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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题, N' h+ ?' c0 p- s9 I0 K
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS0 ~0 n( H: I0 d7 ^
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
5 L% ]& l* r% Z: E% eoperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
( z1 \$ k* F4 v) _the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally": f2 B9 `8 Z1 z
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
0 w |% ]1 m4 [/ P4 ?+ p! G- t"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential" b- e8 q. O, D6 [+ |% K k. T6 ~& I
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
; p, a9 l4 b3 Z# \8 }However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
- W8 g. J* P/ f% W' Racceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and$ L. F+ H$ e% N. N) b
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor: |/ ?2 @$ s. l# K+ v" U1 q: ` q0 ~
mats and sticking accelerator pedals." V+ r6 _) q3 v. B, X
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal- F- W+ o' `, E" Q2 _4 Z( P
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp% L5 u6 V: ^0 r% I
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
/ E# o; @! q, w4 ~9 I5 q1 sfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
* [8 { [1 _6 Y4 h( M1 snot stop her runaway Lexus.
. u0 N. f Y# ~"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,/ Z: g' Y5 s. n4 i' F
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
: p& X' P5 P% t' F"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.7 H+ L) U' Q3 X; g/ F
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues/ M! Q, j, X# j% O
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
7 d+ x) w% `8 A3 J. ]0 {6 P"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
3 d- L" {* v r) n. p% Ldone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway6 E* `0 p# A2 l+ C
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's( c6 K; n# s) O
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
9 u9 z: U3 Y' R5 h' h6 fLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an6 W/ r+ `0 b7 c5 h: J7 f+ e' D7 ~
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
9 n9 s# S6 B2 s; w- | t0 T; r# ~the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
/ y# g2 {( V& mmalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he! F) U* U) q9 W1 Z
said.0 t8 o7 V. T+ `3 t7 f( D: o; @
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
e1 L; \* u3 e6 S! m& ?5 j. Fhappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe# G% s0 d8 `! R. b' _
about driving our products," Lentz said.& d$ b, b) D. G: I9 P D
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's/ J# X. r& z# ^" \% X/ t
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
$ x/ l9 P( o1 Qrecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
2 n! W- ~8 I4 [5 ?: B& Smillion in the United States -- since last fall because of
p2 ^; @( u4 X3 e) _5 Nunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
9 L6 q2 B* `( W! C. J) Hissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
( v- c2 _% R! E, c: `/ P/ ?) }concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of+ g9 h& c+ l( `) C- A8 W1 D9 \6 `
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow4 n4 I8 H# x7 N2 t* y/ N# K8 j, J
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
3 C8 V0 h1 y9 D, E. T$ Hreceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration6 s6 K: e* a! A2 T7 `% z
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.
, I3 q) s c$ f7 e3 pLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own% a5 h( C6 N* V1 _0 V/ `& R3 o
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he% y2 O6 w1 |7 c' E( b' v
understood the pain.
' z, Y- B7 g2 s) _; C4 o! O"I know what those families go through," he said.
7 j. p2 q& Q# ]9 U$ O& N8 @" ILentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's, I# W- N; J" k, E4 w' [! b& o/ n! `
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems. r& v# d$ O5 K1 m: x" Y! R; P/ t! z
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
6 J) S% P4 t& S$ \% X, @& ~5 EHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
- o; u c9 A( Din place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
$ z `# h x) T( W7 Y* w5 ]Lentz replied: "Not totally."8 L% k, ^+ _0 W s9 V
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
6 x' L7 ^( m1 M* i1 d) W"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said' B: H# _" |, g b9 s% q' V4 w
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas9 U5 L" ?3 K! Q* i
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its6 T0 W+ p! ^1 d! K" M% [4 m0 T
vehicles already on the road.$ ]5 M, C u& A* R5 e: x6 N
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
$ K) }$ P i' {& dbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
5 {% m0 i9 j( @responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
- e$ f" l! S, R! ]- z" o, {offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were' _: k$ d+ A4 b, D7 C" O
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
5 c" I" V5 R7 ["I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a, I$ ]" K) h1 L7 H/ R0 o7 p) n4 z3 t
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
Y u9 C1 V- V* ^) dfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight- b% U/ u; D+ K9 v5 P
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
; | h6 H2 m" N9 U( _3 z+ b" C1 [commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to* G/ V8 V3 K, ^
restore the trust of our customers."( M5 c3 S/ [8 w) V
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
3 a) Y( K( u: dSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
' D% n2 |3 e$ g0 m- Tzoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --! ]" o: h8 \8 a' c+ O
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and/ P+ ~& M. b3 t* V
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
5 j3 B' B. j6 M$ C' Dthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
2 V+ g3 ]8 {# {9 }6 v1 bturn off the engine.6 ^- M7 K% ^ ~9 t0 Z
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of7 b; w0 o5 S0 g+ Q7 y
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
* \; v& l6 d. \+ ]& z"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
3 j- a- ~ d% R- Isaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond! K' L2 _% T1 z/ p
to her complaints.6 q" C; E9 c+ n2 t
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
( y7 e2 I) I# a8 x6 treturned again and again to the question of whether electronic1 p# U5 X, y4 [1 q# r: g
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
3 g( |7 Q8 a K0 H& \: F6 i"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
5 M/ K& Z1 V8 m* fthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited/ J" ~4 D6 U" g5 C. C7 |, T
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
( o0 s- \- D2 V1 C4 `& poff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
_: r$ o$ q6 R# b0 P0 jTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
6 u# H' U: O: mprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were; U: q% x6 G! z. w# h6 d
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
! x- n8 C% r6 Z ywere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
- V# q) }) M6 n: R3 `every question."' G: Q7 S5 W+ K& Z
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether: E" y" s* P6 Z: P+ l2 k
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The9 k& h* V% r" W& a( K
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But6 u* Z& s" h- w' O
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
% O6 k+ f- H( t6 v. xnumber of vehicles! ` X! d7 L8 J& O; o+ A7 U; b+ Q
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more
/ l- A& A' E2 H0 ]6 tdifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a( X/ R4 x9 J0 P- W# \ n4 ^
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one/ V$ b8 j8 W- c. h* ]# C/ |$ {, B
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.5 L+ K9 g! c% `1 x. g
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,* d% _ l& a6 P4 E- e
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
3 U- ^& S6 o: r5 {' strace at all.2 v" W8 _2 K$ O+ Z/ J
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
+ @" c! f ]" x" L1 wdatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
: E8 [- B! _ X9 g; P# Lacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
+ c* z! R* d0 \% b( E/ Brecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
* R; L2 y1 {) s& ?9 @, o! K VRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,5 ^( ]' n5 y1 [% }" r! R
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
% q$ }* P4 P" Y( V' pother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
- `/ f, a, O1 Y' f! H8 Telectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
- y8 L, x# J0 Qcause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
3 v0 t* E; u, i! |such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained! M3 z- N4 \: x( S6 b# m# C) ?
by Toyota's lawyers."
/ ~* H% R1 V. r( b/ DLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
2 L; F q _9 @1 I8 a/ ?problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
8 v& s' W" k/ D- H' L3 p! h! F# |customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he* J* R" s H- P8 {; R* X
said.7 r0 P! Y8 X6 f B- b' m
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
! O" e( P2 S9 R% Ga rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
: W3 B- s1 {) v- e/ J+ j7 m* j$ Cgood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating, \% b, o) [/ D
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.3 X; L8 s+ b; a& A+ e. d5 B
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
o& Z! O5 v0 a7 Nmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread7 B- e2 d, @& v! c
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the8 e2 X! S' B9 E
automaker, at least in part because of the government's, C8 m! P* r' f. r* o; n. o1 K5 }2 ~
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and7 Y/ n8 S5 \. b+ ]5 }0 ?
Chrysler.
- E, }1 N, {, v0 n# j"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax' S$ ~& R" N& d0 A2 i" n
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a, Q9 {# z# r) P2 \ d2 \
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also# H& Y: q r$ L
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
4 [ ~7 f+ O' {+ w6 I" @0 Owith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty+ N _% G9 ^' n( w* |; p4 L! P
tough."
9 @" d2 | F0 R' h2 h---
1 U) ]8 p/ g O& w$ c+ ^Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom; i' }) _3 Y+ f
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
# V1 v+ Z& G. n% `* d- Xthis story.
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