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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题8 w2 l+ T& D6 D# |& j! m
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS: `' K" w/ j0 u1 {
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
G* G' [; B- j" u a. foperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that* u) p( l# g; l+ D
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally". A: `9 t8 x% p% {# X: H5 X) I' W
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
8 d; d6 Z, B, q"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
3 j9 `! c1 k0 Ycauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
& w; x2 d2 V* L) N* y5 \7 AHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
' y6 `# A+ X9 e5 u% e5 {1 Y4 s3 Nacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and. x* i, N7 M5 V* ^) c* B
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
9 w% i, i* Y5 c) A* {mats and sticking accelerator pedals.
( }; I+ M7 d7 [/ h$ E$ vHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
" o4 |) J3 J; \5 C- Gand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp5 E* I: ^/ V! G. k: m
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be3 u* o- w/ R/ N2 a* r
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could# k D r8 I- g3 A) k
not stop her runaway Lexus.3 ~. M1 z1 m& R
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,; X, |" j# V+ b$ W9 I$ D! i6 p& U
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second3 Y& {- @9 \* p0 t' {' T
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.; I8 E4 F: I9 W1 v- K
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues! K& m' x3 t! I$ y* \
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
. Y( G+ z$ P* O" y/ k5 r& I"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
5 k) q6 w7 X2 [' l$ M1 q7 @done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway7 L! l0 u2 C1 c% _& P/ `3 F
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's \8 K" X3 b1 K& n( z+ T
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham.") N* l; J$ r( Y: |/ O
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an3 U ]' L$ \- k+ Y% D4 o2 z
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of. }! V u3 ]2 |+ h% \. l
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
( W: b5 s* _: v/ M3 h S2 D& jmalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
1 T1 T# q+ _$ P' Xsaid." B' Z3 d. M4 a9 V' Y) X
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
* L+ I5 H) h9 b2 ^5 |4 \( yhappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
4 W1 L& g5 x+ E* k8 D, Y, r. habout driving our products," Lentz said.; Y! O7 B9 T: J+ h# a7 U
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's C# r" G3 T$ \( q/ [
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
( `- j& F, ^8 h9 precalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
T* x: X9 e) J0 Smillion in the United States -- since last fall because of4 ~' C6 @. p* M: l- _. Z3 e) `, J) u
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking I. T. M$ g5 N9 P" v
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering g" g* I4 k$ G* H! d
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
a6 o# R R5 ?' Wtheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
7 j, C S) L' Ydown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has8 L/ A( f* b% |& `' Q- z: b1 l
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
/ v! [' l/ H4 M! A, ~$ u. a3 _of Toyota vehicles since 2000.3 [! u/ f9 i3 A" r
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
" _8 ]# @6 \ r& V: qbrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
. Q7 A; Q7 Z, }7 ?5 }understood the pain.
# F3 J B x5 U"I know what those families go through," he said./ `; L6 ], G3 ~ f& s& \* e
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
% z3 `; d2 O, p4 m+ a" K+ ^fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.) b4 p8 ~! o' r4 H$ L
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
5 _5 A) K* _' A- Y5 W; x& aHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
" x4 x% \+ Y7 j* O9 a& q. Q1 jin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,' |% ]3 W. p+ {3 s1 t7 }; V
Lentz replied: "Not totally."
" z' @/ p9 B5 l% c+ iStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
4 X: h3 j& w; L# \"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said& Q* E a( n! i4 w# c8 ]
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas+ n" M3 R/ j Y' X
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
2 d6 P8 R: T& c0 x3 Pvehicles already on the road. w5 L6 a" l2 s
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify4 w1 x2 n {; J3 e( Z: ~
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
2 m$ K" \/ s3 h) S, k6 d+ E# presponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
& B) M; I0 w% Z/ Yoffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were; A! R2 ]5 H* N+ F/ j4 t" E; R& |
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.7 t& I) r7 x$ }2 N" \6 t& u+ P/ N3 |
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
3 X, h! T" h2 I( Vtragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony+ C9 |( d3 V# D
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight0 I1 a& _7 r* ?% q5 ~' a' U" R, [
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
6 ?/ ]" ^1 ~$ V! pcommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to, g& `* a- c+ |
restore the trust of our customers."
! _) e9 B T- V) e5 l0 R& r" P* ELawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
6 _7 @3 x. r5 U9 ^) HSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
# d. @% |1 n& v2 w7 S+ S! jzoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
5 a+ W5 @# d$ Q# l: Zshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
1 O$ i) n- q3 uhitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
' L# a# h2 [9 x9 Q0 l0 K6 [/ zthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
5 C: p% T! @, |2 S' G9 J6 \" {% _6 u fturn off the engine.! l n* o' x" c6 K4 z. I
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of0 m) [( b( x2 E& i( B7 |& a
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."; c% J& z8 q+ W( N
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
z, g+ Q6 e1 {6 Esaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond e8 F/ j. s7 E' {& p! v7 S/ J
to her complaints.
+ ?5 p$ J0 }3 k0 C! UIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers) v" B; ?" b8 Y4 S
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic9 X9 @( u" {' A8 |: k# a8 `
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars. z/ ^, L3 e0 ~' |/ }4 |3 V0 y B
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric* N, y0 _+ b4 T/ W' \
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited) k2 N/ E A. ^8 g# \/ l) ~5 {
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
# T& t( `6 T& ^+ i) _off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
+ J* m6 Q3 t4 Y3 a+ ?7 \& J) jTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
; g$ j) ?- h" }" K3 s: c: A& Rprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were: F# a/ q& V9 U9 \% A! l
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls+ W; E6 k5 F- I4 o
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer3 f3 n# x ~. {) N* R" \* Z, \
every question."
8 g4 T% m+ I$ J9 SToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether/ y) q) z. e# O; @1 j
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
/ \2 H9 H/ e4 b! m3 wfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But# q9 e, Y& b% t' U. X- l) G* w3 R
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small5 o4 w/ k5 i- E! F
number of vehicles f [% t% s2 F. M4 G" l
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more
) c4 D" D$ C! S6 Z' `difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
* ^2 u" r1 P+ E5 ?mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
2 O# I( ?9 V; K: ~. xsource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.: u; ? t, y6 A! F' K
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
. M( l9 j0 o$ g( e+ b7 Hwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no9 d0 N5 `/ P$ r
trace at all./ u5 `& E v' }9 ?/ ]* U) I' _
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
& j3 P- t) M0 |2 Gdatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden: T, z! k1 `% b% ]/ l4 u$ A
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
/ u7 k3 P: n+ J/ A4 r: a, Crecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
( v3 y) L2 x7 A) M5 s, w6 g' tRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee," u3 `4 |4 R+ L- k) g8 _# ]- @
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and _1 S$ g- O! K' r: J/ q
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the; A8 {6 u' I8 `+ y" L" ]. Z; Q- W
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
* E0 z* _5 g$ acause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only/ d; w1 H& D( V8 O, U
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained- i* o1 }2 v. `# Z; o* Y. B/ G
by Toyota's lawyers."
) m# X6 f# k3 {) O7 V+ f$ J6 N8 p8 ?Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
, y: s5 q( b( j$ oproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our" [# W/ c- w7 E+ G7 O/ ~
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
$ J$ n6 T- a' X2 z6 x7 f( lsaid.
! H* S" ^; C p+ }- i"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with* H4 g. N, I- S% e8 e$ y( ?
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our# B5 C( q$ _+ A7 E: b2 K% k/ Q2 p
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
, p, ~5 ~+ v, C/ U! M* Bofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
/ [9 b6 N j% BSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying* K% H& A' F, o! P& E _2 F2 C! i
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
/ O9 U E0 d/ J1 Q7 `! Lrancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
) ^, J: z& Z3 I) w% m$ ~automaker, at least in part because of the government's2 }0 X2 ]9 \+ b3 [ T6 M# X
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
5 l8 s/ P" C! }* _/ Q7 uChrysler.2 J) k2 ~ ?' z2 [2 n
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax/ J8 [. t8 H+ ?6 l- _
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
8 l4 K4 S5 H5 E7 o4 Z# j1 l7 I1 D1 SHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also' g" x9 {* o. x) p
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
6 B- N, e6 T6 k7 Awith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty& R" @) ^: G/ ^
tough."
+ F& z( ]! J& ]+ K---
! B( J( d* x; m2 iAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
- k* m1 [; e! g4 I) `( ~$ jRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
1 D- @6 x1 l, Z$ _this story.* J& `7 H* B+ Q3 D! u
" u8 r b" |' N' s0 ]* L
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