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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题+ z4 Z O; r" A, c- v
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS# U) a) W z: l% c
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
3 F6 j G. I. `4 D4 ~operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that, \# k' I' ]: W8 Q& F
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
0 O3 Y) V3 m3 H1 _5 u1 W5 dsolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
! l& h: U; t/ Z5 g1 P9 |) }"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential( ? B$ ~) j7 k& L9 V! K: M9 S
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
! `$ n5 ~: P3 b: O0 X/ H3 u) A$ `However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected* G) |# \6 d8 s, ?7 \
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and* f9 r+ O: X, g+ T) E$ F: z
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor# D+ n- ^8 Q- v3 v$ Z4 f4 @/ H/ D$ Z' a
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.& [$ `- e" k" P/ z
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal8 t: A) v6 j+ K4 T) e
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp' f3 T$ T5 C1 l9 S0 {; K; L q
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
" |+ V6 g8 a9 i+ _9 U5 Yfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could: F: X8 s+ t0 k' ]
not stop her runaway Lexus.
8 I+ F* O* W8 k4 m/ S) c"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
& v$ Z" f o! \9 t8 ~. p9 zTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
( G; w# o. B4 H2 k1 s"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
5 N4 g8 i m* ?% N CTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues+ `- W# s7 ]5 `5 d
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said+ c6 z6 J' u$ U: C0 t$ U$ I7 Q
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has( ~; L4 c& |! ~7 R; W: o8 @7 f4 U
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway* ^8 w2 Z$ s( n
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's9 t* a2 j( b2 G! E; v3 G2 a
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
. l. p, _# U5 C: u) Z4 }; h0 jLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an% t0 a& E. C W) @9 p
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
8 B, H& J( k0 D+ G( |; d: Zthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
. I$ `* w E- K% h8 }. q5 _5 K, Ymalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he: v1 H1 w2 ?1 h% q3 H5 i2 e5 s: g' D
said.
' N2 I; ?! P( bAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what v; a4 f1 m+ i! R
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe# t! t! q z4 C+ k6 ?$ R/ x% j
about driving our products," Lentz said.; q7 z6 g* \/ K- n4 ^% Z
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
) [9 ?9 a5 v: A) c7 q; Gproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has y% r+ S7 h6 b" `2 U3 q# J7 \% c
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
+ Y; ?( o6 y' Z2 Lmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of. S2 W6 F6 T8 M5 X" ^$ }
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
0 T! ?+ G. g! b4 g& Yissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
& w. x' D0 e: B# q4 l- Kconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of2 s" O2 h9 h) ^/ h% S3 v3 {
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow0 p- I( G% O8 [6 D+ E, w
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has% M( o e0 I% h9 E9 x. W
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration y. O3 S5 D( q2 n9 S( C
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.* Q7 I3 B) X( U
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own* i7 t% v% _8 A# A( k5 i! m
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he3 m6 ]$ S% ~6 O' E4 Q* {
understood the pain.8 i# f2 s) B. Q7 e& L0 o7 ?( @
"I know what those families go through," he said.! a4 }. q9 `- E& i6 E
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's; E6 t& F7 |0 ^, M9 O1 r
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
- F7 }* @9 W! a V. wBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman2 V" L1 y9 g7 ?5 q) H. ?% M
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put% w( h5 _& {" U
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
4 D! ~) L; |: O% i. dLentz replied: "Not totally."( D4 T3 f$ c M
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were- H5 V2 l- d; U9 J: R5 J
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
! a- m6 O2 l0 v: Y- T# P, oToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas$ K3 F) b; j& p! `- P! b
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its1 _0 p7 @; b4 B( N( j
vehicles already on the road.8 `* e$ X$ o3 a. g
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
$ d9 i3 L2 B+ x% |before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
2 u3 J$ E- L8 K5 c5 Z- @1 R: Uresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
/ w$ O7 j2 n3 V+ }/ Eoffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were% L' X( X3 U% f1 M4 K' c( A
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.5 E; D3 ^5 b) Y4 ?5 b
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a8 F" P4 ~1 ?6 X% Q% z! S$ h
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony: k0 L' O# r. I) |0 E) O B; Z7 v
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
n i( t# |" X; ~( q# BCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
( l* f+ Y0 s: I# @/ C; fcommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
6 |' U1 N' O' b/ t+ [restore the trust of our customers."
9 t. d* i# ]+ S( oLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
% M% V3 H, g3 a& {( ISmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
- h/ d3 }% ?# X. Ezoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --/ ]% C, V% a% c% L9 ~" w
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
. _2 h4 [& b* G$ [ c9 f* Zhitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough3 G/ d8 _) n5 c% e
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
4 ?6 J h( I4 u- y3 V- eturn off the engine.
$ r0 c" o+ K9 W( N& WFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of9 C1 m# l Q/ G& O' l4 s
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."" C% @% O9 G# U% ~9 _8 j
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she6 Z9 C4 z9 m2 |% P6 T. e& x
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond" ]9 o; n8 c$ f
to her complaints.: w% N5 Y4 `3 F6 i' L
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers" r: Q- m4 U) E6 H9 f0 [) j; I& C
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
. ]# ?" b Q2 k% o; A& imalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
9 }( E. Y# b& r$ ~+ v; j"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
, s9 d" t+ t* V5 x; Ithrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
- L+ q3 }6 S, B( j( @6 Q"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
+ `7 {0 M0 j1 |' ^' n4 joff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."5 h% |* T o3 V( [) A5 K
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in! \( Q( d9 j( U' u) a4 ?0 d8 b* d. ]
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were0 h C2 ?% Q+ t2 N. ?1 t
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
/ W- p3 z. O; Nwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
. q0 k' q! K0 v* t1 {! jevery question."
; j N; @4 J& P. [6 gToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
9 X- P: u: e6 s( ^% Oelectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The1 H' Y+ q# D- \; d
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But( b, J' f+ d7 g/ \/ J4 q0 ^
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
" h! T' ^* Q* n& h# ]number of vehicles
. a# b% N, j$ [: r* [ bTracking down an electrical problem can be far more
& x6 d6 s; `0 @2 \/ g* i4 `/ p& q% _( vdifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
8 G% R# z5 V3 d% Q' gmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
, W u) Q) W# osource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.5 x. ?3 K+ w8 m* e7 E
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,2 t. t. m% H y# s9 s
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
8 r$ W- F+ U% d9 y6 l0 u. w9 N8 otrace at all.
3 ^; L0 z& g- c) G' y& M8 ?0 y; rHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
: ?" a* o3 O; d* Adatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
# H4 ^) ~& t5 Z* Z! M; jacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
2 Y& \) M0 H; S2 U5 C$ S! q; Erecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
! T3 ~; U1 v: G5 |1 Z. L2 ARep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,6 Z$ o: v* A) m3 ^ [- r! Y3 z
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and# K, v% r6 ~% y$ a
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
: M$ }0 H4 D! y+ A+ i4 F% Aelectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible* v/ O' a8 D1 h/ p
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
$ }( ?" |/ @9 m4 `# zsuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
' v* i, e: G6 J6 S- s" S4 K- Lby Toyota's lawyers."
( G0 O5 F8 u4 p$ x1 z, x, zLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of! O+ r/ `$ u0 j- i
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our q v5 |, i/ e& s' C
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he, @2 ]' s1 p3 _
said.
$ [7 s. t" E B# v' Q4 O6 c"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with) f% g" n9 |4 e" a c3 m, k
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
0 c+ h. L% l* [) O8 ygood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating4 [0 x* }6 b; [4 \- @7 I; \* s8 M. K
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.( _' h l; }* o0 f) U
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying4 W$ ?# f6 \9 F* z2 ^- e- B
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
: ~6 }* \- d9 {; u3 L: I" y0 d! Q8 irancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
2 o% K$ L7 e* C" F% T6 E# `automaker, at least in part because of the government's
/ K/ a7 W# T5 U) u% [4 g& hinvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and# J2 L1 K" ?4 v* T1 Q7 v
Chrysler.
9 }1 S5 t; l/ U- v8 v, O& f7 ^"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax3 n4 K+ I; U( @. B" v
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a1 W' [4 s3 J" Z4 a
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
* h/ }; k5 R. k/ P. C" yserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
j/ } L" O/ p. G1 S4 @: Fwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty# {5 m# t# |, u! i
tough."
- B' ]/ f4 ^* f# T4 W: `---0 Y$ x# f& @: B: a) z+ v" |4 a
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
) L* v: Y/ `: D W q' _1 oRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to/ P5 K% k9 J- |7 y. S0 `
this story.
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