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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
! \1 R9 U( q5 E8 V8 H& ^: L0 DBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS6 f" ^9 s' s* F9 K
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
, `3 ~% x: g uoperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
4 v: }6 U) l- X' L- e5 M* U' A) S% tthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"* M/ Z& M* `) @
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
0 I8 ~8 Q# m( J"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential8 l) a2 ~4 M$ i/ o$ c; k
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.- C2 Z M9 P- B$ ]" V+ f; D! ?
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected0 g# p5 ^7 s+ i2 K; Y9 _3 D
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
, [ h" T$ i2 h8 X9 J2 B+ {trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor: v: o: K; R! d% ^5 a, f0 y
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.
: n: E. v6 |$ H& p$ V; q" J4 }He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
3 t* x7 z, y R$ jand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp' _" ?3 [6 D$ H7 U- D- f1 h% W
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be4 P$ l f- C9 s/ k- P2 B5 m. ]
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
5 z3 {2 M# {* m( _not stop her runaway Lexus.
$ ?/ W; R' L1 _0 Y( q4 o) w"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,# S, m6 A2 p6 F7 T9 L
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
; x) d2 I! p% z" L- X( l"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
0 q% c9 w0 y! w7 H, KTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
q2 k$ ]: [2 b8 s: Oearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
$ X T, ]7 o& c* l( }9 v& `2 g' F"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
( |: v, N/ x' p4 v' O! Cdone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway# w0 l1 K% t9 U( ?3 [, A6 q
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
2 l3 a# Z n$ y4 h% E# O# s3 ~investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham.". R" S$ G0 C& ?1 E1 Y
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an# F. X5 c; A1 }- `
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
# N- J( s* G) b6 Wthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a% L. v4 M# |0 j7 C" S) H, N: H
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
4 K( Q, d$ W. A1 |5 O. {said.
+ Y% ?1 {; g. g$ C$ SAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what; z) L0 Q4 q$ P7 n4 L( y0 K
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe1 f; T7 d) E+ ^+ m1 W% K
about driving our products," Lentz said.4 n5 d4 X2 r3 r# w4 M" X" ~" C
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
; F0 f5 I" y8 w. Rproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has, h P9 J G( r0 O. k
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 69 f/ P+ M5 E7 B2 n' `
million in the United States -- since last fall because of& [' H' t7 W4 L
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
/ y: `. j% \! m* e( g3 Nissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering& s/ y6 [. X" p7 ?+ K
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
6 R |5 r0 `6 G) x: Utheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
; X2 I7 ~% o' g% R$ ~5 e0 q1 Rdown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has& c/ S& {9 E j+ H9 e0 r
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
5 W" e; @. ~$ a" t, D- h- Wof Toyota vehicles since 2000.
6 O, {8 v' ~/ T% u' B( iLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own. b9 v& Y ?/ ~2 O' Y* g
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he, P& j1 n" W6 u3 l# M
understood the pain.
1 S4 c5 r: v6 m8 Z% t0 t"I know what those families go through," he said.' A6 s; w6 f/ k l, s: |, c
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
2 q% R; i4 D; ~& B( B2 r7 sfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.9 {5 A0 |8 k9 g0 g: k- t: J( h7 g- N& \4 R8 Q
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman$ \: ]$ T$ Y) p
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
! I/ a7 f9 Q- _in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
, t/ u7 N5 }" U ^. A( R# z& z: z1 KLentz replied: "Not totally."4 i" t3 | d% m/ P0 ?! l8 p
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
4 Q. c2 x$ Y. D1 D6 b/ W"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
D X/ ^1 ^* l3 h$ NToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas0 Q+ m; c7 p- \9 l( S3 j
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
+ J2 F' _2 ?/ k: yvehicles already on the road.' _7 {8 T1 \8 G
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
6 C {4 \3 ^# k# x9 u3 Wbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full. [" x: c- T4 F1 i7 t" W. ^
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
4 X! q/ H- z/ Coffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
% \0 M/ J) @2 ~: i% e8 a" C) {- [% nkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.) C& y+ ^) m; d
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a0 D2 {7 x( I2 V5 H
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony+ f" @+ v" b: s4 E3 @* T/ c
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
9 U4 n( a* X i2 lCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal8 u6 R5 h& D8 S l1 }
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to1 _: R7 s; Q- F9 {
restore the trust of our customers."$ T4 U! f6 S R" V$ {3 c
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
: M8 v( N' n* xSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
0 p$ w: Y& h& A& J4 L) Nzoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --1 n$ D: `0 t3 j0 s6 q4 k; |
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and( J' u5 ]5 V- ~( Y) ]' v
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
. M9 g! I6 E3 S* y1 Othat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and! L" Q ?: z [# e* S, f6 o, |
turn off the engine.! d$ u' B" N8 r% g% e6 H
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
4 T5 [9 _+ t3 fOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."6 h- D% T- C# X* W
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she s! Q2 ~! B# h; P" B1 c
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
/ o% S0 K/ c: R! s# @to her complaints.
6 D1 V- [+ c3 e5 D2 SIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
( v5 t( v$ n) h8 j. Treturned again and again to the question of whether electronic
) c5 c( I: M+ |( g" r: Emalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
! L! s+ g* ?) [9 R* Y2 t7 K"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric/ k7 ?% a8 p* o
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited' |1 a; V, f* B# A+ B; T! ^+ {
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
* x. F, m6 Z* V9 e: {off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."4 R6 t3 B# S! p7 |3 X# U
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
; t" z, Z0 }! X- S2 k9 N& o0 yprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were8 ^" Y4 c7 H% e
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
# L2 k! X4 j* wwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer1 x& M$ D% G! u) c4 ~
every question."9 p, O. q" W: R( H* b g
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
4 d% V, P( |6 x3 D4 y$ g: velectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
( J9 z; S8 \ B0 d" P3 g, p g* [+ f! Cfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
. |6 P+ }" W! J5 z9 C+ J% F1 Ecommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small
) I6 y' ]$ c. { Z) q9 k+ z) }number of vehicles$ p, B* J2 J$ E$ R2 I/ h
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more) r/ \& B9 I# F/ { {2 \7 H
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
/ b$ h a% `- zmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
4 g6 O. i: x" X! ~% ysource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
$ }4 D9 P" U3 F8 KMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
* a! {5 g/ [, Twhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no4 g8 `2 p% K8 ~3 v0 |- o. l' k
trace at all.& S5 |9 |% W& V& `$ f
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call9 F# ~% h6 A- c. |, w- R
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden8 q- o" U% h$ y0 M: c9 H3 ~
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the2 c. l* C4 x) Z" O" r
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
) b A+ l2 @- C4 ]4 S+ I6 dRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
3 p x( f. j- t: gsaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
M9 r0 X7 r9 Wother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the, Y; O8 i3 x5 S1 D7 X! V+ F8 B
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
3 _. y8 o3 a' C, U! d, Acause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
. g' g8 w+ m7 ^such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
9 ? c' I% n x! k/ |+ ~2 |by Toyota's lawyers."
. g, a0 w$ @6 K: {" @4 |Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
. u! Z) K& {( V( ^; B' D X0 fproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our/ N) R9 q3 S. \
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
' h1 N6 y: h4 @# s+ W _said.
, R+ |" D* b& e% n9 v+ `7 `; \"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
9 v( [$ {3 S6 H2 sa rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our2 E4 \0 r* r8 G3 R/ W( X E8 Y4 i- M
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating5 o0 D0 ~! e% M9 o; k
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
# L7 _5 o% X& FSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
" i" K1 S# M# P/ H8 j: fmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread8 N3 [/ [& W) N& g7 A8 [1 C
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
- J; W+ h3 Q1 R; u7 hautomaker, at least in part because of the government's1 ?! _: t# _- m0 I8 F4 N7 q
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
, V0 A( V2 z* B, |% y; xChrysler.
! \; @3 ]9 J9 R* T; `0 N"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
- P* w3 r1 T1 F: e! l' fdollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a1 _& b4 F6 m$ o }7 G5 v7 i z
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
3 i# i9 c, g5 u* d7 Kserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete9 V: q$ e' [ G) h' h. c
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
6 k/ v) j+ {' @) T! t/ Ntough."* \- I; l( g6 I5 t
---$ Y6 V! [$ O8 R3 Y0 N
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom, o- B, T" Y. c. _
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
$ l# N/ X6 j: O3 i( Lthis story.4 @, U+ [5 m% J# `( ~8 A9 ?5 h0 l
0 Q1 o, s6 e" u/ ~2 z-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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