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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题4 f* h6 ]4 I# B# c* o9 h! V
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
% H0 r0 e. @) D$ J: m* M" a7 NWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
" V: ?1 A% c4 r4 h! f* poperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
: Y0 Y, k; R. {. O/ L$ nthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
- s( W% a) q' ~" m" C0 hsolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.$ Y2 o/ m' B7 h$ V* F
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential% R6 v& x2 r2 G; d' T( C4 F
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
5 b J8 f8 ^+ H+ _/ ~However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
% K$ c' b% p; r& J4 ~1 m$ g- sacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and9 |6 T2 s" j6 ?, T# ?' i
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor2 ?4 |; h+ d" R9 i6 Z& w2 s0 Q4 ~
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.
8 k: @9 |4 t( \8 R' q* v' UHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
N5 q7 G# z* P0 |, o* Eand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
$ o. H, r' h! w2 Ecriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
4 W5 u+ X- }, jfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
2 L; ^+ D, o" L- Cnot stop her runaway Lexus.9 ^& k/ ?$ T; r' l0 o
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,: s# M. w' k4 c- {4 Q
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
8 h( E- I( {5 E2 Z( {8 w"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators., Q7 ~$ g( |. b/ M; R
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
4 D9 d+ f7 z' i$ Kearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said* ]5 @1 |( C/ E* a
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has' f9 W# t7 U$ f: L
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
1 C1 G q: ]3 u$ qthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's* u0 [( x2 z. o9 D. O
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."1 g, N& W+ {& b @7 C' N
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an8 [5 Q7 V ?: k3 ^
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
; A; |+ v6 O4 u2 E: F, V* s3 Qthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a: T, t& [: j. I6 h2 P* b0 u; e% b' Y
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
( t u t; i+ d7 D4 U' f, csaid.! [" \5 P* ~: d5 A% M6 v' h
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what: _3 R& _, q6 K/ t
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
; t4 ?* M4 Q6 h+ m3 eabout driving our products," Lentz said.
( j" v, T6 D5 k2 XThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's% J% ]8 A0 u$ i/ Z
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
8 D l# F: H \/ O$ a0 g7 [* Rrecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6; ]+ ~0 w4 V" X& ~8 z: M7 c8 N
million in the United States -- since last fall because of
0 Q' |1 k; t" \$ ~, u% e/ s) d$ nunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
. M) D$ |! Y) b9 k. ~3 Iissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering- D' W9 ^* g8 C# |% |
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
0 ]8 Z/ X9 o2 \2 e2 ^" ?& X" ztheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow/ z6 N2 |2 f- F4 o* {# D6 b
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has# e! r, | O2 J. a
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
7 y, U, e( a8 g- oof Toyota vehicles since 2000.# a# Q0 a- U+ H) j
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own, Y6 Z; S; m/ R1 l5 P+ p
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
2 d8 b* J) u/ O! x Funderstood the pain.$ Q3 U( _8 L! t+ }- {& @
"I know what those families go through," he said.2 Q9 }7 Y4 t, }7 q! U$ m8 F- D
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's$ t9 X2 e0 l) c3 I- S2 J$ x5 u7 _
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
( v0 r8 W, K: a/ G4 x x8 EBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
$ N3 r) E& s: v/ m: @* J. J7 \& X2 cHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put4 r1 n C$ K0 c
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,2 q! B# \3 L0 B/ Q) |3 }
Lentz replied: "Not totally."
, J+ I E3 U5 O) ]8 y( f, N2 s1 @& hStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
/ m9 y* z" H b8 Q7 C( \& t& S! }( v"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
1 t1 l. x# L1 k6 }+ X. I6 vToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
, Q+ z- G L7 ipedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
- E$ ` | B5 w( R$ Hvehicles already on the road.( U1 }8 F! |9 p/ U$ T6 A9 z. N
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
2 s" `2 v0 f% ~' `, ?before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full% ?* @# c8 Q+ a( F
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and6 L+ ^' q; y) v: F" n7 x
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
6 R; O" N6 L+ f% c& n' x) |, C7 Okilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
0 d8 M3 H F$ n. ?0 C; s: G"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a) ~; D& J6 W% x, @% I, \
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
7 b4 m8 O) u: nfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
( q* ?2 d) }8 f3 Z. M% C7 a% t. @Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
( `/ ?2 L$ f; W% Y5 O% scommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
9 P$ Z* e8 m+ crestore the trust of our customers."; e1 t8 P7 K8 ]$ r
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from C7 L- l" ~8 u/ Q/ M! t
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
8 e' U3 h, D; H" w L- q8 l8 @* uzoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --# P/ w/ u/ A( F# U8 D. n8 j
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
. F% G( Y K3 z5 q" G, xhitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough+ p; U4 f, }. E1 c5 |
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and3 X* O8 O* q* Y$ K+ ~' o/ x
turn off the engine.
( H9 q5 G. B, x1 {( W) pFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
* D! Y- c t/ T& L( S# WOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
' d2 _" e& `& C8 k) I; d"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she. H, x% |# q8 r' }5 c( F2 Z. E
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
0 N- e3 a8 S; Y# Wto her complaints.% V. C% o1 e" C* g. y
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers( }% G, r# t+ i9 Y" m, c
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic+ B* {) L2 o+ l. @- Q1 t6 q
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
?9 ]* w( e2 B; P# `"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
! Z6 b+ i! }3 | ~& ythrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
1 d8 Y* J! c& }6 G5 L3 U& o5 i"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
0 t. k* g5 }3 X2 Eoff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."/ }( l% K+ E" a7 d
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in1 V( W, _. R0 O M8 @% i
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were/ I& l. R5 C! x. r- A5 y5 m! o
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
6 b1 G- s0 d8 M+ u5 T: @* Awere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
0 t9 d6 J4 q" R- L- W9 h5 n9 {# c# A# jevery question.". Z) u6 l/ ]# o5 R& p$ v
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether- N+ q4 Z9 X- q9 Z ~
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The" u: ?9 R1 h# Y- o7 z/ q
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But6 _: m. ]! b3 v2 F' ~" F* ]2 r" P
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small/ m Y2 j( n' [; ?+ V k! ~
number of vehicles
( U, ?' v4 y5 MTracking down an electrical problem can be far more* l7 L0 ^" k1 B4 E- T
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
2 }7 ]% P% C' H& B- cmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
+ t- d( b5 c+ i/ Gsource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
- G" Z( r! Q" AMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,( F& d; y. [! i) d/ e
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
" J& }# B! v% K+ c% R; k4 g+ D% S9 ztrace at all." C2 ]2 P" K0 b: x& c" R# C, v
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
4 \' K4 X& L& d! Z4 A+ fdatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
: w# \4 R8 j. {" I! w5 a/ |acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the: r: O; o5 ^) r. O0 a9 \9 Q
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.) j5 m$ y- `. i9 a# {8 E2 u
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
+ k0 B% \4 F7 R. w8 Msaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and g' `2 @2 U; c
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
0 l) m* M- E) k, ?5 g# N7 Velectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible' r, H) Z5 N. ?, `
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
! l" p% _3 L- C5 x' y* @! B% k; xsuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained( r! C7 f0 u* N; O
by Toyota's lawyers."
( W, M7 x% L7 [1 e- g: c8 c% ?# GLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of! m; H% J, C; v$ @0 l! M- |& `
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
- O9 C# E, ~/ g u7 Q, a" w3 Ncustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he( n5 b% t9 j& d2 b, e5 N0 W! \
said.. ?0 ^1 C! s5 n: g" x
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
' R4 H( a4 v$ G2 G& W4 b9 w5 P7 Ia rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our: ~! i8 Y# D# m7 w( ]
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
% s S! E' D; L# ~# Eofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.5 f. C- O5 P" k; \/ J
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying, n; {+ K" F% t0 q( r8 N) h
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread/ a' N; x! W s) c' A- ^& U
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the, N7 P7 T% |1 w: Z! y
automaker, at least in part because of the government's. K) s n0 ?8 t8 |1 T
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and( m9 g6 Z: \9 t- M# v& @
Chrysler., z% g* d! E" @* x
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax2 ]2 z9 J0 F$ x) F( V, ]1 U/ z0 u) t
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a( C- W( r& N4 p4 J6 I0 K, ^9 k
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also5 y( | j: g, B
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
6 z6 N& V6 A/ G3 p: W# h3 ^! f1 Gwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty+ u! I* o9 e8 w1 _
tough."% p O* H( D+ r! |. \3 S5 m
--- H0 R2 B' U) e$ u+ w
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom+ G r8 T9 u* n& {8 c3 s8 |' H
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
8 a6 N* C4 e: ~, J; f( uthis story.3 g) y/ R7 u Z' ^
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