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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题' S: M& P" q6 A5 S
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
8 q, D8 c: R% q, d' A9 o' j( GWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
4 c& X/ u4 n4 z# {operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
- z8 o/ V' w& _$ U- m8 X3 Zthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"0 B7 ^# @! d/ M
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
3 t8 {; n1 h' @; I$ b- T"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential% s. w/ O* H# ]0 L6 @$ S2 Y
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
" ?! C6 T6 P3 e6 oHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected3 d3 }7 {. _% N6 |8 v
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and& m( j' m; A1 e6 j
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor! H1 ^5 {! I; M# [/ C
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.
5 D$ H) T) _0 Q- a0 _8 lHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal- o/ @0 a/ I( r$ G6 \
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp$ F) i: d6 {" K) P( i& l" p6 X
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
0 K0 Y6 `+ T& X: @further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
# I2 d4 Q6 i( M3 C+ onot stop her runaway Lexus.0 M: y, x& Z1 L5 H$ w. S n
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,# c/ @ T3 u* w( ]
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second2 E# K2 d N4 w) @5 W
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.0 d' o/ U3 P$ }4 s Z( N
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
6 j- n1 Y# x0 ^6 C, r+ R# i" Wearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
7 O2 o( Q/ ]4 B' f, s"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has3 I: `5 A9 ]! c
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
; T8 `% M7 }/ T: a, _3 N1 [6 Tthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
0 T5 n! ^4 O* U9 I( V( {, |investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
8 f8 Z9 v% w7 xLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
+ y; J2 b( I; ~3 r3 ~ Xelectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
% j. G( E( ~& a& M+ \+ o( i* w' [the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
/ b/ m- X4 z0 `/ Xmalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
9 X1 p6 y8 y2 \4 d9 `3 _% W- d3 I% Csaid.
( p- C; Q4 o ~5 [! K) L- U! v1 hAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
/ u/ D# _* M+ f8 h! @happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe" ^! N \; U2 N% k
about driving our products," Lentz said.+ E; l$ r# \8 A1 ^# Q
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's" w: u2 O9 B$ I9 p2 T9 u, A
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
1 A3 F, A8 K; g yrecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6( p0 v2 z1 g: N
million in the United States -- since last fall because of. B d5 }) w9 p9 P
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
: r8 a/ O: Q( [; d. n$ n& i" M& cissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering9 m& a5 _2 T6 @9 ^' J, ?4 y5 Y6 ?& U
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
( F1 D% X/ d J4 S7 V* jtheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
1 r& S" h$ l9 R' Ldown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
! g& ~, \ V$ s1 X& K. Wreceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
! \% [& @5 Y: pof Toyota vehicles since 2000.( p h8 @+ h. c, n7 J
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
% J% {- W+ P: f- t0 e; `( Y4 Xbrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
4 j! T. K4 Q1 t2 ` Uunderstood the pain.8 D( w4 u- f) c# K9 Z' s* l: M
"I know what those families go through," he said.
% W2 p) Z" E4 aLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
9 g% Y) Y4 o, \, d0 ~fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.0 V& \+ h1 z4 p) i" k
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
- L4 n" j5 ~& N! S" d, S( {Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put, W9 |+ x" V2 E- }9 u
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,; }$ u- Z( G0 E
Lentz replied: "Not totally."6 ?2 C- d( a# j+ i! p. ]7 _) Y3 l
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were0 _2 p; \& I* ^2 R* D
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
+ e* U4 |! L2 w/ e! T/ p0 c/ F7 ^' KToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
w# z N3 @1 I Ypedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
0 o/ F; Q+ s" d2 O1 mvehicles already on the road.
, H) I( a. S. @4 @! O3 m, z& g! i5 fMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
. w2 Z; d! `: z" h! qbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
3 r: B# H* K. e' _- @4 {responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
8 \1 R2 b' y' U( k2 ?4 qoffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
( z/ F8 V" n: C0 V- pkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
: f# U3 }9 T$ r6 q; \' a; ~"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a! N' S2 u j' T; v
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony$ P# `/ r; @3 V) {& W; [- N
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
# t7 Q) F! g/ D/ l5 v; d) Z+ v( j& gCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal. y% M$ v4 _; G* @
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
1 p" p( x3 v1 I# }restore the trust of our customers."
" n, y& i: C. @ O! g2 TLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from$ N' z4 j2 \1 A+ U# ` [; j
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly6 H5 h6 _7 S. h! O( f
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --9 H7 ~0 d8 a' t- ^8 ?
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and; f6 b; K* f3 \8 G* Z
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough( D4 b" K* h+ w+ z3 U* Z ^& o6 F
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and/ n- g- q7 O3 q$ ?0 e; x+ {
turn off the engine.6 i' h1 p# v. ^
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of, E; Z' m; l" e
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
d1 `# G$ x. s"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she# S6 f1 u# C% `, U* Z/ \4 ^
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond7 A# j% p! u) q
to her complaints.% R8 u4 r' {# ~9 p+ K" l5 c5 W
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
; \2 \: ^5 C3 X; X0 W0 L9 I% S6 I* Areturned again and again to the question of whether electronic0 n* J+ o9 m! T9 ]& v
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
* s% H: z' i+ E7 Y: d# T6 ^1 l5 _"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric+ c8 G: R) U& V+ J
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited, d" e% I# l+ \. s3 u& ]2 d
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut) G! W+ m K7 P! k
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
l, E/ U; ^5 lTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
) C* z' x) o. g/ c7 K1 a# ~prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
- o% q" G Y) _9 X5 |: S8 n& Lbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
$ G1 k$ \4 I7 z# t7 Nwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer$ I% S6 C$ _1 S4 `
every question."
9 q v* Y0 G7 T3 r: \# IToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether2 T2 Y) `4 Q) l$ P$ ]% N* L7 ~
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
u2 C1 t7 ?: } x- D9 |3 Wfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
$ p) N, p" k P$ R* Xcommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small
0 a' \( @6 Y4 ~$ e" ?number of vehicles
% c5 B3 P$ o* |; m* @Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more; Q8 o" G7 A/ b6 }1 U
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
6 c0 m( ^' E, z3 Q* [mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one2 N9 y7 G6 m, T3 Q! U* U
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
# G4 N: K8 O, ^" ?! K/ A' yMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,4 Y; L" t' _2 x, N, M: _
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no1 t* i7 _. n$ Z
trace at all./ A/ @& f7 r- w T
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call. Q9 l% T% B: _7 J$ W& u
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
( j' V' V& Y! m; }acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
! o# V. {5 c# k) m: e! v$ Erecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
$ G# u( B B! r( SRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
& e, i& t X4 y* Q. M3 bsaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
' W) L) G4 j# dother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the' B( q( X) j& J4 f3 `
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible3 T; t2 W W% ], a( l9 ?
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only* ]4 D/ F; r, v/ C2 R' d
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained; }1 `1 t; x4 P5 [# U
by Toyota's lawyers."; g9 |& W4 B- Z. E3 A- ]
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
0 q4 d+ v( u+ e8 ~! z' k1 y Q$ Vproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our: |( z% l/ _1 V# z* u8 u% k
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
6 N, q" T6 V7 m. y$ qsaid.
( I5 X4 p9 l; Q2 G7 u"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
/ i; S7 \ h& P0 Y3 b; z% J# ua rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our6 \3 |$ ]) u& t" [3 B) f
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating' T- o3 z) {2 o
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
- V& `+ s& e- oSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying: _5 P K1 _) m
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
! P) G" O# ~" v. O+ Y" erancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the: M! j4 s. Q: t0 t
automaker, at least in part because of the government's
% b4 l3 J* s! V5 vinvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and% e$ g! L4 E0 E( J
Chrysler.
, j/ Z/ L1 \9 }$ t% \7 U2 I"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax4 u2 J! e6 @/ i$ Q! z0 R* d; L
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
: s+ x. `: J3 F4 n& }8 ~Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also8 h" x. S5 o% H5 _
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
9 n, t7 _1 T6 W9 S; ~# ^with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
+ E2 X# o L0 J% r- I8 ytough."
5 S. d8 J( @% x# `' D7 x---
7 Y% C# ?; M& o, `, d* U8 c8 HAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom5 S0 n8 m- V6 C' d
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
9 O2 ^; L' n+ ^4 t( T0 `1 m( R1 ythis story.
* O7 V1 Q+ H# ?4 s5 @: Y, ?% a" a+ X: x" t+ j6 A0 b# q# }% o! x9 g
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