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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题$ h& F8 T5 {$ F+ S- Z$ G1 I3 _
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS) ]0 l8 J1 p# }" K$ L0 k
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.; b& ]& P# n6 Z- ^( H1 j+ p
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that* `4 j! q2 B4 m, t( m ^6 O: a
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"# z- J* H" Q) ?5 {% k6 U
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
: @) ~- u' }- c1 Q# Q& o- a"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential* x' ^4 j! K3 J/ I' f7 a
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
0 ?, i- [+ ]* I2 ZHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
8 ]0 A, |4 N5 N" h; Kacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
S6 L; _" o$ d/ Itrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor3 l. S; Y# V [( p* U
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.1 K: [& _$ p0 u+ L
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
" T6 k: z. ~% x/ `and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
5 d. K5 J. V t0 b. J8 hcriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
+ e; q p2 u2 a; Sfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
* T2 H& ^2 m8 l5 @4 Mnot stop her runaway Lexus.
& H* c. j4 J0 S1 w$ j5 B"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,6 F' ^" N# r6 j7 W- i
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second6 j/ C' Y9 G( t8 e
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
$ g, f# b2 L$ E+ S" UTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues3 W9 A, s G6 b" s5 g
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said6 ?% u8 C+ ?1 Z
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
; m4 W& H! z9 B1 kdone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway5 w3 `+ V3 f7 s( O) \. K
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
1 {1 P1 i6 M/ n& c) S8 Cinvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
; J2 z6 y+ M2 U( L5 |+ i' A6 sLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an* b) |0 g% `! ]) U: x, L! V
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
@9 h+ N- Z6 y( Xthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
, t9 w. k' B2 \. f" Fmalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he: ]$ k L7 }% {5 }6 ^5 f* A6 E( a
said.; @2 D) j7 X4 q0 s, S0 }
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
2 ?( F/ B2 Y8 T! Thappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
( {# n2 [" I; k) O3 `1 [about driving our products," Lentz said.* J2 y3 r' d% h$ S# L) V( t
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's! m9 n* j' ~) o+ Q. D4 ^
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
# `- w# }# }- C8 ]9 Precalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
5 K8 j0 ]/ b( ?! p! P zmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of
6 Z9 U5 g& ?/ p. O: n/ `5 Cunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking; ~% n# Y" ?6 O% }5 H* X
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
; m- P+ A+ ^ R" cconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of' @ N* X. [+ t! d5 _( G
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
4 J. |" B( y, X2 Y0 i+ mdown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
, w% C( l# h' v+ ?received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
+ k; Q* M1 k& s3 j) Z5 }of Toyota vehicles since 2000.
) G# a9 ?! h# J( S( ~6 ~, ?Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own% v6 X3 G. x0 T; P- ]$ `( I: g& S% Q
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he4 n# {8 `- {/ A" V8 h
understood the pain.$ c4 L- i1 v0 L
"I know what those families go through," he said.
/ l# R, z$ {8 y1 G# XLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
) r+ q) f. P. {8 T6 _' ^* ~$ kfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
) g( _. y4 _0 M; ?4 F: xBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman& _: ]4 A$ V" V1 L g y8 s
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
$ }+ n, s6 \+ ^: I4 j0 l! Z" u, Bin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,* b6 }9 _$ {# K* V9 `& W% o5 e
Lentz replied: "Not totally."
) A' g/ ~ y1 B5 XStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
# w8 V. _8 ~3 e3 J) x% R"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said3 p, N: G. w7 d9 w# B
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas5 V4 v! W6 e, Q# m. J" u( {& d
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
2 Q+ U& @% N# G' Gvehicles already on the road.& U+ X1 z" l) d2 O' \( a6 D
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
" v# ~5 [0 J( e) F6 u; T# Y3 Ubefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
$ ^! _+ A5 k( a5 _! Fresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and8 u. n6 m$ y) D) k, x+ M I
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were( S& A3 r5 t% }3 F) M( V
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
! D7 k" |5 F6 ]4 q) k- y"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
# S, y V* N: D' N" otragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
1 t) m9 d- ^" M5 f, q# q) u$ bfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight) O7 g- L) w( J
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
2 B7 ]3 }1 [! N# Q2 Z# Z- a* \/ Fcommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
7 b b# F2 Z$ hrestore the trust of our customers."
# L/ i* A$ p9 Y+ r. U" }Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from0 n8 a3 m- K$ b/ Z& i) r. t: q
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly, J# b7 t1 ^% ]6 n
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
5 I, @1 S& s5 }* T9 Q" p6 q Pshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and$ I; k) b$ u6 d9 n. x* L/ o2 ~$ N
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough2 j# E0 N+ d3 t2 n; P
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
6 v! Z6 u3 [: W' k' ?: v; C, x, zturn off the engine.2 O# r5 B) H. Z4 B V
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
# O- q6 e% ?/ N sOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."2 l/ L* L( b# p. Y: A
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she+ y* z A) E& _& ?6 H9 ]
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
: y6 e0 c$ ~2 w$ f9 ?4 ^: dto her complaints.
8 z2 \3 J: s q8 }% S; l* i1 hIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
% O( r! |8 I/ oreturned again and again to the question of whether electronic
& X: Q( ?/ l7 Z6 j3 I4 E$ v$ Umalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
1 {7 A2 |8 r( t6 l5 C+ e9 z"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric B% }" f9 R" q7 Y* w
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
$ L/ s2 J$ |7 e) Y$ i/ W"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
" @) Y! R0 m1 Eoff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."+ s' O! @' k' ?9 E+ q
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
; {, L, M$ U7 a1 pprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were/ ]: H; F/ a3 A+ m. _
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
2 W* V% t% U A% Mwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer$ X i( n2 Q+ S Y4 _0 O7 |
every question."1 b/ p0 l/ A8 ^$ w# a {0 B, ]
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether+ v4 H# ?1 p1 r8 A: @# a' ]" X
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The9 s4 }7 R) c2 I7 F
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But* s$ [# @2 P" `) \4 ]5 A
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small5 }# f$ y- ~3 y- h+ {) m% x/ C1 w
number of vehicles
9 i7 h2 ]% i- Q5 b1 Z- y' Q0 tTracking down an electrical problem can be far more! Q1 ~% g% J' b% Q+ T2 j8 e
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
- V( s( R8 l- R' c$ ~% r0 zmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one: |5 d) t$ n( @8 @7 V' X
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.8 c6 d1 P* j7 u- |( E5 Z* S8 X
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,' Z5 P% e; R9 Z) d$ [
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no* a) ]% k* r) I& ?' m
trace at all.
: ~9 `8 p# H0 d! C- [House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call% X1 _3 W# K* w' P/ }
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
. ?* f; H9 u1 S% V; n5 A4 ]/ Yacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
1 b7 v7 q/ Y" I N/ I3 E' ~recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.7 U% V( m5 Z( [+ P
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,' v6 _% ^ L( q3 b
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
6 A7 A" z3 W7 P: `7 s: @other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
0 z' @% r {* Zelectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible$ [' c, V% A% h: A9 s
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
- w. \ o: d7 G' n! esuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
7 ]3 B' z) l0 F* x! f% {by Toyota's lawyers."
+ E& v4 i+ P' v7 `- s6 VLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of( z6 {) i. p1 C/ M( J
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
) f8 M& Z, ?/ ?- k: f. M" d5 k: ucustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
/ K* E) \* r% U/ w+ usaid.& J# s3 V+ ]( M+ S n
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with1 s: h t" ?' V) a5 t% N
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
2 p w( Q4 g3 {good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating# p; p0 H" T* c X; f! G
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.% j1 m' c* b! i+ t, H9 c
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying0 K- x X' H" h( I
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
: [, {! p. U5 ~" Y) ?. W4 C9 i- i' ?rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
6 }" V( C7 q: Vautomaker, at least in part because of the government's7 K' e7 Q" S5 L5 Z: c S3 M$ V
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
# _0 F; _2 i3 u' `# V/ l4 j2 JChrysler.* |0 Z/ [8 R( M5 v7 s
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax$ m1 I2 {+ t) I* c+ X4 {; `
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
1 z& f+ b. V/ t% y$ O5 Y- g# cHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also! B( [( @/ I2 K6 `" A2 I$ ^! L1 c
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete+ |9 X+ l, S ~# G x$ ?
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty' _) v2 ?0 V6 M5 j7 \% R
tough."
! U) S/ w, k8 V N5 s---: U0 z$ H p x' c
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
! _- H' n3 q N7 D) a' M( u1 `# V( PRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to. X( w' X9 s- |7 b6 S8 J
this story.
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