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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
% V' z- n' u/ A. FBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS) ]2 U+ j0 g/ t
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.; U! ~$ s/ l3 }8 u0 d
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that) L& z' v# g( `5 I; O9 m) @
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"( Y; e9 R$ k2 c8 ]
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
" b- L% o) P: M7 S; @7 u"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential" R& z; d$ Q. B G ~) Z
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
- U6 y* L7 M# X; j6 aHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected8 }, ?3 j# U" b, D0 W7 v
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and9 Z" C0 p: H; t; x
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor; A8 M: [$ m( ^
mats and sticking accelerator pedals. v- ]; g$ ~3 Q' B) n6 n3 z
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
. G- _6 ~7 Q* k" q& r0 u1 xand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp0 [; R M: ~) R- a# R
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be( u0 X, A" z( ^8 o# q9 ~: c
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
3 ~+ \2 b1 b9 E$ c- Jnot stop her runaway Lexus.3 T# d% J" I7 Y, g9 {
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
; M' b+ u5 }' _: L& r" d$ j2 pTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second& D u1 z) H/ G' Y( l/ [+ C
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.4 J! r0 d9 h& l) f: X
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues. z/ p* [' m; i7 u7 K; k" p1 r, T
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
6 W2 U) y5 F4 F/ g5 |7 \, |7 n, O"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
4 a: u$ f/ @" N6 @/ F6 s0 s( Ldone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
# y7 y- \- H5 |( rthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's a2 o: a2 E+ ]
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."1 Q. w8 x$ j; ~! V
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
' E. ~* D3 B; X- i/ E5 ]3 q! o- Velectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of" {5 g7 Q H& v; ^8 ?6 E4 u6 ^8 B
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
+ r5 J4 u+ P0 ]' `# Pmalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
0 g& t" j: T& K+ ^# {said.4 H9 b- F& ~! ?4 H' _( P) |8 F
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what' z8 m/ U5 Y8 m: Z# X7 p$ }7 @
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
% f( X% b' K5 l. }5 J( ~about driving our products," Lentz said.
; o0 n4 E! Y. iThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's& @$ C9 A' q/ x2 E4 G
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
6 x- {" Z$ ?" h5 Mrecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6& z3 q! N: M5 t" Z$ \, B/ e, ]' u
million in the United States -- since last fall because of( U( U! c5 q. l( B) @" f/ a
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
5 X; h# w: s+ ]3 e* xissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
4 a7 h8 U7 o1 X2 s* mconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of$ u) s* {' H: z8 b' W; ]! Z6 e( s
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow# ~7 e3 W) Q" W1 a9 \! [+ q
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
& s% L, N9 `( T6 u5 Nreceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration. L7 n/ G- {7 b7 {
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.
& U, J/ i% e: I: I4 f6 k& Y4 OLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
, J- A, p1 @# F7 X3 u/ F" p; T$ ebrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
j% a8 l% @) `- e) D# Qunderstood the pain.
' o7 O/ x+ s a! P/ }: i' l"I know what those families go through," he said.9 I1 X% L1 E2 y3 {! t
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
, D9 I, `6 D& I" ~fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.5 M' \, l' k) _( F. i
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
/ i# N3 B B5 w. L9 Z$ _Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put1 r; l* s8 D; e6 s* v4 _
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,. ^4 W6 O1 j5 Y* N3 `/ ?
Lentz replied: "Not totally."5 \; K7 g4 w( D W+ l6 d9 N
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were. a! I6 R; L$ G5 M
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
! L$ V2 R- D5 S; ~+ e/ gToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
. S. W3 a( Z5 J! {+ jpedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its! z# p0 S# U! I6 X& K& w9 h
vehicles already on the road.5 c' b% a0 m! p& k& `; }
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
3 [% q' {0 ?. S, {- f- H/ ybefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
4 I" h3 I- _% v- fresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and& `8 r8 c- {) G& d( g. K
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were' B) W) Z5 C" n) ^
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.' c3 V% C6 E, M
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a0 i1 K! x: r, t
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
3 L& a6 N- o: H" [1 k$ [/ ufor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight4 }; P: E+ S, Y1 c9 x
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal! J6 Y% k# r8 V% C. r$ I
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to) n7 Y; g. X7 n' e$ L
restore the trust of our customers."- Z) G1 S( F! c7 q7 u0 S
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
l: N7 `. {1 F' W, {* V. J% \9 i# [Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
9 p. Z: K+ H; G* |' bzoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
. h% R0 A) M: F# t( U- kshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and; B; w- E) o/ ^8 F# I# g4 {
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
; g9 b% l9 X/ O6 Dthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
, e6 e) A/ Z2 I; Kturn off the engine.) t t1 s S! u6 T
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
7 d: s4 w7 C5 u H( E( g7 M* eOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
4 w1 a8 K8 M( D"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
' k. q/ ?! i7 U t) j( Vsaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
+ X3 C5 G- o( O) [& T# eto her complaints.
) W! |& V' j& g2 M" O( Z2 d$ H3 fIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers$ `1 h- d" X! C- \2 ]$ ~
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
; x6 Z# c" h- \malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.9 h4 P1 t" q- p0 t
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
1 S8 N8 ^" V1 F5 m7 c- h; @8 Othrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited' h5 n( S4 j& o f0 v
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
7 V% g3 ?6 F4 M# D- `/ [, Foff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
9 z2 G) Y+ P2 ?1 ]1 vTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in' l3 u% ^7 E% Q2 z7 I9 G; s
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
7 K ^: b) b( M: Y( _0 obeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls; Y" e/ t- K/ b. j
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer9 }& {, E T J& V+ [
every question."
l9 L( M$ f5 g" O2 ]Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether! E9 W/ ]+ @3 r( l
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The3 F, n$ o5 `0 m( ^ s
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
2 c1 Y2 J$ T6 Kcommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small
" Y* }, ]' O4 \* ?+ I* Bnumber of vehicles' C& \* }+ r! f% `* Y
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more
9 F9 k/ e+ G- u0 U7 K5 R8 K5 ~1 sdifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
. G3 t' X8 T6 g" k- V5 Bmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one9 K- \5 E) u' D! p: | F9 y$ K
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
8 y6 C% b. ^# ^1 o3 OMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
! G0 E2 t0 M# M- b( Owhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
) F+ B, _% o9 `" X* J6 Jtrace at all.
5 l: m! \: |& `- g* ?House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
+ I6 @$ T9 Z7 I4 p: |7 `3 l- n- [database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden& W7 [& R7 y- @+ l7 m6 t
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
% p: h! B0 b3 q2 P+ K: J+ zrecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.: M2 b, X3 l1 q S# C
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,4 i( [" G* |0 W% A( u$ B0 Y
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
' }/ {0 a2 I" z8 s4 H: l: Xother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
' N) n6 l* ?0 V7 l! @2 ]# Q; ]electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible% l+ t& ]4 F1 f
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only+ C- k! z" U# w r4 I$ X3 w6 Z- q
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
" X5 @7 `* h, B2 D& K/ Z* Jby Toyota's lawyers."
% L. B' g4 M9 h$ {. b- Y5 XLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
7 }) e# N* K k1 oproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
& @7 I! @ N8 e8 e% N k. A4 wcustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
/ E7 A# z% E& K! i# }7 ?/ t) z5 Ysaid.
. Z2 a Q) g9 u& b a"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with4 c+ r, ~6 w: n
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our; w$ [* A5 A" @3 W3 {
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating+ g0 u) P$ G+ G
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.3 C, D2 R! e9 ~/ m7 z
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
& `5 v l+ f6 u8 S! mmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
4 K0 s, X" }. R4 k2 ]rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
5 g4 Z6 U' a1 e4 G$ y- xautomaker, at least in part because of the government's
W2 O5 G( q3 G" x4 S1 e6 Tinvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and9 {) V6 n3 d7 m. ]
Chrysler., ]6 T) O; {2 h+ Z% W+ F: R
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
$ i4 N# i) |: E5 t9 fdollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
9 J7 L- Z* R' }- S3 f5 H9 iHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also* G' q7 _3 H% h% }; {, D
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
6 B% a& i8 j# O7 e% u7 Dwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
$ S& B( X9 z: B1 |tough." w, G6 w$ z2 D* z
---
6 M9 A8 o* o3 k; z6 OAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
+ K9 T, K/ l% {; H+ |) V* V, Z/ DRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
! H9 V( }$ o1 f* q! `this story.3 h( h! O' i( t! U, j: Q
$ C/ j9 r. v) Y9 ^0 O-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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