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发表于 2010-2-24 01:19
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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
! @- W* ~8 E5 N. [; b! V; x7 R) z3 FBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS% n+ F6 H j {$ W2 B- G0 `/ p
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
% `- W) |: Q% g$ g( ^' O7 q" eoperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that( S% o$ D; R: @
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
0 @4 @& a- ~3 Z# rsolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
. F+ {5 h4 o& t `( _1 D"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential$ u8 T; k6 C* M$ S
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
' L" F5 o8 a# j. K. SHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected6 G- A7 C8 S9 A) e: @8 f+ U
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
3 D0 g" S6 G' e+ q9 o. `trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
9 `$ V% p# ^. n" \2 u2 Q9 d @5 T5 Vmats and sticking accelerator pedals./ T6 H! r4 K! Y7 m& B
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal& e6 N' o, Q. a: d
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
; k1 c2 L, E2 e6 `2 x; v3 icriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be, w* o* q2 R6 S6 G: W' [4 p
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could7 s+ S* U8 [' W; \) Q( e
not stop her runaway Lexus. Z* ^+ |# q/ l( d, ?6 \0 `
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
+ P n0 n+ }' z. a4 R# oTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second1 l6 w; ^9 n$ g( E1 C( R) [! m% u+ Q
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
; D- O( I) S8 _ E5 @# W4 @0 HTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
% H( F" u7 H/ n! Jearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
) U9 j& z! j/ M) Q; p% h"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has; s1 }) P6 {8 L! ~
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway, n0 D( r. y1 h% `! S% a7 @9 y$ o
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
2 i, J7 m1 Y# [investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
O( B) X+ |0 `5 B6 [Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an3 Z$ ~% n# e. t. W& ^
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of$ } h- J* N8 {9 z) {
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
+ D9 p+ s( v0 Imalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he7 t" {+ I3 l+ n/ t6 a+ t+ T5 s
said.1 i/ R/ c: ]' n- f! @9 |6 M
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what+ b. U7 d0 F" x7 u" o- o3 Y
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe7 A% ~1 E) G( h$ O# d, c: m
about driving our products," Lentz said.7 o- D$ z7 D" b/ ]. Y2 ]$ F4 u
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
& ~& o* w# a$ P; M( W6 hproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
. R; J8 u% d. B4 O0 krecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6% a7 q2 ], q& R" m) ~$ \# G- p* i
million in the United States -- since last fall because of- z( o2 x4 y9 \4 z0 R9 M
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking& C) ]( L; W1 f! l4 T
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering6 ^7 H: q0 T( M2 M
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of/ Y9 h: e3 O, S0 Q- W- N7 _8 S2 O
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow3 W' d d6 p" D7 r! h
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
5 X) M; b) P I* t1 b9 {8 D6 {received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration% p+ ^0 v# y4 ~! v w) ?6 p
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.
" |" R8 K2 w6 gLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
# K# C( \" J- C5 E" v2 [$ ]brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he/ X4 s" N5 ]& w% t
understood the pain.
! d1 B* [7 l& s. F"I know what those families go through," he said.' T% D, A; {; Y. ~9 \; }
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
* M) t4 c7 Y5 Q( U, Jfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems., e" p, J1 ?+ p+ q0 ]7 G
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman* k: Z, x) D- l0 e# L1 e/ T8 S" |
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
5 ?: Y7 b! d, J0 g4 Lin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
8 o2 g6 l& U/ W2 u% J. Z5 E6 TLentz replied: "Not totally."
$ y7 d& l/ i3 S9 {/ o ^4 ]8 lStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were, R6 }- _ o. a! R$ q2 l
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
! |) {, r1 A0 V( E Q& DToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas- L) R- y# W9 ?- V* s
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its: n) ]. \: _$ p. r- J4 f* {! l
vehicles already on the road.; e% [% V) [3 @$ y( u; M3 U0 I, o
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify; a" ~& h' L Z) I! \- F* `9 e
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full9 |& e/ ]& W4 k
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
) Q" c! s6 N; B1 Noffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
+ F2 I* G! q7 ?: j5 Q( Kkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.+ Y1 A& C3 G& ?
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
9 k# ?) f1 r, ftragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony1 F& j6 q x; r: w$ K+ e
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight! e7 b5 q% X, A
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
( a0 o9 l6 Z: B4 xcommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
' T6 m2 Z! g/ G' X" ]restore the trust of our customers."4 [7 s5 E1 B7 v
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from# W+ k2 ~8 G( ^# Y' R
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
/ i, {1 [% d8 J" e+ k3 l: ~zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --) d4 I6 V' e( n( R }5 F' |& l
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
, u" f- M" a3 r1 F: ^0 M4 Jhitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
' j. ]( U2 |! ythat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and/ A3 C" ~9 ~% \6 l. ]4 C- v. W' K
turn off the engine.
6 |* G, L7 ]* _' L ]" N rFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
d6 H( r: t9 ^# B3 ?, f9 z+ DOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
: M4 H/ i4 w6 c: V/ V* ~# R"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
' b- Y" U( n+ B. osaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond; z) k$ F, m' F, L$ g @2 }
to her complaints." y/ h8 ]- o" n' K1 S
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
7 v4 E- V0 S8 k' L/ n9 I/ y* V" Y$ vreturned again and again to the question of whether electronic
( ^8 \3 F$ i- U7 ^4 w& H) n8 A) r( d* emalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
1 Y3 h+ L$ P1 c0 l"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric% O" P( ]# f& D
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited% I6 n4 ]- s/ X X6 W* K
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut+ d) @ Q0 P5 h3 U
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."5 M- d& O P, ^$ v9 C# v
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in8 t& H1 ?4 l& C6 Y
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
' B; E- ]: j4 J0 U/ ]( F& e: nbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
$ G8 _# v' g) n( |! K, {# M' Mwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
! N$ o- E6 @) oevery question."6 c+ _ I5 N. @1 _' x' L' _! F
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether% x0 U0 C- Y4 |* o
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The; `+ a$ }5 l1 f0 ~7 B/ _- ]' b% n M# T
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
/ p/ @# o% M8 Q" Q- z, d. Ucommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small$ K% j+ M, z0 r5 V F) B4 E
number of vehicles1 u! m+ N9 N: ~0 R8 [' q3 O
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more
: T6 X# w: X% I m/ adifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a8 _3 s$ ~# U2 w% b6 h
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
- \( {5 U+ M7 l% R5 Isource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
a' V# c6 }& S9 T7 BMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
/ E0 D) T6 q: s# f% mwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no4 D% h6 D: d$ A$ ?
trace at all.
, t, @; e3 R; F" [" Y, X) eHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call* v5 k' Y- ^- f0 S+ I1 M: x5 `0 P
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
: w7 E0 ~. U. t0 |7 oacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
; `' E, e9 B- ~6 c, T% ?recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.% R- `5 m" S, A2 _( m% b
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
# R1 a+ q: u0 g+ x6 ^said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
. v, I3 K" h' d# J( N' s& U" aother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
+ p) [) `( M7 a# j* Q! o# kelectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible4 B: }* W% ^# J6 s1 }" R# Y
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
) K8 I4 r3 ^# G# @% P& Y+ H! ?9 jsuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained7 [0 M. \/ }- ?% m1 i
by Toyota's lawyers."
# M8 p/ X+ c8 n6 h3 XLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of. i9 B- L# F. Y, x
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our$ b2 {: [* f0 y8 M, K) \" ^
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
3 u% p! p* t% Q9 g, X1 l- R* Asaid." K9 q, ^$ @$ T1 n( q
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with0 v2 @8 j3 Q7 x0 U) T( _
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
2 Z) k* S" }6 V" G9 }0 v t. Ggood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating: B% D1 R& f1 Z0 r% Q& C: y
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
: V& t! j+ @: C) R. bSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying& @2 C } Y$ E+ X3 |
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
7 n+ f* r* W% k1 b; W+ ^rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
n1 {, e3 ~5 ?* S/ M7 R2 Nautomaker, at least in part because of the government's- ], |6 m$ P1 j
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and9 x, Q* V3 l. b- |
Chrysler.
+ J$ U( G* G9 \4 ^9 L7 K+ |"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
# }: ]; ^7 X# T+ U% Bdollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a6 U" w9 [$ I q% P
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
6 u1 w+ Q j) [1 @2 {served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
3 O3 N# n9 w+ [ H V3 X4 F4 \3 twith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty2 }7 ?: }) u/ W) }0 F
tough."* A8 u& }1 C- t8 l% M3 L
---( }. {6 r5 Z; l* a( o9 F* H
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom1 N/ ?* B+ C' M" K# I8 O, F
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
$ a. F- @+ g/ B3 nthis story.
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-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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