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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题5 n7 D/ b, g* G
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
1 _- }, F, Y6 QWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.* T8 i8 e- F- Z1 {8 k0 `
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
& p0 X0 i* a- z$ n0 g! _6 }the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"* \( w' b& S c/ y
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.5 I8 |' O( y8 I! _4 p" \7 t
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential' Q% N! h- ?, v
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.+ p: j. m. V! o, [( \6 z$ R3 T
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
6 ]4 Y, g! }0 {) Uacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and {) w3 S, t9 |; t4 \' r2 ]' c
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
( Q3 s8 c8 B. ]6 ~) c; b5 Cmats and sticking accelerator pedals.
& U/ x) ]( y$ T% BHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal# n& p& Z7 O$ Y# g* ~
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp! D d5 d& J$ R0 U p: a7 \- p
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
0 C" U `: r' g6 R1 h' Ffurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could1 e% X9 E7 W) F) j* U0 ^( j- Z8 E6 o
not stop her runaway Lexus.+ F" B% o' k. S
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville, ^# z! H, Z% x0 C7 w1 N9 _
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
. |% u. R+ K+ C$ S+ W: c"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
5 @# f. l1 w( i' D/ `Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues8 W s) g! h. m/ M% G `
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said! j& G4 Q: D! U7 X2 l( A/ m! h' e+ u
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
4 H) U# M2 v/ O }done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway' h2 n; I7 m$ Z# Y! b' _6 h! T: X
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
4 G2 a5 n3 T7 [: e3 ^investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."* n4 y8 z; O S3 R& q
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an) i% g5 i0 K- a' K F8 I7 ?2 y* @# g' \8 `/ k
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
5 }* K3 \/ D$ p2 q- hthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a# h4 q' p0 D2 c7 |* @
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
, e" L6 `3 ?4 g4 Zsaid.
7 @% N+ J* S( O4 i+ B6 w7 i, ZAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
1 x4 Y+ `* k; b' s% E. qhappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe$ y0 I1 n) e6 o# p" N
about driving our products," Lentz said.
9 ]2 l5 |0 ^* I6 W( X- F* p# ], FThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's5 U7 b9 d/ Z. y6 i( f! y
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
; f5 F" s8 ?. |& {' hrecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 66 ~) g% \+ C4 v! T3 c/ P! S
million in the United States -- since last fall because of
3 C" V3 d2 @+ j- u) h/ ^unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking+ f6 X! w+ V! c% x
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
, E/ T0 @# V. M6 M4 ^! @concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
9 l! X3 r) a) l& h: Ptheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
+ r+ Y, _% i3 E8 Z( V) {: Bdown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
7 n5 b& l/ W1 c0 u3 v6 c# R4 c- wreceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
! [5 I/ p$ d& H5 Y1 Sof Toyota vehicles since 2000.& z$ M5 l. b* `; L4 D$ H" h2 z
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own* I/ U7 |9 i* U9 U0 Q/ o3 Q
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
/ r6 p" k q* Wunderstood the pain.
5 N9 r9 J" X8 D y0 h"I know what those families go through," he said./ Z6 T C0 @; ~; R0 Q4 q
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's/ Z2 T8 ^" v" Q0 O% J- v
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.7 X; ]! y5 r' n! u: o
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman1 x8 u1 ^# A8 e; x t
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put% X- `1 S2 v% X+ \% N7 O
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,% N8 p% M; l) K9 N0 s4 J
Lentz replied: "Not totally."" E8 H1 s5 R6 W9 ~% S/ R1 ?
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
3 J" ?$ V4 D- A9 q/ }+ k$ E7 m"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
! D% c [( ^6 w; G3 O$ _0 HToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
! n' X0 B- x: f: V" Jpedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
1 L/ p& u6 ]8 Avehicles already on the road.
5 l4 y4 F$ |6 c& z B I" P! CMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify* G3 m: m6 q5 d1 U9 b2 t) F
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full3 {, b, i4 @ G* t, T5 }
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
& r: d% B" J6 ^offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
1 M) P" Y8 _* k* [( i; O3 L( c2 ~0 Qkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.4 Z8 A# ]% _. u; `: E; X4 h
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
5 I6 Z3 D0 Z- dtragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
, Q r5 Y7 K4 qfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight' A2 f% r: c: m
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
5 v' k1 z+ [5 ]% \& n$ scommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to% @0 h A4 `( F3 ?. x7 q4 Z0 O! ]
restore the trust of our customers."& P4 g( e: V1 V* B
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from8 K: f& O4 }0 q2 D
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly/ k; b0 J; L; L* ?* {( h; u
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
( a# M$ r* ?4 _& A5 M; W9 Dshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and' d% A# W+ N! K( _
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough/ }: }8 W) O1 h* [2 C! F$ m7 {
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and) w1 U* p) p* i& T: }6 Q
turn off the engine.3 I" d+ {- j9 p+ w
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
4 L- Z$ I8 K' M% { _: Y) \October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
% [+ H. Z' u9 b% v"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she6 V# ?* y" m9 Y6 ]% ~& z W
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond4 h& t9 z2 n: |/ E. o* |; d! q
to her complaints.: V3 E. R0 I! R
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers( C, _! [0 |# X
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
9 m: L+ g- \" T, P) Amalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.8 H/ T' h; c+ @1 _8 z+ E
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
' ~( x* }8 Q4 X. \5 @* F# hthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited" O6 T( N- v, q' ^$ _
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
' d7 [4 I+ k0 G6 D( t+ _' ^0 v) ?0 Noff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
7 T9 h) B6 ^$ W1 @ hTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
$ ?9 q. U8 G, \: s, ]prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were- M0 V% Z5 |6 I$ T
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls+ K" I3 _; \- w6 ~3 P( x- f
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer- N0 q) y% ~9 @& {
every question."
8 Z3 z3 D; G) e+ H# _; a- M* ]6 rToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
; K9 @/ T! B6 A1 @electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The. ^2 G) ?( E4 \5 U1 j
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But. w: [0 Z2 d f/ q6 u9 u" @
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
. l' D: H% M2 f( v' K* Z% E' P8 Nnumber of vehicles: H$ F: A2 E* d8 b: B
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more
( e7 Y9 m/ b% z2 g$ D0 ]0 Odifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
! Q0 }) y, P( W) Lmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one v" [4 m7 g& W2 f) l
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.1 X0 n: A+ l$ ?! H0 r1 A; x2 \3 H
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
' E. K. k S' C' I& O$ W6 W5 Cwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
; V$ L; L5 y) j1 ^" K! wtrace at all.
, ?" |" Z' l* xHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
: l7 }5 |3 e8 Xdatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
) ~4 o/ n* f0 I+ `' [acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
6 {) |) `& O% e9 _recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.# i: E3 d( s7 o
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
- I- U5 A3 S1 E7 O4 b7 D+ n" Vsaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
/ W& x: w3 Z$ e7 ?% A$ T: P6 b0 aother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
1 Z( p3 N- y! s7 _( N1 `electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
1 N$ M/ E! x1 L- e4 Ncause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
0 ~" w* H. _. x( V( Xsuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained2 P6 p6 y' f( c. o5 R. X
by Toyota's lawyers."0 z; \7 Z# n) c& I6 V
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of4 l% `8 e, J) r9 L( H
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our. S/ |; Q) [8 J8 L; j3 D" g, Y& p
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
7 x) ^. q0 Y4 u& X: _ B6 ^said.
7 F' r$ S, V2 I5 r1 q, N"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
1 ^3 _$ o& ^$ u, K* D' x8 Na rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our n) u' q- m4 p/ Y0 V, ^$ F
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
8 D1 Z# Q* U; o3 C4 Uofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
, `+ {4 K6 S$ l2 g: v( QSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
, @7 m! e) `/ |0 i4 W' b. A% {members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread5 u# J3 L" o- P
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the( y3 j5 B4 N3 p2 B
automaker, at least in part because of the government's
9 A1 m0 D5 S/ j- q/ v2 ~! a- m# Zinvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and4 E- Y& p8 Z8 [7 q* ?
Chrysler.9 Y& N) L7 Y& o7 a& ]: C
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
3 K$ P8 F+ N' @' y1 m0 Qdollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
4 _7 E1 u9 y( ^% m- K; D& V8 r9 KHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also) ?5 G0 ^! v6 Q' x9 P9 r
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
& R9 _9 B* o# Q9 v1 N. nwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
; }- n. P' q; s- O5 otough."/ j* U! u+ W/ U5 y
---" u; _: n, Z: T1 D! c0 A2 u6 f
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
/ F' {0 } p! o l. sRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to2 }$ [* Y! t: S; h1 m* O# `
this story.
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