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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题- T% V- l9 F; v$ ~3 W7 k5 P- ]: v
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
! a z: y# R# T O0 t0 tWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.# s. E6 Y1 U7 Y! M; s3 F) \
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that1 o, }3 B" J& D' q1 V- ?
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
) f% V- O9 q# l" N% y% _solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.+ x% Z4 v* w1 y9 h
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential% a. ^4 q/ s3 d' F: L
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.$ s% U" C: L0 Y
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
: E; y; z% F+ e9 f5 Cacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
, c2 i/ ] ]! w: [trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor) U) k# ~7 ?, }1 y* d9 ]. o3 L7 r
mats and sticking accelerator pedals./ }3 n0 a$ _' H. O
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal; g F% M# x, k: c! @- i
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp+ s1 x, R+ e( \/ p/ y
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be* f0 B I( }+ d$ u7 @
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could) s% T$ Y b9 }
not stop her runaway Lexus. B) i3 n& L6 Y. T3 ~& A
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
~( G% U3 O+ ~- ATenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
q, |6 k7 r0 U4 ^% d) z"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
0 S# `4 ?9 k: c' {! }3 y6 h' P: GTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
% ^1 j- Y) t1 T# T" c: t. Cearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said* B7 d. q9 `3 h! b
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
' m) o. }% i0 r% x% m+ k1 X: ldone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway$ ]4 _* q# O8 K% l" Z- P( {; j
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's( l; J8 U7 g4 N2 C r7 H: [
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."5 G( n) ?; F, _; w$ s1 \" ?) s
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an- y0 H e. W/ k
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of, a4 G/ y( y# B9 Z: T7 J, o
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a- O% m/ J" Y2 i6 ~" E
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he3 Z: j; u H; } t D2 j; M
said.
4 \" F5 u! R& FAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
" d9 i( F* B7 c6 n8 Nhappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
! G/ N& j: k8 B( _about driving our products," Lentz said., @' |# M s3 q; h+ N9 o5 M& ~! u
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
. p! h! G5 @/ R, E* h5 S* {problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
* a+ u: w/ z! l. `, c6 s) rrecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
3 z V" k+ t' {/ Z# x7 D6 h6 Hmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of
# D4 L3 R! y! O3 c& Cunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
D% f3 G* e3 jissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering# Q/ e8 l$ Q4 a7 r; f o4 V
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of! Y4 I' g+ {) f3 P
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow4 R- X4 N ^( Y6 t
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has1 R( p$ g" x" n6 [3 J8 y
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration5 V& P ?* s/ m# S
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.& | |5 P4 N7 c- j
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own3 A* |# O9 g+ E5 `, X, u
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he* P: ]) u" P. h5 U* b6 w
understood the pain.
5 y8 G! A% S* J5 b; `. X"I know what those families go through," he said.+ I4 G7 |: k0 E: Y) s
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's+ @5 a, P" w% R$ P# l7 z4 m; d1 j4 b% t
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.% a; `- V3 _# w2 d; G& X( _) w" _
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
2 D+ h! {) \2 A+ z, [' k8 DHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
1 s; w+ }* f$ p$ F0 }; D: [* d: e0 q- [in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
0 I9 g2 Z, [) PLentz replied: "Not totally."
. N/ d* j( e3 ?" z5 P. O6 UStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
7 @$ D V& \3 l6 ~0 A/ Q8 M8 u7 [8 `"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
# K+ G% S3 n# ]( q/ iToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas6 [1 q8 _9 _% F0 g# `5 q5 S) j* D
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
$ P4 A# `9 c, c/ i8 Avehicles already on the road.
) K3 B3 X" d$ AMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify w; o! s3 ~$ v
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
* E: r: `, _" _responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and/ @+ m& [5 _1 M, g: b
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were! S. L) @' v" M6 j( i D+ I( k
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
* f2 U* K: j6 k% X3 l* } W"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a: I: R% C3 [* L
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony! D, G6 }% c# Q1 {$ F a, ]
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
; B# H/ x" G$ m! TCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal4 n( f+ J4 g# m$ u
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to2 R" o' h5 E8 g, {
restore the trust of our customers."
}( K0 y7 u. ^7 O0 V$ w' PLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
. @/ n; [" W- C' OSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly7 p7 e0 ?* w. A ?9 d. @. _
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
7 v% \: F9 k$ b) o( H/ Fshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
1 j4 _% @" s( T8 i. T9 ihitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
% \2 l7 m5 }) [5 [. j6 B; @! G# Xthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and; B; _6 t3 D4 v+ l9 [; w. n: X
turn off the engine.7 O' ]" d2 f# @2 f
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of& Y4 l- P9 M; C
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."1 r( y# `' a$ q0 x& |* s
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
p, Y. B: k5 y9 h0 ?3 {; n* Ysaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond7 B% }2 b {1 z- b8 b- A
to her complaints.4 t. E B& C5 u7 I" r
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers2 Z* _ f5 h, a. d. z) K3 A
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
0 I, A: [: H5 f, T6 T5 ]* wmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
/ W2 ^6 M* j8 H% B7 q% e# _"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric! O# A% W2 [0 b. M) I5 I! P
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
; o& a }2 e2 k: E! N8 P- j- v"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut# D) n4 g0 l6 b3 l
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
; T. z# }% u8 MTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
/ J; u1 z! u, ^8 T5 Q* M+ sprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
2 a( H4 I: R: W+ k. L# abeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
$ R+ p5 n5 S; U/ ~# b3 uwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer [3 x! ?' a# G2 I9 p5 X( }6 Q
every question."
5 h2 k1 Y8 j% N+ mToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
. H/ L5 P* a! X# O2 Xelectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The' B4 q3 |+ d2 T; ]
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But7 \( |/ `, P: y- c. I; D( y
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small1 L) B% Q: ?1 o6 W3 @ P
number of vehicles# P& Z" ^$ C" r: ?* O K& t
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more
3 s | W- B# bdifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
4 s# E2 ^# Y/ C; ?0 m, kmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one9 A6 @! O7 U+ g+ }
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
- J' v' f8 S$ |) T, ? qMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,8 g' K0 L* {0 y0 S; w
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no9 `. Z5 q# t6 w3 h0 F4 d
trace at all.) g2 y* D. _5 D! v
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call2 B! p: e+ a2 h E0 I) K/ @
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
" R5 X- _& ?4 @# `: I. C1 Q9 ^acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
' l: y% {+ f" o' n# Y" yrecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.8 I* o) Q1 l6 H6 m W" O4 g3 a
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,0 } m! X% l8 V7 X9 ?
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and/ E! x% x* `4 y" a
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
# V; @5 g' j/ A4 v5 o0 s3 Uelectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
9 ~. R) D. }' }% qcause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
$ D$ v8 G ]" j* ~4 N) e! Qsuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained8 ]. \: e. ~0 I9 L+ k
by Toyota's lawyers.": v" y& {, {1 w2 \6 L
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of6 t% `- }( R j) J, ]- h
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our2 X! J9 E, I9 J1 ~
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he# ~4 _1 A7 h) A. c! Y
said.# _4 D0 O" T+ f. R* O/ U
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
2 X* `! M1 K. l: L/ h3 _; La rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our* L7 G% O& [1 A0 [
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating" P: z E- t- Q9 G; S& a
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.: b5 j! M* _* p( ^+ `+ {# s
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying: X% F' x" ~( D( x* X
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
0 i% i- ]' h' s& X* arancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the6 O( m! v- f* E
automaker, at least in part because of the government's6 N5 _. z/ E7 _8 J
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and, K0 g6 F5 b' T1 d/ ~
Chrysler.
, [$ x: d4 t! h3 ^" g"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
) r P. [8 R6 R6 d& P% {+ zdollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
4 V+ k* w/ O3 ^& b3 C+ jHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
- E0 n, C# b9 [" N" W) t4 E' kserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
7 u5 `& o" i& R, u' ~+ [9 rwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty9 m! Z6 R% @; ^% z" P* v$ j
tough."6 U, p1 c0 P4 i+ R
---( c3 S# h! h( _& \9 D4 L/ D
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
$ ?: e2 z5 d" I7 PRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
$ ~& c' j* q9 O% jthis story.& A) \. B& f+ r0 a: M0 D! c
2 S. h+ g) G/ u' \5 ^
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