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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题- p* s6 j- I1 u! g6 e
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
/ l' ]6 ^) z* K3 D+ X8 u8 WWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
6 n4 U2 r- \, x roperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that( G: R; a" K5 \9 o. B* U. g* U
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
3 u: U$ z' T/ s0 c( p% dsolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.( F' H$ } R4 K" f' R: [8 C0 G
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential( J1 K& k- U3 D) g8 N; J
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.0 w6 p3 x- F9 M0 h& k i
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
6 N; }% {) K2 b- _7 X, E& `: racceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and1 ^* T. X8 ^- s3 H- l
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
$ s* M% M+ P. rmats and sticking accelerator pedals." W" p- _; ^ o, p" {% e
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
( A5 n% w& I! e! Z u% S4 L' sand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
+ K5 d1 @ O5 L* v1 Y6 Y7 E" ecriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be: }5 x+ b$ H& {+ x
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could- A2 ]+ @% [/ J+ A Y# x
not stop her runaway Lexus.
8 o$ ]$ g- x" |( D1 p9 p& u"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
: u' i- G* }6 h q0 ]( GTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
3 ^+ Z0 E7 [# U7 n& w4 A: q4 }"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
& r; K% I- S# C& Q5 `. a h9 rTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
2 ^& r8 W, i+ p3 T8 @$ u/ qearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said+ Z) \' K9 @, A+ q! f
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
. U0 B! {( J9 I# {0 Ldone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway9 I, e* P% W1 L) U
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
7 V8 A- I; ?4 f" a+ [0 m0 c8 ~investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."/ E0 L8 V/ G3 W; i0 j+ {
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an2 O. A$ [, e# M. T8 D
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
6 T6 ]. }8 r, e: ~8 {the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
0 b: P( T- n& g6 O5 hmalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he, l) Y; D2 j9 M# U
said.
& [! Z! I& a+ {) W/ L3 U- X% dAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
; m& Y0 \& t" Q+ U6 Ehappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
; Q3 C3 @& Z& t; c- l0 o/ wabout driving our products," Lentz said.
1 U% T8 X/ R ^" Z# P' U' t+ i3 qThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's9 D% [! F* S) b: n$ H7 a
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has9 p) p9 s6 n7 `" H% r3 x* a
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 67 J" ~0 m/ `. n& ?
million in the United States -- since last fall because of
2 {- f# R! k6 |7 N/ vunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
- i' Z8 m$ _3 p5 `1 x9 l( fissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
! a& l; b, r' J) c2 i9 H7 y+ lconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
! }" P! d$ X, m* N9 v6 Ztheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
0 w- R: u* p5 x' g7 K7 b# s; Odown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has9 O7 R1 Q/ k: \' T% F# f
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration' a" w! `1 |& t9 ^6 S$ V5 {+ K2 v
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.& n5 G8 D9 q+ W+ b: g t
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own9 L4 Q+ ~4 ^# `0 J3 X" f
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he* o( [$ [! \; x% i# F- }! |2 W4 y+ w; Z
understood the pain.
) x" g; e! c4 V) I5 O: I. g2 ]1 k"I know what those families go through," he said./ y1 R: k+ M# d2 ^ L8 x
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's& }8 R K4 P" k8 i7 B( d5 q
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.5 @! D- K( ]: L- Y' o
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
: B' W" n Y4 `Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put$ a! b& B) b, w0 U2 L) f: Y
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
) x, M* m: U" {3 `Lentz replied: "Not totally."
+ s! j* C8 a8 YStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were, K# g$ u- D/ ?1 |
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said* z) t3 V% l$ ]1 K2 q7 k4 l. y
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
! D- d& ~; A+ O6 Kpedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
# o w- r% l5 V& Yvehicles already on the road.
7 T* v. T' G/ X8 S7 I% Z/ UMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
( c- I! `) T, d' y$ U4 N) I6 gbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
$ A( t7 M1 h ^2 Q! F9 W! {responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
8 {# j) J# h0 c: |0 Woffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were& u. r3 n( V6 L) t5 U( w4 A/ D
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
" f" V# q7 f: i8 U/ {"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a" C q7 V* o J8 |$ a, e& g2 x
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony2 K# g, F/ v$ Y+ R- n
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight; _) Y" S( R, o) Z. R3 `
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal( i; V( _" D* y! \( _3 h
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to0 d) `: l0 O3 \" J4 K9 X
restore the trust of our customers."
% ]5 _7 u& \6 J/ w8 a- b. ]9 u- JLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
5 h+ V/ D9 B8 A2 e" ISmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly; h& ?4 y9 [3 F$ {+ S1 B
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --' Z& v/ M Z4 v, f6 z2 X. b# l
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
8 R, z( B) l7 O1 R, A6 b- S! nhitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
% Y: L" l) N _+ V7 U0 t( dthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
" s- \4 E8 J0 `. |& N2 n8 [turn off the engine.% D6 S; {1 q3 f4 e0 ]6 e
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of5 _/ ]( A, `) W
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience.", W) v" L; Q, N0 q6 X0 e
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she# `7 W! b- y% G
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond# K9 R' f) r0 p+ T, V
to her complaints.
& {, ~! l; J/ F K k3 ~In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers) I+ _; L1 j6 _! G9 s# F# ^/ C
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
; c3 o1 ]/ y& N. e2 Jmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
/ E) C) E( s: T; q"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric. t$ h. ]( @5 v
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited4 v) @3 u: V; R: Q8 r6 C& a
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
, Z4 U- b- h% F, Xoff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
, z/ w* D6 l& l. x$ {Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
7 f+ o2 s# M4 Cprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were" \: L$ @8 r* ^+ P
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls! B( C: w8 o3 A) B+ B y
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
2 F0 K) q# p8 D/ t9 Eevery question."# x, v! O+ Z: u( d F* T* X
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
8 X- }( r/ Y4 @electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The; N7 J: J; n4 @" r7 G O
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
# n5 s) U& C( X6 Q) _3 [$ xcommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small& R/ M3 [- |# @$ n) M5 u& y
number of vehicles5 B! ~$ V+ D8 X- o6 p9 R C8 U
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more4 ~, E2 @0 h: ?! e2 {, j& \8 v+ A
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
* j8 J# B6 H7 N9 ^- imechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one& G @8 {: s' b3 ?1 `( [
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.2 L; D3 \& p( d
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,: x7 [& Q4 c6 v1 V+ q6 ]$ m
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
' E& q" }- u+ \0 g/ ~, m; a) qtrace at all.
9 w* M- t5 t0 N' e$ ]' r+ |3 t. lHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call3 s: ]6 \( o1 m7 N$ t0 e
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden4 C3 O1 F2 l0 K# J* a/ m
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the, K6 @+ z/ R/ N: e4 s& n
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
3 \. U0 x. }0 nRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
4 b) K7 c! D3 \said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
1 E( T6 ?5 F' E4 w- G' t" ^other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
5 x! {+ k6 s9 Uelectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible+ m9 V, f5 ^, j# R+ S7 t; r
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only# L; I3 Q6 j! G3 M# q. U0 [
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained6 k0 [! p! y, ~ F5 t
by Toyota's lawyers."2 ^' J4 `1 @7 X6 u7 i7 N3 q
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
( _( A$ o& G, C0 @) D9 Sproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
. |( V2 F6 j6 i& ^7 v2 icustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
I9 C8 K R; w/ S4 K$ H/ Dsaid.# }* n1 I! w+ d4 T5 O9 Q6 ~" e8 D
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
3 Q X. {$ @& Q Ta rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our* O1 I( E! R0 H$ F# i) Y0 n! _2 T
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
% v: x- F9 v8 J: ~3 R. I. xofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc." G0 o @$ H3 a& }! x
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
; t% Z( Z X. Zmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
$ ] p# Y5 P Mrancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the+ z7 L; g" R& S3 a$ e- m* h! U
automaker, at least in part because of the government's
" o0 Z& U6 Q- g9 c9 b: ginvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
/ M, U B4 `* A OChrysler.' [& p- g4 i% e
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax# `* B9 Z# u& `' A6 I7 g3 i
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a8 H/ P- m3 z3 _
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also8 o1 F* m1 z$ f4 \4 Z5 [/ s/ f
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete: c2 l9 k* V; q2 |
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
. u4 V X- E( h c; ^2 itough."
9 B" P0 S$ R4 V: G---% D6 g8 k$ X3 Q$ m$ |
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom8 ]% q) ]' I/ [( r5 i
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
) ~% S7 ?( N. D; q' z8 Uthis story.
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