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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题9 n! j1 `& u( T% c$ l' t5 v
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS2 q! o/ w% D3 Y% m" y
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.9 J8 Z. p- {: @! M" e% K
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that$ Z- y" q2 J0 t; S7 K& a: e$ Y
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
% V# J% b" z* U- v: ~7 Tsolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.4 l8 C6 G8 K* Y- f4 i/ ]5 |( {( p( n
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
& I9 i3 E$ n3 ~' r8 u7 j6 ^& rcauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.) R" W, G/ v- L' H6 `, Z. F
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected( W6 m6 {6 |' g' C
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
j7 `: R( r1 ~& utrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor7 p# y6 \/ @4 k: R/ \5 v1 u
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.5 c; |/ |2 }9 Y+ C+ ?+ Y
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal( ~. `8 ^0 n$ j4 @: g2 V
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
8 p. N+ T+ r: s/ T" z' k+ Wcriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be# e) Y2 ]1 E8 y6 `8 ]! r
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
( C4 C% O* k. d2 k, j; M0 Tnot stop her runaway Lexus.8 Q& m" ?: q- J8 n* A U4 h
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
& H, h! F' n% }Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second" d" ]& j- A2 @. V2 F! k1 [# y! Q' y
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
+ m, z/ \8 |* x* E ~- C1 S% ?Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
0 ?# `& T3 _5 L; j, z4 |& ?early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said; Q: D. j# M6 i1 S* U/ z
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has; S9 F& T1 Z4 Z4 ?
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway* O6 R8 ?1 ?1 o5 n% J2 M
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's2 S5 o( h y! i
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
+ |1 I; ~7 B) V; ~3 T% E+ [5 O7 yLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an; L$ c2 |$ P7 I# C
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of1 ~2 N: ~0 t8 N6 N
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
1 K( Z) Y/ c5 k; r5 T) v/ Vmalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he1 V0 r2 E& p( z9 r7 K
said.! I8 X0 z& ?0 m* R: U
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what6 q9 J/ t( n, j$ w$ \
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
" b- \4 g, W+ V" ?about driving our products," Lentz said.) \2 S5 f' d }5 T
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
( |, G/ e- q3 `6 {2 Y/ }problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
1 h5 ^* r& {: o; Hrecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
5 F! g- p: z+ W/ Q1 H: @. O- kmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of
7 W7 t6 k* ~! Q8 J% @( funintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking* P9 |6 d4 i5 n, J3 p* H$ a
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering u* R$ S* z8 ~& P
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of2 W' y/ A3 H' G3 H8 A7 N2 F* F7 e
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
) A! N' H+ B$ W2 P% N6 ?" Rdown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
* w ~; y2 [: T# t p& H9 vreceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration) A$ c* _+ ~: [% }. Y5 g2 |
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.
6 l- ~8 o; m0 g6 M& w" KLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
9 l6 `; V" R1 y* l+ }7 c* mbrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he% m% J/ f( Q) E" L9 d& X) B
understood the pain.5 I, V- p+ a# h9 [* D
"I know what those families go through," he said.* I: w( |4 `" N2 ]. q1 w
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's* A# O! f0 Z7 h' p& [ Z4 w8 v. z6 h
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
0 D, V3 F0 ?8 o# T9 ]8 pBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman; H" h( }) H& F$ |$ N
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
6 \+ {4 H, R+ ^# _) `, ?) iin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
! x0 M* c4 V4 d- ALentz replied: "Not totally."7 ^* }4 d2 x& f# `' d. @# b' J: s, y
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were( P+ Y, p X; K v+ Y8 ]
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said6 s" G# q2 ?. N
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
( O/ W. ^1 T) @pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
2 T' d I7 M( Z9 yvehicles already on the road.
9 |5 o9 ]3 H4 t" X$ a7 l8 XMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify( u" Y0 B. R( `" a" e# H
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
( N, t# L. V; N$ M9 Xresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
1 G6 t; t4 H3 \1 F- B( H8 soffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were) |0 a; t8 H) q Y
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
+ \% H- `0 m3 f' U7 ^' L"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
( R3 [2 C* }2 ftragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
4 \2 m6 P9 X: R5 @9 Ffor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
9 Q' g, x( V) W) M% ^Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal8 E+ I! j3 n2 s4 b/ \6 ?# j2 o
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
# u2 S+ r! |" e0 L9 S9 j8 P# yrestore the trust of our customers."8 w, L0 v* d5 ~/ I+ |7 i
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
/ r+ W0 q0 \; ISmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
3 m7 x& [& p8 i; A3 G- P$ mzoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
+ W+ b. N- {, g1 o: _, y7 Mshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
; R. s# m# Q7 G$ S5 F Whitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough: H8 H" u& {: a/ y$ }' w- Q
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and/ _4 z6 `( V# V# z0 T5 H
turn off the engine.
; c. j* S7 j5 L+ U& ]/ SFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
* x. N/ t) @% O- @* iOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."9 t- w, _; y8 N4 I
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
0 R4 [' d f2 [% Vsaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
) s6 h* y8 G% U) r& U$ \to her complaints." l# p9 _' k- ]& m
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
k* p; ~/ s, ^( _: N+ Ereturned again and again to the question of whether electronic, l [: e+ M. I! m
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.! c6 e) @4 L2 z; {( h& d6 A4 L3 W
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
/ m( g. u0 t$ C& E- {throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited& N# H4 `) d, r2 m1 \& O
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
# w- L9 G' Z% {' aoff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
$ f) b& ?; }/ |5 ] NTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
* D" Q! z1 D9 N2 Sprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
- i' I3 R2 l: Obeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls1 C- e) ]) A( u6 u% x
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
' l1 ]3 M% r3 `( Z( M/ _5 I! Devery question."
- R0 v: u3 U5 D, a G+ xToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
8 l5 ]* T6 j& \& Xelectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The0 i: l" G/ v* w4 |* S6 \
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
, U. b& P0 ~/ P! V+ y; Ccommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small
, D! W- b6 u6 O: S! r/ ~number of vehicles
9 U$ r% O! m6 i# A/ NTracking down an electrical problem can be far more) c! j7 Y. s/ u) M5 g3 z# k
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
& r8 S* C K+ F. Bmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
& [) ~9 u+ i- wsource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
: {& [$ a0 H7 Z' {; pMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,- T) {" D- g7 F* j# a# S
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
0 c# j) l- y9 w0 G) i3 ], [trace at all.) g$ [8 n, C# e
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
0 W+ Y& |* Z' c2 N' Sdatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
( W5 C% u0 T6 W. ?$ Y( j0 g* Vacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the2 e3 h2 y( W+ i, f$ `$ n
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
( U7 P; y5 F( s1 B7 F7 nRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,3 Z) Q W' t# D/ Y/ k ^: E2 v
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
- y3 h1 m8 p/ b& w2 J& j% Cother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
0 H. [3 G! g4 m6 N* y. ?electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
# n% s' G) H1 ^0 [ o' Q& T8 Ocause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only0 Z$ E, H% R' F- f# b# z ?# f
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained" @8 c' A; ` T
by Toyota's lawyers."
- F; p5 G) w) pLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of u5 J; ^/ s$ G" j: |
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our& ^" r- l3 j: ^: A" ]& K2 }
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he; ^0 i1 J8 ]2 H5 u' G
said.4 R( r* k+ N# n, c1 T- B
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
+ ?) C, W3 b a/ l) U! W2 Wa rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our7 D1 v6 L) F, d, w
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
( h5 ]6 ~4 d: i9 [+ \officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
/ U& u% T# X0 TSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
+ j( c. c- r3 X7 C0 ^& i/ \members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
' A7 k3 j1 I( k8 t4 j& _rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the( ?7 v' ~; F7 j" |2 Q$ l f: [. K
automaker, at least in part because of the government's% ~2 p1 i2 o' u5 V, J0 d4 o
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and1 k. s: k4 Q4 H- T/ J+ y: B: V; d
Chrysler.9 [( ?0 c( s0 L) I6 y- j
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax& n# q! P- }" u$ N( g& w# \
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a; C+ L* ` f; B1 e( \5 m
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
& f. ]. q/ `5 F- C, zserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
% i0 [. @4 N% K6 J# i6 Swith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
9 `/ v; u4 e! C7 j9 Z8 Ntough."0 z$ A$ l* |1 E6 ]0 q! n7 G3 L! a
---; _; {, W2 y) }0 t9 L: S4 a0 I
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
0 N+ y+ D) v/ K! [$ f2 fRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
) D! F7 J B% t3 ]this story.
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