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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题6 o# `7 d: w. m2 K, M; i/ P
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
0 q: @$ b3 @; {0 Y& J1 w7 SWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S." o" Z" U8 H1 a
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
* @1 z) |# P& |, y' Q0 O* Q4 t# Nthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally": c( s, \5 L9 b$ ]/ y5 L
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
( j, i0 [# d5 s- h* X' M"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential- s" R7 I4 ?) v
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
) A$ w5 O5 |& d, h8 |0 wHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected c! {$ f; S7 B" r. X) ~0 w
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and- S0 ^+ x8 |6 p2 j
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor& k: O9 n) M( j
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.
h5 e1 p+ d: |8 qHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
6 H d) p2 D. Y1 q8 ^6 {and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp- T% W% D3 `9 \/ ^* d# I/ s
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
( l) o2 {* K. Q( W4 Afurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
: z1 U3 F1 E' E) f: E* K! _not stop her runaway Lexus.
1 i" t3 |4 y( E4 g3 Y"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
3 T) R' ]6 Q" U4 p/ H, aTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second7 n: Q l5 N8 ]
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.+ r1 o# }! o& ]$ y* S' V X
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues& o0 d+ j& q! [3 S1 o% G
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said {0 U, p& M4 X4 T
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has+ s) B1 p6 `' |! n4 L9 `
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
! Y/ e3 _; P# ?5 S% u: ], Uthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
6 Z; y0 e5 x- q# |) ninvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
* [& l: w; {; d" |. n! ^; OLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an" B* y! v T. T; S" `- E
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
5 U5 i1 m3 ~6 R8 G0 }$ M* G- rthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
5 v* V7 i% B+ h1 j: gmalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he* w* q3 ~0 [" Q: q8 w
said.; F& W1 d! {' z: w( F. P9 U
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
8 ^$ K% R0 |) x* `- _happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
2 ~ N v& G8 Qabout driving our products," Lentz said.5 s8 a" j# ?6 C3 [ [( q
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's. V+ h! m5 I( t( z1 h
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has5 J( }; l _3 c; A! M
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
3 N5 t; E; v" e; Qmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of8 I. c4 ~1 N! A1 t* q V; x
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
5 U; e/ Q1 u, }+ v w- uissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
: G% ?; ]1 A8 x6 s$ X- J* Mconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
) _5 M$ V+ k9 a! Z( ftheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
2 Y# C0 x6 H) F! r4 _1 ndown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
/ ^/ e& N3 ?: Q3 freceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration5 F' t U; O6 _% L; [
of Toyota vehicles since 2000./ {8 D3 h6 H5 i; k |5 C
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
, i* d8 Z( ?. h. }2 i4 c' |brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he1 F6 t' y7 j# B4 |, T. z, z6 T
understood the pain.0 M% A3 J) U- |( B
"I know what those families go through," he said.
5 N# ?( n9 z! ILentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
2 a/ @; q+ k$ v0 z$ v+ j! _fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
2 g2 F7 \7 n4 w; ~( C3 _/ CBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
/ B) s" u" Q4 o, S4 q8 t$ j! hHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put" `$ h- N& }5 i5 ~ m( w! d b
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
( [9 t( N5 B7 M7 u% YLentz replied: "Not totally."( i: v5 J; `: Y6 ~$ W0 K/ }
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
- T* K- R! A9 Y) N! F& y7 H: d2 @"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
/ U8 ?$ a$ k+ N# ^% {Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
: m5 ~, N3 o, D; V: xpedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its) B$ ~8 {5 f3 l2 G
vehicles already on the road.
& z, n0 A1 ^8 P: z/ iMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
1 ]( B3 J G; O$ |1 G1 w6 ]before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full- G1 p% L& \* s# K: B5 \' ^7 ~! [. S
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
c1 ?% Q' O5 l4 _: woffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were' h2 H/ R. }7 `! y7 D/ D! k
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
, ^5 q" n- ], E% h" {"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
+ n4 p8 x$ M* [ {6 ytragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
/ A" X5 A7 ?% ^5 y; Efor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
7 M# o1 u2 V& f' x, |* OCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
( w' Q! T6 c, s5 Lcommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
+ U6 k, v* B5 |restore the trust of our customers.". w2 E; F# A9 i3 D) C$ U/ T
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
@* d6 }9 Z+ SSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly) F( |5 x, K4 C S" o# e( c* H9 N I
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --! `) w1 e; J/ K* R+ y; O7 q
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
- V7 _9 [, y6 ?; Yhitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
i c3 i/ ~6 sthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
& J: E& t0 H2 B0 L# q \turn off the engine. q i+ W7 K* c; K7 i0 O
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of* X1 e* F E. U( l' K7 d) ]5 a
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."& N& c2 P% Q+ B+ {% {
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she% n: w: C! A3 ~' |8 u
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
0 P* g. w1 h/ K# ~* g# n1 Zto her complaints.6 v2 t, U$ W2 Y
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
% R, a+ L5 u; Kreturned again and again to the question of whether electronic+ n( C" U0 O9 R9 h. ]$ x) `, h2 Z
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.5 H Y& K0 V- T$ h, D# T. {1 o0 I9 O
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
, y; P: N8 D& S. W6 M% M. O+ Y; rthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited% U( d3 @+ G0 f6 J( ]8 G G
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
* w+ `; z# {" q4 q4 H* D, foff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."2 ~7 [# s6 F( b4 v2 y0 s; s
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
' t0 Q, d% O# H. i& yprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were1 B5 X, ]; ~0 {! _$ K# o4 ~
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls" i: H- d) Y% {! ]. n9 n6 O
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
7 ]; d7 F. V5 K* @every question."
1 I* T* J8 N5 U8 b: x2 k7 xToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
" d+ p8 T8 \$ J4 F8 S) X; celectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
* \/ |( l$ p* x1 e9 y8 W, Hfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
: `% P9 J7 Y- N: }) O8 u# C8 `% ecommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small9 q( D/ D `; f8 I9 T0 R
number of vehicles+ ^( O& x, k' {. M" q+ ~
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more; S2 w! |! L& S; M
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
3 Q. N3 t% M6 m% E8 V+ q. G! Pmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one [, N# `" L5 {
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
) M' a( J1 M2 N7 r5 ^* h1 i" qMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
% o% u& `: d1 N+ l& Zwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no/ X1 C: V. z2 e% o1 ^% v% \8 h
trace at all.3 ]: S1 X/ e7 t9 \& I; s% Z) j
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
" f+ ~& P- r* H( t1 gdatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
3 F2 [( U, ^' Q' Sacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
; `4 W: P! {# ^recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.6 L; H& e4 ~* d- L( I/ Z" L& f( n8 U* r( h
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
3 F! v- A( f5 u, Q. Msaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and2 j; R ^: D5 K, S# n3 M
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the. R5 ?! \ R2 H- O
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible: ^& K4 v R/ b% t
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
% V/ a" Y3 z/ ?such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
( f6 M; y1 `% l X: yby Toyota's lawyers."
# y* o; c' v0 m# O1 @# vLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of6 ~5 X& d% D9 \
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our) @4 h# X a: K4 o9 _; p, M- z
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he6 u+ }. W% Y1 N' x/ Z' J! I& G
said.
: Z& r! b, |! O/ t" i"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
7 L$ T$ D9 v7 R* c6 Za rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our7 n; U" S+ w5 X) r. K- Y
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
) Q- F3 k; t6 x. y3 n' N3 \officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
6 ~+ j0 m. e3 OSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
# p) z3 E" d6 Fmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
8 h1 n) }* M: G$ d) d# K8 Erancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the: z% }) V; d! h& U' D+ ^
automaker, at least in part because of the government's6 x4 `7 Q4 v5 f( ?: @
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
4 d! g- v [# s; s0 c! WChrysler.
# x: @4 E0 j# Y2 M! N. W! M"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax" ~+ X5 ?$ j& c& ?0 C- v1 G8 H
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a, Q4 U1 _7 s1 h5 k: a) [0 \' j
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also- |" [ Y) A2 g# q, Y5 P0 p
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
" d2 n% D5 s8 G2 I4 o& kwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
2 l0 V; o! y }8 V% S# I, j# r2 wtough."
* S# n0 n3 v M1 J---
' p# [ J# W( K9 fAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom5 t" |9 Y- B( d$ P
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to3 U$ u' k; D$ w& w8 w
this story.4 U! b) h" b5 n! R$ E
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