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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题' R' c* P, Q; i! D6 V& E: L3 c
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
5 c( T6 ` f. K9 a" r" d0 ^Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
& j5 J5 S2 a+ u4 y/ Q2 g9 {operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that/ t$ |- _1 G4 Z. L+ V0 _' M
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
0 a3 a8 ?* X2 P S0 qsolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
' U4 q9 w5 W$ U' W# _. O"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential* y+ u; I# l8 Z5 q2 h- o( ?+ [; F
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
% I% a! Y7 w0 P; p4 y$ KHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected7 f4 V+ M8 u# n+ Z/ `2 D" e( h
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
& Z$ a$ @+ k0 |: S4 Z9 j* c2 ztrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
; l) S& E" ?3 `, y3 ]; [; I* _mats and sticking accelerator pedals.% ` H; m- e& x& j" J
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal5 R9 H Q) B# i9 P* U* i% z+ f
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
: @* L% k5 K0 N% Ucriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
2 V; m( N' M& e9 e) }further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
x0 x5 S N* w/ ^* ?% b/ [7 |/ inot stop her runaway Lexus.
9 f+ X2 a; I" z"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,& H; D& m/ F$ q8 N: N2 x j6 Z
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second2 s: i" O# ]: B: O. v1 I
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.9 d0 V6 y9 D# v! ]0 M, R
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
- q2 Y! K% M. s/ U1 aearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
% J* |, `+ N& A& \"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has0 H7 i$ J3 P$ r' R) b$ j
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway$ H9 A) y- V5 {% f
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
2 v8 R, ? c+ k/ {investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."* B, ?, Z- E! M `7 i! {
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
0 Y% t6 @+ A$ {/ _7 kelectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
+ l' h- s$ h! \3 P) [$ Othe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
# L2 P" Y9 F% u" v, G1 Mmalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he% u/ p& Z# F4 j0 o" w" D# B
said.
5 o( W1 v' k- n' T5 r9 D& S! RAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
; a# k p+ G) s3 M1 M9 ?8 Ehappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
& P& \8 j$ W0 {) P7 \) Gabout driving our products," Lentz said.
; e/ |; \6 _( S( f2 S! A- C; gThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
& y; x/ R# E: a2 c: Jproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has; g4 n' L! R7 |
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
6 d: i6 u$ x h1 g& X+ ]5 C, zmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of3 h: }0 X, r! s/ X+ @8 C) B
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
F+ F( k" ^" ?" z" H# Missues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering# a5 Y" h6 q% @
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of4 `) Y$ M" N3 t7 K" V
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow4 X& L3 c7 w/ V
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
6 g* W. o; Q6 u6 a3 x! G# areceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
, v. _, S# y, ~of Toyota vehicles since 2000.
5 z- T: {" i& GLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
: j% y" K" J3 n D% bbrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he0 o, ]' U$ u1 Q' V0 ~; z: q
understood the pain.
2 U$ ~' c$ m4 [) }6 x"I know what those families go through," he said.
: l9 |1 U1 K: [( D* R. T2 mLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's, A& ~+ G# j7 |: I* U
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
) G3 [8 w6 |% S# D# I: t& ?But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
2 ^4 {: \1 P6 T8 v2 f4 RHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put; e+ ?8 @/ E9 P% ^4 \
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,8 R0 J$ c1 a3 a2 S- q) m2 w; V
Lentz replied: "Not totally."& G9 F% ~' }& S# v
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
2 o6 d& P( E, m0 U. E }$ Y8 w/ T/ e"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said7 \0 F' Q' h8 g1 L7 d9 k8 @
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas+ w2 H$ N0 ~( L" b$ p1 t3 o7 T
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
& M9 D) k6 `9 y7 b2 r' ]" Gvehicles already on the road.
% W/ ^9 l" k$ Q6 C; l6 q3 N& [0 @4 pMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify8 x# R4 h$ B/ d1 a' e) m6 K
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full6 Z4 W9 d. p- v9 I- x: c& B
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and2 X% R) J1 c* H( K2 s' \
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were6 O/ b; I$ m* p- w4 j: |# O) U9 J
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.$ A7 s3 H9 W! g4 H1 i5 Z4 q/ C9 \
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a3 Z9 W( i* Z, `0 ^$ i1 j( A) ]/ J
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
$ m0 d y% `9 {for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
* I, f0 ^4 `& q/ i, W; wCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
% `1 o* W2 V% Pcommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to% Q) }: v. s# z% v
restore the trust of our customers."
% ]( m; ?! h& gLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
% }* n" O' }8 ~6 j( o$ D; GSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly4 i4 e: N$ ?- d5 R* E5 B
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
" \" d5 K- [" l; `shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and2 C. S$ ^4 x7 @" D1 \
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
- n$ S6 F& L5 p+ U) pthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
5 S1 G- ?7 h- k0 \! Vturn off the engine.' k) \9 k5 d, t
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
) d% p2 Q3 r4 ^October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."1 p6 P2 z. i% z
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
. l& m% F& ~" W6 @( d; p) D* nsaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond- ~+ N! v/ U- j/ D u
to her complaints. h9 Y' l# H# n
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
3 Y; j7 b6 H5 Mreturned again and again to the question of whether electronic
& H5 c) ~% F8 O: x( ^+ f3 V, E+ p" G" Lmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars. ^6 m! s$ C' `% p
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
% X+ y) H4 \* y% E5 O5 C. Bthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited* E- ^! B. t) _( _
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
0 C. k" q1 O. T: V' }) Boff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
6 `' Q, @' ]: y0 y- d8 _( bTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in7 @6 z5 D# G6 `" P. o6 P
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
5 Y# \3 ^# ^+ a3 ^6 Xbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
0 }7 E: @) V( \6 v+ e% c8 ?were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer7 n3 v2 s$ U" L7 A: V
every question."( W3 E* ^! p0 y% O
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
$ v" `- f0 U6 F& Telectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
; U4 }2 F. B; Z( \: S5 xfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But5 v \. f: s; T& @% _
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
. N, I) y7 B. C! I* U# H! ^number of vehicles
9 Q0 S' ^0 a, n+ ]2 |Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more
/ N4 T! v3 d& B+ zdifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
8 P% O- ?; E' p1 ~: Q5 Rmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
( ]. x5 }6 @9 L2 ysource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
" l3 s) u3 F6 Y9 t3 U/ [. nMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,7 n6 ^$ o% A4 k, B
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
5 [) F+ f' l) M0 r& K. xtrace at all.
6 k8 b3 b4 O) G" ]: i# UHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call/ w+ d2 ~0 k+ }5 _
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden5 K* E# p7 L) |
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
! `' S2 ^5 D0 @( R" z) Urecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
& F: f+ T4 }$ D$ Y2 M) K; l( ORep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
8 P0 |) V- M) L& l. Y% O$ tsaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and9 C7 ^1 _+ h+ B( h* m5 r/ S+ Z* T1 E
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the8 ]8 \- T! ~4 j$ `
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
' }( A* X3 ? q* [& }) l- xcause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
4 |" o0 v- W6 U1 xsuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained. t% { |4 j6 u, n7 t/ g
by Toyota's lawyers."
3 ^2 p, K& \) j0 Z$ m4 P- {Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
" W5 J; g; R# r6 I6 X9 hproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our( p- z, g! m5 ^! ?9 f
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
9 C1 C1 {" ^4 z& @$ Csaid.
# J; z8 m/ P# k: E9 V: _: D4 u. l8 x7 |"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
, A+ K* ~; B0 V" m2 \, z8 m5 oa rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
+ ^1 e5 d& K" L9 T7 zgood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating; a4 d3 B3 _' f6 U6 j% c
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.$ P1 i! k+ V" Y; z
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying. [! \! p0 m8 ?- D3 R- {
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread/ e8 | N' ]# d4 Q- z6 d6 G! Z& i
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the" t7 g' {4 }3 s+ e# F" G) n
automaker, at least in part because of the government's, t' o5 M5 a9 u9 `8 f: g
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and, I( t' [3 n( N/ E/ D8 O
Chrysler.8 u1 e( N" ?) f% ?7 p e
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
! ~! r% p2 _- ?6 e# Ddollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a7 X# Q# O& @' P$ C' M( A, f
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also( `5 X s8 v" h {. X$ O9 w
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete* {9 m( t% V Q
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
3 ^; M* j* A2 I) E' Mtough."0 v6 D5 F3 s: g# U# y4 g+ o
---8 i7 c7 t# Q/ d$ h
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
; e$ G" o% ]2 ZRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to6 w3 N e @8 N0 `
this story.
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