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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题" o6 f7 j2 I+ _8 w) U3 @. ^' ?8 q
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
* Z% s3 Z4 E6 e; U, P1 F( s' i; N- tWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.0 k3 P8 Y8 v* R
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
# A! ]7 ]. O8 Q# W: S9 ?the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"& J" c5 K8 _" b8 I7 j9 @
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
5 H" z" n2 |% k1 L% B& ~' Z"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
: D: K, x+ B0 R. m" jcauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
1 c$ ^+ |2 D* \3 q' N% u8 d+ KHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected) X8 n L$ u8 i1 H' h6 Z: s
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and7 q- x# J- q$ j! F8 [3 {5 ]
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
& H+ f( M. X% f. umats and sticking accelerator pedals.
8 m$ z2 {; ^; w# B* H) R8 i; u; eHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal9 V0 |3 ?9 x& R
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
( I8 @9 B! ]; rcriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be. t3 m; a1 [' q5 c( G
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could5 E D5 Q( C4 P: U. ?2 C( d
not stop her runaway Lexus. i9 P1 x% l* n+ k# n" I
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
% `2 f( M- p0 ?Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second! S( u8 f& X# ~7 ?7 o
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.* b# C- j/ r2 o0 b8 g
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues2 X) o1 k, w4 z/ O4 i
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
' m3 s- b( [. s0 ] ^! G$ M"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
+ e6 R' x* q, ]( H' Ldone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
0 P9 P5 a! s* P# Zthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's8 z2 J" y" A5 g- \) T
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."* i4 O" e4 _: g# r8 H+ @; h
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an- s- t7 ]) o) b* c, i; ]- h' f
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
! W6 l4 ?( [2 D6 \the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
$ ]) M# p5 v/ gmalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
7 W7 [- {+ t1 Zsaid.( R* r( n* W% m( [1 B4 L2 p7 j7 Z" A
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
5 {- b; n# L2 }$ d$ l$ o( q; Q7 Zhappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
; H$ @& h; g i: W, p: n- F m e. `about driving our products," Lentz said.( z h: r9 S6 D
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's9 H* b; U. a8 F) L: z$ \% U, J' n
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
* }/ h: N$ X- R2 X1 Grecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
% ^- m( g0 x" ]# ]million in the United States -- since last fall because of1 y! u( u1 ?& s2 f5 E9 g
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
8 _/ r# E/ t/ c( eissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering6 W3 g# F! ?5 r' ^( {) d* A+ {
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
' b, h5 e9 ], l. Ftheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow& ?# u X4 P1 Z0 \/ z/ H" F V' i
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has0 D) K5 \) f5 f, \9 l' M- Y
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
( N% f; b) v4 W! @of Toyota vehicles since 2000.7 x" G/ [9 R j4 |6 u
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own! y- }- n6 } K9 a
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he$ G" E3 H! r, o
understood the pain.; t$ j+ q; _2 }& C6 r/ a
"I know what those families go through," he said.
, c" K8 R4 F0 g8 [" b5 oLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's$ x, { a$ h6 }/ z8 @! N
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.( w: y3 `4 f6 O5 {
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman4 `$ D% u3 m; l0 o
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put2 E% r. ?1 T7 m1 |
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
6 N+ k2 a, E% c) w3 N7 x: Y6 T# ?* KLentz replied: "Not totally."
/ I& T |! a3 |* X' xStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
) [; x1 a; a- j5 ]; q' s! V"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said2 p' G7 H0 R9 R0 c5 F2 v z
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
! o0 ~8 `2 r# M @4 w* I$ J* ~pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
; a, d. ]! K; l' X4 }* vvehicles already on the road.+ u& y, o. y$ I
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
. b: u. J6 K4 h/ Y( F sbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full! U! ^# T( N: a" r' z4 o8 E) S
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and4 H1 [1 ^- h* F( I7 Z! U/ e0 t( G
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
" ~5 J+ @, r( S ?3 }killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.; N' |; x. }0 x( _
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
" U$ R! P% P$ `8 `- k% @0 {tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
: a* p" p: ]! f- p7 ?5 }6 Gfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
/ u3 M, [9 l. }3 }$ V8 n/ xCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
+ P: p8 G" s# a1 Z; hcommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
- Z, c P8 @5 Wrestore the trust of our customers.") E+ V) k1 B& w% c# G3 w
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
0 G0 A1 x/ q1 bSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
% M7 H" M# }7 gzoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --( T. m4 M" N, G
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
% M* d/ ~5 t- t, ahitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough( g& g" v/ k2 u G
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
* T6 A! Q. N4 L6 pturn off the engine." j5 \4 N2 i. i* C: w
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
. x$ s! m5 m& {$ O* f9 x' I2 ~October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."! w e/ W9 C! M( I8 f _5 k I
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
7 E5 I1 k7 S* Y! j4 s6 Zsaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
) o9 x1 M# Z _/ _+ \! wto her complaints.
" l: T7 w. |- `) k: y- O8 NIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers1 m R, o+ d# c% |7 y
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic1 k0 M( j* T* V
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
0 e- @. H/ B- Z' e3 p8 g8 ^"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
$ G9 y( j: p3 |( r, _throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited, F, Q2 K& O+ e
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut; g' k* k2 T9 x- h% \9 z! {, H9 |2 w
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure.", f: Y* u7 r- w5 p( X
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
( c, Z8 M3 S0 T) {' n6 T" a5 {prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
0 v% y6 h1 D8 u" Vbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls; Z. c8 Z3 f/ O7 ~! \- V. E- ^2 b, t
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer* Q- d! I) r' u' k+ c
every question."/ Q+ n" \! R0 D' A, m% Z0 A
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether9 n$ j. k( l, j5 D( V# W
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
2 ^% A# r. J( y5 J, F Lfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But2 Q+ t% s. R( `. s9 z1 g
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small. p% {# T& v7 ~- u
number of vehicles
$ ?; P L5 H5 XTracking down an electrical problem can be far more
( O- D$ r" W7 H3 d7 Cdifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
2 }4 J2 D7 M. a9 C0 Nmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one5 `+ F/ V4 E v) [# `1 j
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.% V! I' \7 B, {
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
" i! f. p( K' \1 z M3 hwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
- c. B8 n! r8 l% Strace at all.
% m! a5 g% Z: ~House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call' W; t- R. j# w! R% O- E
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden1 W' H9 w0 y7 b2 F6 t8 p- o6 T
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
7 C5 o1 `. K. P( J3 wrecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.% d. }4 T5 `% b' s" v5 j
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,3 n4 K v' ]: W; p% I4 i+ L$ z
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and, {" A# r4 _9 d+ }5 M: n& P3 ]
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the: u! Y" c4 I% N/ ~$ X( K, `
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
! ]! s# @$ @* v3 Kcause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only) h$ W' p' K7 Q' Q3 f' l0 y
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
% ~/ n/ ]' w6 Q. {0 }% ]: T0 yby Toyota's lawyers."
! Q1 D* P# L8 \4 m- B. ?- p; YLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
6 {2 I9 Y) v; w8 `1 B Tproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
; n8 d& g9 F; Pcustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
8 [# B0 Q6 O5 ?said., k5 W. E/ @* i, C3 |! Y7 C
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
+ t. X( b2 \* ?a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
: j# P( D5 Y) F: I+ Z7 _good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
7 B2 k @- w& g# T+ Rofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.& w3 T& E. A, \, X$ ?
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying0 X/ @$ E1 R7 \6 b$ N, w
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread! t$ B/ v$ H% W# ?% Y9 _0 B4 d# V' f
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
0 n4 |. Z& r; D4 e' \6 V+ s- Aautomaker, at least in part because of the government's
" C) M- d9 T! {0 P, v) e; R& w% r9 Finvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
; q. T# {$ g" S0 u, |Chrysler.: G' }/ \' F/ q( l
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax" X& T* g# R" o) ]2 L4 y/ J& N0 I. P
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a; k1 Q3 J: j3 L$ _ C( @
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
5 d! _2 r& g: zserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete6 }5 @7 d' k5 R0 b* E/ H
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
- e( t% j, k+ ptough."
5 E. Y, m# v( a# s3 H---
& O/ R$ Y& T' V- i% o3 V3 H6 j$ zAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
' u6 _ }9 n5 v5 A. L( Y Y6 i9 i! S+ iRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
6 D! s" g0 L) Y6 X7 \; M Vthis story.2 t* I, {6 h% R t, _7 f) L
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