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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题0 y- w$ N: \2 j+ b) I9 I
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS; @% |% _3 F7 R" k3 v
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
' C& r2 ^) { H' Z& uoperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
1 F- E0 N' b% X0 T5 p8 Sthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
9 @4 I( v h) `9 W psolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
0 _' C( s* B# r6 R6 f"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
" t" n0 a, c! h9 c' Bcauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
- [/ S$ h4 {6 d! Y$ F; c( n JHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
9 c- g& j2 p( V& r, t3 D V+ oacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
y% z/ ]& C# h/ X( Ztrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
. h! @8 Z( Z( z' |" N- ~4 A* |0 z5 Omats and sticking accelerator pedals.! O; B h9 A7 o( d
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
& `# X7 _6 y) X3 Q6 [6 ~8 nand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
& f$ ^7 b+ ~' `6 `: H- x/ e& c8 |criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be7 I' Y8 c- e& o% r0 w
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could: }! p/ s# K' L# V4 C1 C: a
not stop her runaway Lexus.: v/ d# e9 q) X+ l6 O% y
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,% H9 J$ Q( n( |! E
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
/ D" e0 j; d$ B, n! R"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.* \/ E: }: t4 I/ a: u1 X
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues$ s- D/ K7 w7 `! v% o
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
/ g: U* G/ @6 H1 d# {"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has7 @; |1 E3 }! z' v, P
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
S% I+ {) J; `3 L5 Tthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
0 j$ ]/ a+ f B' @8 ^0 ^investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
/ l! t% D! d1 Y9 S: j& \Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
% p5 M! n$ h7 }# X# o6 helectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
8 A1 x5 j" Z7 X' Z# |- O. fthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
) Z$ D9 a+ q3 x1 n5 b2 ]malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
& B% V4 b+ f1 A& c: M5 |2 zsaid.% s) V& ~9 j6 M3 }9 \' w
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
6 l7 Z$ ^! ]$ W0 p7 h* m5 Q7 Xhappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe, e* Y' A/ ]3 r. a, L
about driving our products," Lentz said.
# K8 [7 ^8 b. S. DThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's4 V2 q) C! C6 h! Q
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has% x7 a( y9 p- c! W
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
" C3 m9 H h4 ^* J$ {million in the United States -- since last fall because of; r+ e% ?- } A U0 }; u, l
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking5 S, m7 w$ W# D% u) d8 Q: E8 n
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
+ S, P. |2 P3 n* y. Gconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
: X) Z5 v/ n* v- I: mtheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
" Y5 x' ?9 q2 T: t7 gdown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
# c8 z( w& E% [2 _' G- r! Greceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration5 [5 I1 v; ]! W/ c; D3 m/ i% O
of Toyota vehicles since 2000./ F; H% S7 ]# s M! {- l7 a
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own! ~ L# a% E. I; T7 ^2 w3 {- ?
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he4 _6 @( `/ F9 H9 _; D# V- V
understood the pain.* b L( U z- {% s2 e8 ]
"I know what those families go through," he said./ Z) a; |/ i) Z" O
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
( d m$ k ]4 G' n1 B4 w' Afixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
o2 K. V0 d( i0 J0 O( W8 jBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
8 Z& [1 G# {. Q c; E5 UHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put. R1 M! d! K6 T3 F' L
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,9 m8 _/ C, F" S7 Z" K+ [: B) L$ y
Lentz replied: "Not totally."
9 n5 ]3 b$ N: m: F9 fStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
$ \6 J5 I& C; b+ l"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said5 [' L5 q/ d/ ~! _* m/ ?& c( J
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas/ X% y5 Y% ^& b
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its+ q9 ?; A0 d8 X l+ m3 o
vehicles already on the road.
9 F2 O. ?6 c% X1 Y- j: g5 H' rMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify- g) K* U. q0 X3 o6 L4 @
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
$ e/ [6 K ^, Cresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
6 H* y: i; E9 y6 Hoffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
/ S. ~% u) J# m# p& h7 V9 l9 ykilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
# J2 t% ?8 C p"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
7 z. }6 j. ?: \4 }4 vtragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony: s( K3 |/ {! M( p2 b
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight% ]; D' l: u$ a2 d
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal8 y6 F! |3 p. x- h6 h/ A# ~
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to2 V5 L0 W0 p3 d9 j
restore the trust of our customers."& m$ J$ C5 a9 d, |$ D2 Z! ]& E1 t
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from6 H6 y0 e p' Y1 h/ C( A
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
% P/ r* u/ ]- j0 m# d5 M/ ~zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --* {( z1 e, G7 o1 n' Z! A
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
# R) O) W9 {$ r, E- B. U6 t0 Yhitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
: B' G: Z# b8 O6 E" V7 T3 I' Bthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and' @+ t4 q* t. T8 C8 K8 P
turn off the engine.
" C, G6 H- Z/ Y8 |" P1 Q/ jFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
* p) }8 N. L3 L1 C$ Y pOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."4 b+ g+ [! n( o
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
! X9 E3 d6 u7 P7 ^said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
4 T+ G4 Z4 i3 T' V: Z: r' p8 mto her complaints.+ v* Q% M. e a+ o% @. p! [
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
2 e' D% e0 i3 Y1 o; w/ Kreturned again and again to the question of whether electronic
1 Z- M+ V' h& L- f& f, Fmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.( n+ W9 {. e' m7 d$ P5 Q
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric1 v) Q+ P! X2 v1 L# e0 C V
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
4 t$ \; q' x3 J. r- u/ S, K" J"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
0 b( ^2 v k1 }* ~9 k" Zoff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."/ J6 d& _" M* O7 Y
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
$ V; G* {. Q5 L5 C. ?2 r3 w; mprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were- c# B0 j0 W/ p0 z* _
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls3 m. h @, Z1 o7 G
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
l9 f* F( k4 b6 @1 Z. h+ I% u- Wevery question."
) T( H, _" x; h9 M; |' xToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
5 A$ u1 }& s7 v! }+ @5 j d) `electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The2 r/ N5 Z" A2 r* W. N) \" o0 s
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But. K6 I6 P$ s; u4 J! U
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
# p! G, C) G0 b0 B* P6 H& O unumber of vehicles
; v8 B+ y7 ^! CTracking down an electrical problem can be far more$ U" Y" V3 U. T5 s4 q
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
& E! d2 c$ q2 f+ R, R% Zmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
. q& p$ x9 x) _+ t. B; k) j& Zsource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
, a- \% [6 |0 l5 n, W- U& tMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
! n8 F! Q2 @* \# ]/ t- I, Vwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no: `5 v( x3 p; [9 b; ~
trace at all.' l8 e% @3 t; |/ s
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call t% }6 C. O l5 l3 D
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
% ]( b* [* j$ ^acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
3 i, ^& W% m, K! E: Nrecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
* Y. P4 [2 {6 ERep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
; Z! S$ f7 {3 `6 h* J; X+ _. c# Rsaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and! ~" L. Q% c9 {2 C; s9 E" u- M; G H
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the" F" }6 B7 K! X9 o" G. O L
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
( r2 p( e, x; Q' hcause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
, S+ a8 Z5 R/ m3 R& }7 @5 q% Z3 Gsuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
4 X+ E! j5 Q. t! O) n7 hby Toyota's lawyers."
& x7 _9 H; A0 ^( N" `Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
: u2 ?2 Z9 x3 Iproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
& t! {: P9 U- [) P& u1 F7 Vcustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
; R7 m0 h0 `) b: O. Esaid.: o+ U. H0 c3 G: u
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with# I/ l$ d' P+ ~: t1 r
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
; m0 d/ b( W( _( [" Lgood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
* J: [0 G- T5 O3 ~officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
- {6 a+ r5 k4 t9 |Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
) j. d+ ^" u0 y; {+ Kmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread- J% r: A" H0 I7 R$ w4 o
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
' y3 ?% J5 U" [. B- @8 A( Hautomaker, at least in part because of the government's( G; y) p7 Y: S6 f
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and4 a( U6 Q& w7 I$ R G# b, f* P$ R
Chrysler.- q, A- r- s7 D7 { S
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax, [* R1 f' o# {' J# P7 s# D
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a0 Q& S) ^( Q3 h: H( n& j# Y
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
* z' w! \$ D6 |2 s( Q9 E1 l, }! Q! ^served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
* E! C- J1 g* k# z. ewith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
$ L1 _& l, A1 s/ l% r1 Q) z9 }tough."
4 q) w* K9 s$ C7 S4 V---) |4 K8 t* [9 U; E
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
1 G$ ~* D6 G2 y @Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to j% ~( t; O9 q/ {+ j: y
this story.
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