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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题1 K- T8 `& z# H% c
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS1 o% l4 u8 \7 ~1 y9 i& j! a0 a
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.7 t: b$ v2 c* Q& C3 F
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
5 V6 d: W/ Q0 _6 I( Q9 B0 tthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
# Q" o4 i7 y- W" L; {# p1 C- Vsolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
7 [1 n1 ~9 l5 x: p/ w"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential+ j# G2 x2 p5 L- P+ c. Z. o1 P
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.: y# f4 s9 A1 Z T0 t: ?' j, a6 [9 R
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected# j) p+ g9 Z2 D0 @. u
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and8 E1 Q f$ A& l' N
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
8 R( E8 C) E5 p# |" v1 omats and sticking accelerator pedals.# o8 L, O8 H( I, W
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal' x. L% S; Y3 }- [4 b+ e
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
1 h0 L( H" D. f" P* A( U9 Lcriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be8 p: _+ K' D5 t: `
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
" O) Z2 U# p. L: i& ^& a/ A3 F$ Znot stop her runaway Lexus./ s1 h) D; r8 q) {/ y" t0 E4 i2 Z, ?
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
* G- f4 D0 ?1 y, X' WTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
/ p3 ~8 L! H/ l3 ?2 r* W4 q"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.) f) g) k6 a. e/ h! N( T) t1 u0 n
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues4 O8 m2 O8 e0 q6 E B: K
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
( O. t8 E* w/ g! v3 F"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
$ M$ g' B6 M$ O, D4 R/ B- N. fdone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
9 W2 R' r7 A X' [through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's5 y; X _/ v! A5 N$ W Q
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."& V+ [* `2 O, y0 g6 r$ A
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an0 ]+ u4 e! A7 V8 \, @, q0 N
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of. g4 b& v6 m' p; m4 W) P
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
2 B) ?% k% A8 Amalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he+ A0 Y- V9 |0 c! K. c E( R
said.
m9 r3 T( Q' vAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
+ D' ?0 W% y9 p- N' vhappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
' R' ^* W. L. G$ O" r; S6 G. N9 Qabout driving our products," Lentz said.! D8 U" O, ] k H
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's7 a( Q# O3 ^3 H. i0 Z+ ?
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
6 B( } {) J v. B; M8 Crecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
8 D0 S( _3 S0 v3 X& \million in the United States -- since last fall because of# i m. A( H h' B, M
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
% @0 u3 g7 A& Wissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
: q( {$ N. d! F* f( Z; [concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of3 s, {; W% d6 p- L9 k9 `/ b
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
! m9 Y B3 m1 P2 N/ |- P+ g4 Cdown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
. \. ^/ x) i5 E( h; Ereceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration2 {9 m$ N9 A0 s3 A7 Y |
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.
9 e/ |1 d; F! R9 e3 aLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own! q( T: F7 ~( \3 m9 |
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
! z, K! k& F3 v! T( Nunderstood the pain./ _, i' A% a, l
"I know what those families go through," he said.
( s" x9 i/ w( z" p+ |Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
& A7 ]) H. U* v4 X+ C" x( hfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
; K2 J% u' U/ H$ r! O7 o2 i# c; QBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
5 D. `, S3 t9 C, w9 NHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put- {' Y- R8 W# l( z2 j3 |% \
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,$ b( T: R0 D* {) ?
Lentz replied: "Not totally."
8 h; E# w5 L5 n1 m7 i$ u( PStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
9 }8 G5 e, T/ Z6 a: `0 J; ^"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said5 o) s |. o; F& v/ z& P
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
3 L0 j8 W! D" dpedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its0 F/ Q. f0 i ~' |, } A
vehicles already on the road.
4 r ]+ q! b- F3 R3 g, ^5 zMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify) A Y6 I' A6 [2 O/ ^' _+ ]
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
( B: y7 X6 ^! T1 k' M- y& N) Sresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
8 O: ?7 `3 ?: L- J3 D+ C$ toffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
* W3 d. v7 z6 j5 k5 K7 B" Bkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
! M, P6 i8 h0 G e"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a5 v% T4 R" p! L1 s1 V3 P
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
. V1 p8 i! o5 H: Ffor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight2 P" d- y; b) R& E3 \
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
" W0 B( R- u( Q/ v* z3 u3 k; y1 W! zcommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
" N# r4 \; w4 e6 }5 yrestore the trust of our customers."
( Y" o" X% M4 Z# P+ uLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
9 u* i0 L, d$ P" J' o% ASmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
5 K' z; m1 j# ~" @/ L/ ^zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --+ @! j# J& N% F) n: M
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
% ^: |3 Y' i- O7 f4 yhitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
/ Q( \) y: n) Qthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and N. x/ x2 S" B- } \3 ~: o
turn off the engine.( i! p0 K6 R' E0 R8 L
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of& Q& h/ i6 m7 [3 ]$ m9 G9 P
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."7 Q. _0 z) q J& L! ]' V
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she8 q( w4 g) Q5 y( M: G$ @
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond9 m! t* g7 }+ `5 x0 h$ y6 |8 L9 ~
to her complaints.
! {4 ?# P3 R$ u( J2 n4 O0 f/ kIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
% K' \: m3 l7 }6 Areturned again and again to the question of whether electronic
2 e7 y1 P3 _4 h. h2 x5 e4 [: Zmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
3 I1 r4 C1 m0 }3 o3 j: B"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
& @ R. `# n; `( E/ qthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
: ~. I) }6 E2 R; f* J& k2 E& b6 x: Q"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
7 l! E2 Q! F0 Z; Z# ]2 ` ooff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure.", T3 ~* Z9 e5 W% @, `
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in& H# M, S- m0 ~$ z( C
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were$ W' H& g. b. A# C0 v5 m+ y5 U
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls# X% _* X! Z! d+ E( V+ P' @
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer' H: y2 c9 C, r, y! i4 T* L: ^
every question."
. ^' ~' @+ C8 y5 s+ t# uToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether: o+ b! |- H: f% w" d: O% p
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The: X [' w! P0 |- y6 p# Y& d& N
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But+ u2 G7 N3 i, {4 E, l, r# D
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
@7 Y$ y: f% |* `number of vehicles
3 G& p" V# p1 o& f5 K- b0 |+ {Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more
: N; O7 D, O0 T6 z" Sdifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
( Q8 h. b2 f% V5 ?1 Qmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
. }% P# M0 b% |7 rsource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
. u+ G4 u0 h2 `1 L( yMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,# O" M9 z8 Z; {
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
9 \9 t' v% t7 w( D* ^" Dtrace at all.
7 A$ D4 }; t( mHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
6 K( y4 L! ?6 Q, M: q- U" [1 Hdatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
% G" y# R2 ]* S M, ]acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
% u, x% h, @1 T5 a7 |recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.; W7 p" r. S* k: F% i! d6 M. C
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
% q0 K7 u! l* X$ _0 l9 Xsaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
! w# z% R$ e. s1 ]* m* t" oother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the7 Z# Y+ n- f) a7 ~: Y( f& w
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
$ p7 p( M) @# f% v5 jcause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
- H3 |3 T6 g- d& K: M# Xsuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained( g$ a" U! T0 w! @
by Toyota's lawyers.". k/ L& H$ z% v& r' w! ?2 C3 m& F
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
$ A* V, T' O5 S5 B* Q' sproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
: b2 ]- c+ y$ U M/ mcustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he! O+ A% |" q( Y" q. e# K a
said.3 A9 B; f7 x# `2 z8 y4 s4 } L, H* j
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with0 b% W' G8 V- ~& \9 a6 o: G9 _' v
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our# R% C8 W) K6 R$ V v. B
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating3 L7 ~ v; w) }
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
/ _1 N$ S% d9 J- ^" _/ c hSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
7 C. f% Q0 ]" W. z6 `7 ~members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
1 ^) I2 f0 u7 jrancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the' O; y" _. Q) T. I; [
automaker, at least in part because of the government's7 }! `: D$ R: @; x( N% _' o8 _
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and- W! s# O4 v) Q4 \/ e9 F: ?
Chrysler.) N( z2 V( f/ f9 V8 m% X+ c
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax4 v7 M9 \4 z \7 W5 {0 q( V
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
# [- T" }- o) y+ y7 i* e* mHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also+ n- e9 s( D$ m
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
1 u, ^ ~& p& }+ B: A8 u# Uwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty% O1 e# e! X' D B7 o+ ]; x
tough."* u1 X4 u& b: S# t- A8 ~+ v
---
3 f- S# U1 R2 @Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
' ~' L) n( h/ ? B! QRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
' r4 c+ Z" G5 x4 _7 cthis story.' ]) h, `- D$ r, I. {% O
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