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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题- f9 ~: Z7 \5 z G- C
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
. }# ~. `. U) D J( Z5 X" a W# Z: G; UWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.% J* {4 S8 T# Q
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
. p3 b! k* b* v; \; Ythe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
7 |* x# g- P" P6 Z0 D6 y# \solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration. H) N2 [, ]; E1 b
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential0 `9 \" e# a7 [3 Q! L! M2 f# L
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.' q- Q6 h7 ?1 S* E$ O
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected1 A0 G) a, F0 j
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
/ U7 u4 B& }5 V P/ f/ N8 `; xtrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor0 `0 B% c) | v0 r
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.
6 w# [9 `0 ^' i3 ]He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal9 O1 }9 C. u9 N0 I; ^! ^5 v: `
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
9 f% ^( s* z9 i$ u4 W, `: Gcriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
9 D. k1 M, E: |: v* h3 V8 qfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
" }! w. r9 r" s4 Hnot stop her runaway Lexus.
& \+ z _+ p6 F G4 |; j"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
* S. k3 U/ p: p7 J8 y F/ I' ?( s: tTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second0 U6 f$ B/ w0 ^7 V: h* g
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.0 k$ @" j: [! X& ]) O: m/ Q
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues/ G% p( |% _6 r
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
/ J3 i) o* Z _6 Z"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
% x; H6 v) U, O! {0 F+ ~4 bdone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway2 }2 \# E! D) H9 Q; S5 |# [5 w* C& J
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's a! e: v6 C% I2 U4 S
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
* ]7 g; T1 [# G+ p/ bLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an$ x" e* R$ k* y% g
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
% y8 i& h# T+ uthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a; y7 ?' X6 X1 J2 A- l3 _
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he' D; ~; ?, g/ ~+ ~! G, Y/ \& G
said.+ {/ v/ X0 `+ N) U6 b
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what$ V ~: h3 q1 h V! ?* U8 S
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
- j8 i2 ?, H0 e5 s8 R4 Aabout driving our products," Lentz said.
' [' o/ U5 u) j' D8 i5 fThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
- K0 E( X% r; R( z$ j; @+ ?* L; Iproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
6 u/ z, S" |, e4 n1 W% Rrecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
# [8 i5 t# I2 m; u3 s1 hmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of
8 |% ]& @* b# p: Lunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
9 i" |7 f2 [4 Kissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
+ J j3 H$ W* pconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
& c# J( r( G0 S3 t: Z$ N) }- h0 ntheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
. ^- e# z: B, U' b0 ]8 ydown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
$ l6 O: q# X* _0 Y& E1 {8 @received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration6 r" `' N* T' ~2 z: c c
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.1 C" T4 h6 j4 h* i- [8 j
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
- {1 N$ L, k# F5 R4 ?" |brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he. y) \) [) h. P$ a
understood the pain.1 l. J: D" C7 }( J- z ]$ v
"I know what those families go through," he said.! G' h3 H: \0 j
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's; U3 A8 Q5 h; G9 V6 f
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
5 i' H& n" a# `! d4 M }& B4 k9 w( O2 yBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman: n9 [( |4 X6 G8 N% J) p
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
3 i: @' ]1 M! pin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it, O1 H( y+ q+ l, N+ n' W! |* K
Lentz replied: "Not totally."
- g1 B" T+ P& t: W3 M# T5 YStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
; K( d6 }8 k4 f$ A# {8 b"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
4 c l+ T- t0 N2 Z- U% aToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
/ _8 e. I$ h4 Z' ~ x6 U7 Epedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its4 E/ }' J: ~. o$ t& L. e
vehicles already on the road.) ]( L; a5 j/ ?& o/ t
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify6 {4 p% m( N6 n" N# M |' L- O
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full! x$ U; _' K( j+ \0 x
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and) q; m; V" D* B% w
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
' [7 v" Q, n$ jkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
9 r) m( u) H }: V2 u: i"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
& ^4 j* r# a( W1 x' ~, }tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony/ `$ g7 g4 y. _& \( g% ~# H% H- p
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight b) u/ I! e4 W7 Y$ L& c
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
* T4 D. Z' r5 }5 m, ]commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to2 V% s4 p' C6 V7 x. {% F) d
restore the trust of our customers."- h: I7 A& J9 l5 H/ ^
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from8 Y7 @6 E& t0 ?% E: O2 \; n: P
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly/ T' G$ W5 w {7 {# Z
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop -- I8 Z: ~6 a2 n0 e! }% C0 ]' p
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and$ r. O" \2 J% }$ `; L
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough/ V# k. `3 f, \6 f% H; ~8 G
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and& r# S9 g" P! U9 |5 n$ m
turn off the engine.' K9 L Z/ I. M, Y, ~' A7 y5 {
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of6 t# L3 l* \& n3 t, {
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
. W) d- r3 q% a"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she7 m* E$ ~( t3 q. P6 [+ f
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
3 z; m8 ~3 G* e6 F8 B+ vto her complaints.
+ q" _. z0 R1 F/ M: ?: ?- d; m6 fIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers! V9 W4 x/ x2 m: v' O4 u5 U# ~
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic, @& p6 w& Z& ~* ]- B1 B9 _# W
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.1 H! T: l( \3 b* O/ ^4 D& u7 T6 J% q
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
7 {3 Z7 m( X+ M! ? fthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
: F) r% @* D- @5 |: d& v"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut' l2 ^& j; L" D* f, B
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."7 x% \8 g3 _8 }( D
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
/ w; l; N8 ^- t* ]/ h- lprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were0 Z" k+ f% d3 F% j: @
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
( |) w. Q/ w& G8 d( R- vwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer* S3 B/ Y2 ?0 E5 u! G
every question."
. ~( S" ~/ [: y9 k. |Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
' { u' [: M! M* s' Belectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The9 N4 R j& z4 U1 b. R' l1 O1 c
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But' C5 z* Q" C& E2 m
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
& E$ @$ z8 f$ ?: a# Jnumber of vehicles
( O& o: k. b3 [0 H4 O! R" PTracking down an electrical problem can be far more
' P3 L1 _+ ~2 U+ }% Fdifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
$ Z3 @& } t/ R& l& G( S/ cmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one$ v: S3 @* K N% S3 r
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
, M5 g* d0 X* I* uMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,* j* _" |2 b6 I. h7 d
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no. u# x/ k* u# W! Q: i+ N
trace at all.1 C) g4 i6 w4 Q4 C' \
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
, e7 M0 O& f" v: u, O' Xdatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden, G" X, T1 V8 i) a6 I6 z
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
4 q0 \# }5 N) t T7 H& V2 l: a- v% brecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
: Z" N1 X+ V; d, ^Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,! H( r; s( P8 c/ q" B1 x/ O
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and: g; B/ c( Y9 }6 U7 f
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the3 ~7 m& r0 \' `3 m8 D* o9 m
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
7 f4 ]4 Y% Z1 x: ~5 F5 Jcause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
2 ~5 S: d8 o2 l) Psuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained, s+ a( N/ A' t( {. ?* u
by Toyota's lawyers."
; a c4 N: z& a1 |# Y1 f* S( K6 sLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
" D0 q$ ~* C3 f& o0 }" uproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our- S& Q a# v* S, ? Y
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he5 B( Q2 U! p) j% [
said.
`6 i% U( A1 l* f$ |5 Q( U2 y"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
, K. o* l$ Y4 e ^! g: I2 ca rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our8 n& ~: d3 v5 I
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
! B: x' z9 ^$ s+ s4 Kofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc., N: M2 w6 }7 W
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
0 N; T/ \1 K L; M4 v) q. m) w+ @0 w; Wmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread9 L& |# f* ?( [# A6 z8 q
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
. F5 ^/ a5 Z1 S* m- |0 d& H- T+ jautomaker, at least in part because of the government's; D2 k6 y9 A. t1 }$ V
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
! ]2 k9 u8 ?) L; h' m. Y& ~Chrysler.
' S- D7 r' S, @* ?& \6 g"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax' b9 l% _% M$ `' Z
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a6 L8 S3 q* @& u q" _
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
: r2 Y5 k9 Q; Y* S& Lserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete5 d, s; v% @' r5 K* q$ e; ?
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
* g7 j0 Q' @6 G% z, v+ ntough."
! J2 S& _* M- w2 o6 M+ S---
% b1 s- I' _3 h$ G+ A HAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
F4 D) a3 I" Z3 ?2 _" yRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to$ X7 c$ I$ r$ c, L! a( F" B+ Y
this story.
7 U) `% U7 ]" _' Y3 p. N: C! @/ p( p/ O( \! D, F7 {; ?' M
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