! YHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected( v" g3 w4 c; `3 g
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and2 f8 e7 ~% Y8 u5 j+ X
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor* J9 _& J: X: D9 J5 q6 \" }' s+ [
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.
- {' W, l6 g+ HHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
$ W5 g8 x x1 J2 g4 tand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp# m* R8 O; j( V+ {5 n% U- M
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
( c* {, b, ~' V6 dfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could! m' J; A+ e7 L7 b) ~4 ?/ ]
not stop her runaway Lexus., ?: _* N" j I( q
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
3 I) O% w: m$ J% u7 {4 hTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
3 Q9 L+ _2 R1 A5 T* C, x$ Y"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.9 w+ E; ~8 }. k) i2 h @7 ~0 ? j
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues- ?- G5 |- I% D0 k
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
/ y$ D! i: {, z- C/ ^! Z/ ~"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has5 f1 y' {" B: F' X4 |& a
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
. X# v1 G$ k( kthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
4 I/ E0 F) \5 B' F2 uinvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."! M) ?7 q. L( ^. ]
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
$ E7 Z9 d, u* @' Xelectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
' o8 P& @# C/ n9 ?the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
$ X o4 S! ]0 ]7 l* P9 amalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he& ?7 U* X7 b5 o. y+ n
said.
* L1 \% m6 a! w# L4 D7 z& iAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
# j$ A* b% ?& z4 G m3 D9 K' vhappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
4 b: U( i0 B& m0 ]% Q8 w# I4 l. k. a% Tabout driving our products," Lentz said.
& N, C5 f0 r4 q. m5 ~Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's- V( c! \: f' e4 X( m" z
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has# Y1 ?+ D& n3 f
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 64 [/ J( q8 f; Y: F8 Z A- c4 ~
million in the United States -- since last fall because of2 |9 r! T+ |& \& c. [4 n" n2 k
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
: K! K+ {4 P4 X5 aissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
' K1 S6 f; I6 z: l5 W8 B/ nconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of7 J0 g g5 H2 D9 F
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow- a6 m' w9 a& S- T$ U+ r
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
0 K* a& `) f( F1 Q6 B- m$ {received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration. r/ i' D7 r* U: ~! R8 x5 j
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.
- r; Z3 k3 t1 _# O9 j5 Z, JLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own/ G. ` O3 K+ q( [; q3 N9 r
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he; {3 @2 N/ g# j: Y3 ^; I( W
understood the pain.
& R) p8 h% K3 {* y: C" {. y% q8 @"I know what those families go through," he said." O" R' b+ |+ I7 s8 G1 s
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's7 _, k- S1 D1 c( B& m# D6 o! C
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.) \( u3 N6 T& J+ i% F' W6 |- s9 f
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman; s0 b0 S5 t" D0 X
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put0 V2 V! S$ T5 Q$ I+ j( Q
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
1 D9 h7 E3 a: {6 T; VLentz replied: "Not totally."
" N2 }) Z& X7 Q0 VStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
0 l: _/ }/ j/ V& F"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said& i2 f, k, T- Y6 t- c. \
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas' [( d9 ? l7 S, C5 C# a- Q
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its! _6 q4 L, G: C; S2 P. K" D* B
vehicles already on the road.. [6 y% i0 y! E1 n: S/ N. P
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
# p4 |9 T+ M& a O, G3 Mbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
2 B) l. [/ A5 k( p) D( K8 Presponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and9 l8 ]1 h1 Y; W" O3 a/ U# @- l
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were6 p9 r2 J: s g; V
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
1 ^' l7 B3 ?+ v8 J. M! I& ~' @"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a4 b3 M6 [: g! M' l3 m( _9 c- z4 s
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
. P0 C- r- ~7 o' k. B9 S+ lfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
" \; g1 Q; g' u& V; k) ]: s! b6 T0 NCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
9 N/ B* e: f {; V7 t/ ocommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to6 s9 ?/ n/ K; y1 Y
restore the trust of our customers."
' u$ B* J6 }1 V7 ]Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
2 L. z9 f8 n8 l& }+ \4 KSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly: b+ i* X1 g0 P7 E7 o
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
' e/ D, ?9 N0 } Fshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
8 N( r3 I8 P0 Fhitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough" k5 t) H+ ]- ]0 M1 K, ]
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
4 C0 {( h5 e+ ?2 I& qturn off the engine.; D9 Z4 u6 H8 I% A& K/ A
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of9 |" \# P$ c3 H% ]/ }
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
7 u6 w4 J0 }* u( j3 W"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she4 H w0 W$ t4 z. e9 |5 R' g1 q8 T$ m
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
7 k' j4 E- Q0 ^. Yto her complaints.5 P) R% B8 o8 \0 n5 ~- }* Q' g
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
E j; s" M. c' j1 o/ Treturned again and again to the question of whether electronic
- M3 A% H7 Z% N& _2 _ c2 b1 a6 \" Imalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.) k4 u- H! f" C& K* ~
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
1 U3 Q1 S' G; _3 d( h! ^throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
3 W) u% L7 F4 y% u! v, H: l"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
4 K( m# {" s5 X# Qoff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."" S* |7 A7 o. m; q* z# R
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in+ `6 \5 Z5 q ^7 L7 Q
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were1 S9 r4 p3 a. H& v
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
# V7 g$ S; Q0 h; Fwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer) d$ L5 ^. [6 ~7 J' y$ _' V0 j
every question."( Z' r/ i4 X' E7 x
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
' [% x" b" P7 P& }4 Lelectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
1 u+ c' [/ s) [ b' w7 v7 Kfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
9 \& s; g' Q ~$ V+ X8 Mcommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small
. x1 h# Y4 q- B, a% H0 Xnumber of vehicles
% ]2 B+ u2 V n8 k2 c( {. lTracking down an electrical problem can be far more
1 z7 R( H1 R3 r- Z/ Gdifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
3 x5 v0 y k; z4 c4 W& {0 r) Kmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
2 [. U% b8 u2 M$ L; }source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
1 X8 {' y& O0 K9 j$ ]) @% uMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,/ P$ N: f' B8 e+ X" c* k: t
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no& e/ k' j! i4 I
trace at all.
+ }. L) d \3 N% J- CHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
( |* H8 R( z( F8 \database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden# s3 B. o9 N1 E2 ?) X& l
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the! K7 [& n. A/ t) D- W
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.: W0 e" @% x7 v; g7 E7 z
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,* r! y' i# x1 C) n8 h
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and$ \# r& @3 z0 t9 p* `! [( b5 P
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
% l$ J; t* a, yelectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
; n1 e+ r4 {6 Wcause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
, F) g8 C0 C R9 d/ o) ~such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained, `3 z. c9 s1 b" N, ?; T: m6 \( Q
by Toyota's lawyers.") @" t( q/ K7 t7 \# p. H
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of9 I( R; ]9 g7 ~& U' ?( d
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
, s3 i" {2 ?! M# Pcustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
, a7 @/ ^4 i2 O/ csaid.
! G7 y( ]/ x* S* I8 D& F"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
/ V. k$ D( I+ f. T0 n& g* \: ya rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our& r: B$ A* _' t( I- W L! ]
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating R2 |! p. z |) k
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
" ?& M) C; \, ^* T, ~Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
+ S( n, h4 y5 z: Dmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
! F7 k6 B& \7 M4 B& F, Francor toward a federal government they view as picking on the3 V1 E) n( I8 R" I9 m7 |
automaker, at least in part because of the government's) k' T9 j- ~/ I
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and5 x+ i9 v; K7 |( P6 Y
Chrysler.
- X% T" E2 T; L9 ?/ j"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
1 V7 U& Q9 J8 fdollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a) d5 B& Y' o3 y& j
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
: Q _+ o8 D7 l5 m: Yserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete* q$ Z1 z- t6 A1 {$ H% X* H
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
+ P- H" u" n$ g0 g1 {+ e2 Otough."
* R# }; }- I- V* G% r---7 B8 _6 S" W& F9 N4 s# M0 N8 Q
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom" o7 I' l2 h8 X0 ^" a5 A: S
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to% O" N' Z0 X$ B- K
this story.4 m3 Z5 S0 t& @+ d5 ?* v4 x
3 ^/ I% M9 K& m( o# ^' W
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