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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
' P% ] c5 Z) X1 k4 ]& J! ]By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS; J) m! D P9 X
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
1 i) ]/ p" }; ?$ N9 q; roperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that+ c0 o# E- q: H+ }$ k
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
. D4 v1 c7 L0 d& g- Vsolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.0 x4 V: J* }. b; V. w% E
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
' B0 a ~. C" Gcauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.3 X( F9 T( \: O+ ~
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected; _3 p: A# s V8 H* b v; C( s+ M) j! B5 B
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and. j1 N1 p1 _# I, o; Y
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor" B, `% F8 k3 c _ q# R: j
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.
& C) r. x4 ?6 `) E a0 a$ U lHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal; w8 P5 R+ a+ L- k' M4 B3 d
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
" a( ^3 ^- S. E" fcriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be$ m" B- h, H5 @2 h& e5 h
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
8 F0 \0 E& F' X, V2 Onot stop her runaway Lexus.3 ]9 |5 r% T2 ]' [5 a/ H
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,) p) _8 e1 v/ l) G# q6 s2 v
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
3 |& T% m+ r& e5 m' S" ?2 n7 u"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
+ M8 J" {/ L3 v% `4 k7 M3 nTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues8 c+ `7 `& O# V: n( E/ ?
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
6 ], q4 n' ?* `"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
) R* `4 D2 r, g9 o Sdone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway/ P3 ^5 B9 v6 q5 b
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
; {! \: @: X9 g' N/ Oinvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."2 X1 B+ o: i! O/ [9 @
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
& ^+ {# k8 l X( n, O, b3 b% x$ kelectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of! D# Q( ^" v5 m. L1 ]+ ]
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a5 U. }5 t6 T" M: n M5 m* ^" }
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
' W( v; x6 ?7 ?2 G# w3 @# V* t9 G( j! Msaid.. t) Q# t ]) |. G. |: @! x9 ]
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
5 s. e4 {& F6 Y7 k6 ihappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe2 x" [9 f& Y% c1 a7 I- L
about driving our products," Lentz said.
- P# h2 C! c E% }Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's2 R' `: m' W1 \ O9 d" A8 k0 ^
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has5 T8 V1 _7 V' z& j) U
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6) r+ a! Z. Q* N5 b# m# H" P5 n
million in the United States -- since last fall because of/ G+ B5 A, I. m1 S, h1 X! x8 g
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking' t; Y: ?; R- Y5 r. I7 n5 ^
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
6 r! Y4 J3 J- Z3 j( w- mconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of/ C1 a9 ]. l# p: q. Z5 ~
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
5 p9 K4 R6 R0 w0 ~- [down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
+ N% ]/ J6 o4 Q1 D% Lreceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
/ ?- @; {4 H# Z; `4 I5 Q0 Z( x1 Kof Toyota vehicles since 2000.# z, J- x1 |$ t# V8 {8 r
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own$ A) |' z3 X A% F M
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
# |& A: M! h) W6 zunderstood the pain.; L; H8 r! d+ `- c9 _; s
"I know what those families go through," he said.. Q9 L2 s1 O0 j/ H0 G& @
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's7 U1 ?9 s# d- I [3 a9 E; u) v
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
7 F" H$ I- {6 d6 yBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
( Q/ X% O. B: ?& ~4 p9 `! JHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
* X( t, {1 q \$ X X( {in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
}, s, u3 |7 D+ N" d$ WLentz replied: "Not totally."
5 F1 @; v. o E# IStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were) \5 l" {2 x0 u- v
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
2 _9 L7 H1 F( S q# vToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
! v* i" }, Q# R& X0 hpedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its0 o. l- k0 V) a, H
vehicles already on the road.+ |" L! x# Y1 f, B/ N
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify' u( k/ z; \! x6 j( t8 C4 u6 K! ]4 {
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full/ S6 k/ f) g" g1 ?) G) _# y2 h" E
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and5 t1 B8 M% m+ R4 w
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were0 y% b; h" D7 O/ [4 p3 D/ M
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
% T! h) ^, {0 T# }2 ^1 F7 y"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
$ w' h* D/ U* I4 G' Ftragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony! t7 Q; i+ X1 q a$ W
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
* h5 H6 n5 g1 q4 \0 R4 rCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
A, S- C2 z. Z5 Zcommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to* W) s- e$ \4 \! W8 y2 z4 P: M* w
restore the trust of our customers."
" A Q) B! _4 H! D- j1 u8 yLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from. S4 G4 x: w2 R/ P4 s' b/ K1 s
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
* P2 M, A$ o+ C. B! Yzoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --. P+ o8 u+ b0 v3 S7 n8 y& C
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
) q/ z6 [ a; G+ ]! r9 E% e; Thitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough9 R: T) P3 v! l/ p4 y* v X
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and }( ^' M B6 X- C# L
turn off the engine.- S! @2 J% w5 M# G
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of. {- T$ J3 X$ `, C4 f: Z6 \
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
% O+ `- x6 X, w* d R: V"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she9 M' x2 O5 M9 u+ q) D
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
# D4 x) r1 C- A& A- A g! Fto her complaints.. S: X, ~$ w. i
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
' n9 I) b# g$ H3 w% y. u; c) R. yreturned again and again to the question of whether electronic6 K, K, U) [4 g# r4 w; L3 f
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.1 n0 w* d3 C) b% Z
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
$ [" c6 y0 }$ P; i$ Kthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
4 `3 J3 E: o: q2 |) z"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut: B X+ c( I% [) H) F
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."# k) {2 c! Z8 l+ v
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
2 _6 h) a; f. d/ z. Z% D5 \prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were& v" N h3 @( F1 J0 M
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls( p- z4 ^& ^$ P+ t% q3 w$ F
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer) G, y' e3 i0 S: e
every question."
3 f' M& ~6 `" J$ xToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether Y% \- j7 F6 e
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The; J3 f$ i4 Y- S
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But# f! Z. ^% L1 B4 y
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small- Q0 `5 t" a' R; _+ D7 O
number of vehicles
- K& X* Q5 j+ q. F9 `Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more7 p& b3 q. U- J F7 M4 r h5 Q* e
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
2 o. {: o/ q3 P- Y0 ?" \: s% dmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one3 h1 ]5 V, z6 S5 K
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
$ ?3 L9 ^- T' {; h! EMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
- t& s- {& h: _where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no' O2 R6 Q. k* N! W4 N
trace at all.% g8 N! U5 C3 j
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
& v# D; U3 S$ k* f) p: [ Bdatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
4 O, e/ ` y. M; I- i! bacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the/ |0 }1 y7 I( I+ J* ?+ r; J
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
7 J& U4 r, q7 w! u3 i0 iRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
1 Y& c* E2 Z' O! b% Q: G3 Esaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
" I! r9 z* H/ V$ \' [other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
1 [! [9 r8 m( o& g k, {electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
# Q% z' z% E( r6 Rcause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
8 t; `7 G$ h4 F, N" p( H( _such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained, V; G: h& A/ z* ?2 m1 r
by Toyota's lawyers."- j. j* W# }# M& x1 J8 m, N
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of" y. k4 P4 I: Z& S' |; m) Z; Y
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
* e# |$ S0 ^- |* pcustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he, L# [9 P0 }$ t3 h: c
said. ]+ K& c7 {, E' A2 _
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with' C; c2 U' [5 a- V- w: b
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our" `( d O# z$ p! D
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating8 y* p7 H7 B- N" Q) U" \; g
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
0 m _+ s! I' N; M& Z; q' TSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
: \7 T3 L7 L$ X* O" u- dmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
. T4 {: P! O; R4 hrancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
) T) D! u3 c. {7 j/ r& T+ C* Iautomaker, at least in part because of the government's
; `8 Z; D9 @2 C2 c! O' [, Ginvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and( n; I5 u B* d1 v- u5 M7 K' c
Chrysler.$ K& K9 g( O# s: R) Q0 C
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax1 {; `" U. ~8 K# n4 O
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a: K$ H5 \; p$ S/ X1 e
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also8 B9 G6 _7 O, g) F
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete/ L1 k$ h: o- a8 X7 B5 w
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty; I. Z5 E( O }6 K5 d. [1 C
tough."
) p/ _& a: s m, C+ C' Z0 }9 z---
5 @8 n/ q6 z( aAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
* ^, ^% q7 U% v9 [# ? KRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to5 Z- g8 q( f6 f5 i+ ~" x
this story.
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