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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题. G9 z( U8 _) q; E
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
1 | M9 S9 j" x& R7 _Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.% C+ B) I% I& p5 E
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that% e0 o6 F6 W7 w8 Q' U
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"( \% I2 i v7 O9 j7 b! T. ~
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.2 X) l% q4 F" o. x
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
, B1 m( c$ F0 N2 M" c" K, ]- vcauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
5 W" @, I1 F h( ` g% AHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected3 k6 u/ P$ J3 _; H6 q9 _# n* X7 y
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
9 L0 f% l! x+ _. J- K6 Q$ ftrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
7 y0 i" M k3 D0 Imats and sticking accelerator pedals.. t" S: g- h) \% Q1 p- T
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
) T4 o, y1 N3 u, ^and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
6 x# `; T/ X. k( g& g, w# zcriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
5 |. f/ G( {* u/ _5 ?1 Yfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could- y( o0 b8 |9 t8 s/ t
not stop her runaway Lexus.. ^; P) K! x8 d/ A9 N& X& |' ?
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
$ Z8 r& j6 t* {) D* LTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second1 X y4 N0 P1 w7 ^
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
, A7 V# R: q. V" NTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues. H3 A! d- u" v7 u) _
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
! I1 ~! g7 z+ i6 t"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has7 W/ D1 w5 C( W, V) Y0 D f
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
+ S+ w" C+ E5 L# mthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's2 M9 e3 n; Z6 a8 s9 s' {' E* E
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."* x1 C4 ]% y* f6 J
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an A# `& T( Q+ {$ C
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
u+ \* O7 A. v1 cthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a2 l6 W7 {; b$ u5 h* T# t
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
4 a+ l }# N! H& U9 A. Esaid.
3 @6 ~$ }2 A9 V; _* r3 u& J; O! YAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what" F1 i$ i8 l2 {- J( }; n; S4 |
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe/ v( M! K$ \) U4 b3 X( c; A$ j
about driving our products," Lentz said.0 r$ M6 H' \) L% y u# I8 g
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
( K' D9 H8 V' n9 @5 Nproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
1 z! y8 M" y+ k- C" k9 L6 P) i# wrecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
' E" Y! ^, i6 ]3 { X9 D5 i( U5 w/ P, Fmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of
7 B+ |. s& {* S, l/ [unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking1 ^# ~! j5 q: v8 t" y0 C
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
5 g+ X/ }+ h0 y$ H, }% S5 Cconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
* R1 x4 L3 @: N3 E# Ptheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
& l9 o; {( \8 C- _7 {( Zdown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
$ W8 i$ y3 P. w2 Dreceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
. X: R: C- ]+ m( X; j/ \of Toyota vehicles since 2000.* y0 P6 W& z8 W' F% M) t; i
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
; ]' c& G1 C$ lbrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he, q' x& o: V {% S( |
understood the pain.+ h+ q" S p* z- y: q: \: H
"I know what those families go through," he said.* \) y2 u5 t$ {* I2 S& i5 p
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
* p3 v& H! \( z: B& W P# C4 yfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.4 D5 ?1 M5 M9 j) \! V
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
6 H) t) ^, L$ M* b3 kHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put9 @2 w" I" n! c7 S& o! ^
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,3 n& R$ m% C( R& m
Lentz replied: "Not totally."
1 A, C4 V6 ~4 R6 g* R' j9 @Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were3 m5 T4 \! A5 v" |, j; \: L+ A
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said6 Y* n) M5 v( D3 w; R- B. e" h
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
0 S3 O0 U- ^! ]8 z% l' }" ~1 epedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its+ z3 ~5 W) C$ v& j1 f1 i
vehicles already on the road.
! c# q8 W) R3 D7 WMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
3 B' h5 F7 i" ?2 D6 \before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
/ G1 P( r% A n# f" |: P0 Cresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and( p$ r; U0 Z+ [" V( H
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
' v: T8 t6 B$ z1 }killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.* o$ g [. P* q8 r6 [+ ?9 l
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a( m6 p8 w! H8 b. V
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
1 H) S M3 P" E5 w' Z) wfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight$ g( z0 r+ F9 M6 x! [
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
# V5 N1 R& e: J/ L3 e7 qcommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to6 n: L4 |3 E# }9 P0 ~+ }, O4 ~
restore the trust of our customers."/ `0 L* g. ^1 H/ u' P$ X
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
7 W% f' y5 ]6 a8 @( O% I9 `! v4 M' MSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly; A- x0 }. I3 v+ s& X+ ~6 X
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
1 D+ R! i. a8 z+ xshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
1 j; k& P7 l; g& Y2 \0 Bhitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
! w9 N- w, h- R+ h% zthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
, x+ C9 P- \9 g) c: [( Tturn off the engine.
; `5 r7 X2 x+ u: ]2 kFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of1 Z- l- l7 Q/ F: Z$ G: V6 \' @1 E
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."* P) n3 I. |7 F; z- t1 H7 t9 w
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she7 P) K& J& G0 Q# z% b
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
0 u1 \9 x* W$ M- V9 Rto her complaints./ o/ U/ G( M/ n3 D
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
+ Z: w5 Y& X- I2 qreturned again and again to the question of whether electronic
5 f; G5 I9 h8 ]$ ?: u7 ] ^; c6 imalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.! @, C& ]/ p$ x
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric# I6 K. J' K+ m+ [: K5 A. m
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
$ a. J& j7 T, j- _* K( c"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut9 |3 ]% c! U/ A. h1 }; Z
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
' H/ ], Y* A2 ^% d+ t, YTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
+ {* R, T: m3 w' }5 s: e! Wprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were7 q4 p* T8 f9 _+ L8 F* I
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls; L; i6 C4 E' I9 K' ^
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer. e* i5 Y" G3 s( B' F
every question."
. g7 y z$ g/ g$ R: k6 vToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
6 a. F7 X* L5 Lelectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The- ^4 t) e$ p% ~- y; p+ l8 ~0 q
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But! ~- u* _+ e" y' u/ S1 _
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
1 G0 W% k/ r: P5 K3 |6 Mnumber of vehicles
! @1 C% K8 W! Z# Z$ I7 m GTracking down an electrical problem can be far more
. V6 r. e( Z5 W& V1 e" p# Bdifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
, A& a! S o4 |' ]mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
l" I3 L; m) n( z- p5 g, fsource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.7 C; \' f$ P+ e/ \
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,- R t4 R& T7 Q1 R) s2 g
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no7 c+ ~/ `: W( e5 w' N/ b' L
trace at all.
7 V: N9 F& U' B7 M: r1 \/ B7 k2 G7 qHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call% P' Z0 T' K3 c& F( R2 ~, q
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden w3 @9 Y; ^: ~5 {; `- _
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
- b$ z1 Z; W$ p, b6 n3 ]( N! urecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.' e' O+ T; f b
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,3 T4 G0 l) K$ F3 [4 s+ ~2 f: f. [
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
5 @; N& Z- g7 W/ A" _. K) oother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
5 ]5 p1 I% A2 m0 Lelectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible( h+ ?; n1 b \ M1 N
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only# ]0 ^- v6 h F- t E) J
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained0 r3 C5 l% G5 E2 H
by Toyota's lawyers."
0 m8 m% \" _4 P$ V$ t6 g# aLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
' E. [5 p s9 a$ `# cproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
. o& A4 K# P) A6 acustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
5 Y i4 {. t& _. C7 i5 lsaid.( T5 |; N0 N; @+ R# [, ~8 t' Y
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with" ~" F1 m$ j7 {8 M
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
$ }. ?: w5 o. z4 A0 S2 S+ ygood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
7 K( m- h1 p) @! l7 d/ ^) s1 rofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.2 F$ u2 V# [0 I0 m( c
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying2 c" g5 z1 y# U' }3 A# c
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
1 a8 G. q2 |& |3 S0 ]' prancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the: g( N, \% w( g; [( F; w
automaker, at least in part because of the government's& w+ Q4 ~) K+ A3 p4 a" h
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
3 G' t- c' r7 L( p1 N5 x: O* ZChrysler.1 v" k* U( M$ D/ \& G
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax+ U1 k# z2 S [8 v; i& A
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
0 N1 N( L3 {) j2 ^& B5 uHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
: Y! T! T0 ]3 l Hserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete4 S" j7 {8 `4 u1 O2 v' a
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty: i: Z2 D" w; @
tough."/ U2 }/ J8 |6 P0 g/ C9 Z2 x
---& A' w# |+ d0 w( m% J' _
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
; T- K& V: a% L; U+ `Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to2 H% u/ |% ^8 H# t) l2 J
this story.$ b) \' _' C* a! B3 V3 r" c" `
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