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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题2 F% C( P, M6 c j J' n
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
' T) @( s8 G; L4 XWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
# n& C3 L5 F+ S. d$ o( [3 Koperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
4 u$ `+ i6 i/ Y) d; m/ C& N1 ithe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"/ t2 b4 z$ D" c9 m. Q9 T! m
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
& }9 P4 I, h4 l& J: w, p"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
9 j2 Q' v3 x3 {( w( n, o$ L7 Ocauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.; W+ _+ X1 v* W( l7 K- n
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
- E! G7 _3 w+ E9 E' a5 pacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and+ T! K3 {7 Y; N- s
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
; _6 |- J! L8 k4 }$ V# a) amats and sticking accelerator pedals.! m- Y3 C# F' R9 C# W$ S) Y
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal& m2 K( H! e4 m( ?% Z! f
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp: h4 a, c; \. P# d1 e; v
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be2 O5 T5 S5 Y' a( r$ \( p
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could( W6 H9 n4 {. T9 _* e
not stop her runaway Lexus.
N' T$ f1 X$ }- V1 k"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,- I/ t1 C) s3 p. s7 I+ y
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second. T" X! b! B# R1 q" Q. h
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
- x" K4 a" R3 E& H. N5 fTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
, q8 f1 a5 P2 ^! y) aearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
$ N8 z3 u! b' O* _"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
3 ?$ F: G6 P9 h* Hdone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
' Z- _0 n5 r: Tthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's' f& [) K9 |7 B0 O6 O4 t# H
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."5 a$ F! m: ?. A3 @/ E
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an; E# q" Q" f9 n* `
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of3 r# [" q! a0 I+ p! W. N
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
+ M9 `" @* g4 N& ^: {malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he ?; q% p" }& b* l% O
said.
* o; ^" p4 p Y( t3 q/ YAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
. _3 }+ |3 g6 q0 ?happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe5 h, `! W! H! t; q, X
about driving our products," Lentz said.
; r" ^* c/ H0 Y4 U! D; w+ N1 q( A/ EThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's, g( l) r2 f/ p2 i
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has0 C4 o# K1 I9 r; {
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
5 \6 m5 w) r: g+ B3 w ]3 q/ k7 Zmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of
# U( @ r2 R1 v4 gunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
* \; B1 W6 p( H( l+ nissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
3 k+ h3 Q& ~: @) H8 S K1 [concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of3 @( y3 `6 G% S
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
8 B; b% L* P7 I' |down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has" Z, R2 ~1 Y9 S# S$ S. z+ s
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
" E: R/ N% [/ I) v3 ^1 `/ t/ E$ Z9 kof Toyota vehicles since 2000.
! G* m: ~! i0 Q& K) dLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own! g) R( g- H6 q' |2 E, y/ S t, c
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
/ {$ o% V" f1 p1 @7 n! vunderstood the pain.& z- G8 r1 R2 ^) ^
"I know what those families go through," he said.
* ^! g7 F2 P/ [4 S, m- u& }Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
$ N, h/ i9 k) M% Y1 Xfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
9 r7 ^" v! C, A/ i' H7 n) ^But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman" h: x7 r& T$ n
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put& _4 S" b$ [4 R- |& M) O
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,: m' p2 _2 g; f0 E
Lentz replied: "Not totally."& q d# p) X7 n& n6 V* O, Q
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
, o2 a/ j$ J- I G* z"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said5 X5 v, t# d* F6 W5 W
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
) P; V4 f$ W6 fpedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its; V/ U Y! d% M
vehicles already on the road.8 @( M7 `$ i7 @ T2 J
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify# F1 }: z S0 X1 i! o- K2 W$ T
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
0 T/ i" W* I+ W$ E+ ?responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and, c# ] r3 P( ?* }- [8 v% t" ]
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were! K' Y, M1 [4 A; k7 A; q# D+ U
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.; g" i7 }. b( X" m- `
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a4 i3 {: G6 D& A
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony- Y% \) i! v( X/ Z) G
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight3 i) J! z3 J5 b
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal$ U/ Y# g! | r4 T: G/ B8 Y% f5 Q
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to% J/ _4 I* r( g7 s' b" ^. O! J
restore the trust of our customers."
% L$ A$ R# X- @/ ^+ A1 I( XLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from& Y" R' s3 S/ E- m6 [5 F
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
# d5 n- P8 F3 H1 l8 r( Uzoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
/ I- X/ x5 Y* L* R" Ishifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
; G; \2 _% O" ?- Khitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
4 Y7 C- H$ T/ X f B6 J3 v# @that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
+ Q6 U5 e5 B" f. Rturn off the engine.
1 B \' i$ Y( j3 CFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of( g/ L( |: @/ h( t9 L: u# T9 s
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."( M9 |' r" [; a/ P9 ]# R
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she! i. c+ I r1 w& z2 \1 P
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond. L4 n( Y# p$ y
to her complaints.( O0 T9 C0 B$ N. J2 A- K. i
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
& t3 p+ A1 y2 k$ d+ Y+ X4 ~returned again and again to the question of whether electronic" P5 W# c+ v2 E; f' W1 L3 x3 }
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.# z2 Z, N& n8 p' D( f5 G2 X$ @
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
. |: _. r3 H2 t& o. Mthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
0 G) h& x6 \, W- b: B"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut* Y3 X! l8 Q# K0 a7 J' V: S+ U
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure.", A3 o/ w' Z, O8 J* l& k
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in0 |" d4 C& [, l" o. d I; f
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
' D3 m* \: q# A) v6 Lbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
- z4 Y5 y1 b4 [were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
* k q1 l' T! Xevery question."
! s! X4 w" m1 n; }; l( iToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether2 i7 e+ K+ w9 G% N# p- l) u) J1 R
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The7 k" W# ^" y7 g- c/ u6 P" \ l
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But2 a; Y: m' b ^; n4 h
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small( g! y3 v+ z! Q% Z5 j2 q
number of vehicles
- k3 c4 }+ w- Y' T+ B% x9 @ uTracking down an electrical problem can be far more4 q4 D6 n, _4 m' [, e
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a: J% y- C/ l1 |: R
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
( C$ s' i1 H( D0 g: d2 Y5 Usource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.% `1 f3 e7 w% {/ `1 D; t
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
: B+ e# x( S" pwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
' L, A5 T1 w0 l! s( u* l5 q8 @trace at all.
- [* l1 r2 j/ P3 V+ NHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
& a! [9 x0 Y6 p# [+ i4 @- ]* T; F* Wdatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
; a! B3 A5 T+ x2 Jacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the# X4 N* R8 b# n$ t# }" p, c+ D' q
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.% f" L/ V* Y- D' G
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,3 b H( D/ Q3 U q
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and" I; L' J' J0 V8 z
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
9 v( p+ m- |( f4 z6 uelectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible7 ~7 ]4 i1 ^) Q9 D$ W4 H
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
$ P! `) n) ? g( F/ C( ]such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained u, u- h* F, O% w
by Toyota's lawyers."
- ^& O" t: ` T* E2 ELentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of. L5 M P7 @$ j' j; ]" {+ y- X5 f
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
3 p: ~; n; w. q. `customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he4 [0 p$ S8 W7 E0 n
said.
4 v: p- y) w$ v) P' v"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
& U; c- A* j5 C( U: B& Q; [a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our0 v0 D* f% q }0 C- ?+ q% g
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
9 A1 Y3 K/ X- I/ Oofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
5 Q6 e5 b- z, M) I# GSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying7 J; d, g7 Z' K/ X# U+ g
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
6 x. F7 b8 @5 g- J6 Rrancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the/ ~3 _$ ?+ U; e
automaker, at least in part because of the government's$ u0 n$ c* F$ t& O" t v1 E
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
+ l0 Q4 ?# @3 @6 c: CChrysler.1 A/ E2 N, ?9 V( p
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
2 |$ [% R( u6 ?1 kdollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a8 a1 ]4 h2 K$ z9 X& o8 t- D
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also2 @+ p5 _+ G) ?! \# M6 i" Z
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
( _: @3 M6 T" p9 w0 fwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty9 Q$ L% c: ~5 A6 l8 o
tough."5 i0 i; ?9 l- q Q4 h
---( g# G% L# i# s" W6 T
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
4 P- [; |9 }$ d8 c( p5 dRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
3 d/ K6 _+ D2 S( ^7 kthis story.1 `$ h) |$ _) x4 J9 V/ M/ `4 ?/ Z
: G9 T* n$ G6 n7 b5 A& E$ ]6 y
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