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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题& Z) q G. p2 F, z6 y! \3 U; c* H
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
& }, C; ~/ Q+ T# g' dWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.% r9 [. K) A. c" H1 I \2 j8 c$ C8 f
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that7 Z% _" q8 T$ Z0 ~$ i
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
" S: e4 Z" ?# m( Y: G" qsolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.5 b* N# H( L' `6 c0 x/ g
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
2 i5 F& u6 B% kcauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel." i; n* x @5 i1 d- o% L1 v2 Q8 t
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected4 y* o. [5 o, g) [' w- ^
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and' O. v* Q* d" w9 u& S3 ~1 G( M. I
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
9 b8 C# G! l, A; bmats and sticking accelerator pedals.4 [6 |9 o8 q/ P' K3 N& M
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
2 ~% W b; b5 ~ Aand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
0 [6 C5 J+ i7 U3 [criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
6 i1 F/ |5 {) c* A3 z6 Hfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could) _* f! s9 J* K! ?/ S7 G# B9 t
not stop her runaway Lexus.8 z" ]% E) a r: N
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
* h# B F* e7 @! ~; s% xTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
: \# _+ j, o, i( } r"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.6 a3 C2 s2 m: F2 J
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues3 N/ r- s' c* t$ `
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
+ T3 l( g- d5 i q6 i' P: K) `- B"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
7 Y+ Q3 I/ p2 l+ pdone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
3 h8 W; C% V4 q2 E" D8 ethrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's! Y7 O. Y& V3 `( b
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham.": q m% F2 V. B8 x- J: N# G) U
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
4 b/ Y6 K' F Helectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of( O1 C1 m. C3 F; Q4 B
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
9 q) _! \* }/ ]: f/ I' Smalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
) y; ?9 u0 n7 p4 R% ~said.! |+ `! A8 v, k. h9 m6 i! k
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
' b. a8 T. Y0 e: N. r) Ohappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
& S' z# W* w8 G' w& Habout driving our products," Lentz said.. M% a9 G% M9 c: f' P a9 F& ~' \, R
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
0 b) M$ v, { V6 |' @problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has. q9 }- U$ `3 p2 b6 `; |7 ^$ d- O
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6; }& y4 Q ?) c6 X9 h
million in the United States -- since last fall because of. n: T! w& o; H8 _
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
) A, G! ?: _8 s: W+ @issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering+ q: Q3 ~- Q6 M
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of0 t% k5 T; Z/ B; |$ X
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow; u( G- g/ F$ f
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
N# [' I4 _5 Y5 w) Z6 dreceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration# m5 t6 \4 Z! t0 F7 Q
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.
7 c0 W& h5 @8 N* I: }0 qLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own- A) n4 w% N" d* s4 H# Y* E
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he6 j1 _! f* Y% d' a
understood the pain.
2 x0 N4 |+ D& O% {$ G& S4 P"I know what those families go through," he said.
1 Y) `/ R% [& VLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
/ e* T% H- ^8 V5 ^8 W" ?* i% Ifixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
9 w! Y) @' q! h3 K! M+ dBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman+ h" F5 Q! S% q/ C/ a
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
4 H% L) `2 d: p4 Q8 k( I( E4 \in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it, k! B8 I" y* C: |2 D, _
Lentz replied: "Not totally.") N6 M# j8 y9 T- Z! z$ D: u" ^/ }
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were: u% g$ R' g6 y- G3 M
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said1 P9 n0 u+ I- [: d4 B9 |7 T
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas( @; n( ~# o& s `
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its5 q% H3 u1 h. U6 o* V
vehicles already on the road.
: t' Q3 X* E$ H4 k) m! j. ~Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify7 E& I0 C* a8 X9 P
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
7 k' k& x$ w' n, Y" iresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and: C$ D+ t! q' ]. Q4 E! ]$ |
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
2 D! h8 H- p$ m# c2 G! r Pkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
. z: n$ H# D% m' I"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a' m- A" G& C J# x9 |6 C
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony4 \: W8 \7 J' y; G% \5 Z6 _' ?
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
@' u, n/ h0 [, UCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal# ]+ u' X5 Z( d2 U- } \; L
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to7 J, x& Y# d( ]$ T8 B
restore the trust of our customers."7 o0 j# J( k) K }
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from' f0 o; k0 m/ B) O- S
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly3 j/ X4 N1 e: Q/ I
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --* y) z/ r) x3 ?1 Z+ y5 h
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
) S9 L( s5 C% M' b7 E, @ xhitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough8 i! R3 h; [4 R( s3 C+ N
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
3 h5 P+ B* o* v7 g+ E, A# ]turn off the engine.# @1 O6 u/ B1 h# d. P" j
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
% F3 E+ i3 l) }# Y: U- K7 kOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
# T6 T. f3 [( ?* \4 i- M"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she9 h' K- s& ?/ ~
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
w7 p9 b$ n1 uto her complaints.5 S7 E" z$ C0 ?( [
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
X% k) l$ @" M9 Wreturned again and again to the question of whether electronic0 P+ m, d0 V0 `3 l9 M& k
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
F6 S" p: y1 T# t"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
, P+ ?" @, o' j& ethrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited8 \% c& J8 I0 `* {- D
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
# u' f5 ~* ^8 zoff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."- j: d$ ]5 ]- q' \) u
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
4 F0 [( O+ }" ?: e& dprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
( b) x0 j# u, [; Ubeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
& I# z( ^7 Y! }; N6 iwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer9 a% G* q% ^. q
every question."
. p0 }$ J3 Q) w, E k' DToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether- U9 f0 A' Z& n4 t) v: \: I
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
: i: Q! Z9 d' |" m, B! O U2 d- kfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
. _% J4 c4 |% e6 tcommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small
q7 k4 ~( k( Nnumber of vehicles
3 v4 {1 O& n" |6 b( W7 f2 o+ lTracking down an electrical problem can be far more
% j* i1 a( w: X" O+ [+ Kdifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a+ q; C% {7 j5 C# A
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
: }. }3 C- \# r/ T! |source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
6 H& {- E& Q% H. |/ }' vMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
( i9 i# E" `7 p7 s% n) \! i) {" g/ ywhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no2 U+ d% \6 D4 F! h$ v2 V" L
trace at all.* \8 N0 N y, a1 S. O4 z, r' s$ [
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call# Y) {3 V% Y; s3 t- B
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
) D3 f5 D8 Q! j2 Y' k* |8 Pacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
/ Z& ?5 K# ?1 D6 Irecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.8 M% X+ X' ~6 D# D0 b
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
; M& ~; a- n; g% c6 t- |said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
# e1 M( w3 E1 c$ ?1 v, [other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the+ e5 H1 s* w6 Z2 ~- g& |0 I% o
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible1 e4 j1 | X8 `# I M3 g
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only! u% W) w. }& Z8 U2 Z1 \
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained. T. A ~' r I6 ^
by Toyota's lawyers."
. a4 Y! n& S* D J) |2 |8 ULentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of" ?7 w5 V- s, y+ Y; Y$ A& G$ N x
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
: f; u) o' \2 _* I: l# Dcustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
/ w4 R9 J* g5 j4 @& c" psaid.1 c* _) o* N( Z3 X
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with k. g: L8 Z' Z9 X1 X+ Z- P# {
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
! b: t8 \! b+ Z5 kgood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating; F1 i; n5 \3 e# _
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.0 I8 S0 G5 I( U; F0 ^7 F1 O0 V
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying3 n( W0 B, T6 d9 e8 h" e6 [/ m# e
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread5 |0 ^1 x/ {4 ~% D% c4 h! K" g4 V
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
6 ~2 U% i! X2 a" l( ~. o3 z/ oautomaker, at least in part because of the government's
# R7 D$ p+ q8 b' M& C8 tinvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and9 N- O( c" M k9 |* N5 N
Chrysler.% t r+ C$ _9 O8 e: E: l2 k
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax! S5 \5 c9 n8 Z# c U5 ], R0 ^7 Q7 W
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
) R5 s) d: J ~: A9 V uHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
7 E) b0 b1 F( B' kserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
8 ~& O4 G& p1 c, Owith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty) L4 E' d" `; x4 O/ u7 h
tough."
% O2 [2 K+ V- Y5 Y, L2 M---
8 \) P1 f9 q" n; g5 J) H9 Q3 KAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom! [: g* P& Q. F2 V( y0 n7 N2 G- S0 V
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
& B5 l6 X% R" _2 d1 y( P& zthis story.( ~3 l- ^5 @7 L; a" U# b
' y+ \* T9 a7 A1 h5 e$ L' k
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