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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题' J/ a9 g5 o! L. \" i
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
7 J% S) F. V" ]0 \& l' t) UWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
/ K4 ]% H9 ^% r0 voperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that+ d5 Y( I% l9 i1 O" q; G$ v( i
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
) c+ H# y& k& \- B: }) t+ |solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.7 R# I' I# L9 E! E2 |' P
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
6 e3 k1 `9 g# g$ U0 t5 P% H) ycauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.( M0 @) n6 w! b
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
6 ^1 U6 u# @4 B. ]8 s: k& qacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and" ]5 u; K' s. c( |' i, G2 h
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
7 N# z( I2 \6 c- O# ?' wmats and sticking accelerator pedals.
/ h1 N5 F4 J% A! |# g/ uHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
/ r& V) @* ~; x0 }4 b9 jand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
" M% l; w& J/ R0 y5 Pcriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
" D& l* t9 \& hfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could3 E4 `# s4 o* w) b" |2 \7 q
not stop her runaway Lexus.8 P# F5 R0 m7 q/ ~( L5 R
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
4 g( h' |% H/ X4 m1 ^/ N4 g$ lTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
+ |6 ^4 a$ W5 j7 h"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
( f q" |; ^' p6 d) W7 PTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
5 J( g- i1 ?2 x8 m- t- X, c" bearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
# B7 y: g7 q! T0 e/ {. f7 s"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has( p& H' {0 e1 ?
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
5 T! e- z7 f( t5 a' Fthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
3 P# T. g# y+ F K% uinvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
7 ]3 v$ P3 a3 o8 E, B5 g: i$ PLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an1 c0 U0 |$ f. m
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of0 W% H& P" ^% r' ~3 m
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a% l& r; U6 Y* v9 |
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
$ @& |. Z# ^$ z, Z9 u! j6 Ksaid.
2 n5 C9 T! f# k7 e* ]As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what! H2 p6 w A2 E6 P
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe% e& A# t( t5 q! d. [
about driving our products," Lentz said.
8 o% t& p2 i: c: ?1 c4 @3 ?! p5 oThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
) ]4 K& o& |5 Jproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has5 T$ b, S/ r0 s
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 61 g k$ ?% R M# D0 a" S
million in the United States -- since last fall because of! I) R% |7 I7 i1 v
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
) |! }/ A% a' y9 v; cissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
9 o7 a6 R+ n. ]4 D( y1 e6 \concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
! Q# V1 ]7 \6 r; Ptheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
5 E6 W0 Y7 C; o1 Pdown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
) [. V9 y4 o* Q' P/ {$ areceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration/ t/ l5 |, D/ Q' M3 G7 Q* Y1 a
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.
0 B5 a2 F/ c" h7 c, XLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own) @5 H4 W3 @7 |
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he. U7 c3 s2 r( `+ B/ n1 W/ M8 Y7 }5 R# Z
understood the pain.
# w7 \4 g- k! h z"I know what those families go through," he said.8 M7 B/ Z/ A& O6 \/ ~7 U
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's# H6 {. P5 E$ K9 u: |/ `
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.4 G9 W2 e3 i& l U. H$ L, Y4 |( b
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
" K5 _! v# Z/ ~/ p4 HHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
1 u1 |; H; ~: B# J; j' Pin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
0 M7 J5 Z: n& _3 L0 f: J* n8 VLentz replied: "Not totally."
! U+ O* w$ f j: m0 O u! eStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
6 x/ ]1 W m0 ~6 p( J: m"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said2 T# r) J6 Y+ w' R" o' V% Q
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas7 C( R. ^) c' E$ g
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its* d! q# X. [: ^* z8 T5 P9 j5 X
vehicles already on the road.
4 W# F, A; _) T' q0 P+ I: hMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify t, u/ ^) d: B' G' o& x# ~6 o
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
5 V. m7 m4 } f5 {/ a# w$ f$ qresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
6 M2 T4 O, E; [& A ?) ^offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
2 `" l/ \. J3 [6 s( g$ p0 Q7 E5 mkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
7 l* v6 K' ? Z' w+ }1 ?"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
# z( Q" Y' H0 Itragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
: u8 B% F& S) r8 K: c8 vfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight0 C7 X: @& J$ i2 P" S- `' `
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
2 i/ X% p1 z m$ w& E& p7 E3 h% gcommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
$ f1 O- k; [. [restore the trust of our customers."
9 h) f/ r$ A T: g1 O2 e# ^Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from: @9 ^+ M- ], F9 j8 f, b6 N. ?2 e+ I
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly, v- k; J1 |' i7 i) G+ b; j
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --5 E1 J& H4 R, v X) g& z5 h
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and1 q3 |# _' G& ~ W) U
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
5 t+ R K* }' O+ {$ @that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
. d, a* S/ ~4 @1 q; } Kturn off the engine.
0 L2 ^ Q5 ^( L- k. I( D' tFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of% k0 c% k9 U+ w, L* Z6 M& Q
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
+ c+ ?* j9 B& N"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she2 n, i, r$ _0 u/ K
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
3 S9 b! U5 u4 [# \to her complaints.* @2 y ?/ @( k
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
4 M. Z6 F# _: ]0 @7 x3 p& I- [returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
9 P: J; y" d( e8 a5 h hmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
5 F( E, X" H- G7 M f"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric; h0 M2 W, S" S0 P
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
6 e) d1 N9 r3 t$ H& t: k+ h"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
0 f2 {0 h0 R: Q! loff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
' k2 m( ?0 @" [4 F7 H$ g/ a9 V( K0 ~Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
: q3 I j9 J2 n& P5 Mprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were2 G O$ h' L6 H8 s9 E
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
; T7 R. k: I! `( H# Q. F! }were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
' a0 ~3 ]/ h4 x3 k8 Y2 Oevery question."
. M8 t5 M. r0 _6 G6 k. r( ^Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
7 X$ b& c+ S- H; X: f* Aelectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The, A9 j: v5 V5 o3 x" b3 y2 h0 l
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But8 H6 o- q* Q H0 J
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
4 Y) T+ A0 D2 d& i4 Hnumber of vehicles9 _$ ?4 _( K' R0 C; g! n# a
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more
3 f1 E' F1 H0 b! cdifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a2 H0 v# h. q* {. j
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one) Z0 O- S# F2 Y: [% A* E
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.1 _+ \3 s5 T8 \, Y4 t- h( [
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,/ W, I6 r7 m6 F2 y, R
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
; |8 K! o( U+ t+ btrace at all.
- p' c/ `7 _! D. W g& i; DHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
, m: Y# O7 N# q. mdatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
" y: |7 v" m' t4 K+ \) Tacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the: Z" j0 u7 q5 X, V
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.4 J& }6 U2 b; I: ^9 n+ p- e3 ?: A# T
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
1 O' T8 G+ R% ~6 N( psaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and7 L) X* f7 N& n6 z# G
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
, ]" H0 s( ^- w" Nelectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible; f8 i5 ~% T3 M5 ?7 ^* s; j
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
% }- f$ M9 [7 \ I8 w& ssuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
" U# Y/ T% z- ?3 q( Qby Toyota's lawyers."
& ^9 T0 P. o( }1 p) o( ULentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of! q, X9 e) s5 |' ?2 V
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our/ a# |! R4 v" u% b3 M% O9 { ~3 i; e0 X
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
; ?. M7 m$ R! tsaid. Y7 H+ D4 ~2 J6 n" `
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
7 H+ f. {- n1 P* D% Aa rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our, N5 v) C$ g5 M) H
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
0 K8 e8 `9 d% y% M, C* I5 L7 s1 Z5 ]% zofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.7 Q5 R/ B. h4 p0 j
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
4 Z d7 G* p7 l3 ~0 e$ kmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread3 H2 x- Q( `" _1 d7 u' Z6 ~
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
; I0 y8 D: L* @8 U' ]: ?automaker, at least in part because of the government's
8 b3 T: {9 }) N& K6 {: E) x, g- Q# a9 Ninvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
( s) F8 q0 T3 o' [: dChrysler.9 o. v7 Q {2 R$ Z. e- ^
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax6 I. D# q/ j8 y. [" d% a4 ^$ U
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a( Z$ A v, x, W* s9 \4 V7 |7 p
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also! N: b0 V9 f: Y; m% }/ a7 M4 J
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete. q' `7 G+ n. N5 O Y
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
6 ~0 t2 \9 k2 |+ P' ?tough."
, l( Q; s1 P5 L! Y, [---' z$ y( n! t4 s# X% H
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
8 g/ H0 `" @7 d# \; u' l% U7 GRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to' D! ?$ {3 k/ z" J# J
this story.
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