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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题% g6 i9 k5 E0 X% V# f
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS' m: b* M! D" w( v# j! H; ^) K
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.& g/ v# L! _7 v) P* R/ o, W
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
3 [4 b' A/ G! ethe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"$ P1 O" s& X6 m4 M9 P+ ]
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.: T6 s' Y ]2 L6 u7 ~9 m
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential o7 F( r: a* E X& T3 M/ j
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.* s6 I5 N5 ~4 \; z' d7 q
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected/ z( P$ d% n* R' K! ?
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and7 _: ]- x! S' j9 M! D
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor2 v$ | [* [, _, j
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.
5 J* ]: d* Z4 A; oHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
$ G2 e$ g: A7 j* @" B! N+ Cand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp( p3 K( F$ v2 e( n# n7 \0 Z9 D8 D
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be7 x2 y" q; T& P
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could$ e9 R- u8 E4 {+ B2 y
not stop her runaway Lexus.
3 t6 h9 | h, C# K% b+ J! Z3 R, G2 Y"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
$ I, V* v# n8 T p9 ?9 MTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
; l/ w' U5 t r3 b"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.4 J2 `! c& K' ` v/ C1 [
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
- g8 ]% @( e3 A. y: w4 O2 nearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
. C4 Y; P# K" c; |! i"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has; p3 A# d- L! [/ p# k0 Y
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
0 x% I: O7 N3 M# J8 H! z, kthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
v3 b* o: [* c v& tinvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."; a* i7 O6 e$ N( z1 j" p! g% C
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
7 r5 Q- X! O. Yelectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
4 }% z, w6 q, sthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
# P' L$ i: K' l5 Nmalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he j3 a: k6 C# U0 t* c2 z' Y
said.2 W6 {9 Q x' q( M! I
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
$ J' J& w" N' u7 C _1 whappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
% L+ B e; j0 q( \9 b9 X2 `4 Qabout driving our products," Lentz said.5 B9 Z4 c1 y3 M7 R n
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
6 r' a6 G# J, u* dproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has7 C& Z7 x, \* N9 @1 g% }+ F0 k, m
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6# K0 Q2 P6 e) e5 Y7 d
million in the United States -- since last fall because of* ^- j8 c1 i5 k- o
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking( t5 N3 i2 c5 ^1 s2 j, ?& i. |
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering9 T" q" A) |/ j/ l" ^) N) J5 C
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of7 V. @' |% P1 J s! L9 `
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
+ o4 y3 i% x6 z6 R. {4 f3 R& D& ^down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
. A8 u1 {# X; [0 m. Q& n, [received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
9 ~3 ^3 K* Y% nof Toyota vehicles since 2000.
( `2 F4 D1 L: @6 rLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
7 x3 {( m* [ Sbrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
9 o* P7 z/ K& l9 ~/ B9 u/ @9 }understood the pain.
8 f& q1 } i) ^"I know what those families go through," he said./ k4 Y% d1 D8 g o9 H) A# N
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's8 R. ~7 l0 m+ l2 A. L( G
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems. a) ~) u- V, Z$ N. w/ H5 d4 C+ X
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
* G+ l6 t8 w8 E$ i# GHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put5 |+ o4 \, \* l+ e ~
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
' T& R' @ M) eLentz replied: "Not totally."4 n, n( V1 Y% X _9 \
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were9 M2 ?$ R, x4 b7 Q; }
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said: y5 D0 Y# a( R
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas/ Q! a0 |; _. n
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its2 j0 S9 m' ]4 L+ s* n. A( M; v7 q' Q
vehicles already on the road.5 T4 q% L/ R( L7 X# [: l! C
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify; K! m) V y9 l) ?
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full: x1 n. u' I/ T, z. N" e
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
- i1 D. G1 }# D' hoffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were7 n1 t; B% N' O
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.( ^ w C1 G0 u1 g% d' M, z, i
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a- n: v/ B4 @0 C2 Z: A2 d1 v4 `
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
, }9 K! f1 X; ?* X: c+ U# A& u% T2 Z! L6 l; @for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
/ t5 O1 _. X( h3 }$ `9 f" v$ mCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal1 ]" o' H1 r: X. g2 r! g
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
0 l) {$ U i6 x0 _) R4 }5 Jrestore the trust of our customers."
a s0 a% q7 y+ H2 P& XLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from1 h9 e: J/ v1 A4 I* r, Z4 U
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
$ ]1 u1 T" }: c4 r, h) ~6 K: Yzoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --5 R) a+ h4 W5 u1 h, x* ]! n
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
" ^: M, j# ^5 Q: k( lhitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough x# t8 ?3 ]5 d7 Y3 E
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
, O8 I7 p& P! t1 x& Kturn off the engine.
) Z$ l7 i8 q mFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
$ K( |3 x% l- @. POctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."' ~4 R0 R* ^( p9 v" o& ]9 K) p+ }
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she$ d& ~2 |# n* k# w. w( f! U; K
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
& b* C- r2 m: Eto her complaints.: f4 k, y G: y' C
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers3 c$ {$ D: D- J$ w( t) E
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
) j) N. O& v# [malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.3 _9 f) O0 W$ x7 F3 M
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric* Q' c8 D2 Q5 e9 e$ p4 K! B, @
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
( b H/ Q2 W8 y H& ~3 l"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut3 w6 }; T( ^% G, c8 R
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."! u+ [5 G8 q( g$ G5 }
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
) ]) \' x+ X/ s: q- U& S$ Iprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were5 u2 K/ Y. X7 l" z) q6 ^
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
$ r$ V, W* y3 {were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer, V9 A1 |# g/ I7 h# e2 y9 L/ ?
every question."- ~' L; s+ R4 z1 S7 P/ i7 x$ ^
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether0 ?8 h( N1 Q, r; w& n
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
. l9 B. g+ |8 ?7 ~firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
+ ~) I+ h7 |0 ]( B& R' Wcommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small
- K; }4 Z+ P+ jnumber of vehicles8 x4 E3 r7 M L9 L2 m! j
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more9 I% l7 c& m6 y2 v4 P9 k
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
: Q( E3 v* G% y! u; s& Fmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one% G! h2 e' c- j' K8 m' ]
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
5 ^9 ^9 @$ f+ K5 ]Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,! x, t' t% y0 ~$ c( a& z2 R& C( U% g6 v
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no' ^% w" h% d/ B, h% H3 A j
trace at all.2 o. B5 o8 Q; O% c ]" w% U5 Z' D+ N' g
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
9 p( G+ ]& m. J# s& Ddatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
0 ^$ N7 A# k8 x1 x/ t7 lacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the% x+ w& E# H+ c
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
: }& m5 p% {' J9 [, F' {0 f) I7 r, HRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,$ n. c0 Q" N- z7 ^& K( d2 k' f( j+ x
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
+ k8 s2 `7 z9 G! o% mother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the4 ?% t+ L# a1 f! ~
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible9 J5 T; ^7 D! y h! s- B) i
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only |' w) `' y# K* i
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
- @/ f0 j4 P5 ?0 E% S4 Dby Toyota's lawyers."
; I# K- }8 m; H, y/ `9 ]3 T6 [Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
8 v8 W- L6 S9 Y, n1 Y) R1 Vproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our& F4 ?3 R. X0 H: |' V6 V2 r" b% F
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he( s* ~$ ~: Y/ G/ b" q
said.
$ s% U z( E3 J% k- e"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
4 O3 n: u/ f+ A& ta rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our$ J4 |: H c( M. g, e5 u! {9 w
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating3 b& b8 x4 K& L% C2 \* r7 M
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
1 ^; m! l; C( _% M; \, ^, B2 [5 k4 wSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
# P+ \% [( ]1 ?% y. l" D( lmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
1 Q3 R8 m- R" O [( ^2 ^rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
; h, v% ]0 l( J" u' D8 c2 z% Dautomaker, at least in part because of the government's( ?' O3 @1 I) l8 e, S% b
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
2 E. y3 [& u6 m% S" O# m- aChrysler.8 i( k) V. K% x: I3 s) }
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
* {) u) ?7 H4 T1 w5 }( X3 s1 ddollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a1 l2 Y1 j( r/ f# Y% X
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also r% t+ h8 s* U# r) G3 h
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete x! Q! P. j0 C9 z" K! ` t p
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty2 A1 Y$ R5 O" v, s6 g
tough."
- Q# e9 ~. U. V5 Q---
/ p: s' o( b0 d, Q7 z7 n7 P, PAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
( e* N, i0 h/ {2 ^, ^6 uRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
& D7 t$ U2 d6 ]6 ?' `9 X- O4 Zthis story.
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