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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题' H4 }1 C$ ]2 [! U, D5 N
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS) L P" C* H2 C% @
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S., j6 p# b! j S0 d$ m4 ]
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
( ?/ m% X& l+ \( c( qthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"; P. B1 I/ T3 v! W& e
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
+ b- y: m" m1 w- O+ ^- l/ l0 ]% }8 l"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
# t$ [! s3 J3 [( m9 e2 ^causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.: S0 t4 t$ C. ~. q+ b: {2 H1 T
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
' i+ |2 [5 C7 i, S& Bacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
B7 p. L6 S) K' X( z( j; Jtrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
4 B( Y- M& t6 Q/ vmats and sticking accelerator pedals.5 ]% O6 H# R' U6 p
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal) F9 m! ?8 `" ]) b7 c- u4 s$ B
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
4 n5 k/ P( }. `4 X: \1 j# ~" `& |criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
0 d" i9 }* E+ [* E2 ~further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could" c; K4 D5 e1 k2 o1 n
not stop her runaway Lexus.
# B. A$ n# C$ i: ]# k& [1 [' J"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
0 i# \) O5 T* ]/ VTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second5 ?; h1 n# v# w; p
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators./ Y: o% u0 @& X* ~
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
4 m! y/ N' n* w9 _/ ~5 uearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said# D m4 a& U% x( n
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
) ~+ P, |8 K6 D) U0 u& z, Fdone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
' b* L; [9 y5 i9 c$ _6 p. c B2 uthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
& W& V5 b4 \' j8 Ainvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
: @3 Y% G/ t' Y1 G- }% fLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
5 x5 z1 |$ J+ Y1 U% Y, |! jelectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
; r4 |& u$ E$ ~3 P7 e. y- ^5 w7 ^the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
7 E8 h$ Q+ M/ A5 E7 z- R: G* i2 U5 Dmalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he( Y) M" g# B; f: y
said.
c) s# k3 A( D ?As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what* f* W- x; x L$ v5 U E
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
, R \% _) K4 t' \, z, ~$ Habout driving our products," Lentz said.1 W0 P* }, ]0 C
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
5 F3 t, O7 x* p1 }" H4 Y+ gproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
. J/ i- V9 i$ }8 r/ m' r: Nrecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6# T: _5 L$ X; ]* F0 Q' @- [
million in the United States -- since last fall because of2 e% K$ W$ O7 f
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
. `* z( v, r8 T5 missues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering! m9 }; `; n& @* s$ t. i
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
U. U/ D7 d5 R+ t* J- stheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow6 S- G' u$ b: s |: ^, f x2 W: m
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
7 L# P/ Z: @8 f0 }* r2 Q; Z- Preceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
q- I- f S: v3 L; e0 [of Toyota vehicles since 2000.! S8 l( @) n, \2 n, [+ [
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
7 p$ H* H7 j3 r2 Xbrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he- b2 d7 f" A$ @/ t. c7 A9 _ V5 A
understood the pain.
) d! | e* P4 X1 ^"I know what those families go through," he said.
' R% @# w4 X' ? D& I c4 tLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
5 }4 ~6 Z2 ]( K1 _; ~) P- F2 yfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
' n% h* V: p. {But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman& R9 j% g0 _9 t; G8 D
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
* f! F5 s( j- _5 _4 k: Hin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
6 N" |& ^4 e; pLentz replied: "Not totally."
: E! {, l+ J, ^2 j7 {2 v* ~4 ZStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
6 x1 I S: y! Q$ ^% i" S# A"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said- C- E% `9 t+ {
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
6 D1 |$ V( U5 \# e9 m3 l$ d& W3 `pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
" y, g5 F0 L# evehicles already on the road.6 `& i( E% [# B, x. l& N `7 g2 t
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
3 Q7 D6 T2 T a. ^9 F, [ vbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full% W$ f4 D" z' h, b
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and( x9 M3 @, K* G; O
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
1 }! {2 Q- f5 V( y/ n U0 Ykilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
8 h$ X1 p0 |2 P/ O"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a/ n; p; {+ o/ Q" m" n+ f6 C& W7 R
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony8 y; P: A% q1 |& `; I
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight, a9 I9 _1 v& C/ g( ]/ R# g
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal& R! f! t2 o6 L ?- c3 j
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to7 @( u4 l S: U" h& N' U
restore the trust of our customers."
, b4 H! q7 m; n$ y7 WLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
2 f% L# X! n2 B Z# @$ Q" w+ @! aSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly0 T2 e T! w. O4 D4 M! a
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
" n. b/ x* Y, s0 Rshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and+ y5 |7 z" U5 ~8 k$ x9 [
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough* L% ^# Q# P2 R+ {9 b' T
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and% R& S$ U$ n3 T3 [
turn off the engine.
; u8 X! B/ x6 ]! u. X8 K/ iFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
) \8 O! j4 ^8 I5 d# pOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
! R# Y6 \. p3 |$ p# l$ y: O' W" d. S"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she! Y* _3 L3 D7 i) V6 Z( M- Q
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond8 L' g' h1 }. `4 s4 Y
to her complaints.
% I) Z! ~, y0 r& Z8 NIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers9 Q7 U! ~- M7 i
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
* T! ~' B4 w3 ^( K4 Z8 i- U+ Y- q/ Mmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.. {+ y1 `+ K1 p
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
9 P; a4 \3 }( D( C" V u; Vthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited0 m; F$ ]4 r! n, a. h( Y
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut- Z" H: |/ d( @+ s
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
; ]0 v4 I7 s; i, [+ i1 W0 C" pTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in% T0 u0 F! I8 x- j$ p9 M4 c! y( \
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
: R* H' {9 s+ a; vbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls4 m7 t7 u7 _5 M+ ^% E) }* K
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
e3 H5 s# f$ Y9 v( ~1 n( [- c' J7 Eevery question.", g Q# j1 a: ?: q
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
' p2 @2 u. m) q1 [4 ?) _3 qelectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The/ {9 ]. T4 t J7 W+ F5 t
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But; s2 }8 ?7 D |" `# c
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
- A+ I5 v/ t! r9 H2 Ynumber of vehicles
, w- c, E* Y" y: E+ DTracking down an electrical problem can be far more
) {. o5 Y2 ~' A8 ?$ jdifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a* Z$ }3 H J6 y3 a6 M7 m
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one4 G1 a- u6 I# ?' z( R
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
" m, x7 I6 b }# p8 g$ }Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,. F9 H8 U7 ^ b3 G% V5 s
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
2 H% Z0 R/ y8 N, ]$ X9 Q+ Htrace at all.
( l' C6 O& L8 c: W$ C: o( g) mHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call" G0 R; Y6 X6 j; P/ f6 f
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
/ V; U( {' b! [9 N0 p: bacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the( D+ S4 F) n5 H
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals." x/ I. J- N, D+ G, ~
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,8 q2 E& j, z' a- C
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and2 J8 Y, n% w" U! Q) x- \/ o
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
: @# J( e8 @5 C( X% u& _electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible) f* n+ Y* P: D4 Z5 @8 I) o
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
- k2 c5 u ^0 n6 I' |8 ~. Qsuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained* E1 S. ^- `% `, M; w& v6 g$ r
by Toyota's lawyers."3 y7 V, e' R' _
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of$ l& Y: T% o f& ]# K
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our' e8 a# I6 G) g6 j$ q( Z8 {
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he! Q3 E$ D. X/ | Q6 ?$ f7 E
said.2 {3 w" q, s) K
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
% [! z. q. e( _* R2 Ta rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our2 O$ a; w9 {4 n
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating5 m; u z9 b" ~) y
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc., y8 u2 ^( g; G; x! R4 @* t
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
, Y* g0 A. k+ \ D9 I/ x' N! K3 gmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
! u r% f) H2 p+ k$ q) k2 \rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the: l4 U5 N% M: q( c
automaker, at least in part because of the government's
1 E% b \6 P: A- F+ U4 Sinvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
0 E% h6 c& `/ SChrysler.
6 X. G* A/ |: L"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
( |, f+ f! ]' ]( G9 U: R" ^dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
( }( X" e; G# M! jHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also- Z9 B1 l# }& k e+ a8 R! l
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
" p8 O: {) t1 K1 H; k8 {with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
9 V! _! A5 `' y3 G% k) ttough."
) U! p) U, Z9 R8 O( u---. w0 D+ z4 b0 T' P1 ]- z
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom- @- t$ b2 |! h- r& u r9 v& O9 i
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
2 i6 k$ L- t7 z) E( o \5 jthis story.- Z& l; R$ V" z; o
) f) o0 j8 @9 s/ o/ i9 X
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