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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题$ ~' n, _, Q) y% _- w4 M
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
8 U( r+ Z( g% Q$ e( q. j! @. k+ JWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.# N4 Q$ Z: x7 m% |4 P4 W
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that6 g6 W* ~4 E! {) {7 X3 k
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
. P7 w5 a. i0 Psolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.# Q' \% }5 r$ ^( w
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
; U. c1 F0 J8 h( w9 @( xcauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
E$ U% M8 S- C* r, \However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
) M; W) D, V0 I% k- e2 Oacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
5 c" P8 W7 n% Y6 n8 Strucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
' N# G. m, J. ~0 |mats and sticking accelerator pedals.' ^3 I# K( f1 `' f9 E) o
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal; l2 V. e/ }, ~0 w
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp* o! O9 G* ~. O7 D: b4 Q; S
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
5 b" l2 `5 h( @$ L( a1 g: F sfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could9 i3 P j- S* d, _7 N% g
not stop her runaway Lexus.
8 b% c' [( ?& A1 t) n& M! T. I, x% {+ Z"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,. ^. b: H; R5 ? [' ~
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
4 b4 [, n5 W2 }0 p"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
* o) ?7 u7 j; f3 P ]Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
2 y! G" K l& _) z* zearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
# u O) x3 o" X( F! d ~# z8 V! z"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has3 H+ P7 Z- D9 d/ v
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway/ r: I9 \" V/ |# A6 q5 K0 x
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's% ?! B8 N' C3 K4 ]+ l- l
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."$ d2 p2 Y% \; q, p( e, A$ |4 i
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an1 ]1 J2 M& [" h) J$ q
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of6 C6 N# P/ V) z( t8 I
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a0 d& s& c, \- ~; s% D$ l; Z9 s
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
1 ?2 D4 z8 t1 Q4 l. y& h: |# zsaid./ Y. V! `- b+ p R" t1 E; q+ K/ B
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what( z- v( `. Q1 t/ j1 q- b
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
; i' l5 D$ J( U% Y/ L4 n% \about driving our products," Lentz said.3 b8 n) X6 B0 \* v0 `
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
4 _) S8 o: b! [2 B- nproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
7 x5 }0 c' ^7 v3 `& y& erecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
1 Q7 U$ ]$ a' q* Ymillion in the United States -- since last fall because of' z0 K2 ~ W/ _" W
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
1 t5 z Q! y6 E8 F8 o" kissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering2 \# c/ Z# r, h+ X2 I2 U4 I8 N
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
5 m5 Y% r0 k& n0 m" |# F; G* Ktheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
; V4 r% y# p$ k3 L0 y( H3 Z" i9 S/ Jdown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
6 @6 V; q& b) S$ |- e2 Nreceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration$ Q. d* a! q' _7 \- a1 [0 u
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.
2 |! _; p7 k. ~, @ l' ^) r. X6 c) X7 qLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own( g3 `" s2 u H! n. ?+ J" z
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he& }) H1 Q6 J* ^1 ?! J( U
understood the pain.5 j) {: ? T+ K' N6 E) l* V
"I know what those families go through," he said.
% p7 _6 l1 b1 t0 @Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
2 b( Q( }5 v" `" X3 e; qfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.% S. p, O" D2 z- E
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
; Z r8 e# Y" `! N+ a2 m' u. nHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
9 E# C4 R% ]0 Q$ \6 ~in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,6 N' {7 `. q' P% w9 A) H! M
Lentz replied: "Not totally."
$ p$ o6 P3 ?% Z+ X4 t7 jStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were! `$ m2 M* {4 A
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
* }9 H: n+ Y% o' z7 H8 H8 P: f- UToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
: P! C2 Q" i9 T) d8 gpedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
+ c r1 Y& w" h) ivehicles already on the road.
, S2 g. L, N' X0 B- hMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify ]2 l1 H2 Z" `6 X+ k8 ~
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
) ^/ H8 s& Z* u" Lresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
4 }, w) A: |/ e8 f8 p7 b1 Ioffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
/ u- V6 E1 ^1 Y4 R2 ukilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
7 ^; R+ F- K+ f) h2 T. X; F"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a0 T8 Z6 b' `' h# V2 \* M4 j0 ~
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony2 ^3 [' A: l0 d7 L6 P
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight4 j% K9 b" p3 [& y$ I
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal5 X5 K! s, Z! S7 d) X
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
! X3 ^& X4 U% }7 k, N* u$ ?restore the trust of our customers."
9 }) D/ k5 S( J$ B' T- f0 ~Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
* \0 I) H' g7 ^9 c! r& fSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
4 q; [, B+ e# h4 O" X8 B% q) Czoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --3 ^% A7 c% Q8 |4 p% A7 J' l4 f1 @, h. [$ q
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and) c+ X( I' @) f" ]
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
2 c+ J8 ?2 x+ _& t8 \that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
N. X1 g5 r+ |. e# G& Pturn off the engine.
1 R! _# d) S8 v+ i' sFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of- ~+ D1 l' t; O; r4 Z( I. T
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience.") R9 F5 u# L- Y: i7 T1 _# p
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she9 D- J, J7 B9 r* H$ j/ \
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond9 A' w* _( s& y4 u8 z y) ~' l
to her complaints.
2 l. T, t# T" p' l! iIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
! R( |* j8 i0 {& n; freturned again and again to the question of whether electronic
: [; ?* v& Q9 G) V+ e( T Umalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.% A7 [: [5 ~# M7 q
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric- K9 b7 @7 g' Q" {
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited/ Q' K9 W0 x1 N; x5 {4 }1 F( `
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut' p2 h9 m& A; l) X
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
$ a( L& v1 x0 [1 S$ DTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in& { j! v b- P$ w
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
( j8 k4 |4 `) v- b* C6 I6 A: Obeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls3 C7 r( R3 k2 w# h0 F
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer+ G! ^7 V, c' ?7 U' M/ j; z: O1 S) g" ~
every question."
* u- q4 O! k( p8 G o, k7 m- RToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether; J9 v1 G* a3 @' Y
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
! h) X* o) ]3 s& P: i6 I; Ufirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
8 y- C2 ?- Y3 scommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small5 b: |* u( E) S# P" `+ ^! L
number of vehicles
3 X; `% s6 ~) WTracking down an electrical problem can be far more
) J- _3 |' J( C, Odifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
6 A% ?+ \ R# D# C6 v5 Umechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
1 f$ w! y/ `/ |7 x$ Ssource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.: T3 v+ i/ L( T! V- O
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
) n6 y5 W0 ^! j4 b6 Y& F. Wwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no% `7 u' R% J+ z( k e0 _0 ^- u
trace at all.
- H: s% g- Q9 @" w9 r, G4 THouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call7 a; S' X, z3 t9 I* Z1 K
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden1 D2 z" ]: Q; _) Z1 l2 \: B M: ?
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the7 A' d ^* H" g" T5 i' ~
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
4 k0 C$ |/ Z( `# g( O7 `" gRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,4 @% o1 M5 N6 U8 A c& _" W
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
: `3 V3 B; @. B9 Z" S: @other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
$ h; n7 U1 J( M: n! u I& u( Kelectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
/ |7 s& s/ [3 V9 G* H5 Xcause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
' B0 ^7 ]8 r( f$ i* F L$ `2 \such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained5 |# Y+ T/ k$ W, H6 S
by Toyota's lawyers."
0 A' `- h! x- Q( g3 }Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
! N/ d% J+ f8 N1 iproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
+ y0 ]9 D( j3 }# n( T* U; icustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
7 Z2 P4 X" x7 f# vsaid.2 T) L, F, I& t
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with4 E# T4 a" S2 g: w. d
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
- ?; e0 V( E0 f. I; k5 pgood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
+ \) b- i0 l2 R, D" n/ Vofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
4 \8 [6 f. d1 LSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying3 ]7 e/ t$ x o; c. _
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread3 y8 z& F0 N+ x5 a
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
: M$ |& \4 S$ S4 f! Y6 R) n) qautomaker, at least in part because of the government's
9 q& x; Y# O7 e% h. A1 `3 ]investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
6 S8 H/ _8 G: Q; v% vChrysler.
# \. [8 K1 _4 D5 G5 q* M"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax" e+ q. ?. W B# z `0 s
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a' d- l7 u1 J$ l& S8 X; E( e& h
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also$ R: [( Z+ N9 q8 f0 P' ?
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete: h2 I; B8 h( p* @
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
" v; g) O8 i3 n+ p& U0 itough."
9 f( C# U o$ l# ]---
4 \" P' T7 g; \2 K3 q7 QAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom" Z8 A$ X( c2 o4 j' k: \ Q8 `
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
' Y$ T6 n9 J8 O8 d& T/ Gthis story.
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