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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题# Z! R& B' |* Y# M) f& n" C u
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
, t+ G# h0 z7 I( vWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.9 z+ }& S; x. B7 \
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
& ?2 ?: X% ~1 f( Y: \& p/ ^the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"1 Z0 P7 f0 L# [
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
3 s$ J3 y5 H. V' P"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential/ _! c- j" y" f9 n" A
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel." N* ?) K* Q, E2 W7 ~* N6 b! d% P- d
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
8 w2 o9 f8 @5 vacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and# K# [/ {# w6 L2 \5 {
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
6 V3 x/ U0 ]( f, `( v7 f6 ]mats and sticking accelerator pedals.
9 U# v; D; X" z& R( }He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
1 J+ ~% ?$ k# Aand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp* U0 M/ p5 {/ ^$ N2 O9 X' ]
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
. u0 `+ O3 l8 @& h9 w! d6 G6 Qfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
+ V, H& |3 q/ A' jnot stop her runaway Lexus.6 }- t: K" N: y; n; ~
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,4 [3 F+ ?5 B5 A* y, V6 a. w% w9 f
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
" T* @! B# V1 L) X7 l1 d9 V# U( J"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.7 v* j$ N# X. x- S1 Q" T
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
$ [$ O8 w0 Y' R( mearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
% q/ G: n ?/ b) l4 z"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
( z( Q0 [/ p9 @) I2 pdone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway+ T* E4 q |: O0 o! T4 u! {
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's! ^1 C H% K K* C8 ?) R+ p3 }
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
1 _6 C- t0 n [9 t8 K; L9 l! ULentz said the company had not completely ruled out an, O8 s1 A3 g. c4 `7 a
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of* q- J, b( `5 t8 a
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a& L- H. s! v4 m: B5 ]& n7 @% w
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he0 N0 G/ h" V0 |$ {
said.' N1 K7 _- n. g. N4 Q
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
. a! H, f! i' w0 ^8 d+ l: C, E/ i( Ahappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe6 p0 n' D$ W2 h7 {; Z
about driving our products," Lentz said.4 B% y/ I5 f) ^! w
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's( L: n) p' q& \
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
4 z. f j5 {# D7 o; v3 Rrecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
' H' D2 I$ |2 U. zmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of
6 P: x; Y, F/ i0 ~! O! Lunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
+ h- a- m9 }7 C6 Q3 Fissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering6 K. f9 Q4 B' i6 g, `1 A
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of' h% |6 N. r0 C& `
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow1 L' f) i$ N9 i% c9 ?" b) N( ?
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has/ R% v7 B+ X% J) R- _" ~
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration! ^% P+ y: B! T) {) s8 V: L
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.
: L+ l/ @" [, J8 H1 C- fLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own- Y* T6 K2 v; o
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he& A9 O8 d L; G9 V) _ J. T
understood the pain.
% g- w( V/ p2 Q& ~3 i"I know what those families go through," he said.
+ u+ l5 b4 E( j( I1 D: }3 N4 GLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
) K5 j' `2 A' |+ z4 o8 Z' X% Ufixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.5 w6 X5 h3 h! @' w' ~6 _ {
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
5 V% ?7 ` _& vHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
. h$ K: [ g+ K9 I+ w4 Uin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
) R. ?. V6 C3 _0 h5 k- W" pLentz replied: "Not totally.": v m2 X- |: B- ^) I v: G4 b
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were. t' E& T, z0 _. V: M) I' ?
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said b* p4 M" i7 f1 v4 K8 B& S
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas3 W% a Z! d! W6 X. G: x% l3 H
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its b2 g; T& L' _, r" ? i
vehicles already on the road.
# k- m; S; {. ^" P$ s+ |Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
2 Y# B" r0 |$ R8 Hbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
% V) k$ k2 f$ `7 @6 H2 \) D! l) V3 Bresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
& w, J% X8 a6 ~4 N. u poffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
- X3 B# M" F! q) Akilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
) ?. I4 f1 J$ A2 K" o"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a. U# g) k3 S* \% h& y
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
" Z% k$ Y q- a. p) Qfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
. ?* N$ J! ]$ v/ q( X& ZCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal. z2 g4 g, l0 E+ I3 N# J& g7 ^5 g) v0 r. H
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to6 a8 D: T& [% S' r& t
restore the trust of our customers."
' E$ P, g8 r( z; o: ^Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
; X8 b' |' ?; ]. `/ E4 t, s# xSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly5 q3 [- W; z! g" ?, t2 |, J+ s6 S
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop -- w) u% c' c6 [1 T
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
0 m( X( \2 P1 x7 U" ohitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough& v7 e/ V6 `5 A! [ }
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and, j4 I6 ?( X; h8 t# W/ ?
turn off the engine.0 K# U! v9 f M3 V/ j# o
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of) a7 e, v* q( _/ ?, {
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience." v! f- @5 x, U' Q( t" h M
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
) k/ q5 k; K, Ksaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
& c$ X2 K: t3 _- R2 [to her complaints., ?7 W- {0 f- g" u
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers/ m8 Z: m& e- q9 P
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic1 y' F) [/ y, F; ^' K q
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.; n# x: S0 X- H% N2 R. G
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
$ b, ?2 X- x) q) O2 n' uthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
# J% _1 q( B4 R3 G r7 {"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut6 I; j% x- l2 g* S4 C* }
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
# _! _/ V* t" `9 Z* P" kTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
# H" V2 a) g9 c; e7 l0 V. B0 G7 K1 jprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were7 P9 Y0 c+ W) i7 y
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls8 G# V" L, r( f4 L5 m# O" k) @0 V
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
" u Z/ ?% R/ h. Y5 Aevery question."
: B+ s9 e% ?8 x5 F1 TToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether! L% @& B2 @7 ^- Y! }) ]; ?
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
, i4 j! Y" y1 w8 j& ffirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But$ l, W9 y/ {! z E; c: J
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small' F$ F' o- T/ c8 _& M
number of vehicles. I" U5 t4 o' |
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more. `, }3 |0 s0 D- A# |6 p0 m2 y
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a: C, \0 o2 t( c2 M2 v
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one$ x0 A: H! k4 F0 H8 m3 d6 b+ s, x0 z; E
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.+ g: I9 B7 q' c8 ~$ a2 u; Y- G$ U, k" C; W
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,* c a' L! o$ m G3 F! J1 X
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
, U2 u% h% R7 S2 {5 n# B, g& M9 C' Dtrace at all.# L! Z+ D* A; a* o h' \4 e
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
* i: J! I) x' d6 E4 b9 ]database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden$ |) [0 E# J* X6 e; |8 R
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
6 `/ `' a: M: {* J/ G1 [, @recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.* b* `0 B. N; v- }6 m
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
$ v: c: {: O; U; Q1 isaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
2 v9 i# L0 v9 n) w( s& jother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the4 z' P/ Z4 q4 \; l' w
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible/ o+ O: E- J Z. M
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
5 Q0 E* z2 c2 D8 R! V" `* osuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
; `' b' d; c, Fby Toyota's lawyers."8 ~4 e) _9 B) O& l
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of) E ^) F( T7 P
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our/ |" c2 G! @# u# I# V
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he. c8 g" O ?& c
said.& `" T3 j5 H" h4 Y
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with# p* ~7 n- S; O3 {
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
6 _4 l1 d/ Q# z3 ^' N2 qgood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
$ c( J- U" U2 F( f0 R# rofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.+ h" v' |& u. N2 t$ n0 e# A
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying. S+ s8 |4 B0 F3 w0 n+ f P
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread) N; ?/ }! G% l9 `7 |, q
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the' h( ?9 Q2 u) Q' O1 L. F- g
automaker, at least in part because of the government's' ~8 O" I4 g( W4 r* a
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and2 @/ u+ Y9 a& ]4 h! v X4 J
Chrysler.
) w2 T9 H" B$ ^$ {) E"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax# T; @- g6 x3 Q t
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
- w8 Q( R% n3 |+ l. X5 K. N0 z9 CHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also) T$ v, L' |% E* y2 t: {
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
J' N8 \- \ W9 C5 W# zwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
: [" A8 a. p9 e" i0 A7 V/ h* `tough."
7 y8 R9 S! L5 J- \% @& W. d! @& k---3 @6 S3 [( N- Q
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
+ Z- B4 N. h2 b9 s0 x8 FRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
8 `$ R" A; Q! p/ K0 M+ T n; R% }this story.
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