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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题% c+ ^+ l- l* l7 I
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS; h3 G+ K1 Y5 t7 E* r
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.3 x) H+ Q& C) J) X4 G
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
& N4 R7 Q3 N' e* B; |4 u$ jthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"! |+ `( ?( l1 b% y3 J5 q
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.; v/ B. `& `' ^, Z! ?1 f
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
' r$ {6 V6 ?5 C6 n, |causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.. }* N6 ]4 P% S: X# |* ]- M
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
9 K+ b# L! v c: {" r# oacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
' H1 S: }( q: j2 Z; ltrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
L$ g9 F& L# L* s2 gmats and sticking accelerator pedals.: I5 b' B* D' v% y4 q' f( E+ D
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
% p& S, |2 i7 d3 G) ]7 pand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
0 z$ ^$ t( U5 j3 t" h; ~! vcriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be" ]$ G& }( `6 b
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could2 Q& ^6 n/ \% z; ]9 h5 L, `1 Y# l
not stop her runaway Lexus.
: ^- y M8 Z# |" X6 d2 r"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,* I2 g, m$ n& _, o3 _6 \- P
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second7 }; A3 A* R/ L; h
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
: h1 {& ` V" Y* @- p3 KTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
2 V/ l5 C! ^2 X& H; U- B& Xearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
2 { m0 [# r5 x8 r"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
3 F3 c0 l5 u. G) xdone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway% A4 U! G1 p0 M- p3 D" W
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's$ y9 e& Y9 V, V, P- [( r& d) [$ n
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
. k' ^% I7 X0 m9 L: {$ k7 m7 d# aLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an+ M" [1 V: {$ S3 d3 X6 q: F
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of* _ l. d7 ~, d
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
) O# b* v6 C" C! b( ?. x. b& qmalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
! A; R8 X# \* k1 @. Lsaid.
: d# d( t7 z v! }6 KAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what+ V. z& n+ i8 U0 w0 @, Y
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe: I6 D1 _2 F9 n" D
about driving our products," Lentz said.5 c y: {. `4 Y0 ]
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's5 e" h- N- e6 \- G
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has" |7 ?! z4 M$ N- |. A( P3 B( F7 U
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
! q* D% K, X8 O! Omillion in the United States -- since last fall because of
& z* f5 U6 o! v# O: hunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
" i5 q1 Q: h0 uissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering" x9 L* d9 z z$ A' Z1 F, A
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of3 A6 Y. O3 b$ P8 O
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow- g3 R3 x0 U2 U* d* ~( V% j( [, m
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
0 ?. K$ w; m( y" C, r- |. \! ereceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
$ ~9 G8 @$ o7 o" r. eof Toyota vehicles since 2000.
- _- j0 ~. i9 s. z- d+ ?# vLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own4 |. u: X$ U6 k# q/ Z& S5 @
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
) `! y1 C% b+ C/ `+ Aunderstood the pain.
. [+ N# w( H% ?3 W j+ C% k ^"I know what those families go through," he said.: J1 p2 m& |+ s/ l$ m2 H
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's- {" x1 [; X% `$ r/ H' `4 I
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
2 z; k$ j; ]6 Q8 F" W kBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
( p/ B% Z. B& A" D, n& ]4 l; i0 WHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
2 ~' p4 v) ]* @# Y7 Q' B pin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,. c/ v" o" T1 y5 [: V) t
Lentz replied: "Not totally."
! M' G; @# T% F$ H4 e5 OStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were: Y9 ^7 z0 X" r# q
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said3 d% }# P Z1 j, j7 N% t
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
/ Z6 K& X5 B0 p$ _ _ }1 H: D% Epedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its8 q3 S" z# a# K& D' X- w
vehicles already on the road." }. T. r4 M2 C2 l" m
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
! C9 c& U L) \/ x4 h* s, |before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full, s5 }% z# p3 B: m
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
" R3 P, [6 d0 U* Aoffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
9 I7 F3 v) [/ K. V7 e/ I8 p( r' wkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
5 B8 |, S* k4 s% m2 u$ J* I"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
0 O: G. [) A( Q+ v( y& Xtragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
; G3 e0 Y8 P. P+ q3 g: d5 l; bfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight3 ^5 c" |( | \1 f3 R6 x7 ^
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
! \: q) B0 c; }* ~0 lcommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to6 b7 Y$ a' p% l; M
restore the trust of our customers."5 Q# e0 l- A4 M3 s: x7 u) x0 x' x
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from7 [4 ]5 C$ J7 [% j; M$ u
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly1 t8 M% t+ h5 k5 e
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
$ g% c4 _! p4 Nshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
4 x- t4 U t! H5 q) Ohitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
% M# R& L$ S5 T/ t3 ythat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
# u- j1 P/ l) x! `8 a6 ^: zturn off the engine.5 M0 I9 e! M+ m: W- Z9 u9 E
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
: x5 l, B/ {: x( K. i: BOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
# _& M0 ` y9 a0 g"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
5 ?" z" a6 d9 z0 a8 t3 A+ C4 P" ksaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond6 I3 q' g% {/ d7 w
to her complaints.
# M. }' q- U9 V! H6 eIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers. L4 H* L% F9 J& C4 Q" i
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
- k( m, ~1 ?" I1 d( Zmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
; l9 b3 I: Z5 e$ d& u" O; R"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric+ B# G" W2 Y8 J" {7 w
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited; |0 A6 u$ [* i, `( \& u' T. M
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
( t$ X1 H8 P5 _; G% w1 noff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
/ o L$ {3 \- K7 l$ D. q0 f; \Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
) [1 w$ C5 ?! ]6 p7 O& {' qprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
. L5 U, ]! E3 k. U, V3 abeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls. H: e0 E, U! g! J4 o
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer8 ?/ E1 v/ z8 S
every question."
9 y$ y% e% M# j, G/ W8 ~) VToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether9 \# k- V+ }2 R# s* }8 h
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The, R8 I+ {. S! \5 M
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
7 C6 A$ D; m1 B+ m" d6 l1 g! ] `committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
: A9 p( D- K4 e9 O' G* e- Jnumber of vehicles
' O: ?6 p7 E3 W% n3 PTracking down an electrical problem can be far more$ N* t& c% a8 H0 `$ W2 ]2 \
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
9 }( m- h5 N0 \- hmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one$ m. n: Z; P7 s% R5 f4 \
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.2 W8 J. X/ h' K1 ^9 M- j* S5 G: E
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
5 x9 H1 D: I0 ]" _: B0 u: o5 h2 u% ywhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no1 g& \$ C: g( O
trace at all.
3 F- D* H! _% Z0 |* [House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
g+ D. E1 J" m X2 M- pdatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden/ F# B. t8 D5 D) U/ Z
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
4 _* ]: l3 G1 k& ]% \" ^recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
+ D$ F" P" q2 a' dRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,. w9 R% p- [6 w3 W$ W4 K
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
! C+ |' R$ y/ h: w! dother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the, C5 b. D' G7 t# `0 t+ K
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
4 S& ?: m# z$ V+ f& _* I$ rcause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only& `- y t, P! r
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained0 ~* M# j( Z) d3 |0 e: ?/ k7 C
by Toyota's lawyers."
$ k& f/ L9 O1 V7 \7 k4 YLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of5 w+ m) Z/ @9 Q3 Q0 d! z! L
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our- E( b9 T" i8 m- t/ n4 T
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he/ h9 }6 _9 a% c& f. N
said.7 x/ L* J1 V, _9 s1 ]1 h9 T
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
4 E# x( }: K `# N6 a F1 \a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our* x C. `8 P: u9 _1 m& r
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating" K/ J0 x/ j4 d. A4 Q& N) [
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.& b$ d6 {6 p9 `2 u
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying# s& ]9 ?# H- G9 l4 |
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
* k! G9 T; ~: i, T) Z1 o8 H- drancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
* _8 S/ ?& p5 [# k: N' o! zautomaker, at least in part because of the government's
* m; }& r& w9 a1 Oinvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
5 c9 |6 r) V0 g/ {# I7 V' b8 ^Chrysler.
# y7 w' {! ^) ~8 R0 z/ ^"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
( {: W% e) B, _3 Mdollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
$ n \! r( F4 fHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also" O( U* G+ ^8 f3 d' ^5 `
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete3 [0 T1 E. C e) }
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty r+ i6 P6 e1 z m }9 T0 D) f
tough."
* M5 x" {, z$ ]% V---
( z+ q6 W% L; O- p* {2 J% I8 bAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
+ H" U% e8 d9 Z- J" R# w" ARaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to9 {: D7 b' b$ {1 w( n2 Y
this story.
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