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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题$ D% ?( B! P. ^4 P, J6 E
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS! `; h5 f6 ` @' }5 [2 X9 s1 O
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.( R# t' A; Z( T# { E5 X
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
+ r: @$ h* l% S1 f& V9 Athe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
& B* Y, o1 z- B" g$ [4 G4 o5 Csolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.% v2 {& `. |" I, I/ s( t' L
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential) U$ B* f3 _! e }5 s) x# S4 e" S T
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.( w( U% Z, n4 X& ?6 @% P7 T# e
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
$ [# D2 u3 P% D+ ^9 a& L6 P Facceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
/ w5 ]# f+ x% f) @trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor1 T! `0 e5 a% n9 b
mats and sticking accelerator pedals., i1 h9 L* i2 r$ Q- M( e5 Q
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal- V! v+ C/ D: w
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
' ]3 ?' c3 y/ Ccriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
# `% a5 ^2 y' f3 O& r7 ufurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
) [4 {& Q2 j7 Q/ h9 C6 Z8 Y8 dnot stop her runaway Lexus.9 `5 ]9 t# t( t* Q
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,& |3 l$ L5 `# j% I# E
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
: P0 b. q6 s, m! q9 @8 r8 c3 h! E"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
" S' o& X9 Z/ n% E0 Z" @& KTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
1 i" }/ \' r9 u, iearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
9 P1 n7 u) f B5 E# k! ]) e; V"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has7 F$ J) R9 B3 ^! {4 R6 k& j
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway; z: X$ R' C/ \5 e4 `
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's$ Q4 l7 }7 e& \. W1 H6 p) r
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."5 V+ t9 W& B" ]" c9 t
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
) [* |% V1 E4 H& X" s3 E- n4 telectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
0 U2 X6 H$ ~, |2 h2 @% C) kthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
% l$ ^1 i2 P& B: fmalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
# J9 ]) b2 z8 w0 _9 j$ i4 Asaid.& e8 w3 {0 [; Y, c
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what5 D6 o% h. a D4 W; B
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe4 i% ~; | i# `
about driving our products," Lentz said.2 n1 m a K- j0 g1 n: l1 _" e
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
- v; W( m& [% i* u7 U6 Yproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
- t) y# E: ^+ t1 \( e8 o2 Frecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 62 i# P; I/ @3 |2 n1 H
million in the United States -- since last fall because of
$ y! @, r5 g- z5 X& Q+ \unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking. n2 K) t; b7 N: G2 U
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering% U1 R, e* V7 A1 d7 a' d
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
( H) C% W+ p6 Stheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow8 _- p# O) E" ]; d/ }
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has# l3 B2 ?) A6 j
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration2 H' X8 r7 d- n0 |
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.+ ^+ R. q3 p1 H. `* F' F
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
* a8 P7 w4 y- T3 Y" o Qbrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he1 T0 q7 O% L% J$ s/ M- V% B; Q
understood the pain.% z, Z& m/ s+ a& C
"I know what those families go through," he said.
& m+ A1 J" m7 q% c# Z$ Z: X3 mLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's, V9 }2 a I: ~; b) E) p
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
( ~& A' S) U: d5 O- vBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
- a, E! z0 i. C9 o$ dHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put3 ], J! A) L1 ]
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,& |' w# Y) m0 l4 _% g' E
Lentz replied: "Not totally."9 k3 v1 P- Q3 ^1 r3 B8 C
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
6 g9 g6 x7 x0 G5 ~6 ?0 }"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
: y& h& |" z2 x6 p% l, IToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas. ~/ g3 t; w( V4 {6 J1 ?# s
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
2 n1 a0 p* a2 Zvehicles already on the road.
" j/ J1 g1 }+ g' k- }4 V. RMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
2 C# x7 w8 ]& [' b/ g* K6 mbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full$ u' o# A5 _' U* Z# X' m6 j5 D+ ]
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and) A1 x" ^. @2 L9 o' J
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were0 ]' h* A: [+ ] b
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
5 Z; ~! y+ m4 m$ c1 }"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a; A4 S$ h- [7 N" ~9 T* z7 u
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
# s, C M8 ^# E7 x! V9 Y& M& h+ g/ Ifor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
& ]* [4 x' _- }1 \" ~+ BCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal8 Y1 N6 P* p: y' K d, V1 F
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
! k( p2 p8 K( {. frestore the trust of our customers.") \& ]- q% m% v3 Q- }
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
; d6 \1 Z- e" x6 s, @7 ISmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly6 F* }; z1 A5 t9 Z
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --# _9 K7 r* S( r9 Z( Y7 L
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
# [: V+ ]* t& h& ^0 a, M7 Ahitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough/ @" L4 V* k! M' @' @1 z
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and. t/ t4 ?' c, q; O3 v
turn off the engine.# k m8 y! r9 T& y# ~, c6 t! u% v
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
/ x. P8 u7 ]& v( J2 `October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
+ H H9 i$ ], s$ f1 u7 M4 _! x"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
" Q% ?& Q( R7 L7 g! y8 Wsaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond3 n% q: D t0 u( b3 h) T
to her complaints.
~1 x1 y3 A$ Z7 j) ~9 B! YIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
! }. z# @( {& q9 P9 A1 B9 {- S& t4 qreturned again and again to the question of whether electronic+ _ t6 b; H7 R3 K6 {# O8 x4 B
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
. g& U0 [# P i8 q. k+ {4 `. j"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
; Z# s5 r, S2 v" \' Gthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited# K A( ^ @- I
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut( i U* O/ p* K
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."& W3 p9 j' ~$ Q4 t& y) P
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
1 c5 M& |% |$ o) b) f* Wprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
& [7 U: F# }/ n% `9 K bbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls8 `/ } w! t# Z
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer; R# @9 S& X H9 q+ d' ~
every question."+ N& ~6 W1 W' C* @! a# f
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
, g' T9 f5 _8 M& w3 Q8 s aelectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
2 S% Y# f+ M1 P/ O9 I5 h9 ufirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
: O8 W+ j# N5 R. k' y( Mcommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small
+ K+ N- E& S2 Hnumber of vehicles7 z- i9 L p' W; g
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more
8 I4 Z! a% G! cdifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a; J5 S( T* g8 j/ U1 ^' Z) p' u
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one+ l! |/ S+ b/ Y* o* b7 Y
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
$ w& i( \; F* x" _Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
- `9 r! e& S, w% ^where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
. w; o4 j0 t0 v3 ~. H8 k7 ktrace at all.
5 M: t2 J3 }( d) |4 YHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call! K3 p+ i+ W: l, e4 b. j
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
. x! s$ ^0 v, o1 c6 }! jacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the& m. H: q& N9 y D( R- N
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.. _; h6 c, h0 K# E5 ~( t# i r
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
/ G' K& E! M0 C, M- m- ^said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
1 q+ M c1 Y+ l+ i ~1 F9 I, iother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
1 g1 i2 W2 M3 \$ melectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible% ]7 n0 @% l1 y [& M" _& D
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
7 `- R3 W8 ^. H( b5 I' C' xsuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
" a1 H+ j$ r6 C O4 Uby Toyota's lawyers."
b4 A+ o$ I7 ?4 MLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of0 A* h/ c( J) `; D' h9 j3 y
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our9 ^2 [" Q; D% a3 E( u/ j6 c
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he- B6 N7 F; T7 M! c8 o2 A
said.% D& i/ ?) a1 v& a2 `+ Q
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with% Z+ G( m0 I: H+ ?) r1 S
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
0 Y9 b. Y. x" f `; kgood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
5 G+ e" u" U6 o9 Rofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
5 P! c$ b5 G( ^9 S% a1 R+ PSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
1 m d& c2 W! d- n9 ^) {0 kmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
- i1 b M) X. F4 jrancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the& e0 ?' m5 T! C3 C7 b' m" F, P
automaker, at least in part because of the government's0 W7 b) X; O2 U7 ^) Q0 c
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and. W/ |/ J( }/ c
Chrysler.0 J. z0 O0 p5 Z1 r) l8 g& h8 U
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
& [9 i* R# p1 |3 qdollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a- b8 p4 r2 R& O! W. G. F# J
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also( P) x8 L, T5 v$ v6 r1 o$ M% G
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
- E6 u( j8 V0 i8 V5 g$ o& cwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
1 f6 L4 P/ e' z- F" ntough."
) G& t7 j8 Q) i {2 J---% M: Z, C6 {1 C/ T
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom1 E0 U* F6 q. n9 L2 `5 ^
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to2 [/ X: ?6 r; V6 M: ~/ h) I) Z2 Z
this story.# ~& K. [" D" ]) E" [& a; E& u
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