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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题) W* _5 @, @: D; J& V& r9 e
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS% g8 I# A. a5 f7 k( x$ D5 i
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
2 x& z/ r) b6 f; ~0 L1 \; doperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
1 E' ?# w& X# r5 r, mthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally": O% }7 M& S% _! m# S2 O
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
* L- h. G2 w g. Q; l9 N"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential: A" M- T* [1 b) t' Q& s
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
7 ]" o1 Z: f( jHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected" j. r1 {7 D1 e+ j
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
" w& N& z- j8 C+ [$ d2 ~trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor' G" E6 N( B2 g% `, e
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.6 w% R, _) a e! o
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal k+ X& z! P; P4 @) D$ N7 }
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
4 {2 H% {/ a: P E6 ?criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be6 I& \2 ~4 |0 }" U6 t) Z. D
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
! o1 M8 |# p) Q! q+ S, _not stop her runaway Lexus.
7 L5 W$ \) P" U/ `"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
* q2 X# O! T& h# j0 }, C7 YTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second: x! \, n, t3 Q1 C
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
3 I2 D4 E4 T5 Z: VTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
8 m1 p; k# V8 g$ g2 M/ p; ?9 ~9 V6 I/ {" q5 wearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
' l Z/ a v( E, t9 |"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has8 }. y$ e/ j/ c
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway3 P5 G/ E5 a- e B. s# N3 {
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
2 h5 M+ a% F4 Q& o' R! N/ P" Yinvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
* W1 j0 ^; i: f7 XLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an% `9 \+ s- p" |' v% X" b
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of! O9 R1 Z7 M* ^4 D1 ~& B
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a! @9 Y2 N- c* M. \7 x! b
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he. E5 m, L2 ?- @8 O2 b
said.+ f9 K6 l+ B6 ?9 i3 s8 l/ W2 {4 o2 x6 w
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what% s4 x( N9 i1 a5 Y
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe: m- d. v; F J1 u* u, z
about driving our products," Lentz said.
. }2 k2 m% x' g4 c+ G0 ^Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's% `) s. g1 Q- b* P; D: n p9 Z P' m
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has$ N. F. v! `" [7 L' C. b( v
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
; l$ L6 l) E$ mmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of( P, D& c! }! w. ^3 y- X V
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking/ D+ w& K! l" q. l
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
( n! ` ~9 ?* a4 \3 ?8 |5 I; Nconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
/ s8 v( E/ o6 c* C4 B5 Stheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
( y9 p% f( V$ ~3 c) h+ Bdown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
2 C h/ H) z' A4 O& f# K, C& F) oreceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration$ T( l( z1 w. A4 f% E& ]% s% ~
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.
3 u6 G, D, a% x e" ?, J( [7 h! f* d& fLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
) n- [6 Y' |5 T9 M1 _5 h: ~brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
4 t: o& c/ L# s$ t( j) i1 b( nunderstood the pain.
- o7 }+ z+ y9 N"I know what those families go through," he said.
7 D$ A( |/ `- m7 d7 OLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
' {+ I' M; n# B- M: @fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.- j8 N6 p9 N* O7 X6 a
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman) V8 a4 ^9 q# I. \) x+ H/ ~
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put/ u+ b+ \4 p0 G9 ?7 N# v: ?
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,! t" x. b9 }1 a. D
Lentz replied: "Not totally."
% ^& u, p' k, G% ~) ] }Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
1 B- d% i; H' X: u"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said2 D& e+ u6 O8 @+ B! y9 n
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
t: `5 @% U: D8 Vpedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its4 r; s# G" V+ E1 S+ C, r9 y
vehicles already on the road.$ q9 k |; ]: _+ Z$ k8 E4 X
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
! x" G8 Y1 j; B$ A% r- sbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full: D5 S0 u) v% n
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and; q9 i1 P( F. [. L0 I% p. T' K
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
! Z Q% t U4 j0 X- M4 ekilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
" ]$ K0 `- u; q"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a5 i9 P9 ^4 v6 B( A& t
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
* n |" E; }" K bfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
5 {, Z" {. X. TCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
$ |( [! H u o9 ]+ ~commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to( D+ \' u- I |
restore the trust of our customers."
% H! X2 T7 V( X+ @Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from7 p; U0 G" Y. ~ r& \7 y W! c
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly" i3 K! W' @* I" Y1 \. j \
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --- J! a3 ?% t8 X: K& }5 w' z* i5 f
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
& [# b6 {, M+ h9 Nhitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
3 _5 l- ~: s+ m6 {that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
6 ~# j# w9 q' _; xturn off the engine.: B, }8 c5 D8 x& _, J9 S
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of+ |% o2 Z* `: p7 D2 X2 c
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."7 ~/ b2 a" y' Y. \, I) {1 ~
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
3 x2 A, U: n6 u3 @7 r# t* \! gsaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond9 `$ ~5 M/ {" f) g8 G9 c5 I8 Z
to her complaints.. [$ h! @- e. u1 b4 T
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
% X5 c0 C( ]7 e& W- Ireturned again and again to the question of whether electronic$ f( J+ l6 V& q) p6 M( q/ o9 j5 R, {2 X
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.- l* i) U: S' K+ d
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric* ~) ^5 ]# Q* t% x3 X) ]3 R
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
{. `7 ?4 r% U2 w* k"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut% _2 r1 t: }* n, ]$ t/ n
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
8 U+ X7 @# V7 {* V RTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in! Y2 V& g2 x* m! F6 C# v% S: e2 a
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
4 r# i% h/ r" q9 _1 ?# U, N% _being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls' _! C+ S9 F$ ]( H
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
$ c) ]3 V0 C* kevery question."; @- a% x1 @! ?5 N6 L; ~
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
& g& G( n; ?. f9 N3 }/ V+ ^electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
( k M6 \9 o$ O3 W- Q& g6 mfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But3 |4 i x0 i0 b4 X
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small* Z& Q( e" P+ D) f5 _
number of vehicles |' n7 |7 ]8 c; u& i; F4 ^
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more0 h6 y- a$ p% s& n
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
. k/ a2 y3 V4 m1 C9 Pmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one4 U+ t/ \7 h% J' {- Z/ b
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
& K: E' g- n+ SMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
% [" j4 w4 X" k8 ]" [( f. W% |where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no' `+ F( o3 A/ D2 ^* g
trace at all.: Q* k& I: f' b) i/ m
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
9 `6 ^; T) A% o/ z4 `3 s3 t, sdatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden: }% b! h* c7 v$ {$ Z0 J
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the! `3 ]: O5 v5 P2 X9 B& U; ]0 e" F
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
1 `) k; g7 ^& V/ mRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
2 q# G) |/ F4 |0 [1 Z0 ?said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and3 O# _3 S# {* F4 v' `7 ~
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
- p# G* F1 y0 O8 W3 q+ ielectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible/ h- H! ]3 n& Y, V3 I7 i
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only7 \$ T2 X# _3 H" u1 c* Y
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained ]( X# _3 f* W: @0 q& F
by Toyota's lawyers."7 }$ u5 T: v: A3 f
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
1 A% l# \" T6 qproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
! e% i1 X5 b* t0 x7 Ocustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
. o. D' d$ I" V* [0 f tsaid. A7 d; [9 x5 C4 u
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
( N! ^' s1 Z9 ^+ H2 N: f; k. na rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our, x a ?% q8 Y
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating. E Y& \5 A' H: s2 p3 G
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
, U" H+ D8 R+ Z0 K& Y) hSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
( G& g# W+ b4 u* nmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread8 o( U* G% C0 `+ `0 _
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the- N+ T7 ]5 ~2 B7 \
automaker, at least in part because of the government's" r! f. Z+ X6 O/ q) P% A
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
' q/ \4 m% f" d2 U7 m3 hChrysler.5 g1 T5 X7 J( ?, u
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax) f+ N* |; k9 j3 G) Q1 }$ o( S
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
% j; T3 ~/ R4 \% IHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
6 U/ {& c/ e" h. q& Oserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete' y$ Q2 v( K7 t1 A
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty/ y$ o; a6 l2 G6 N, s, A l- Z
tough."
8 j5 G+ _+ m) H7 [5 r5 M' S---/ O) k$ r0 x3 \! D3 v( w( j" Q
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom8 y8 y6 O8 [; M5 H% p
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
* D, ^$ r2 ]$ P7 Y4 kthis story.7 s0 P( o9 T3 B* A& U9 h& Q3 t+ B' z
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