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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题) c. k! T+ |- g
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
& `4 P6 O: V, ]; I* l3 w" W- iWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
. y0 W; X" x0 |. @operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that: {1 h0 q! G' _9 K
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"- ^1 [6 H9 q a/ @7 {$ E/ A
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.+ F! Y: s/ E9 s* S* W- t
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential7 J7 y2 @6 O' Z# d' c
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.; m2 ]2 @5 P7 S! C
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
7 Z3 ^3 k! M! ?2 q, E" [$ D; hacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
! s8 Q. v! X9 u3 O. T+ _8 Ftrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor5 A' S7 a( ?8 E @, C2 U A
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.
6 \- E# @' y6 H( E4 s/ z5 x2 ?He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
7 b+ J, `$ A3 ~% r8 e8 Band fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp; E4 d9 `, U- L) W4 F. x9 n
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
4 }' ]1 ] z) f4 r kfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
2 e3 g% C! S; t" k) Xnot stop her runaway Lexus.; P1 t! ~, w, s% i4 g& p
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
" @2 o. q: }: U, d" \; B8 P8 ^Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second l. x. E/ v, O$ H" X9 A
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
# w/ i# f) N; sTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues: Z* }1 }8 G- B7 I
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
- I, S( P, {& _"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has& }& F' o' }! ]5 x- ^7 K5 C3 ~
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
( P" Z$ ~0 x2 b8 y3 i9 K) wthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
. w. u: |& T E1 ^1 tinvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
! p* J" u2 r* LLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an# F2 r, h7 m1 _- G9 p; {
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of( H! A% p f- _# Z/ o- H; Q9 x. t% Y
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a( `! H+ b/ `) f9 A' q' V% @2 k
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
! F* e" a. M, hsaid.' H+ C* }! ]( l7 |* P6 R# a
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what8 f# f( Q7 Z Z" U2 o$ Y0 V3 P
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe( D1 p( y( h; h$ ^. ~7 d
about driving our products," Lentz said.% T8 G! _, p+ K6 _) c& _9 q
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's# a& ~# {8 g6 K* K
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has# l( X2 ~; u( z- f
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 67 K* w/ Q8 N( g8 b7 D2 [
million in the United States -- since last fall because of0 h5 X E2 a2 \# J+ c" a! n8 A
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
* P9 q/ [$ K+ H" \! O. s9 aissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering( Y+ J- ?' }9 q" G: @ O
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
# y- |3 s/ o' S5 B* {their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
; c* {2 b% ?3 V+ j ydown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
+ n& x* L* D. hreceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration6 D+ Y3 N M& S0 l2 w$ c( Q% C
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.
% Q9 y* y% F& r1 n- {" SLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own* W q6 u. H, A' ~2 X( B- h
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he0 p7 t1 ~4 z% ]0 K1 S9 M$ `
understood the pain.
* L F: Q/ y' t5 r/ i# M# N+ F"I know what those families go through," he said.
5 B- }) I8 g- H: N/ jLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's7 y! u3 g9 q7 |' {2 t
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
6 k. e$ i1 }. ?- M) O9 `9 IBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
k. n5 J2 a' ^$ N3 r% GHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put/ p( \% B3 {$ `7 D
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
) Y; o# B9 ~7 R7 y, K1 @6 VLentz replied: "Not totally."7 K& c1 V" w4 _( @
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
/ Q( ]9 Z: u/ y/ d/ W"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said' }/ U4 D- W; a8 y0 A7 A+ y
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas8 A* l2 C* |" O, d* Y
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
( ^+ p5 m# O, b7 I: Z; ]# Ivehicles already on the road.
/ A% h- i) \; Z j3 J3 b! E: T; vMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify8 |7 O* w L5 [# D
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full; {$ h" |4 b9 B8 m4 k
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and6 E: l: f9 M; ]% |, ~
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were: L7 P& H4 P. {: o5 ?( v+ ^" ?
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.8 y" F, J! r" q$ f) v
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
/ ^$ l% T7 \1 Utragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
- s. V' b' L% i* Gfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
1 |; y0 v7 B: \3 }8 ~Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal3 O& I8 w( {. r; G
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to* Q' h1 `# F# g w. U
restore the trust of our customers."# `: l: L, C# r) Y# l( h
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from) z6 O* {. e3 X+ p
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly7 H7 V% C x8 |
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
6 O; P f' t& Z9 Qshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and1 Y( S& [0 |' K* f v
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough9 m# b7 ?' j9 S" Q' w
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
y) s; R& ^( @7 P3 }/ S4 E: e& dturn off the engine.
, F, T4 p, N' y7 ]Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
5 E- n7 e- a3 D) k2 Q, m1 qOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience.", h; R" }* _! F9 m
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she: [& i9 D w. @' F7 r$ B
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
: C# V' Q- ?; B" Z: t6 xto her complaints.. Y9 {; z0 J% m& e+ L! \% U
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers2 k ~8 e/ V1 n# i
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
" Z+ ?. F& Q" W9 bmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.4 {8 B" p- h8 Y# N8 m6 m4 `' h
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
1 g4 {8 W+ C) @8 A5 K" Vthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited4 @ L* o* @1 O8 u
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut7 {* h5 E: c$ w7 ^5 Z+ b/ }: Z
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
+ L; e1 h- U+ w4 F' qTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in8 T" G1 M( f( T
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were- y- T1 w& G* M
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
% z+ q* Q% Y! Z1 u6 ~ [were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
# {, Z+ R: e" P, Nevery question."
0 b. }0 u; \+ d4 {* R# f8 y2 EToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
. d1 D* o- a' b) V" U% P! Ielectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
% \' [9 g8 \+ s& w) q9 ~firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But# u) A& L$ o/ @3 C* f, F6 F
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
& Z$ B* Q' K9 U" y- inumber of vehicles
! q0 h, T$ [. [, G- VTracking down an electrical problem can be far more
% F' \* F% k+ X8 y( e; L& j: Sdifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
6 ^% {1 H& [- Y- i, [mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
6 i& ~! a( Q5 e H5 ?2 _& fsource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.; u, {& Q' t1 P5 Z" G
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
% V) q e9 \6 I1 h& U2 q! |where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no1 b- d7 k* U( i9 T
trace at all.
/ S& B% x4 G- U+ l3 B1 U! ?House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call( y& s4 L; {2 {% J: F. n4 y) c9 a
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
' B9 U% x- t0 b# F: tacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
! N7 b3 v4 W/ h% zrecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals. U% {# |- y6 q6 e% X/ q
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,& U8 ]1 U! C5 D+ w4 J/ d4 _5 I
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
! V7 ~0 ~; |& i0 a, b5 oother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
4 y+ w: O& \8 Q* Uelectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible8 R3 v9 Y% e0 V6 |
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only: U: a7 {; X! L! B3 i. ^
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
( h; p! ~3 k; g {by Toyota's lawyers."3 I2 { y6 q: D1 H2 E8 C( l: |. c
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
; ~( O, l: `# C* tproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our. l- t7 n7 _' h2 n2 V9 L' W
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
2 g0 l; v [) J$ K! ?% {. {5 J# z( Esaid.
0 [& j: Z/ U! a"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
6 h" h* a7 O4 f$ G' w& x7 q# ^a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
" d- p3 K* N8 t [$ A1 A% kgood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating' ~* n' Z% X' `( B* ^; |/ a6 I
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.) c4 u5 {8 t% m, q
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying, x& ~7 s7 K/ K3 b- j! Z8 o
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread! p# L5 k3 v H2 I5 `) ?
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the) k- r- n# |' h3 l2 c6 h6 ^8 ?
automaker, at least in part because of the government's
9 B" a! l/ H, ginvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and6 f+ O R' Z5 o1 E* A, ]* i
Chrysler.
( b) A/ T0 a+ @) G9 d, q( e* r"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
8 d& z; w: V, w0 J( \' W4 mdollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
$ o- e( ?6 ^1 `Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
3 l2 y) M% C& E8 r; |. Fserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete0 H* E% n1 h2 z) k" U
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
9 Q! U1 D, R2 Itough."
. S0 E' k4 G! i' G2 A/ v6 \( T' i---: M! f: k7 _! f) c( E
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
. w( X3 _1 Q( S f( H8 Z4 M9 f! [Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to+ l7 Q X- m* `9 n$ g7 P
this story.
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