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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
/ \, D! {, F0 L+ J) _6 ^By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS; @; I/ p2 O3 X' H; w2 X( j
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
; e' E! j2 L: D& v! Noperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that2 E! v7 V2 Q& b* i% y6 y
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally", Z' E% i4 r8 J$ r0 h# s( o6 @1 U
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.6 ]" h- W0 K% c+ b8 ]2 W a! R
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
, }3 X9 v: }) j$ s+ W8 a6 d* I' Mcauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
" v+ ^6 K! R8 Y( nHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected: G7 ]- N3 f: r/ L5 F4 {& ^
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and" m: j. R( d/ E: y h) ~: c3 E1 v$ q
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor9 n% ~4 s1 t$ P6 `+ H5 A# o5 ~
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.9 X/ |" e( Z! u, Y, e. E* ^/ u9 X+ d
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
1 ^" r* d! I. h# R( z3 |and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp9 ?% L4 U1 |0 Y3 b
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
0 ~" t% V* R! _further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could1 \, Z- L, b# C H- Y
not stop her runaway Lexus.
: ~2 {7 b+ D! Q! G" f"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
6 V& n4 P6 @4 ?$ L$ K( z9 _, x* MTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second6 m5 m( ~$ a( o7 d& S* ]: L4 o# h
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
# X. k( \4 x/ B3 ~# I1 m, }( gTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
" I+ q5 q" u% X1 ]! Z4 ~3 Aearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
: v" V0 l k+ n" L- Q. V4 u"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has" [* U% m" p0 C; _6 i/ Q
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
6 O. j2 S* E, D4 X& i9 tthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
- n D9 r; \8 f4 E$ Linvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham.") w" j4 E9 Y( v! z8 Q
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
& X, `3 a. w5 u+ w C( }electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of: S* `5 g1 ~. k8 q2 u3 u7 z
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
1 U6 v& G7 J! k* W, l7 l# Jmalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
3 D0 a: i+ c: t5 B! s3 x9 h m$ Lsaid.$ S+ H: f' ?- s: o) t4 w& n
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
, N/ g: d9 [ o7 Zhappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
+ l, [8 z3 o% u$ \% [$ Rabout driving our products," Lentz said.2 r! d4 @7 L$ M! h
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
6 b0 {6 f5 C. r fproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
; R6 Q9 y" m9 C" N. Krecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6# d3 A0 K% N4 }$ D
million in the United States -- since last fall because of
7 V. o0 z2 g" W: {- }: w! Y$ zunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
7 c+ U2 }" m& m& U% X& |6 ~issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering# X+ T7 r0 I/ n2 p
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
J5 w$ Z, U8 ?( m* J' s% q" e" h, Rtheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow8 m" \5 S7 J# {& m1 J" j& _
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has4 v/ G' w3 V# H* |
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
2 j ?1 ]$ ^( d1 v( ?! {of Toyota vehicles since 2000.
9 Y- b! [0 `) J' DLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
4 h3 |$ P( `+ n6 {! l6 F/ Obrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
( Z7 R- o3 S( c" ^understood the pain.
) ^% w8 E4 h c8 o8 z* W"I know what those families go through," he said.
; F( O5 j' }7 V$ d- W7 {% K( U( hLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
# t$ _! c3 r- E9 R, `2 Zfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.) y* U2 P" ^: ~- S
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
1 X8 [: C3 B5 dHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
$ K. T- v- L: n. ~+ uin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
( U9 E* R5 {: f- ^Lentz replied: "Not totally."
' o$ ^$ W& @5 w# @Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were7 I9 @/ k9 \+ n; x5 B9 O
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
; d: _. a9 _ N c: T2 YToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas: Q# ?$ y. I9 O
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
9 T" K$ F0 U) |% Avehicles already on the road.
: _+ m" V$ N" ~& dMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
2 f0 @7 W- l( ?. d# a/ u* Jbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full3 k9 ~/ D. ~+ X' x( S
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and! U5 w2 K" O- b
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were- t( m; X( l1 U4 q0 j, H
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.9 i1 [1 }7 h. e
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a9 N' E6 u' \* Q/ I; i* V$ Y+ X' o/ v" S
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony' B% d4 [) |& A M/ t9 |
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
1 b* t3 {$ a, W( x4 E9 T6 T" O- dCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal' l% o4 [, X" Q# D" g
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
' T$ |: @: c, V" J3 ?8 lrestore the trust of our customers."& o& ]( x5 B- c' b
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
* s; R( k0 i" {( E% NSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly' h: t0 G1 c& F6 g K
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
" | _. x9 M2 Z7 v# z8 vshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
( u6 `2 m" i& l3 ihitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
' N+ V! g. O E+ f* {6 |! ?+ othat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and, F* y) P" j, H9 M, S
turn off the engine.
. z2 {7 U: {+ y" N( P- U5 i, xFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
3 Z- e* x7 V0 J5 \- b/ J3 iOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."6 k+ j1 b6 {/ l4 |% l$ `" T
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she3 Q( l: Z0 e! b9 p' G# C' D
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond+ K* ?1 E |: L% B6 D6 p) f2 c* V
to her complaints., X5 y! A& V6 I8 Q# S) Z5 B! e
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
1 |! S. g0 K. {9 a5 _returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
5 D3 w! L' k' _, Emalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
& w. T' B5 F; v# E: G"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric1 N5 O4 g$ b6 z* U) X
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
* a5 z1 Z v+ P% C" p0 L"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
% X6 B# s+ z# p5 ?% m& hoff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."( ~8 Y. D4 ]- b4 X2 G; B8 R8 M
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
, N# l8 Z. b, [3 ^prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
7 I9 Z+ f2 o; |6 c [% q$ Wbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls8 ^! v% T6 D3 H# d
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
/ f$ C6 g0 n X4 ^every question."
( e% @3 \8 N' y0 wToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether- w* L5 v( E5 M8 a
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The0 `# K/ Q P4 J( C6 `6 v
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But3 H; C, p9 X" k3 G
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small( r5 l- g# l2 J
number of vehicles8 L1 R2 A( D7 T! ^+ K9 p, V9 t
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more
* @2 W) P( T2 t0 F" @, p; Sdifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
- E* I' G& T1 D/ U7 q* W$ Z7 mmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
8 u) n c) o6 q% H- |" |source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
+ B2 U S0 Y+ O' ~' UMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
6 A1 l# h. V* F/ u, _7 H2 I& `where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
3 P+ k5 w& d7 O4 `4 Z2 otrace at all.4 g' O; j: T5 m3 Y3 @
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call4 U4 b# w" g' I' ?4 k
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden! A0 o. G$ B: o P N( w9 W
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
! T+ R% k* F: `0 Orecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
6 J0 ?6 V. t/ s0 X! g1 [) ?Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,1 N f# E( p7 ^; Y/ A
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and' B9 {. V% p+ _0 Y2 d% P
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
4 A6 s; \# A r: helectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
& J+ a+ `- W* v3 E, Gcause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only1 h" X9 b$ Z- O* T: ^
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained! }" y6 B! r) m3 J5 f" t3 b; Z
by Toyota's lawyers."2 ~5 H- ^% Z# P F
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of1 B( v# ^# I) @
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our. B% ?$ Q% g8 O+ W
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
" P/ z0 b+ q7 A- {* ?5 Fsaid.! w$ t) y& l, w# {$ s) p) J
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
0 K* b* F3 O3 q5 T1 A% da rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
6 g+ ~+ h% P$ }9 d4 X6 ^# Rgood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating. R; j5 }+ p6 R/ d# Y& i y
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.( J/ k6 c& J6 b( ^1 u
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
8 S9 z5 S' }# l# C6 T, ~& _0 omembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread1 H3 N3 y6 N6 d2 a+ N: m
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the/ J5 C! h# f5 Z# z6 @
automaker, at least in part because of the government's/ \1 R0 Q* \% K. u4 p O& s6 c
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and: }/ G+ k/ w5 U, L% Z
Chrysler./ F0 W9 j( j. E2 T
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
2 H; d5 {4 v Rdollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a$ M6 ~2 d1 r! g* K* L
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also6 B7 N3 H( H9 e1 q$ t2 g" p" j
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
2 c! f; u' \9 E! iwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
0 E) m6 c) g! S8 K8 N/ V) S: Ttough."
/ @, T! x' B) e# K# o/ R---- l& Z; p: [" h g* H
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
" V( Y8 [" _5 I: s# T' FRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
$ S; S% s2 F( d) Zthis story.
4 a8 G$ Y& h0 U
" }/ G9 H: y$ f+ [9 I4 \2 n-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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