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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题6 e: e: N3 \: j: a; {6 Y& }
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
1 j. u4 [1 v2 z5 m+ ~ RWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
4 p" `* H* H9 O, I$ {) w/ koperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
- i/ i/ ?/ H/ ~' C: m8 U6 m% \the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
+ N% K( \* f; L! nsolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
) `& G: S" ]) d% _& x6 e! F"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
m# r* @& ]8 [0 N! m* ^. A8 H) m; Bcauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
4 @$ k( N6 j# ^$ Z. {1 qHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
& O8 ]) R9 q( Qacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and& V7 m! W$ z# N9 I2 p3 ~
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
0 ]! O# e( S8 x5 E2 l. W6 lmats and sticking accelerator pedals.
; x9 Z1 N9 K. B% m) h, mHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal. Y& z" {1 c! x: v0 c
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
; U- N ?6 G9 c. C& G7 Pcriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be8 V6 r$ e: W4 i& H2 v) u4 \
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could$ C8 N+ G" ]! W
not stop her runaway Lexus.0 K, m& b# L H' B- M& T/ k
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,3 Z+ U; D+ a, ]! g
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second2 y* }: W9 x& j* R( I
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
( F6 A+ E. i. {1 y$ f/ uTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues/ ?" E' W- U6 F
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said6 A, z) k8 K8 H% Y$ a: Q8 Q# c* @( S0 U
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has2 u$ J* p3 b. E9 x E, H& q
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
) U. y$ P4 y/ _# ?7 Othrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's: B8 C" H$ D# X: E) W
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
2 W$ v# c/ z( o! F) TLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an' ?9 l$ X% o0 H k, n" y
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
3 c/ U- c. Z) s5 zthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a [8 E' `' o/ p+ s
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he" g' e9 W: M4 O
said.& D# y) C( s1 H0 L" X
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
: m/ x5 `+ F1 G0 G6 Nhappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
, e+ l! a3 K Labout driving our products," Lentz said., b" J! Q5 B; D3 G
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's* w$ E% _0 E: j/ D! d# y& I
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
0 X8 [5 o4 {1 u2 P+ p: Y4 y' F- brecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 63 @7 H4 L: f: h' R
million in the United States -- since last fall because of" d8 A8 f6 z, R) O# x
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking9 t) R v. u% T4 q; v% N! |& p
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering" @8 |6 @ p/ J5 v, o
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
& q9 `; J; G6 B) rtheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow9 o% v6 I/ G; f3 x
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
7 x% f& `9 o, ~8 {+ U6 r% y5 Jreceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
3 g4 n, s& ]3 k+ k) E5 r, rof Toyota vehicles since 2000.
; _$ d' B# O1 E" J0 @! ?$ h. TLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
' N7 w$ X5 N/ t+ q" Jbrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
V) c( B5 V; c" ~% Munderstood the pain.. [: \' W0 E- R' f0 y
"I know what those families go through," he said.
8 T3 d" d o( `0 T5 gLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
+ D; _3 ~; h' q4 m; Z! Dfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems." E6 @1 v- G( u+ r; a7 k# I4 j- X$ i
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman" m' Z$ {/ d7 m" ^0 J
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
. Q, A! s2 e5 j' O2 L9 Oin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,1 Y* x# x5 D1 ^; w
Lentz replied: "Not totally."
/ _- M p/ t, _* ZStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
. a- q2 R, X; g( A+ P& e"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
0 H) N- v/ P* \- B+ rToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas- ^1 ]' d2 i; | G
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its' T% Q2 @( L' l) C/ e4 d' H) ]
vehicles already on the road.
2 e' K i o3 m% p+ m6 i# hMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
# s) E2 _( d$ J# ?; ^/ Y4 _before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full% l+ s9 D5 I% B3 b
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and3 a5 E$ E, i; X- h% ]) b: R) f
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were1 `4 r* Q( p: [7 {
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
' R/ ]" D/ E/ o+ A/ z5 {5 h' g"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
7 `/ P$ U; T) N; J Rtragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony, {1 Y+ [: @: T0 s% r* w
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
2 I4 {4 i3 E" C0 c+ `. {/ \/ Y4 \Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
3 K- ]0 d+ F/ I& Y3 u5 @commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to, M/ d3 u. n6 l3 L. G: e
restore the trust of our customers."
0 w% s# Z5 L2 U+ q& dLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from ^" v0 F% o, L. L! l" k2 E
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly- \7 s! A) @) C) d; G
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
' m! R# z- a$ n; g" y) {7 eshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and, T& i$ d; p; f% |; H$ ?1 i5 N
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
) ?* `& G7 ^4 e `( o7 Ethat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
- q( a* u0 H) o+ u8 ^turn off the engine.# l# F2 ?% [5 W
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of8 Q" q6 C8 m0 e- J
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."5 _; {! ~! ]( z8 w7 A( X+ z9 y
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she. x: J1 G$ f' j. k0 D
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond. ~( `" K/ Q9 y, Z, [# C5 R
to her complaints.3 g% J5 }6 |7 F7 V: w+ M6 [( c) b1 _
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers' N* z! Y4 `3 X, w
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
0 t0 j* c& n: W4 n7 _malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
8 M4 ^0 T* K: c. b"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
$ |, H o0 ^! n0 S: G6 ]. }) }throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited6 O# z, V. v% Z5 A" X
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
9 @) o! a" v! f2 I0 Voff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
, ]! A2 {) z; G% J/ \, `Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
3 u, f6 z' T0 z6 S3 ~" yprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were* J; ^+ F0 X/ ]5 S$ |9 P0 O# ~
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
4 {6 ~" ~" j- ]5 v! {. j+ f8 z) Uwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
4 |# m! L1 m; d( j' B O6 C+ Q+ \every question."
5 u1 e& m; m) h9 v( L- cToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
+ j6 G( i" L1 m2 P3 E1 ?electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
; n" e1 H* |( D7 u* o- A9 q7 pfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But' u0 L# H/ M% y& ]6 j' r
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
' G% m1 j" Y# inumber of vehicles( B9 _ @5 _3 U- C Z2 B
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more
) t- j/ c" F4 j( [) Z0 Vdifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
& R) C e9 C4 ]9 n% ]& Wmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one. k9 E" G- c3 b3 E
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
3 V8 ]( r% K# L: iMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
4 W) t- f$ N4 x% d9 W) nwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
+ V+ t/ A- h3 t' `7 O* S& I% ktrace at all.4 G3 j" P2 r6 i8 L# R9 n3 p! b" w
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call6 w5 S' s6 x6 ]5 f
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden8 i' J" r8 W4 M6 S9 f- ?; n$ c
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
, E) F. V6 @* y1 d4 P0 Krecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.! Q+ [' i- O0 z8 _% C, p" d
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,* e D% \% \9 |% o
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and. E1 W* J7 _% _* `: A
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the7 m9 H& T. l$ v. v. s+ p8 i7 w
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible# C# B# Q2 y3 O
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only+ s i# v# W5 T( z
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained2 v- Q2 R: g" h: J% B) h
by Toyota's lawyers.", X5 y @+ {' A$ j0 j, R
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
5 ^: J0 h7 H# w a0 hproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
) m$ e; i! w# S6 p- P1 G" ]% Y8 rcustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he* {0 V( u% [9 `; T
said.- M) U( x0 B$ W& f
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
7 h0 x6 v5 `, i0 g+ @5 @2 ^a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
1 j% W0 B' h7 Agood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating" L( v3 v/ }( t. P! p( G1 o
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.3 I2 L% l7 T& v
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying4 A! K. e/ U; G) u P
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread8 D+ y1 T2 Q/ g7 R5 Z m$ [6 T
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the; P$ p- l. V7 [# \; U6 {
automaker, at least in part because of the government's5 _, {. ]) r! [
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and& T1 d' D" v0 ~9 K4 a/ }4 @- X
Chrysler./ J6 e$ _" ^& A( o7 H' B
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
, r; C) X) Z! v( {/ ~3 x' M; Udollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
+ E$ [" ]! N- l7 B' bHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
1 C0 [# _1 G: ?/ `1 pserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete: ]. y5 B' |- C2 |$ N* B% t( T
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty- r1 Z( B' P5 C3 }
tough."
; N1 l a+ u4 d( l9 ^---! @9 |; m( `& ?% x" t9 M+ @
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom& g0 p7 a1 N" ^2 c, b
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
a, j; R7 C! e. gthis story.; @; {( I5 N' }' z( E I$ e4 ]3 F
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