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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题, I" A7 c3 H W
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS& L3 k" P4 `* O
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
2 g: l& R* }2 O0 s% eoperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
9 P8 Y! C4 k! L' v4 k2 Sthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally") Z- J4 H/ T; _7 q
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.9 Z3 h8 ^* ], S" g) Q
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential$ [# A* \, V7 N. I% ^0 f; c
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.4 {5 r) W# P$ @- K
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
+ ]* S- X4 C( R" Pacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
, S+ I: [; e/ q$ c7 S( ^' o; Ttrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
& |# M7 p( L; T G4 lmats and sticking accelerator pedals. v8 Q p" {; M/ G/ b! \$ k% I
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
" T- M* O9 L7 T6 p7 X/ Z$ U; N3 |and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp0 s( ?& R; w" L1 s8 r
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be6 X7 v5 a( X6 D) E% [/ W4 Z
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could6 y% l' g/ Q6 z, [
not stop her runaway Lexus.
1 ~. }& W/ r$ d$ ]. u) c"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
7 O, g( S- [& O7 M$ S3 zTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
7 k* K# n, q, P, P8 }# a; ^"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.5 j4 E% ~7 F( \9 G" G6 }8 {
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
0 `% R& n+ }$ m% }. Qearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said) ?1 m/ \8 w! E; ]" [4 T h7 v
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has& X6 a: ]( i, V. Z S5 w
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway1 U2 m! e5 e0 T1 n
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's' e- s% U& T) I4 h. P
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
. z7 V$ c% z1 F. N) nLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an& `0 a8 A3 W8 P# w' D0 q0 v
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of. [) h S5 ~' M) d, J0 h# |& @
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
. i* U; l! c0 s4 ~malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he# b0 f; L9 r9 l Y
said.
4 M/ X2 t! P7 f+ u/ b" nAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
# s$ I5 Y, m+ `4 f% Zhappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe: v$ r: V$ o7 z$ P/ h5 I
about driving our products," Lentz said.
7 C5 U9 D% f& I, SThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's# A! s/ L) v2 E! f
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
# a. U# p3 C6 z& H6 R4 w. yrecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6$ s7 h# v7 w& v4 f( n/ a( q
million in the United States -- since last fall because of3 b" B9 } r! ]+ f- \* C. ]
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking% J" P9 S1 a) Z7 K+ D, j/ e
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
1 X$ i" o$ F7 o/ [9 m' d6 W& Oconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
2 y) y1 p% P4 qtheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow0 x, I; S# Y' d- m
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has! ^9 x5 c: |6 Z ]/ ?6 c; N
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration+ t' R6 O9 L1 ]: \
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.
. T S( D8 }; z" V, ]3 |" ]( iLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own. Y! ?6 H; f- i
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he" M: q% p4 a* C% c8 L
understood the pain.
5 b* x& m1 t& [8 k( D$ x8 z"I know what those families go through," he said.
6 N* E& i; U3 yLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's5 r f3 J I" }$ @4 q& @
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
1 L1 }# v; h' I/ a: A5 o+ \But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman5 T: x: O0 j) `& @( C' D4 i
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put# J, W; g9 U! C# O W K
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
2 k: ^* A1 h# N6 b8 Y4 N/ x( JLentz replied: "Not totally."' `1 j4 y+ N3 t; S# U& Y5 t
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
/ ~( ~2 G S3 W"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
4 _; r: Q2 c" DToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
9 m( m6 ?5 Y; Tpedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
! r3 m, Z- \; ^9 `) lvehicles already on the road.
1 F- m( c) C1 K- `Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify$ P, s# {$ b. }! [- H" U C. ?: h
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
2 w$ H+ H- r5 C, B4 o6 yresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and k; g! S1 k5 S' S% O3 Z
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
1 B- e6 f" e; w! T$ ~3 f4 jkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
, l# T w5 q9 d4 C T s"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
2 L9 A/ _( \; c4 Ttragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
# C, C' H) N/ I2 c6 w$ V ^for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight8 G1 O8 F3 D5 |6 d4 V& d) s3 _
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal' q# I+ e. t0 Z9 T
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to& k$ u$ \- G' u, x" h# D8 t
restore the trust of our customers."
- X& B6 Q3 c8 t$ m9 v' K2 q. u4 o( fLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
b5 ~1 M: E; o e. ASmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly4 `( c5 J E* A8 G' P9 x# S
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
1 l8 \( |$ M0 Z8 V1 C! ashifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
7 |& T* o. ?$ [7 {7 z/ f thitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough* c0 C& G( C5 E" n" H9 N
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
$ W; ?2 X2 P( e) |) Y6 t3 p. n( `: m* xturn off the engine.
7 F. [% N! D4 u) \# Z8 {2 g @Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of) r0 i9 h1 ]" v i* q( ~8 @' X
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
2 G/ F! [, v* y; p"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she- a: s B# \: w9 S- q
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond+ k! s7 o+ i% V5 g4 C
to her complaints.
R, W, l5 d( n% F- l6 n0 g, ]In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
, b) i6 j: T5 Q1 q- ^( Qreturned again and again to the question of whether electronic
0 K( p' s5 y2 y) Omalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
* ~( s( K7 E- |* L7 h' k0 n"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric3 T T! r; o. H' l5 M% W
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
6 q/ m% ~% Y+ W9 Z- v% n2 U) E" m2 j u"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
6 ^" ~; V$ j4 ~# c- v* Doff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
$ F) W9 D0 i, L1 R; aTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in. _; g9 M+ n- j4 N9 V6 S
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
- ^" ]1 z- F* j1 { z) ?7 Obeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls- u6 _. [- U6 A& I |1 ~# V
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
. Z w& `( A4 @every question."
: T* D+ u# i, H' E- p. ], P1 S( yToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether8 ^) `8 O3 @' O9 T/ h
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The$ t5 \! R% j/ B5 r+ e3 {. C
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
- l3 S: I1 U7 x3 ucommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small# {! }# ]% J( Z
number of vehicles2 e* O$ l/ n5 t( o( V, a
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more+ ?2 w' ~+ i [% h. i4 O) [3 a
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a/ A! e$ n& S. Y! ^
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
' c, {+ Q; {! f7 y- isource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.0 n& V# v q# l
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,; d- A. R5 u' _' P, v" X" Z
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no; [1 `( S/ l7 U5 ]$ f0 n4 a k
trace at all.
S. f0 }8 Y# ]0 vHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
5 t) U) T: r5 {7 }( i0 e. }8 N# L" Xdatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
# Q4 A h( D1 z: R$ gacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the# ?+ X! t: h7 y9 |/ R
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
) h) h [9 V# B5 g% E" b! RRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,( D# L1 ]1 o8 _* W: Y" b
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and" ]: h7 h& [* \+ S, S" L
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the$ n% E4 o1 ?! @# L- `
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
# K: V: d( u# A/ f0 G. ?4 C# Vcause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only) A6 G }8 _1 v# a" z+ M
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained6 _8 i, G# ?; W6 n2 i- Y3 h7 t* b
by Toyota's lawyers."6 ]) G; s; D0 u: S! h2 j% m
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of5 A0 R* V! J+ @7 g L
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our4 ?1 v, ?8 c/ {9 ^' h
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he' f1 J4 |* l; p U; ?
said.2 T f) K5 S$ _2 d& ^ @# f
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
. _% j2 x; p) R% @( Ca rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our8 x- o. E( j( b5 K! d+ @' {
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating3 g7 h7 Q, S. c9 O: K5 P$ J
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
4 C( I! O# D J, }% T, l* [Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying: R4 L0 C% D- m# ?5 J4 m
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
4 |6 s3 k( e0 s0 G4 }; Francor toward a federal government they view as picking on the$ S7 S M& C4 G5 z# q( ^" B
automaker, at least in part because of the government's: H5 o1 r6 H; V7 ]/ y; g% O
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
' A' M9 J4 L* { X) C2 y1 y% dChrysler.: i( W& H. f; S7 D8 L# r
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax% |' z8 j' i4 W
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a. k/ H9 ~, R5 X4 J
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also, ~% W- [# p& T" z4 {/ ~, K: Q$ l2 k
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
) z$ t, y* u) Q, d# j; e# fwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty. o) L3 a' u3 X7 [
tough."
, z5 Z2 h. n' P8 W0 {---+ |" S e0 i l1 k" q# \
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
4 d# q* O) z# U7 nRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
! s$ ^7 C1 _& h% G* q6 D( F' Bthis story.
; g3 _& S3 k% K8 Q! B- R' ]$ w, h) n% x5 r: ~ j% M$ U
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