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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题& A+ c+ D4 ~/ f) L: ^3 h! X
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS/ R' E2 y" K. W# H- B
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
, a! z& ]/ w4 Q; f3 ~4 u* koperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
3 Y* H( g7 \# s8 E. H5 Ethe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"# {" i; h- n7 y( E# j
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.( w- ^$ R( E1 l' p! \0 `
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
* X. ]4 C& P' d8 X: c8 m. Y4 ^! ]. Ycauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
6 Q! l0 d3 f7 C# d) w1 OHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected( o' O Y. V: X; B* k
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
( m1 C1 J( Z: htrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
) z0 n* ` s4 V5 @mats and sticking accelerator pedals.
9 z( H0 N2 `$ A# VHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal7 V' w7 o+ T Y
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp% s0 y% @* z, q
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be5 d0 ~9 U, d( D5 z; i
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could; {! Y% o: A- V! n: g
not stop her runaway Lexus.
4 x* o' x" W" u" T9 M m"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,/ q( L, b; `( C0 I
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
, Q2 F9 E* r; E; x9 X; r5 F2 t"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.+ }1 C) T) E: D% g/ G2 R% P
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues2 Y" C$ q8 q5 X$ ^: g
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
i n/ q# t& }2 K; `4 P"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has: y% ~& _# R5 |# J8 P
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
: s5 I4 K: n/ g3 y2 gthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's; r# f: }; w0 i: M% K
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham.": Y' q% i& I7 b. h4 ]1 B$ f9 r
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an3 ?7 \" b3 C" `1 e
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of! a0 C2 z, O0 P- p# {
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a2 p: X: H s' j6 |' {: g V
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he) [; S+ e; y' w! |) K3 s
said.
; r9 T0 T; U; u7 EAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
~! C* W8 u& k. r+ [happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
5 j5 Q7 q4 ?: @6 {+ j) u, r0 [about driving our products," Lentz said.
! S+ P0 W5 g: IThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's* `) q5 M- G+ z4 Y
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
' `- F9 F# ^4 f& r9 S: ?recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6/ ^1 f/ [2 W: V6 w2 S' z+ }
million in the United States -- since last fall because of* y; T8 z$ N0 K2 _8 R w
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
7 d* v3 Y0 e0 zissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
" \5 ^8 U$ X" F# w, ]7 r& nconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
- E0 k6 s; X+ ]9 y4 W- mtheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
7 z, n* Y7 A4 Q- n+ |9 P# \down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has; p5 J0 A& X: C7 Z9 ]2 f
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
+ \ ^3 D9 C9 q) ]5 h, [of Toyota vehicles since 2000.
E) ]& R' k4 t4 K% o* G1 FLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own8 R( e/ L# y" W1 `
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
0 |; L- V% O; g1 U) ], b' Zunderstood the pain.
! Q2 `' D+ f* J"I know what those families go through," he said.; }9 v9 y- B7 J) |; m U P
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
! g: a2 W2 R$ f4 Z9 G! Hfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.) y9 } B: E, U: O7 C* T4 ~/ l
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
& n; q: L0 _& h0 D/ d( ^Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
; B3 k! k3 ]; M" Nin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
1 I& v- d. R6 W7 E$ nLentz replied: "Not totally.", q4 \0 h! d6 U+ Y; w+ h- O
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were0 [" |5 p5 O) g* C. ]% ?, {' C
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said n# b1 S' s/ f& C2 I
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
: y& {6 P, c6 z2 Gpedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
+ p5 Y8 m3 x6 }& m9 c' P! ~6 Ivehicles already on the road." l: y3 A0 ~+ Z n# b
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify; z: Y4 a$ {" W: }1 Z+ ~4 u0 G
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full! o# h, W6 S8 l/ M$ R" D+ k x
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and/ B/ }/ `. N' Z: X$ e& P
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
9 p3 e! e( W' J" i' R% r; G. z8 D* nkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.! o7 ?, n+ C L7 E
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a5 v# X2 V0 t A, l0 L- Y$ Y# P2 Y
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
# ]. c6 ~8 |8 ?" _1 e- kfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight3 ]) b' O' [: W% [( _5 w
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal8 m* {$ H5 H! j/ F" g
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
4 s' \7 n; } Q8 R3 ]8 T! R0 arestore the trust of our customers."1 s" D7 S9 x! ]5 G
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
! f+ r9 i% G- a' _# _# wSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly1 T. w3 ?$ ?3 H) ^
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --; B. q* N$ G/ x, n2 e/ a' y) z
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
" L! P% }; T& P8 Q0 Y1 k* x0 Yhitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
! R1 N' \: l& tthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
3 w) b2 V( n3 Z7 ?1 Nturn off the engine.
& b. t1 y& }+ _* F* M$ l4 X$ WFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of0 ]2 G4 m2 r2 A$ a
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
6 b3 j) _2 _' s' {% M"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
/ Q% \! F& i8 G E+ p) K5 |: ^1 C4 Esaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond9 W' h3 {$ T1 ]' [! y* m$ u
to her complaints.# U& ~. u8 f- Y/ t! t ?% @
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers9 }# U) K5 D7 T" c0 R$ f
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic1 c4 ?5 g* l1 P9 _) p1 K C+ \
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
" ~, h% G4 S, e1 b% w: z5 ^& o"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric3 G" w) X7 @2 m9 [! j5 x0 c7 O
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited0 T: Q1 U% u! \% s* p0 D( T
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut9 o/ O6 Z' m2 T# s( B2 V: L& Y
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."$ r5 J0 e% C0 Z; v+ \/ `
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in; {& \' j& `* F" ]4 I* t
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
" D3 c- d7 R+ |+ p0 Hbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls2 G$ U) L- E/ b6 Q- e; M4 g
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
- }3 k1 H U$ h/ _; u1 F ?every question."3 F# u" b7 ]+ S, g- J* j/ l+ f
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
5 j$ k2 v" |( ^$ R3 relectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The- w4 R* o, C" N: y, B' l
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But8 y( @4 {1 `( r. C
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
6 s* C* }4 \. [# n% R; D$ s* Onumber of vehicles' B! }+ y$ a( r+ s
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more! G7 {/ }- V4 ]
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
. I5 L ?" k1 Y9 g3 Imechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one9 }0 V* c, r& _# I+ S7 G3 Z
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.; B2 h: n( \5 E0 u" @$ ]1 {4 `" L
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,, T3 F+ q9 S4 }; l' s( }! W. e
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
" o0 s! f3 _1 dtrace at all.( E0 }6 u1 `" r6 w
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
! O5 M0 j. o* m. |* Q! n$ Hdatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden- X9 H8 ` |, r% I, Q2 Y+ p/ N8 e
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the& Y% \1 f2 U' }9 A
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
: s4 C9 k6 p3 b2 y, b+ |Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
5 U& ^* I4 F* X# C/ Wsaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
, H4 R* U0 m* {4 Qother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
' s9 j7 r3 p7 S y, pelectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
* T, H1 b- z/ s: h1 D% ycause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
! O g) `4 d0 T' y7 v# c) U1 s8 [such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained) W4 J3 \6 r# p# U# {
by Toyota's lawyers."
V0 m! _% J9 d# Q2 HLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
0 e" n. X6 l. X1 j8 Eproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
( a2 A6 t+ O6 ^' J3 g# x0 g+ Bcustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
5 K" Q; a: a# T8 H* Esaid.
6 M. B/ x, i8 a6 j, \% h"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with I; O" O" j3 B& c( N- [. ^
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
5 c8 H: t; R" W% Ygood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating; a# T4 B/ w$ [6 I# v+ O
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.4 u Z) ?& w$ B9 m
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying" c) l: e% Z* | G7 x; f9 i
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
# A2 m% d# |/ V2 N$ M4 Zrancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
# c, c+ |' D3 P: Y. w! Hautomaker, at least in part because of the government's ~0 c2 N+ @2 o- r# I5 c1 E& @5 g% I
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and# ?. u9 X- u) C2 }9 b! l: K
Chrysler.
9 B0 A0 Z" `, ~6 [ Z. M5 [7 v3 L4 I"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax. [5 ]% U+ h8 |" T0 j1 G9 c
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
' ]8 |6 a5 f6 \% @Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
. W) Y" j0 Z0 b" b( ?! n: v U; \served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
9 g/ L7 ~" v4 zwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
' m5 c; V) O+ [5 ttough."
' c+ h/ G0 a; u8 \. j3 u. T---
, A# u; s+ d% R* r" yAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom( M# e1 R, h' {! N% o& Q6 u
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to9 F( H! v7 i9 ]2 E' L, G# ?8 J& k
this story.: i8 m) [( g# K3 i4 C, f
) n2 g' I) ?* j7 H& d4 u! P: x0 w
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