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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题; s, D2 A# s. V; W
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
& M1 g/ s& t( K/ @- G, AWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
6 n8 {' x/ c% F% ]operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
|" ^; f7 M) rthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
0 u% [ o5 Y& u2 U# Rsolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.7 z: `- o, C4 `5 u, W. N2 o
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
% P4 J3 I, ^& a$ f2 s+ hcauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.( S7 V& [0 K) k2 w' I8 u
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected6 _! G% _; I/ O# `; p
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and" x1 o) U& d8 @) n
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
7 q. |- |& |) y. o6 G# zmats and sticking accelerator pedals.
' G; k- a$ K! |* qHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal5 }5 q" S8 y+ ?" p( {
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp8 }# ~1 ?3 w; U% `
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
/ `/ ^( q5 T( R4 q4 A' s+ i. ofurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
: V' _; u2 Z# t' B* onot stop her runaway Lexus.1 e$ {6 L, U( |' i# }
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,2 b+ m R& t7 H
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second, T( H* W4 A: Y8 F, w
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.1 H1 E" A1 {8 f q. r% n. {- u" _
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues* R. B K" `, X, ^
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
: a( h9 L; T% t! I( ~"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
0 f* e) D8 S' g9 `' Y6 Adone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
1 ?( W# y4 J, s& j# {' ~3 [& I% Gthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's2 k( g3 K) m x$ u8 O3 w% g8 C
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
$ ]; V# n9 A( a: f* M& ^Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an, ` |9 g& c& b* o" {) \3 [, d
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of& n- f/ ]- u) F* c8 r3 C
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a5 N. [. n- d' O1 h4 ?3 Z
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he$ {5 c5 x, I& J; t* B0 x% c
said.
$ u( V; u3 {- R" BAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
# c; M% p3 W$ y8 }' C A9 T. Rhappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe* u: j+ N1 f" z: Y7 P1 w
about driving our products," Lentz said.
$ T y+ ?6 l6 n7 O/ WThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
6 |/ S! b6 v) }' _, \problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
+ T- b$ G& V L: ~9 A2 D; K7 ]recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
, N# f% ~. x& I% j& a7 D9 {million in the United States -- since last fall because of' Q3 T" C( }2 E. G) t% I
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking7 V( Q# _8 E4 I7 d' D) L2 m
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering/ i- N. l% _5 W9 `& U- Z* @
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
) K, w" l7 \3 C9 E* `8 L K/ Jtheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
$ x+ X j9 t3 M+ j* Qdown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
/ ~- _ ^" B% W% qreceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration4 l6 _, [+ ^, s( o, f
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.4 y7 h+ f! v0 K. l. K
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own0 a* s; I. h% ]& u& f& L+ \# b
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
( l0 R; @* g R1 Z! x$ q) |# eunderstood the pain., q! F2 f- O: ]2 r
"I know what those families go through," he said.8 B$ i% H$ u$ J* a- v# r. f
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's5 K# \! `+ f* ~' W, f
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
8 y# P0 `- {: _* m5 k F' qBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
9 ~. E: J. V- M2 w" g1 Z! THenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put0 j/ p* F; I5 A4 E) }; g3 d' w
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,8 ?! P# E& Q% o- x
Lentz replied: "Not totally.": q) _- V9 `; I- K/ k
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
2 M. Q& i8 s; P9 r2 m( D"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said' z; r- c' {7 p5 f2 U* \( B
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
. X( p* Q2 L2 c& B6 r2 Bpedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
' _5 r" s" f Qvehicles already on the road.
4 J9 R' C# v% c9 Z9 [Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
5 X* P+ @/ W. Y9 z+ I4 P# hbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full9 x3 |7 }/ o5 y; G7 @/ Z# ~+ Q
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and4 {: u; }" ?* [% I* r/ K
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
V8 V) [% J5 J4 i# k5 G; jkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
% G5 F$ y4 b) y! H+ i"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a) A E/ d4 l' l+ D
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony: j$ [* |. C9 n. \# S! ?' ]% [
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
; b- `# E9 X w, J9 ECommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal' f% [% V6 n; Z! O$ ?) Q
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
* z" S9 u8 a: Z2 jrestore the trust of our customers."
, E7 _8 n8 z% t, V1 d. t$ |Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
$ Z+ Z) q# w' Y% tSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly0 S6 e0 {& H, e% ?
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
# H0 U8 s! @- u5 T8 ~shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and& q- M; C1 p+ h( f O% Y$ y
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough, g2 X, j& a* T! X/ L
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
" z9 H2 }+ ?$ P2 W( `" n( q0 z4 Eturn off the engine.
9 {1 l V5 C v& F" X5 RFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
* r7 c) ^" z" T# Y! v) t9 a5 wOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."+ f3 a8 A3 M7 f8 Y
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she4 n. R% p8 Y" r8 p& `
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond) }! Z, \: x/ g7 I
to her complaints.5 T0 E" e7 `# N
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
3 E4 G5 m5 Y4 b9 h- T* r* Ireturned again and again to the question of whether electronic
7 X0 Z8 p; k7 umalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
, j [5 V# j/ {"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
2 X, {8 d2 ~/ W* Ythrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
" d4 C: x4 T- H- c j"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut; u& O9 F1 N2 W4 h6 D
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."2 J6 _ J- w3 u! D) L' l
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in7 |1 s4 b {8 s; c3 t: S
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
9 p# A( K/ Z1 r' ?- [: y% E6 X! \being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
6 E9 b5 s( S) x! \ r3 q( X$ Hwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
6 b& X1 l& q) x: Nevery question."% p2 V# N0 m$ O, l" _4 r
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether) N4 \3 Q# h5 G8 d. p
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
/ g- b' _8 ` ^% ~+ Y. \) kfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But' |- F+ s% \; C8 Q
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
- X5 C+ x; y" Q, hnumber of vehicles2 f+ s& q7 [ ?
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more
" `0 O+ j: C& S5 \. |' ?7 _difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a3 s, _+ ?! u5 T$ E0 Z1 w+ X
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
3 x4 U! {$ E+ C9 fsource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
: T: S' n. O! P9 t" ]+ ^7 XMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
7 ?, x1 j2 M1 E9 N) L, e) jwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no/ u9 K4 h* I, {
trace at all.
- K! I& d4 Y5 WHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call2 b2 M7 _2 W0 }2 i* H+ i
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
n3 q E& N8 o4 \+ X6 uacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
( l5 R/ d; a) @recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.. o& w, G; b! p
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,$ y7 O6 d4 M4 q0 f
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
% e5 f' E5 o6 r& Fother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the7 ~, K4 g; E. h" e1 F1 m* Q% o7 [
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
8 z( j/ e7 s6 G# p9 H$ icause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only' S' L( j3 \, Z/ r5 |8 l( ~
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained# |; G0 C0 o3 M9 P* ^% y( r3 l' s
by Toyota's lawyers."
8 v+ ]+ q- E% g' ?! w% d- SLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of2 M. N3 L! v: ]* ], W* p- l
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our8 i; @" i6 [$ c( i# D
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he) Z. C2 ]) v- l+ f% L7 L1 M
said.& {( M8 l: [1 r2 E% N* g- j8 F( o0 T
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with6 F H& e1 _% N7 h( U( z
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our& }$ |( O( ^+ n9 S; X+ v( K0 H; Z
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating2 D3 X: y( h- b! p
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
9 R9 T/ ?8 z' k9 tSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
* W5 N! S; [) u: t6 r8 vmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread# j0 Z' |6 v5 z! _& M' p
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the+ X9 u; P/ I: m0 ?
automaker, at least in part because of the government's0 k& g& m6 Z4 ?( }4 C
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
7 n B: d, `9 C* n" ]Chrysler.- ~+ N7 M! S7 V$ v' S; ^ [
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
, ?) C5 g: o8 d' ?' Tdollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
( B3 K- G% S8 v ^: KHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also' i) n' L2 i/ ~/ @9 b
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete, E) }; {# F* G
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
. y& Q8 t1 t8 K1 ^tough."! K. F N& ?+ x% B
---
$ t( y0 N) u0 z3 [ q: |Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom( s) X) c4 K! W* z: @
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to Y% m# h. Q4 f9 p. O J6 L ]
this story.
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