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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题$ y6 L) x: g/ l! |) N
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS3 ~$ C! a: H* v( y, W/ q2 e- ?
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
$ A3 o& j- {& g) @% m3 @. Qoperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
% J6 t4 _' [$ d9 u, P: M) u, p4 zthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"! c0 O- S$ U8 g5 n' j6 j
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.8 X; o, g( t6 P
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
3 q' O, G* P# w9 h/ d* h; Jcauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
& b4 F- s9 x4 p0 R5 ~However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected$ P1 c' R3 ?0 u; k% a% ~! e. M
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and- }3 @. b; d: Y) j$ u8 S
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
8 Y, b* S6 O! h- `mats and sticking accelerator pedals.6 q Y. o: F0 _% j! l
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal2 E- j2 w2 W) c- E' ]
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
( e; h/ c& D7 H& z. Ccriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
2 D8 V: T7 z# Z$ Q! z: z+ a1 pfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could7 D; l' F9 b1 y% K7 o) X5 {8 Y
not stop her runaway Lexus.
2 m% [4 S; P9 w" @$ L"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,1 `* q+ C5 Y# G- a6 i' Y; z; l
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
( O0 l y; r" h"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
* m& P5 {: Y+ V/ ]Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
2 g, y, }- g5 e& g: dearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said" C, H6 z: v0 p& A# ^8 b3 e8 Q
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
0 M3 J E! T1 B& A/ B4 Qdone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
( ^+ q; {/ F7 A4 B5 ythrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
% s' m7 l: v% C% L- k2 winvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."$ `- K" D: k; o6 r. S% U) M
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
: N. e/ N( l( K" ]) Z/ w2 Nelectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
, ]4 t$ J* ~& c/ Z: t- hthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
- @3 z, @3 a3 T) bmalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he `, g6 }! {, Z- |9 I. |
said.
2 M2 k5 {* @) JAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what+ N- W3 k; j4 S& H% p# \
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
3 Y; c# b5 S2 ?& Fabout driving our products," Lentz said.
4 h6 T, R4 `, J6 }4 K$ BThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's8 p. H) Q0 m! \6 p2 Z- w" S
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has6 Q- R) s5 B$ c# \
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6 d, O" e R7 ~/ e9 I
million in the United States -- since last fall because of7 ?* l6 ?( _. @1 a3 Q: h
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking4 _! q p" a$ G& B7 C L& \9 r7 {
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
# s7 u8 T) C6 k+ @! c# I/ T b% x8 nconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of x# X9 J# N8 _: a
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow2 E% i3 _! E4 [
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has* G# j- a: h# ^0 V1 _1 x; o2 I
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration. J# H8 `) F! e6 K
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.
+ l0 D% G! O- fLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own; V, X: Y& ^& s; \- ^
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
2 C8 a; j% x0 i7 q4 p4 D6 K" {4 Yunderstood the pain.2 x4 g7 D/ F+ j. `+ k3 \; K* W- ?) e
"I know what those families go through," he said.+ [" i) ]1 _6 U- ?% f# P) g
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
, M6 K, a! \2 J6 `- hfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems." R* A) C1 F: X0 j( y, I
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
( V9 W+ B7 }- m* X! i( SHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put6 [2 k' T" f7 u9 ^: O& C1 c
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it," N' ~' U5 V' U" Z
Lentz replied: "Not totally."" ^# ~! W# ^) Z, v5 K6 r3 d4 J
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
2 \ u, N& l+ |: y# t- H"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said- Z; b) m* O4 ^# p+ A
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas- i9 Z/ K w( _& d5 w
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its) I4 e- V K( ~6 E
vehicles already on the road.
/ u: r4 D$ |- S% U9 K9 s% cMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
6 Z% P4 V" F/ ?9 r/ g1 r& T ?before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
3 i6 b5 G" v, O# A1 G+ a1 h' Aresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and, ~$ Q; M- `9 j5 k: c
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
! j0 e! t* e- A9 n. ]6 D/ Vkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.* {# z" j( S7 d' p v0 s6 i3 @
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a, y7 N" r# G! R, E
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
" X! ?) V* }3 B) y4 y* H! }" yfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight3 `# T6 s; S8 ^" Z
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
7 N* c" e7 I/ Wcommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
# B `, M- ^% I9 {% [3 arestore the trust of our customers."
9 a- ~4 E2 Y2 J" V- N$ _Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from2 z& p2 r6 f: e1 u( g6 f" p" n
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly' j5 R$ } ]$ B
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
0 b& ?$ V) ?% a0 o8 q8 I' \6 Z9 ^/ bshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
8 r; J: s7 {- L6 b5 s5 b( x( _2 Bhitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
3 J$ G# Y& ]3 qthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and4 P, W! g! J$ }- X, @
turn off the engine.% Q; J& E+ Q( k' d! Z5 ?
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of. Y" g; M) ^4 n. h8 y* L
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."* P+ @! L# m8 ?: V) F/ H
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she d+ P6 R, R5 D3 O# W1 s9 W# m
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
2 s1 R- V- K" d ~+ ~0 F' Bto her complaints.) B1 o6 ?& o! r1 r% d3 k
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
5 w% v6 R s8 Lreturned again and again to the question of whether electronic
* t8 ]. F" F6 Z+ r/ t& k) O7 gmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
- o7 l5 b S5 O3 }* K5 o3 r"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric# j0 G! l, C$ E3 I
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited+ F* I, n h: b X( F
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
0 r+ L4 o% w/ h0 Coff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."5 l2 ~' c- ?$ {+ e
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in3 Q. l% G! T7 p" i6 Y, K
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were. \ T+ w5 {# {3 G% ]
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
9 y/ F8 w7 Z1 E" K; Iwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
0 W2 x0 E8 {/ e2 ?$ k. Yevery question."* G. \" D- y2 n& i* s. H1 }
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether( |/ D- P, y) L9 ?& O3 f. k% _
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The0 j9 }! ]$ c, W9 _( M+ T+ q6 b
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But) v' y* l1 f2 W) q! |) @
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
! b" P3 J: X% w7 }! `number of vehicles
& b; t! |4 o% C# `3 W; _Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more8 l/ c+ \9 I4 s5 I# s
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
. H7 I7 [. o' @# p5 g0 ]mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one; }5 T, w# _! W6 h
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
- a1 P' a5 B, F1 n. a6 W% dMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
l% e7 ]7 k3 g9 s# }3 t# Nwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
! [$ H9 k Z! C8 mtrace at all.
5 ^- j7 V0 h1 E% x9 R) o) F/ P5 d8 hHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
. p" q; G: i" n6 O" S* Qdatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
; `1 d5 R3 q# c& X+ Tacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
$ `9 k+ |% R1 w8 f8 Y( ^0 J* R$ urecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.3 s' t& C) N6 A! l. o
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
$ e4 [7 X$ `$ J4 [3 z0 Rsaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and: f: I/ T3 E5 \6 a
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
/ V1 M5 M" G a- Zelectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible5 `$ n' }3 v+ T- D* N1 ^! p4 B
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
! l9 c# `5 b8 Y# F( a$ Z( J$ ksuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained6 T- q) A. E% [/ s( @2 P' {
by Toyota's lawyers."
+ e$ @! T" H- }/ JLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
& _8 T, C+ v- i% y4 |$ s5 u8 fproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our4 i0 D E8 A; l$ |7 k, R) L
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
" K. Y' _; N4 A9 Y5 I7 Vsaid.
6 `4 M( p9 K7 y6 F' H"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with0 w" v; U; a2 Q6 I7 ~7 l9 U
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
5 `( M( `# h, q/ e E6 Rgood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating& S0 v6 e8 ~8 j) P3 v: U$ N" g
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.* ?( ^% q4 z7 ?
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
$ m1 r; J4 ]" ~members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread1 f1 M8 [. ~7 g# k
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
7 `) @2 z1 U* h9 T+ g, }automaker, at least in part because of the government's3 y2 b, L3 |% @% b1 G
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
6 r2 m6 v$ ^7 `5 F1 @% `$ `7 MChrysler.
5 F2 n, s* b9 m/ Q: g"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax# [3 W6 a6 H# w
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
! _( Z7 p0 h2 N8 U5 gHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also; k3 U$ L5 l) K# n
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete9 E) Z2 }& E; X) [3 _
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
- k" @0 e0 [* A& k* s3 }& a/ itough."5 K9 [+ b+ R1 e9 @$ Q3 T R
---0 R2 H; h* X7 j8 k- R
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
% x' Z' ?7 R; d6 lRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
b1 A' j; q; ]% ]this story.
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