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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题' n4 j9 ]$ j/ J$ `( e# K
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
. K7 W6 g& n" E' i4 ~9 U( FWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.; _" f$ B. X* a/ c
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
+ Q6 ^8 a: J: z) h/ x# {) Ithe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"& X1 ?4 Y- m! o7 G L4 ^7 T
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.& d4 R% K6 e1 b
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
+ J5 N# W4 b6 D' `% m: E2 ^9 wcauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.9 u0 |9 C% Z6 \; v2 x
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected9 F8 V/ k% n- s, M6 p
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
7 {- F4 E2 w7 w7 Ctrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
- h2 j/ T7 g3 Tmats and sticking accelerator pedals.
' R# \2 `# s* c; M/ M, q' @* KHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
2 g, Y6 H; d9 U$ Q. L zand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp% H( V! S$ r% N
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be: @7 z' C1 g/ w8 I- a0 c' I
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
6 C* M7 I! X$ f" n9 e5 |* |not stop her runaway Lexus.0 l1 n" L v9 v6 }" F8 _
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
T) @+ v! ~) m& ]& ?- uTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second+ i7 `2 K+ s5 C( P. ~" L8 T
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
- K; j( L- x5 `6 O8 O8 Y, XTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues: }, w2 k) D: P+ h# M C7 s# r: ~
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
! }6 f3 r* a; s2 r0 T"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
0 f$ w8 G) L4 b s- I7 z' I2 I0 Udone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
' c& w3 [/ v+ s2 k3 L% a: E6 d' ethrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
- W g1 N8 \: F' `investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
7 y* c% H. F/ _( Z! {( SLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
! s6 j' ] x3 |0 l% Q. i Velectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of3 Z+ T8 q4 e& f& s4 \8 r0 w
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a: c9 B6 V3 _6 X& q
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he/ R1 L; r) D; |$ Z
said.6 Q8 K% {8 B5 `- g( v" k8 m$ \ h
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what+ J/ v" d. O2 Q2 s) r
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe1 {/ z/ N% r. S# _9 C" N
about driving our products," Lentz said.
+ ]' h6 V: K9 t7 ^! z% jThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's. ^3 ?* E. V7 a3 N
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
v# _; q6 O, j/ ~: W4 E" Hrecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6! J5 s: J* c5 {* V) I
million in the United States -- since last fall because of# U2 Z2 {$ u- L1 u- u: I8 X; n
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
/ o, V( `5 ^9 m2 w8 c/ D- s: kissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
" ?0 O) `/ Y8 } M V, Q2 ]5 H* p& wconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
5 J! H7 ~0 c- A9 o( A% f7 [; Ctheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
9 ]$ |1 Z- c! C0 A& U) _/ e# j% V( ydown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has) ]6 j9 K* u. b6 o0 U/ Z
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration# D+ _2 R* Y/ K* k. X
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.
. q0 A9 _/ v- e+ T |: KLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
1 b! L' V& T3 h. T) Lbrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
; b- i+ b) r3 C# R: o2 |/ ~; D3 bunderstood the pain.
! a+ t3 a) J/ V. k3 |+ o6 ~"I know what those families go through," he said.
+ ~& Y5 F2 _/ H6 ?, m/ n7 eLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
3 q+ c1 P& ?! G6 `' k! kfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
$ c% H- f% ~! IBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
6 E+ D6 J& e2 h6 c4 |Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
( m& r. B& m" m, u6 u6 nin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
0 w2 L- r" u" ZLentz replied: "Not totally."5 J/ i# G3 l' g2 H8 h0 c( t$ I
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
?& w) u9 s! i( m% L* Z"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
1 A# B" I0 @3 c+ g7 P( [1 lToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas. v5 I- O5 J ~5 B% A! _6 b
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
; N: k! J- t# ]: tvehicles already on the road.
( n1 z. z1 m: X+ J* u# [Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify8 v' a8 J4 ~+ u9 b4 R
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full' [+ @) v s& k Z4 N, w" p
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
5 Y$ ]/ y+ G' Eoffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
+ M4 m# g* v o8 B. h0 x0 I5 mkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.3 \3 c& e) C9 K3 ^
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
* R7 d$ ]0 y0 ~* i! m" otragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
9 |/ `6 u1 T$ T* e4 o+ ]for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
% m! Z8 U; M: o7 H/ J# g, Y& S) D; C4 ]Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
2 t! T1 H' v. T) Zcommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
: m* v. U! n' p8 K6 Prestore the trust of our customers.": f3 Z8 J6 J/ q1 ]
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from' B; g/ A' B( l% Z( z- F! u3 k
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly' s& l4 I6 V6 X, x! ]# T
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
' D4 f3 m& O4 @4 H, \% I+ X" C, Mshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and, ]4 Z) g3 N' u! B4 z3 p3 h
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
: y" }- y, p# V) rthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
" f2 [6 J5 b, [1 R% v' |: `4 wturn off the engine.
, W. i0 w& D1 [+ w2 D/ W' `Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
. Z H, a- z. O! COctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
4 |; S; n" _$ ?" W"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she/ F2 d) S9 o) i/ b8 T$ B
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
6 N# }8 S; C! `% C" B0 j/ Jto her complaints.7 E( ]+ O, x; E6 v& N) C% m
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers# j' E- |, d2 g: m) h
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic, x3 \# Y0 k4 G3 v
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.) m$ }' k) }+ ]% [8 f0 s8 q
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric3 n$ P C& u' m, @" L% i) C
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
R6 E! J" E9 V( ^) |"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut- Y7 l; H0 Z1 Q: j% D3 }
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
2 C. r( c% j8 }6 z5 y+ b6 dTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in2 m, j9 ?, K) y* t4 ]
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
+ w: { H: b7 T* C$ Y6 C* ubeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
$ x/ f- k% I* u0 j6 a$ v& D( Zwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
; _" `, t' Z1 t# {! ^! R- _every question."/ K, @7 M; }! \
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether% ?/ | N$ \1 ^
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The7 Z7 M _( Y5 a, p- A( u
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
$ |2 R4 \& B3 P' c( l* ]# |* Scommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small/ ~. H( ?- c# F" A
number of vehicles6 S. r# M2 T: E% `. M
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more) O) L, N6 g- L# P* S/ r9 M, J* o
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a- r$ \1 v$ @+ j
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
" `: B( t$ S; Q+ g/ o' t/ Z# `5 Dsource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
2 D" C$ s/ M1 D! z7 R0 OMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,# ^, r' G) i6 X& v$ e
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no* ~4 H, g8 w7 [6 p
trace at all.; `; i7 T. v4 U# U' ~- n
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call$ G; C' R. N0 f
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
5 T$ O/ ]/ C/ [9 w) E! y' |1 Uacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
3 Y, L% H" p" o2 H: q7 R. Grecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
! n) T& l! l3 f% K6 [/ _4 KRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
) C9 s6 f2 j, Q9 U! o( C: P, Vsaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
" E# t3 M* ^$ z( e' {+ o& [) w6 s9 }other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the$ _3 s& ~ Y0 K) U" y0 e5 q, {
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
8 w" J0 b: Y5 E/ hcause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
0 w2 L3 t g$ E/ R7 g1 C1 Zsuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
. u h( [' e+ `( R& T* N$ D( Xby Toyota's lawyers."
3 S3 y9 |) m+ d) e+ ?5 cLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
: U9 ]. `. [, u) D. b1 Qproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our( w8 I1 w: f0 I3 i
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
( C" z1 l4 \$ Rsaid.& N5 f; @1 s. w9 v/ }$ K8 z& ]
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
! `# ~2 G8 Q1 H! S: I5 @; h% F1 Ka rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
9 G( g) I3 O$ dgood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
2 F/ k3 I" I- Uofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
# W ~+ u6 Z5 | fSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
( ]5 c. }3 S1 Vmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread( v" e2 k% |8 t4 u1 p: p+ v ]
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the3 }2 r9 W& Q% A0 I# g
automaker, at least in part because of the government's
& J3 `6 i& t3 ]investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
# q5 c9 q3 U+ a7 ^! AChrysler.
+ c' v5 h+ Q2 j"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
: @) x# n/ J9 S& o( Zdollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
% o6 H! R8 H% e, L) J g: ]# EHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also: E" [) o6 d/ J- a
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete7 o. W" B0 i( a3 _
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty x/ ?- M3 ^( T! J" v
tough."8 ?$ [1 Q0 d) o7 X/ q* @- J; m Z9 j
---1 T7 P% X S/ ~/ y! C, s
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom. p. n, x" `: a( F: F% Z
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to& m9 \# Q) \& K4 ^1 p2 x4 U2 L
this story.
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