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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题8 Q7 t k# G0 p s4 s, Y7 L
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS" |& C- \( `" \% R& n: o- c
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.8 X3 e; q+ Q4 S4 P
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
' w" }; m, N' T, }the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
1 R8 h/ W4 w2 v1 r: Osolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.4 L. E9 G3 M% ]' u; W7 B/ Q
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
+ I# p, X) J4 p- }causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
1 W) [' j; V2 R6 eHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
$ ^2 ^. W! [: L' f! Y. \acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and% K4 I" q8 ^8 C8 _: ^
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
* l* }* G: Y8 f& [0 ]mats and sticking accelerator pedals.
1 q% s3 y* h- u6 VHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal) B- O4 t, z- D! Z6 u5 `* }
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
0 M) {% s' l% ?0 n2 K# [criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
: Y+ ^' R1 }1 d; D3 i3 tfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could2 ^" P4 J0 @; Y
not stop her runaway Lexus.
: @; G: I2 L2 {3 W: M$ E* W"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,( D7 w9 T4 x' C
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second$ o. N, m! W9 Y0 Z8 o, `+ j: Q% R
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.& v9 e5 h" J" V/ J& z
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues" y B$ ~1 q+ H7 ?! W* E/ X
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
7 B; [( |& L( Z0 @* w"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
. s' I- Q N& {: C% Q* odone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway3 I. g( b$ _6 x! ]4 Q
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
0 H" x& E9 P; i$ `2 J yinvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
8 A2 K$ q+ x, C$ D% N8 ~9 RLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
3 L6 j1 O9 M$ V8 xelectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
. j/ |* l1 }) H9 Z# ithe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a" v D1 b% D: ^: g0 f8 Q5 z% B& v
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
! W$ ~" l/ Z! Bsaid.9 C5 g& L3 q4 U! J) l& J5 u
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
# z/ ^: f1 J1 {8 c& \happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
# x' P' }6 A e/ Oabout driving our products," Lentz said.
8 A* y2 B( N5 l7 x( TThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's" X% k" k) q2 A- C }& m
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has! ~% c7 L) o, l8 b5 x0 Y
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6$ T/ Y* \; O4 @" u; B) B8 ]
million in the United States -- since last fall because of
; H+ T4 \' ?& p1 dunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
& O8 M8 c- z: ]: Q! m! L) |1 a0 d# P. pissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
/ M9 L! X5 Q3 @6 Rconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of* _ K$ O' T. p" d/ H" \
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow& d7 P. l' P2 s! @
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has: v. d: q& ?6 n" p: g, }
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
' d$ z- ~7 P. f5 z ]) L9 Jof Toyota vehicles since 2000.2 i( R3 _7 f5 P* ]; T+ ^
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own# U% a7 `7 O$ V
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
" [' b0 C$ |2 Cunderstood the pain.' c: `3 g6 e5 ]- V1 a
"I know what those families go through," he said.: C+ D" M( r% k* w4 u
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
: y) u5 g9 Q5 Ifixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
7 G; L+ W$ M( OBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman" {- }0 l1 W# n9 y. j$ o
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put6 C( M5 a0 l6 e9 ]* p1 ~" n/ {
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
: p% s5 z9 N( {4 |% GLentz replied: "Not totally."
5 f* I. B6 Q+ y7 i% e9 C" nStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were* K7 \2 f2 x9 x8 B( ~* I
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said# [# ?/ Y( T' t9 m7 z
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas: G+ z& e! A: R' t
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its0 t6 n S! y) c3 I0 v+ H/ X5 ^- y
vehicles already on the road.0 R% r" W# w2 x6 ?
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
. h p/ I. v% e8 [( Xbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full8 G; i+ C2 {$ l$ L
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
! B _4 E6 N8 b6 @; S8 o$ hoffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were1 D' W7 c4 e# r) L$ {% T0 A
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.3 t" v/ z4 A9 B4 Q
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a" a) T3 i- A1 U0 y
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony f i" G& J. [7 n/ q& v
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight- V2 l, a0 i1 T) u
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
1 ^( l+ x6 Y: Ccommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
# a% q* r# T0 Trestore the trust of our customers."
( H' P0 M8 I- x/ x, nLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
3 i2 x# J, o! p2 s$ `$ z# x4 GSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
( N! O. H' t3 U2 M2 E/ C6 \zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --2 \7 o3 ^7 J8 ]5 s( a4 W; H
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
; r" |; C: A" m1 [5 q$ Shitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
# C1 C; {; }- Z( m' athat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
8 }, P+ n+ M6 A" A0 N3 h" n; uturn off the engine.
- C5 `# X( T9 z: N8 v- [6 I h9 MFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of3 X# ]( _7 m0 z1 j |4 J4 o
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."+ X6 M- b% u# O% V" x1 J8 v
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she9 b( v. j) g2 Z; C
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond* Q/ A1 ]& Q: T) j$ O9 x; D3 C
to her complaints.
, x0 W& x! o) c8 j* m. ^& cIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers5 U( {% k& d. k0 k7 E: t+ _% r
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
+ B! q, a3 Q9 }( _& u- }; Cmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
! l# y0 O* ?" G- ~4 i) h8 \* x* k"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric% e. _+ \# i9 w! }
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited/ T1 X1 {+ [3 |: T7 G# Y
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
1 f, s5 T5 v8 j- S; | Foff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
- F7 ~" K; N% u3 v/ g6 C: K) KTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in+ s$ W# i5 Y @. c4 x: v% Y
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were! u* H: C6 ~1 t
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls: I4 X% M9 j M( k, P# J* @( ^1 U
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer) b# s3 D2 u( _, @
every question."" W5 O" O: E/ e2 B/ \- M5 i
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether; y! M3 a" r9 z3 V5 w) B
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
$ M8 A% Q8 g2 x) o/ Kfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But! t5 l I6 k! {" w% z& j8 @
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small9 Z/ K5 Y9 J# U1 F, C- O
number of vehicles
( v* B1 N, {8 L7 N3 BTracking down an electrical problem can be far more
9 \0 g: ?. v6 R3 Ldifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
6 t) T" M) }/ h. [0 Gmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
2 Q. e$ ?3 m1 s. @& Jsource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
3 t# J& N+ ^1 I7 UMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
) H# P- n* H. Twhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
4 e2 s0 B& o0 Qtrace at all.* o- h1 {# ^$ b' t$ V0 J
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call6 y) N6 f# I" d! S; l* P( [+ Z( |
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
7 ~! G, r1 S6 L- [+ Racceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the. Q9 O$ `( a5 i4 L$ |
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
. H8 O8 @# _& W3 eRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,) |4 B0 `3 g( q( k7 T( q
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and; u O4 M$ @1 }( H v
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the. z+ H; a8 s& r( m
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible8 u: l. g- s' W: i3 c
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
# J" d/ g7 e3 p) u. ssuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
1 G( T) e7 v/ z0 L# yby Toyota's lawyers."
$ ?& C: Q& O, d% _( f2 kLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of% O/ X& T0 _$ g
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our+ |! Q# f" F' m! m' t
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
# T# m( [0 N4 v" \7 g ?; p4 O, F+ Q hsaid.7 N) w8 C. T3 e1 X0 J
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
8 z# O! D) Z9 I- H6 ua rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
. W- G% I- u( n8 B' Sgood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
& }8 j; |4 h" Z) W2 e! [* y# o% A$ I# a* Nofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.8 p+ B- [% J" z
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying6 O* b) Z; L. H9 X& y4 @$ g
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
_7 {; u7 }9 m" K1 Brancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
; b& t7 A1 B: W6 i' F ~& y* T9 bautomaker, at least in part because of the government's
( g Z0 ?' s' S K/ x5 r* Binvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and& q3 ]9 k1 q5 L1 b7 \7 D' p
Chrysler.) T5 n6 P5 f% {$ u$ u6 X5 q
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
6 Z9 [6 C* J+ J. |$ l3 T9 J T" Edollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
* }( v- ?$ t/ }5 I" V3 MHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also5 [1 x5 s3 r5 v4 O
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
9 M8 {, I3 R9 g; |2 Mwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty9 I0 M. {+ W: q2 R+ m
tough."% T3 d/ Q0 C* T! ?
---) e" M f( V$ G+ O- Y- x4 Y8 D1 m4 M n& L
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
0 z& F% }) q* o& l1 gRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to& Z X6 v8 z9 }& h9 M. l0 V! A( Y/ w
this story.
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