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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题+ k' q' z m( q% b; Q
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
0 h p9 O2 D1 G( yWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.# Z' R+ \ M" J& z) C% v
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
8 r9 ?; s. Q7 Y; B: Gthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"3 i; n6 B$ J/ ], d3 p1 _
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.7 `7 u' j% r3 u& S
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential5 F: C) L$ g& q
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
; p8 `5 p/ v! zHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
- n( E( K, ]: S1 tacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
6 T; H6 C4 @% atrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
) W+ h) A1 d* Q umats and sticking accelerator pedals.
$ Q$ J, l% q4 C* q2 W7 r; vHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal2 T- l' }% Y8 u; k. h' h
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp! O8 U% g. A/ q0 g8 l
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be/ x( Y* Y3 G' U# \2 m1 H
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could6 m ~9 u! D( v/ V6 d! E4 Q
not stop her runaway Lexus.
! c% ^$ M& |' G: @+ W"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,) L% \& s. t5 Q, p
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
/ u' y% a2 r) @3 l8 O$ f# U3 ^"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
& a+ K2 k% h9 i$ \Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
% O* C' s8 @: F; [ B$ P7 Cearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said. F' k+ u% A. W5 p
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has+ X; z! \# I7 b% u
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
6 o, g' X- F" U; Uthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
/ l6 w' |* I& v0 M" `investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
7 l; Y/ ~* t. J) u% JLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an/ Y( B2 Q# k' h! t
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of3 s$ ?' V7 p- v9 ]6 O) q5 L/ H( v/ f% o
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a" H& u+ N# Q4 {6 i6 a, ^/ `5 D1 f
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he% f' z3 y4 S5 |* p; |
said.% E$ p, H2 ]3 S; m( g
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what E; }6 s" }( L
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe( W1 `% i* `1 Q' F z% M
about driving our products," Lentz said.+ I1 j$ E9 Z- [" S
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
! C5 D+ u1 T6 h+ h: [7 kproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has* f9 U( V0 t! ^
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
: y3 m) F+ J7 k2 Pmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of
! _9 q% t* A6 J4 A yunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking5 P/ q/ H% R R q5 \# u C
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
& e5 k1 P: U! }1 h2 ^6 d0 [concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of- [9 r% W/ u& C2 p6 J( L
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow3 G7 U9 e: q$ K& n6 q
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has+ M, \2 W% }9 P
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
3 T& ]. _9 Z1 V0 Xof Toyota vehicles since 2000.
4 w7 Z$ t; R e9 `Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own3 J4 o: l7 a3 |5 N8 K% }, m0 s+ o; @
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he! E: J$ }: r" a/ d5 l2 I! }
understood the pain.+ }: l' _# w+ k. m; X
"I know what those families go through," he said.
: @6 P; W7 }$ @8 S5 b$ NLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's7 P' A# X$ U* k
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
, F5 D/ f4 \! {, jBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
: ~% E9 N8 ~ U eHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
: y8 C9 W) D6 H K, min place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
1 E5 r" z6 Q( ]& @, J' x1 @8 BLentz replied: "Not totally."! C* c1 u: ^6 s, Y! ~3 L
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
* U* L4 [) }) b. C4 U2 ~$ j"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
6 N b+ {/ v) h3 Y3 tToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas$ H$ E3 c |$ k% P: m6 Q C
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
- t1 S7 ^2 |" V5 _6 o: s- t, qvehicles already on the road." L% c2 |* h0 T
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
' d* {5 c' C" Dbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
2 R5 |$ ?/ p; Q$ {( l4 Q4 lresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
7 [0 I+ K* B) loffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
& \. B2 S7 |) l) u; s- L8 }1 ?killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
r. i& _( q# H( i# p4 _"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
9 _! q. _$ }, v& \tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
+ e; C% o5 }! X2 P' W4 u) Afor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight( Q9 s+ A6 Y, j c: e5 w) s
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal7 w. a/ Z: A: \' |5 R: ?" U/ S8 l
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
2 Y3 J9 f) {& o6 U: {restore the trust of our customers."7 ^$ G v; A" O& a) U) N. n, [) k5 J6 \" Q
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from, h. K& Y6 n" l# z6 j3 z5 F9 v
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
t8 ~$ ?5 B4 G/ q; }zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
" e x D: ^( P% eshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and4 z( i8 d" g' r5 U
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
: p1 z3 g" G% S( X9 qthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
3 w( E: R, ^# Qturn off the engine.1 M+ e8 T' @7 N, Z9 R
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
# M; M0 \* T( E7 d! oOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
& s9 M q0 E& ]* b& o$ t; Y; X: T"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
4 n8 Z. Z0 m L! Nsaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond, ^: w; U4 P* k; a p' {+ L1 Z
to her complaints.
( U) d' N7 v" c! G |" {# nIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
) Q$ C, v& ~! d4 |+ ureturned again and again to the question of whether electronic4 Q# Q7 @9 U( p. \5 r6 D; Y
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.: ] I, Y8 u7 c8 s9 Q+ q/ j; ~
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
% n2 y8 @3 f7 y( G# t0 Z. j& ~5 J4 \: b/ rthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
. Z4 C5 D5 Q% }- \+ t"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
! U3 t1 t% H5 x7 toff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."* @- v3 K5 j% P) W
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
1 S( l# D* M; ?* Yprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
& P7 Y( Z# U) vbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
2 P1 t& X; e& V# }$ n+ o: x- K. \) Kwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
( g6 ~/ H/ u' s! N, d+ d: {every question."* x5 n6 P7 |" n) B# I p4 \& ~1 O
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether+ O& I* O- s* T; b
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
1 b" P; I5 n8 ~' N( Q2 Yfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
$ d* r3 Y5 n3 V' s: V! gcommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small
, ~8 @$ {' V+ R+ X: _! d+ Lnumber of vehicles+ j7 @4 s- c" B- \4 b) i
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more, g$ N& h( M0 D A% C P
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
' T2 c$ `- i( x& o8 I& j9 x* Pmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one4 e4 a: q1 m# Q( u7 R
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
' o+ x/ u$ x! A$ N& P/ Y- tMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
. b7 W9 t, l$ b4 z* iwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no! P9 ~3 @. @/ _) E8 u7 G! {8 x
trace at all.
8 B. w9 r- y C* X0 w1 rHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
+ ?) u9 {/ w# k0 ^: X7 l qdatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
; [1 x, D l5 p' U) ?acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
, D- Q. e0 L/ g% e/ krecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.. { y6 {/ }+ M, P- q2 a1 c0 G& O
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
( d3 t w- p. x* ~) b' `2 Z8 Isaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and4 x% ^, k+ g1 g( f
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
: y B# T6 ^5 E. ~electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
8 e1 t$ c, P( x8 qcause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
2 K1 t( x/ q" \. L' s' e; [, nsuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained8 G- D0 ^& B- ]1 s9 s; `, M
by Toyota's lawyers."
* p% M- V! [$ ?$ ?Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of P0 q3 l2 ], z0 ]' c
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our. y" H( r/ I/ c5 Z$ A
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he2 |- o! l+ ]! Z" q6 i/ `# S; T
said.
) W6 R, S. k9 y c7 o3 E9 V1 A"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
& v7 j2 z8 \+ b/ T3 w0 f' la rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
+ f. N, h3 i; a8 d( S) Cgood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating+ i% R; |7 W \, E
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.8 @$ S: L7 d. c& X
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying/ `' D& y$ l" n1 }+ J
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread' i" H& c9 L8 s, }' y
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the' C6 _' k! F; x( b
automaker, at least in part because of the government's
5 L& ]9 f1 h+ k' n' E& Y: Z( o& }investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and6 c; ?, `7 }) ~- b8 w8 q8 {! d
Chrysler.9 {) Y9 t' Q5 _4 }+ }7 H
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax0 c1 c2 ^5 T: M
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a! `" ]2 v6 p" Z
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also7 q* G( z' e" c, P+ \! F2 i
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
: K' t/ V" A3 A- B# c# W swith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
, B$ F- f" T$ e0 }- ~- a. Wtough."
: n: \3 c- L) D% i: r---
8 h9 ` P: x& j3 }2 x' UAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
+ w% w9 L5 G3 r" F9 O- Z a, DRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
4 m% K2 w/ D' Tthis story.+ N: m5 ~+ K- a6 ?! Z
& U( O X% s0 n3 j7 j4 s
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