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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题! Q0 c! B4 }5 m. g p+ D
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
3 u. p$ A' M; [Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
& p' W1 X* x. A% h: z& J7 _operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that7 L- s+ P, Z* R7 j7 h- s
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally", h2 f$ {* s2 D$ R3 e! l, o
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
3 j9 b) E. X* o"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential6 U! z: ~1 t Y9 q' R
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
& f3 U/ D% j* M! ^( kHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected$ J- r) p6 \8 _
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
" g- t2 d3 o$ o; W) Y/ F. W+ Ltrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor1 g4 p e/ C# r: f- n3 i
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.* O5 }# @6 T, D+ ?6 {7 }
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal: a/ \2 `: X2 U2 z4 b6 v2 u5 R/ F
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp5 E. A9 p. s. ?, T* K
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
# E: i6 ^; t0 A* Sfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
0 m1 Z; \& ?! jnot stop her runaway Lexus.
1 B- p; e6 a9 U9 j6 l; C7 V"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,( V; r U* F; P0 J. C) J# v5 |
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
3 P! \, ~" Q2 @: j& b"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.+ K1 k0 u& C' X* C
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
5 Y. e. j9 r. ?% s. y2 [early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said' ~1 _ [% v4 `
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has W+ c$ P$ D) Y' o- Z
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
& L' F) D9 [, V( F6 X$ [5 bthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's6 B7 |$ G. O4 T( g$ M# y
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
+ m; |' k# F4 ]: kLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
3 a* c5 H# `2 ^- yelectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of' s8 v6 X: C9 N1 T
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a" h9 ~; E7 k' L; T, |
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he1 U$ O: u$ W1 |% q0 t9 L3 ^
said.7 z/ ~2 l3 t( H E" E3 i' C9 Z- n
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
9 ]5 X) O+ O: x$ t3 xhappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
3 @9 F1 c3 P& f& Uabout driving our products," Lentz said.6 i' Q- z8 R" K
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's/ F0 v% U4 O: T- d [: k
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has4 Z4 e& s& \* x3 i2 M9 N1 N, N
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
' ^ U) ^ @8 H% P6 M- P8 Cmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of
, g- s. ^- s+ uunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
; l! t% C0 U* k2 g8 s- v [issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
4 Y+ o; u# R; {concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of) w) e7 q( q# d1 b0 A
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow) Y' q) Y$ F: ]- e E5 |
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
& Y3 q/ Y; E7 U3 J" f$ r0 Jreceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration9 ~0 J' `2 f) E) {
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.
8 [5 U a$ ]: oLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own/ H3 `6 b, E% ]$ o8 u1 l
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
/ Z4 N* p ?: j9 ~. B6 C. ?' F7 |! T7 zunderstood the pain.
H4 g; k4 `7 }" j& W7 z"I know what those families go through," he said.5 `/ Z% L9 x$ c/ g _7 o& J* e
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
! Y9 g4 d; n6 b% f# x7 ?8 ^- hfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
. f% p- g4 I' o, d9 P7 X% e2 DBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman4 `5 o/ T0 c# N2 g" d' l& U" E+ z
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
) n% u: O3 V% Y8 T) ]" l. ain place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
5 }. }9 i2 [8 H K- }0 YLentz replied: "Not totally."
$ b: [ q. [* L! yStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
) o* E5 n5 ~/ O$ B6 l5 y"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
- N+ |/ \$ `7 o+ B0 c- X: U& DToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas9 `7 v; L) r/ m1 |" ^5 d7 I
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its: ^5 a6 J3 E" k
vehicles already on the road.) m7 h+ I+ o4 h" u/ h k, \
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify; W1 [+ a+ M9 f0 g" a+ @4 V& W
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full) |7 b) i; X3 Q1 X$ w
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and. C# C6 O) B3 e9 L; W6 f
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
# U. L4 a2 h; @$ G: ukilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.1 f/ _) \1 u3 ^
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
. P# j4 \4 r7 R4 t& F w1 W) [tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
0 k0 D" ]& p' e1 ~/ Bfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
2 z) c; d# g1 \- [7 v0 fCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal8 g0 W- b" w, k7 Z
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
% R3 K3 w8 P5 x) u E+ g+ }% wrestore the trust of our customers."8 [8 z4 d7 k, Z# r A( G$ G! Y
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from+ w5 x: ^5 c; O5 G: t5 T! M' t
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
y& h' ]' V, U/ H o- dzoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --- p6 h3 L2 ^" e$ W! A5 N" {' c
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and& o! q z' P% V6 h5 F' t
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough# y- q9 D& x5 m. G k4 h' J
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
7 u. v6 y$ n dturn off the engine.
( F1 K& C: s8 N' d% eFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
: x& o0 ~) z9 |7 g! G2 jOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
& B7 n. A! L6 h2 }3 \; X"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
! m1 }3 t4 B e- d0 h5 Xsaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond6 s) A+ [6 J0 { m
to her complaints.
) Y# y6 G+ ~( g& F+ Z2 R0 KIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers" X! ~# f7 n# h9 b% r6 S
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
$ S3 D/ P. a3 g/ i( Z" rmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
# S: U# {+ y* p0 Q- X. [6 T"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
, c: I$ l# H, `4 N, t5 Pthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
% Q: w2 e; J* ~1 o" y3 D"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
, N1 ^" _& n8 v' t4 S% loff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure.", r1 I% j: n$ B7 q
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
; }0 a d/ i7 S' Q/ P1 O$ Tprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
6 P+ E& d, k2 B7 ^4 v; N; Gbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls6 r2 |7 g- ^( I* t4 e3 {# G
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
0 x# A* `1 Y5 _% w3 j" xevery question."% }9 V% }2 x: o) U4 H' f8 `; w I
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
2 b) R- k" H5 i9 ]6 ]electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
1 y7 E+ B# m6 S6 @6 o2 tfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But! c6 ?7 o+ C4 R8 l* ~
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small; C6 R9 h2 m' x/ c5 R
number of vehicles
5 V, d$ G3 k0 L8 mTracking down an electrical problem can be far more' s$ l+ |. D* i4 x
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
3 B" X: W! l- E4 \7 pmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
' \- g; `0 [2 _/ Osource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.7 v. J3 `) X$ p! H' K5 t& h, u* x
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,2 y3 J, A/ t" d! z( V6 N
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no1 Q3 H; E1 o2 ^. Y
trace at all.
7 I1 j" X& \) ~# H& N: IHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call( a; F$ c" d- j. h
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
/ W n# E( Z8 ]& I a- O' Bacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the B8 Y4 e3 e( L+ v" l
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.9 p* L4 P/ z f" A
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,$ F7 r) S: X S) s' j
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
2 y; t+ D0 m! p( iother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the9 r5 }: B' T" _4 B% `( ~+ |
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible1 b4 j. ^% M7 A+ F# A* z
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only' N% E* h" b4 u
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained9 A9 o2 r5 F' b( q) z
by Toyota's lawyers."+ I9 A, v7 n0 e* I0 l
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
& a4 M2 m8 M: `: S- i5 W$ [problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
( }8 H' d% ]' y4 s+ R4 I+ `, x) {customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he5 |9 F" g, R! F
said.4 U) H& k- m3 N0 Z7 V2 i
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
5 p, X% h0 \5 k* c8 X/ Xa rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our; S/ t2 C/ J" Q
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
\ ^( ?/ I0 bofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.7 b# V) U f- N& D# k, v" X; M
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying) U6 k% Z) D* J: T, l y: t
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread+ q% l( Z* I7 l7 I: Z) s' {
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the& m `5 c0 l ]2 S& p+ S4 x4 O* S
automaker, at least in part because of the government's1 _' V- [, c& D6 ~- W
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and6 r8 }1 W1 \% W4 n
Chrysler.
) H! C+ j( y/ c3 S2 T& Y"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax2 y4 ^. o+ O: p) u5 c8 d
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
6 H* Z) R" o H, U% YHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also7 |: j, M1 h2 j. D8 R$ }: Q
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete) B" @6 c' p2 T$ |, W# ]; D, m
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
8 q2 W$ P4 ~1 s- d9 Y: ftough."
: v* ^. B6 x/ j4 C/ T+ ]. S---
6 O- [ q$ ^ _" i1 YAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
* O% e8 N# e8 ` ^# G# n4 h) t. DRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to5 }* A6 l3 x+ @& ]; [! D
this story.
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