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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
: q7 }4 \$ N/ Y2 E( _By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS7 C4 ?- {% g0 `! S6 e. x
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
9 r$ m+ f% u! u5 Z" B& Voperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
9 \' c! v4 |. f( j y9 Rthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"4 A0 [1 ]0 N) Z0 k2 M
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.% a+ i# r ?$ n* Z/ S
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
! p; r4 r: ~' ~causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.4 L" ]! F6 {* {$ ]! B
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected6 s8 y( N3 f# z* i) C1 N* D4 L
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and' e# u5 d6 `& [/ b* ^) b" u" C. Q
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
/ w, K9 G; w+ \mats and sticking accelerator pedals.
$ [& x3 V: w: m+ f' i1 X& tHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
1 y0 a4 P2 [6 gand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
; e9 T/ k' h. ~5 C$ N- bcriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
$ H/ K% Q T' ?% w4 y ^2 pfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
3 k# f' u+ Z8 ~not stop her runaway Lexus.) E; \3 X" C; M7 y8 c7 O1 y
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,, X( U3 Z! B5 c! Q
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
- _3 N1 O) j3 X"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.8 x" ?0 }" L( x6 Y6 L$ ~! l
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
; i1 s( i. o8 g- Gearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
' { Q9 L# n( G' e# z, s"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has; H* z$ d0 i) p9 u; Z8 L
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway0 p6 O* T- X3 y" S( Y
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
8 K' `: j9 p' b. b5 w" Finvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
* I/ G) X$ P# K5 W' d: z: dLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an( U% \; q+ \/ T
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of" U' z7 ?- O- `% J
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
) K$ l& i, c T/ s+ g8 @0 Gmalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
% s( u' _( s6 p" msaid.
$ b- F% p: b9 ]3 s8 MAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
' J4 H9 N3 Q% V+ khappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe: v; D+ Z: n- b
about driving our products," Lentz said.
) y q( j! B; D7 S2 i8 VThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
* T, j. K4 X& U1 a% L) P# x$ Cproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has- T& X o; M1 G* G! I H
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
+ Y# n9 |$ C- j0 w& l4 U! pmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of! r* p0 b4 L5 [% n" v
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
1 v5 Z! U0 \+ V4 p7 i7 [; y Q* Aissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
9 e" I" p2 m+ b8 Yconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
E! T! H5 i: Q. s% p' U8 v; Q9 btheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow( h3 E3 Q/ q- F0 v" I- e$ A
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has9 k# G6 M; S; q/ c5 Y* x0 P
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration- e# d8 |+ Y7 o) y) T
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.7 P* ^- O/ W5 d: L- t
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
2 ~ P8 E: o6 `7 J6 Ybrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
# c$ T- a5 W; `, l+ W3 ]6 q- sunderstood the pain./ C" y% C( m& i2 W5 }1 Q. _) E& T
"I know what those families go through," he said.
$ h' v7 ?: L0 U% |Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's% w J9 g& S2 l4 S) K4 Z
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.& s& H; ] o! u2 _! ^4 t4 e
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
2 p) m8 q+ `( s" n: _5 fHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
! K8 l* f. r4 Hin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
. m8 W, S! K# b6 t* ?1 XLentz replied: "Not totally."# J3 C% X. Y, A3 ~- h
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were9 z3 f8 V# R2 j- V3 o# P' _
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
' F$ U9 n6 G) n9 SToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas9 F" k: G1 T/ h. W
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its R5 I: A- V {: `# A1 d
vehicles already on the road.
3 b6 }$ Y1 m4 L- R0 j5 F+ qMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
- }! b1 ~1 v# `3 B# y( G' rbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full/ b4 j0 C/ v g9 v
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
2 q8 X- L: [0 u5 i6 K" Poffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were3 e& J. x2 Y. A$ F+ I; j' Y
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.- y2 h" e' \0 k
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
: X$ Y( n2 S& Ptragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony) E5 U! s4 f! ~/ ?: |9 U$ U
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
m* o& R; r2 RCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal# w. w; A7 y3 s+ E: ^
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
/ S" }5 m; ~, Qrestore the trust of our customers."
( C i! b ^5 ^3 U2 `Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from- v) m% k5 ?8 z
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly c+ w. I* O$ Y$ Z# t2 r& A
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --$ ^. m& H* p* T% ]& z( w
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
e" }3 t3 a' K' U1 C; D( Zhitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough) y8 S9 d5 r. d! K6 {+ [ H% ~
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
5 J9 {2 m6 |- p; y) f( T2 o8 @turn off the engine.4 U( k4 q9 d9 n- \+ I
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of( L7 y- r, ]6 M6 o' p" q6 M* ^
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."- e4 h/ }4 e, x0 V5 ?/ L* m
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
2 }) k5 C$ [2 Ksaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
, W7 A; q8 T) z& ]to her complaints.# N3 u! t& _5 I* S
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
* W6 R" D9 t" C( d) `! |+ L8 Greturned again and again to the question of whether electronic
! w; F# X. ^* p4 rmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
_+ r6 F" G. T0 O"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric$ s4 n) |; F% l3 y: Q7 v) @
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
* G9 j) a7 P7 j q"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
( L; g6 ^3 T3 H t$ }. x* Yoff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
( _* G* @* B" J! d* I" ^6 z+ m: STransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in" j+ Q* r8 Y# s: X! l1 } {' K
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
3 H0 q. H- a$ }* ]! Rbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls/ `8 o. ~) y% B& q! q* e
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
+ N4 n1 ~1 _/ M$ Yevery question."* [, r H" M) h4 d& T# x4 _5 {+ c
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
1 ~- h- X! e0 W# x9 f; ielectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
$ x; F: c h# {* Jfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
* l6 z v1 j3 s" @committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
, P6 `4 b d# \6 C6 Y0 {; _number of vehicles
) i( q& q2 O' uTracking down an electrical problem can be far more
; C( g. V [- Y) C; k5 |difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
. C; R4 P h- \1 q5 e6 b! i9 Xmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one& v* s: I' \6 t0 c! h
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
/ q; ^) U, U& M- o6 N d9 Q' TMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,% I! @( x. L0 j" ?) g$ ^
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no/ s U0 c: o% j8 h9 G
trace at all.
% J7 r. h" Z( j3 g$ J1 ]- OHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
8 |# d+ Z1 N& w: `database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
* K8 s; g5 [* r# T3 Q) aacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the: |* t( F$ {1 Y& L5 H/ e6 u- ^
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals./ u6 z* i/ z/ v9 x
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
5 L9 k6 v8 ]! ]$ [9 @said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
/ u- L9 x, V2 U6 n4 d* \% ]8 Hother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the$ P! I ]+ w. g) Y
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
! C- e6 j+ U- C9 A( R3 M8 ycause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only, @) u+ d$ G! B& o2 {! e/ w
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
; x' y9 D+ X: U% h# Lby Toyota's lawyers."
: E0 e' {8 a# F- w& y2 x/ yLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of+ i I3 X6 p2 `/ @; s
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
" J; c1 {: y! g( ~% }customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he: p9 s8 T$ t, f9 m
said.
8 w8 ^, i$ `, h; z( L"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
8 }1 w- }7 ?2 c' N6 aa rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our4 q; j$ X- k. v
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
: n# @3 A8 r: W5 nofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.! W9 P# l; i# s# }# A
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
5 Y! ^0 p" U* F" J) I- _ }4 Lmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread8 p J5 v4 `( h
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
/ h* f, h! }( P c$ rautomaker, at least in part because of the government's) k# J ^) K0 ]7 E! m
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
- j, R% a4 Z+ H' M( [+ v# d% K6 gChrysler.
' @) z2 k& w, `& [0 m. M"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax: I' q9 ~8 P- ` m
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
* n3 {% q i/ l. O! |# YHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
: q# W+ {. @/ i$ L$ ?served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
6 N0 F9 l6 F8 _5 Awith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty5 s% d8 @! ]$ x: N5 f. e# ]
tough."
, z1 F6 _( Y5 u, O! m: _---
* F$ v, L! r! u5 j) j; C9 X+ oAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
' [. g7 W' l2 t' G0 q( |Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
% X6 \- G, O# m& n$ y2 Zthis story.. e4 d- B& o9 l- w" s# t. \$ b
$ M' G, v- p5 [: [-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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