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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题/ n4 N3 X/ x, f* X0 G g% z
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
1 n$ g- A+ M8 q' u$ AWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
# c* a5 ]% r1 k" u2 Joperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
3 ]5 y% u/ b( \* _the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
% f G5 h7 k0 A: Bsolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
4 R' ]9 N8 A9 i. B7 W+ `"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential/ | x5 e& c% Y( c4 i2 ~- ^$ }
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.0 w4 y/ V' R( y/ E) ?
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected$ n. @9 S" u5 M1 j
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
8 v- L7 ]) m- G( B L6 K, Btrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor, G% H$ [. F" J& ]; e; y) d
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.- X# c0 i/ w' A2 X j9 P' V
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
4 c* k8 z1 _0 T7 n1 I! W& O9 _9 Dand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp9 i( r4 W7 P1 S6 K" m4 V
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
2 B* n A T( [further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
0 e9 }2 {0 h- v I9 cnot stop her runaway Lexus.
6 M* o B$ }! K J"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
8 J) u( o9 I/ a" Y8 WTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
9 g( N0 m, o8 y8 Z( k5 U4 f"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
7 q5 y Q) n; W7 LTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues" m/ D0 e# h) H/ w! c
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
, h9 X' f, K$ G1 h6 g+ Q1 a0 g"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has" R- K$ U! U! X. `% b" X
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway U0 m/ [1 Y: y8 \$ d
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
% w0 N* Z; ?2 \, f8 Yinvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."+ X+ M g! Z5 p7 E& I/ o
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an3 @9 g3 Q) s% Z! d' q
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of" a+ x }4 M( F/ Z
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a; a: @+ M: g) \1 _& X8 f! E+ l
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he \7 c) H0 M4 [' r
said.
9 @ t# v: P: ^( J% E8 wAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what0 ~, K/ c& X- q g; Z% }. I
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
6 z4 F( D, A1 J h* g/ E; Xabout driving our products," Lentz said.% Q9 p( n2 p- _
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's" x& m* R5 w2 l t
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
$ y- o R+ e6 Q. o6 _. R+ T, xrecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 60 m! N; e$ D! E
million in the United States -- since last fall because of
; f- R0 B: Y- m. b) g( K7 Junintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
6 M) O, K1 A' Z0 I/ q& P. Hissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
1 A" @- o$ ?2 `0 D" N& Rconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of, @: w& a: ?$ R$ ]
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow7 A1 `4 C' B y; P
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has D9 R! t. `9 R) H
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration6 V0 a# g3 K% h/ E
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.
8 C& S3 x" q+ w; xLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own7 p( p" P: k1 Y' n
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
+ j. z) c3 D3 U3 ]* ]' A1 wunderstood the pain.
$ l+ B/ x' o0 ^2 K4 d2 e"I know what those families go through," he said.6 F1 ]2 r M/ H, A: f' a+ B; F
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
1 Q: A5 l" p: ~( T Xfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.* e Z/ m/ H8 |/ h' p$ k8 X
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
1 N4 t3 `. q& ?1 Q, U/ [& S" L gHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
1 d5 i* ?* z9 Z; tin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
! f8 E" D+ X% |Lentz replied: "Not totally."
( L# J6 u( y! B( _Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were+ @ ~2 b" m) j, S2 z
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
; e6 M" p3 y" ^2 {4 SToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
+ o# z# b$ K& r; P. y% n b( R9 Wpedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
) Y% C9 v0 N% ~. ^9 xvehicles already on the road./ n, t! A; B- Z5 ]' s1 T& u
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
" I% v: o% S# gbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
0 A r( }+ a5 Y( d! M+ P" P+ presponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and1 N+ Z! v5 O0 _! V* Y4 T# x$ V
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were2 F, x- H1 m/ S% T
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
: ?3 ~. x, A* f! N# W( q( D6 f"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a4 g( v0 s" Z ]0 ] Y$ ~" Q9 U
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
, h( k$ g. |' R1 s* I0 b7 d7 o4 Rfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight3 ^9 ^7 `* S5 g0 u( P# u7 o7 e" f
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal. Y5 L6 }: K5 _
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to) A+ z) L1 i4 c [1 r/ _
restore the trust of our customers."
4 c$ Q k, \) k/ aLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
( ?) o4 B$ I: B1 j _& y- fSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly( @8 W5 @. W# k2 d* H: |" Z
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
3 x) E3 P+ t) P/ L2 `0 Ushifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
) M, @$ H; \* N/ n) L i9 `2 b U2 a% Thitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough% g9 e$ B( A4 N
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and6 s6 L! }3 V8 x% ?" D* \+ L/ ?1 k
turn off the engine.% d, j& E) l, |5 j* x9 F6 X- I
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
6 y2 K b" E' B1 S0 T3 q+ e* x; wOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience.": N1 }' K7 W9 n
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she h. E! y- O$ `/ ~" J8 a( B5 P
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond% t% j% X7 G6 @8 Y ]& t* }
to her complaints.$ X6 ^8 E* t: I) O
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers1 c3 T; h' N; N# h* [* Y& F
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
' ~8 Z @, P7 M% B* }9 xmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
8 ?) f) x# C& }* ]"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
% k$ u" ?0 O1 {, Q6 b {0 i. Athrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited$ _; R) y1 r3 k! i; a( }
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
- ]- y! g* g. A( a6 j. O Foff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
) m. A, a# O1 E7 c2 D7 d# [Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
* D, P; C7 }; zprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
" L) c: G E) B. }7 {being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls# w0 F( k" x: C; W8 K1 [
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
8 L- }3 \4 M n5 i& Tevery question."& H- U& h% l- I' E# i
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether, V: J# |) H0 \! A- W$ g
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
/ _( v9 i" S5 S+ Sfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But4 C* C$ ?' |" i) p+ _
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
j/ y! y6 {: d$ Dnumber of vehicles- L) K4 Y2 X4 v* A7 i- i/ B
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more7 [4 y- ^. c1 P/ s/ K
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a9 \/ {3 r; b; l2 \* I
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one+ O9 Z2 U6 b! c% `" ]; }9 A4 x/ c
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
3 Q: T9 z/ j& A- C8 X/ t+ B" Y* AMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,$ g3 j3 ?7 A! e% c: k6 X
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no* v( a+ y- o4 h
trace at all.6 I, E. Z6 Z2 \) n( e9 m
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
' G. R7 h( G9 ?database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
$ b' k( v2 r- H6 A5 g& F# xacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
3 g7 R" d% E; d. Qrecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.0 \; `( B9 e" M) d
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
4 f$ n4 E/ [# y+ D( Isaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
! o- t0 N' |' V1 ^" lother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the1 Q6 `2 }) B7 L$ B( M
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
$ H2 m4 E& e) c/ w+ F4 ~5 p2 \cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
- F6 |* ~8 d; ^( I5 c- ~/ @+ Wsuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained8 E( o+ S/ e" K5 L
by Toyota's lawyers."
1 O% B5 G4 ~* ^2 LLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of o7 e+ A7 Y5 S6 G
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our- _2 { G8 _' D# g
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he6 d. C1 [; M6 M! H7 G
said.' M( M* f/ _+ G6 s Y* k
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with$ e- P0 t/ [5 Q& l' ]; X
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
: a; f% P, }- M6 }* }: Zgood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating$ B4 u, v5 r$ w9 {2 A1 L' _3 z
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.( P* d3 B- ]0 l6 i) B1 ]- @1 f
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying9 x' Y# M4 ]" E ^. ^( Q* b& R
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
: K# Z7 i" e# Crancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
& n. U# U$ r" v& c* w- Y, y: |2 z; qautomaker, at least in part because of the government's v' \' E: x1 @/ L& b; A! h" e
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and. N0 h) C8 G, t! b
Chrysler.
' a) ]! |/ P3 H; [! I% Q"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax0 z0 ?( I, H6 E5 |3 _
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a) o; t# c8 i; J3 E3 H0 p; o
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also1 D# @9 j7 r4 C) x
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
- E" b! w# a, h) Y# Q9 |! U" C& A! twith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty" F' L$ t" {8 r) e, _ ^
tough."
+ F7 r5 e' W0 A( i---
, {& V8 H3 c( \: B' m9 sAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
% \6 z) A, B% j# S( JRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
" g- E6 m1 w V( ?( mthis story.& }2 r7 D1 j" P" Z
6 m6 V/ I o& a( v( G8 [. A; y
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