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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题( B# F& {) j/ h( _. [
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS- n. g$ l" |: [+ k/ t
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
, n+ W+ M2 t7 }8 i1 Moperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that# L% c6 Y# ^1 [( _$ C$ ^2 ?
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"' _) k8 P) E! F4 a- c( Y
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.1 }: U: O, V4 F
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential" n9 X0 o1 W X) e y$ u( M
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
) l0 w/ u7 _% B" EHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
) Z6 a9 Q- O) N% vacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
( H1 h% q$ E& G+ Gtrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
9 K& T E9 F+ m0 Ymats and sticking accelerator pedals.
, |! j9 E$ U0 S: q9 l3 ~He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal) y# x/ t7 M C" j
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
9 K1 U: m* T# fcriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be% b5 u; e3 ~5 y9 I+ Y; k# h
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
: ^; E: d5 x3 I7 n5 A- U$ S2 Unot stop her runaway Lexus.
' z. |7 u3 ?: a) j"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,6 ~! K" c/ h- L/ ~/ b& ]4 F
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second! b* N+ e% I1 n& O) M, {( m; Z
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
5 V/ D0 L7 X7 x5 FTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
8 e# g7 Z; H2 A8 Eearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said/ B4 g7 A7 S6 [# h
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has( j+ ]/ D- P) x
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
$ p. m. l0 ?, h+ ^: ythrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
2 u1 N: h9 z! a* i% G: P, {: N, k: ginvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
9 T" W4 s3 p9 G7 pLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an7 p* R& @) l5 V2 k
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
) X( X2 F3 P! i8 M4 J* Vthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a2 ~0 I: b9 z* f9 @" R
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he5 h8 x5 v! U N3 I4 w) l" m
said./ N( y9 F* Z/ r* L3 n
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what) N' B( M, i( ~+ ~9 e M2 `
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe/ t6 Q2 n. Z& [) K
about driving our products," Lentz said.
! z6 ]7 B' e# C. XThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's" n( o7 P0 r' [; P; w5 d7 X
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has1 J2 u, l/ N+ v0 I
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 63 J% Y* p) q% @7 W$ \- e# R: T
million in the United States -- since last fall because of
% D. [5 O- l2 i- E$ Qunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking& `* S. N: f; ^/ F
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
- K- a3 d6 U2 a( W( c4 E* tconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
7 W+ K: u5 X v5 W" |" l7 @9 Ktheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow, Y3 z, V: O- ?
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
' I I7 x* \4 o/ u- z: @1 V0 q2 Sreceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration0 W- k4 v9 M& |5 E( |( {* J( l' K3 A
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.
& p" u4 {' I0 q5 P) ^2 ]3 lLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own' W; [( X2 I1 q T0 Y; b
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
8 U0 u1 e1 L. U% y( Q# ]understood the pain.2 r4 l& U& U! s
"I know what those families go through," he said.
2 K6 x7 n1 b( ~' ULentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's! H6 \' t; D/ z6 M- P; D% Q
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
/ C' ]# e$ s4 o5 M$ [But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
, o: s5 C$ a7 c3 mHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
/ X/ j( p, N6 C' l! c; {, Xin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it," i: v/ Y% |' \! R0 }9 G6 M0 }
Lentz replied: "Not totally."
7 g7 t0 N$ b, P/ VStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
( s6 ~0 J) b+ d) w$ V9 D"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
$ y" b0 o1 t7 Z7 T/ k$ EToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas% K* g7 R$ \/ ~4 ]8 z$ T
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its4 y7 @% J S' w9 [$ G0 m
vehicles already on the road.9 J+ Z) u5 _5 G7 Z5 h2 O' j
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify, b: D' ]" A5 g( t+ c
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
1 u' _4 l- \) o3 s2 V' h9 ~$ f; Rresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and6 C2 g' J1 k/ d' Q9 {. [0 X
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
- w8 X3 f; I! O( ukilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
3 D$ c5 R) @6 F/ E"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
* b! T _3 M8 @! N' \! _' Y# otragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
5 k n! X1 x: E- }, p: u3 Nfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
( l0 K5 F4 G1 g8 LCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal" x _8 l% a; S7 u% \6 k. F
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
# e0 b F& s% u( y* erestore the trust of our customers."- d- s) V3 y3 w
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
7 Y3 v# W, Z: ~4 T+ }Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly. m4 D$ G- I. Z
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --9 ]& v6 V; }& X( o m3 I4 a6 }
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
* D* Y5 B9 y2 thitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
6 g% l% b2 ?+ e6 E* M- h3 Pthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and# x) W# E/ z3 [
turn off the engine.
* Y" m3 a# }3 JFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of0 w( }" q- }# ? C* k/ R, R) r5 v
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."& y1 M9 p7 |3 c0 l9 ~+ k
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
8 o6 K4 E2 u) _/ Bsaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
% J4 ]1 c b" e. `4 Q9 U& Q# ^2 ]1 \to her complaints.
5 H3 x- m* d: s- fIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers4 u8 w( w4 q6 W& a8 u u! V! ?3 X+ R- G
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic+ Y* c* m2 M7 v8 I6 O* F- ^. \$ s% v
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.; I1 \" r" L4 i( n! t2 g/ T
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
: {. o+ x" _# w# |$ g1 n& J) rthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
( p7 [5 B, n1 Z"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
( {6 X9 N' e1 D2 y" M0 `off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."5 C3 H6 C6 H- _% Y8 v3 |
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in* B* ^" G ~7 ? V9 K" Y
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
' `; l) t) J/ f4 O* ]being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
7 \6 I# O2 i* M: b1 hwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
S2 ?& H0 d2 X1 A `5 z$ Nevery question."
/ R+ ~5 v$ ^9 I8 k( F: QToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether5 d# k8 E' j* }" c# U( q$ e+ N
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The9 k: o# R! H3 b) `+ @
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
( Y9 {# z8 \; i( [5 f# ycommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small; |4 N: f+ N! c1 c. h
number of vehicles
& {8 O, C# m6 L, I. e8 C/ s3 ?Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more
, e5 d3 V- ~" @/ z! Ddifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a0 ]2 s# M% k3 N, w, s3 Z
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
9 E4 P2 _1 m( g! q( Ssource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.# K; Z8 F7 q+ C2 a! {- Z" { K
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
8 E- @8 d9 q! }) c. K# K! ^5 w/ jwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
3 m7 q m3 S B+ M( k. {2 G' Etrace at all.3 f$ g+ Z; x& T
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call; B, F+ @2 ?. R, U4 z
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden: h1 ?* m% V* w# f
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the$ s2 O& q1 g$ O6 f/ Y: l' S* p
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
) [5 b2 e: D# H. _4 }Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,, O; z$ W! V6 u- t
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
/ m X0 C5 F" C; e+ G; N/ \other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
$ b, b. h- u6 J3 D( R- z5 ]1 Delectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible& k! n" E* b$ {9 t6 @* C% ~" o
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
2 H) f, N5 E6 W( C3 b/ f6 bsuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
/ r1 R2 D9 g: _) ?* T0 A* h# Oby Toyota's lawyers."
" n% t* t, z$ C( L+ f9 b( YLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of$ z5 w$ s# U% q; X3 ]! t
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
# Z2 W" \! [9 p3 p+ J2 P7 mcustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he! a# g3 B& y" `
said.
( w0 d6 _1 u, y' f"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
- A- w( C" R+ `1 Q7 Za rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our4 K5 C3 s+ K+ g( L1 a
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating3 H, m- e+ f! ]: j2 ^4 k# W+ k5 N0 s
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
+ k1 s3 N- H6 g) FSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying0 v2 x1 m/ P2 \( L. G/ f
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
; x6 P& b6 d& o5 wrancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
; S" X& m; R- hautomaker, at least in part because of the government's
. u4 ]7 \7 h! ^7 I$ x0 G9 linvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
% Q* V! k5 w7 g$ p! i. C; dChrysler.
' O$ e) z* A6 E"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
. r' W t' R" ^# Rdollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
" J! h1 p# h* OHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also8 q) s" q+ G! \: N+ N" @$ ~
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete" x7 f P; x: t9 T
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
: I1 \ G+ [* r3 w: T9 x, s9 ?2 t2 \tough."
) r1 A" z5 b% U1 v- D5 I5 `# `---7 q7 [9 `% b5 ]' V% @
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
2 }9 q8 M1 m( Y9 j/ w8 gRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to$ P* `) w4 c1 J7 j* b
this story.
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