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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题0 W! u( E/ `! |; b" u. Q# A( @* e
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
6 z+ I" B* S" B' E+ Y1 v2 [7 gWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S./ K1 R5 [, B" l
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that4 T; j2 Z# L0 C' G
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"% }: G0 T( \( F# I: O, H4 W) n( ~
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration./ W2 E. ?3 ]2 P# v0 e
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential. V/ }6 V( Y r( H' k+ B
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
; O! d& c$ V3 m+ P6 O5 tHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected$ X9 Q$ _ @8 I* ~' N4 ^
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and7 P6 C6 M8 L/ P I$ U2 X" W& p
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor' S6 ^5 Z1 w& R3 K9 E
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.( ^" H5 m e$ `7 S7 j/ Y
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal1 p$ h' \& G! K E( W; O
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
$ `4 @0 |5 p( k% r5 Hcriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
6 S3 T/ C& t0 a& r8 Dfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could% ^ E+ ]3 N4 {% t
not stop her runaway Lexus., K5 t2 o& q- a0 r8 x n
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
1 U+ \/ y9 Y2 _9 cTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
7 v- P+ Y8 s8 i" a) y; f"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
3 h) G5 G; r9 d) Y/ e7 RTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues, ^1 \, i9 }3 ?% }
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said% j5 D1 P6 _5 I( N' k& G
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has9 g8 M3 b( M) q5 l# Q
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway6 v2 s& l9 E4 w6 q1 ^0 z
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
9 H3 H. l: L4 a% winvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham.") k5 a' e8 H0 y- a% l. F
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an- R8 O2 i* ` G' ]8 l' I X
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of3 x6 z: a s; C. a6 T$ [9 Y5 {
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
* Y6 x+ c' }0 A$ _2 q3 Y8 M* {6 \malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he1 S' q8 o/ {- _- {
said.
. Y- B' j, A6 `2 f+ O. H' hAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
. p. r- c. v+ |" R, {4 K4 M# L6 {happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe; I# `! ~# P, |/ f) O2 A+ T
about driving our products," Lentz said.
: V9 f5 p0 s& ?( g- yThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
$ C6 F" V9 q, T% K9 K' oproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
$ s% Y1 U* G* lrecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
9 I" a5 @+ S# F1 R" O. z% }( O: Smillion in the United States -- since last fall because of
$ Q3 K- k. M/ uunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking6 \: s) H; R6 g. h/ S
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering+ g8 t! L" Y3 ]
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
5 ~; Q! Z% f7 t" H' z/ ftheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow1 l( _- A: S/ f$ H) c
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has3 u8 r" i) b3 p9 E Y
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration6 b0 O' c5 O0 C& P
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.
8 s2 \$ S1 r8 J( X" oLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
% w0 S4 D9 b# F$ R% K* ~6 l1 {brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he$ i5 e9 ^( D: f5 F3 U* v7 n1 z# u9 ^) H
understood the pain.
, `( W4 [5 |5 O" F' |2 T; V"I know what those families go through," he said.
7 B' ^5 [5 z" N2 f9 F. Q6 y) B/ uLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's/ Y% a" s" p+ z1 l% a) [
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
6 y. B6 y5 Y dBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman' s' X v0 q& e% i. S6 `, [8 V7 r
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put1 P( J; m) J" E0 o% S5 N8 V) d+ H
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,6 R* h" z% b7 |9 S3 _$ [
Lentz replied: "Not totally."
6 M) e) \. z9 gStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were; K {: ^. v2 D. `6 U7 ~- y
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
+ Y4 z- v" j2 tToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas" t% u/ q# Q1 c3 U# Y
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
0 x( Z1 m: `+ m6 W6 |' R+ Vvehicles already on the road.
$ n* R! X: z3 zMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
1 l( d, u' K1 X" @9 d% Nbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
7 @( `! J9 b- O; {, K8 ~2 M/ k3 ?responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and" A3 j: |' Q2 ?5 [8 R: i
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were6 Z7 Q" a& h3 Q' d4 `( o
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
/ |: ^0 j0 R4 c9 d. \"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a2 @7 G# @7 x: I9 Y
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
& J0 H/ j6 m8 \ Vfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
R' n4 o4 W, G8 S( BCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
+ E3 |& d! F: I2 y1 g" k4 y) ^commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to* b/ N4 n" {2 S$ y3 I
restore the trust of our customers."+ J8 h8 S/ R: I* Y
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from G% O0 P% _5 Y$ t4 X
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly# z& C" z# N8 b1 J K. S
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --5 w; }* C! B( Y) h: K5 k- h
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and/ Q1 h- I# b* ~/ V, ^- L4 c3 f
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
/ w$ d1 H/ p4 A) ^( g$ K) lthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and6 J3 s( U' b- D4 S9 q
turn off the engine.
1 Y0 V0 S9 _" m% s: UFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
( V/ w8 I3 G7 a: F) lOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
8 f7 U' D0 K6 e" C h+ Y( h+ T"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she4 F/ F5 z1 O! T' c; x$ }3 ]
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond% n$ D6 J& P! O3 G
to her complaints.
) q6 c1 R# T2 W% @& LIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
) q$ ^- q. [/ [" jreturned again and again to the question of whether electronic1 I3 `/ B8 P( j
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.5 w% K Y" u4 h! S, t
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
( j; H6 Z' k% u! p$ z- {throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited- |1 z0 R) e$ g" O. ?: o) \
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut' _6 w0 R' L$ x h
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure.". P* e) a. e0 e: q$ D* G+ n
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
2 e* X- p, N. v8 W( nprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
3 e3 p- p: L" u( {4 }6 bbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
1 c! t! N t6 ^3 H, Mwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer- C. c4 [& v9 R6 G' N
every question."$ R' J2 N$ ~+ O
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
. q9 Z; T+ E. belectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The, N, d- I: C) V* \
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
( b) ?8 R8 [ v0 pcommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small
# T' ]6 M3 n$ y$ V' wnumber of vehicles
" j1 r. E" W0 C$ tTracking down an electrical problem can be far more
4 m- i) Z8 V* J5 ^" \: w# Jdifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
' Q7 H. O( x; D5 {; E n& Pmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
0 Q2 p& n: q: ysource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
! k+ W4 Z$ Z+ I1 wMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,/ B, s" s# P7 n6 r' f
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
" o" e K, x; i' z! [trace at all.& `5 h' Z6 }" b& P3 N4 o5 d% k
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call# V- v7 A: \# M7 D+ R% G2 H& o
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden, Z6 g k/ t% [
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the( V* h+ Q5 d/ N: \
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
1 w$ A7 j+ V4 t# Y. SRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
* j( E9 O- H% {( w- E2 l2 Fsaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
. N+ `+ P- K4 [$ w" @4 @other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the" y2 s5 [& o( A# p1 _4 v% t: |- _
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
+ m# d( I4 O" L1 i# f$ m0 icause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only& R/ O9 C9 {7 J0 A; K1 \
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
- h7 b3 p. V/ p0 f+ |, e: U" n+ ^by Toyota's lawyers."
0 s+ I" q& H% M. c" {Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
# K( @/ [! }: D& b& `problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
7 t, Z5 o: a, K1 }9 X7 t6 {9 L! ncustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he3 F- u* h0 Y+ H$ j3 N) ?+ s. h
said.6 A3 U, D$ r. O
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
) V1 ^1 A, z6 s6 b- W( b! La rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our! o, C! {& S2 ^6 D$ ~2 ^% E
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
% d6 A4 X2 ?; wofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.& s; o5 ^4 W4 _0 U, z
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
1 r( O( T& a9 o6 D- A& lmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread: g$ Y! ?- V! e2 x Q
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the% i7 n( d3 D" k& c
automaker, at least in part because of the government's% e6 s3 g+ V( n& h! u5 L
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
1 P& [/ @8 \: N5 t: gChrysler.
, M) j6 g/ k! z: w"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
4 N; h7 u( ?) d, N$ bdollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a+ r. U5 C" i8 q' F6 l
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also0 V- R ]* r) ?" e; Z
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
2 O% F6 ^2 \! W* ?" Fwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
' Z# c$ b: m7 a8 e5 q8 d* i8 Ftough."
* J$ Q% C3 R5 G6 ~8 d( R3 X& _7 C---6 x; p6 |0 b' A
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
7 [, {# I! q: \Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
% t: Y; T6 r f( m! I% D% ythis story., O- N H- s; [, V# H, _& b1 F5 O
5 z9 @7 {* D! @+ g. [4 N
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