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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题( P% r1 G- F, Q4 n, l( G8 I k
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
|4 h- M. g) U# W' cWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.; ]" P0 b9 }" d
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
5 b$ z1 r4 A8 @& \( Athe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"2 E6 S1 w# B* }4 |$ ?. O1 J
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.% o( V3 Y0 R% a5 ?0 W' H' o
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
8 Q( V4 z" L# S; C9 I" W& `causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
1 E) k' i# k. \& L2 l' SHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
" M! a+ |( z8 w- t! l. qacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and4 ~/ ^4 v& e. Z, K- W' }& x
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
" _$ Y0 l8 a( X0 J9 k. N) Pmats and sticking accelerator pedals.8 o. L' ~9 e: M# c" i8 k3 F0 d
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
8 S) C$ W _" o5 X( \& V/ I1 f- {0 Eand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp6 j; k( ?( s; j, k/ b
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
: f1 X. j) x, b% Ofurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could! M1 l, p) ^' y, j; u( B' e
not stop her runaway Lexus.+ \, A3 e# M8 r: m# w% x0 g% q- Q4 k8 Q
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,7 T, t/ _7 j a
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second2 J5 ~7 q$ N* o! Z D* I' _5 s
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.' o! O# q# `6 D
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
( J2 c! X X3 f+ y5 Z5 Iearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said: e" _9 F& I+ E4 j
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
1 r2 `) l, ]+ S: }4 t" `! e/ Adone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway: _1 f. l* l1 Y# G& @5 q
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
- q0 j$ P! W7 yinvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."- n- a% S. \. L
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an: m5 V/ Y% J1 R7 L
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of |# T2 h g: t( h* }
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a6 C6 [' K2 l$ \! N, p/ l, y
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
. y9 f" @; K, J. q6 v4 G: E, Usaid.
/ ~$ n! h3 N4 b- CAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
7 t, M) f+ o8 Y( a& R5 I- }happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
: |' a- R2 ^; B5 j) Qabout driving our products," Lentz said.
4 W4 @+ i0 t" c! u6 B* O, P( PThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's$ X: @4 f ~ I7 l* l4 D1 T
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has8 y0 S7 `1 N5 `+ m5 }9 g/ s7 l
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 63 h, V$ X. m1 F& a. d) Q
million in the United States -- since last fall because of
3 E8 M8 M/ a0 J+ U* B+ H9 c3 Punintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
2 N, P* _& j7 M! |* X. Gissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
' U% T( H8 j& \4 {- k+ O2 E/ w# }+ fconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
# Z4 S% B8 X4 q) K9 b+ d" Atheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow8 A/ g! ^/ C7 R+ _
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has% v) C. F" O( O' j4 m8 Z
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration, g2 {, d/ ` R" r
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.% W9 I2 ?( l( E, B
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
+ ?% _3 n/ R j) ubrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
8 l, h+ e& R% p- ]& n |understood the pain.
; S8 T, U5 ~. {* K' | b" t1 L"I know what those families go through," he said.6 {( I0 l/ d4 V2 u: E+ p4 D4 M! l+ C
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's" J. b7 `8 D0 v7 F
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems." s" L$ `! g: B! p0 H2 M9 ^6 s
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
) p1 n) [- s! d' u% yHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
8 a0 s9 v- m Y. G% qin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
F! A! u/ P2 ~. `4 \! q NLentz replied: "Not totally."
5 r0 u+ j1 J$ C* N0 }Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were' e: L# ^' b" Z1 s
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
; `1 P1 f* d3 ^* C' VToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas! C3 V2 m" x8 o2 [) [
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its8 y- x6 b$ v0 c( y6 V: } b
vehicles already on the road.
0 ]' R. }# M, y' C$ b( f. c! xMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
+ B1 ]3 }+ K" l' D: @before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
$ l2 [8 \0 R" x" Z9 ^: uresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
5 G" l, V% l& i' A: hoffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were, v; K/ {+ z x0 i8 [2 m8 j
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.5 j) ~3 B# X. a1 c
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
: E2 _ b3 h( I% {* Ltragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony5 m( @& B2 {6 i* @4 g7 c
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight' F) B; F4 x3 Z8 u
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
5 j4 A8 g# [1 s: N3 I6 B9 l$ |commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
1 R1 b0 b2 c, J; L$ I/ W! prestore the trust of our customers."
6 Q4 o; V, f5 ~3 K. fLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from8 c1 Y% G( O' F4 r- P% w
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly' ?) h ^7 Q! Q! a1 e4 r. J
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
% D: c/ z. E9 i) l6 ushifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and8 P" f* k1 @+ X# D2 l
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough# [: a" [! H/ }% N* X6 Z8 l
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and* h4 p0 R; x- |9 d6 K
turn off the engine.& L5 r# N; b6 O3 l5 b: }
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of: j2 b: f1 T6 ?- x
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
0 Y, N& I+ s" L0 L" y2 c9 C9 ?"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
( b2 U; d" F) |4 [- zsaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
5 l) O0 ?3 j: A5 f& kto her complaints.5 H& G- j/ U2 Y7 D2 k7 i
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers- H9 ^1 Z: Z: S( w4 _( ?. t0 `
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic5 {7 Z* l4 _& ~2 C0 ^- A6 C
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
" u, E4 F+ i/ @"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric; R, P$ O$ M( Z+ n6 Y' o
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
! ^8 S c$ _# [8 u"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
9 W& I$ |% g* h% r- v. r5 Woff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."/ [/ \: D; `. k% a
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in/ S4 [9 B- M7 R8 q& ]
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
0 `' L* s' o+ h4 Vbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls5 s( m% @& L* I. L' y! V5 Z
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer1 v, ?+ C! w5 m1 X g3 C7 y
every question."
" N" e% {- t* [2 p ^8 A4 TToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
7 T Y* b( Q6 G2 c% Yelectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
( \6 Q( ~4 e( [firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But7 j4 K' R- h Z' l0 G2 ~
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small6 a+ j$ R, A8 q+ l S) D6 E& B
number of vehicles
w Q( t$ t6 m9 XTracking down an electrical problem can be far more; E: e& k9 r. [/ ^
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a" ^3 i# s- M1 @. S# P
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one& e2 _" F1 v9 q) S- Y5 `; z
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.5 b2 T; I* f h3 v
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
; i9 ~3 A8 W/ e! C- ~/ lwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
3 N2 U. J" z* m) ~0 Y6 L$ M. rtrace at all.; ^+ D/ S6 l0 R% F) [ y
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call) d8 j j5 I; M C+ {( D r
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
4 q6 |, ~' b- W8 z7 Qacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the" \ n+ }- g% r% o6 e' ^7 N
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
$ e# z5 p5 W. k c% QRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,5 @, x( ^5 a( s* W! V" [$ W
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and& \% L4 m5 u* `" U
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the0 t* r/ r6 l" b1 c* m) l
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible) A' A$ I' K8 @" n3 s
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
! x( M% [7 J, S9 q' U2 Usuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
0 H' x9 _# ~( Hby Toyota's lawyers."" }; [3 v# ^6 t: S r) C3 `9 Y
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
( V( T% b5 A8 p3 F8 m9 ?% c/ U Z$ M! Nproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
4 E( M, U; g$ E& S x) R, a6 Zcustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he, e/ b5 M6 J! l9 X& J: C% ~% Z+ U
said.
! Q, ]$ D: E6 L' t. Z! O# x T. p"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with$ l+ M; t- V/ `1 l8 p" o8 o. H8 Y
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our8 |) r3 C2 f, p& {9 `
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating; \( I8 Z9 D1 G5 n+ x' h
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.8 f2 N# l+ P, d& D9 E8 U# w: o+ j
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying0 T# P5 N2 d) z, A
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
9 C7 G0 J$ F6 Z: i Mrancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
. e+ b' t1 L5 Oautomaker, at least in part because of the government's6 N( N+ k: F1 M9 j u) z& P
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and! n R0 V w7 P3 R% g( H
Chrysler.* ` @8 A1 k3 d0 [3 Q
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax' i0 _& ^2 ?; J7 X0 H. o/ g
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
0 M5 S) X* q! z9 a( W# IHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
2 }+ m8 }1 k1 r# j7 P8 L8 e0 Rserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
4 E9 Y. G8 n( M* xwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
* f" K, D4 ?) K0 Utough.", Q3 w) ?" H# y) Y
---
. w; \- I5 Q1 bAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom- F0 a% T/ W* B3 |5 Q+ t
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
. V1 C/ @' v9 J4 h. a0 Bthis story.
$ F/ J4 o" d' V1 v5 y C2 [/ A! V: T( H: S& w1 b
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