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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
8 [" Q% E) Z- @( @+ [/ ^& CBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
( u" Y* L' M+ A5 P, I9 d' HWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.! c) @# Z1 ~! C; C( d% R
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that' m9 h0 N4 @$ x! L @- @3 x
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"7 I- T: }" v1 W- Y( R& t
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.0 ]7 q/ g* S! C: d
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
6 d" _& a, R& pcauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.$ D6 x& Q6 ] Y* U# _/ `+ k3 F
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected1 I* T. z7 @- r0 a5 X& Y# J" f2 _
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
7 b0 k" ~ Y l# x. b" gtrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor& T3 B$ o9 \2 T$ {4 B( n0 r
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.% }1 {' C9 |; K2 m8 e1 n; e( U- H( Q
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
\* Z( l: ^0 R% c; L" t' a, |and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
: K0 u0 P7 j K% V. Hcriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be! I4 R( @9 c. O$ H9 J" ] ?
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
$ g& t( z" X( P8 D+ T! J ^3 i% wnot stop her runaway Lexus.- \3 R8 e% g' q% F- M( C
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
9 v" M2 t: m2 `! @- D7 i7 ~" t$ \2 sTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
. z! [/ D0 t0 d4 ~8 X! x6 O2 z"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.! n1 F+ Q; x! n; _
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
3 f$ n( @7 V5 z6 J: l* Wearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
& u6 |9 w% d4 G"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
, m8 w. ~) l, e2 ndone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway* v" o) N* O @! L
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
# s4 J! H5 ?! p L% ainvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."# q6 _# S8 O% h4 b; l- J$ x
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an3 \( Z3 ]$ E3 o( i% X# S
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of1 u8 J# [7 ]& U! j) g
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
/ P3 @; |6 ^+ q4 t+ _malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
+ E5 F) k( H0 P( ^* Lsaid.
9 q' V0 w9 R( |/ g+ dAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
. t, H) D& q" P* v; k( E4 Dhappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe+ d& g. F T! e" r9 [
about driving our products," Lentz said.
. q. B: F u$ z" |Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's3 q- v! ^9 |7 r. k
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has) c$ [: L# d f
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
# g8 r6 Y8 U( Fmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of2 v0 Q# F/ g5 |2 T; H. D! G
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking& h" j2 L9 z6 E( O
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering4 ~5 a, U2 H0 }: z4 n
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of% d' C, |5 H; k3 d
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
0 b+ L# i( H+ ~down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has& e5 \" h$ C$ t w9 R$ w
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
% }/ U q7 T1 b, hof Toyota vehicles since 2000.- b K3 U6 E3 Q& V/ Z% F
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
1 u; t; K5 W1 |# wbrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he& C0 p( c9 O- e, O" G2 J
understood the pain., I' b6 P2 R0 c8 S
"I know what those families go through," he said.# K- N% S6 {( e2 ~
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
' B9 J: Y3 K* c9 Afixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
, T3 o. ?( \* q1 m9 T8 DBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman1 f2 I" s" }/ i' [2 k: n% d
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put' ~* }/ ~2 q! A" s, j& P) I
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,4 [$ V& C c% f9 y8 u
Lentz replied: "Not totally."9 M, r7 U, J9 s: u4 t
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were$ s( F+ @2 Z1 A% I' p
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said C5 G0 r: E4 p
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas( b5 @+ |% E/ y. A% B; f% m$ S
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its0 T- w% {, a, W. l; E. I4 u
vehicles already on the road.6 I' I. Q, [1 [$ @# c1 g+ x" d# r
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify* ?; }0 Z* v/ N ^* K; x) K" b8 E
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full: z9 Q* P' Y2 N3 T% }4 @! o" ?3 C; D
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
: b3 t: j8 \; x# b$ {5 C# K! Toffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
( h @; M6 `$ K( jkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.8 D9 o+ F: _0 @2 ]- m& a! d9 f/ _
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a$ g. I' b- C' g/ ^1 k& m6 s: k7 e* c
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
( i& B, _+ _) @: ]for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
' C8 S5 K& Z+ S6 w4 c3 Z; lCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
) e2 z5 O+ z/ |) p7 ^commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to( I% `3 P6 w. {0 ]
restore the trust of our customers."
: |8 h+ S0 l& `0 [, N' gLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from+ F5 m, ~5 w- B: `
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
5 {3 M: q1 E9 Q, L: E& ]zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --" K! ~* I& t, E* d3 j9 i4 H3 e
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and4 R* n6 j9 b# y8 `! z+ ?
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough7 J& ?# b: u, s: X
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and: K6 C% S: |0 R @& B
turn off the engine.8 B' H& \6 T( w+ Y. n* N
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
: m5 }4 R' T( d/ ]# ^October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."$ v# l+ V) i. T& S' C ?6 Z- M
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
7 `% c3 R* @1 o: l- J, Zsaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
2 R+ s, m# f* M% o8 yto her complaints./ Z& O3 Z9 u# ^; o! b6 [* b- y
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers2 D( D* E" H1 }8 J1 w8 m
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
! u2 O$ w+ e, S% Cmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars." o7 e* H3 M+ U
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
( _! L9 \' T/ S4 I8 C, ^throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited0 r+ j; a6 d7 ?: c
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
3 Y: w; b1 D$ S9 M5 q; D6 ^off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
) g, C! I/ z0 ZTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in7 f, K* v+ i& D l6 |
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
! t" L' [! K# S! @% e& Z& o, Abeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls9 G$ M- P/ y+ Z3 o4 m
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
" l% c9 g( A/ b/ {( ]every question."0 n2 C4 Z4 P! P- G& ~( _* W5 ^
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether- l0 A3 J) t3 J0 ~4 B( ?* m
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
5 V+ t: B' T4 O+ Qfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
' t, k. A- [$ Xcommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small3 f9 u, W# ]$ _
number of vehicles+ U; U6 G# ~8 A$ u' o: G
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more
9 x6 ^. G% Q& b' P+ R: N1 ^difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a6 J2 C( l4 P5 r T. k" W) K
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
. W Q3 o) S3 _5 P/ K4 c- b6 f3 usource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
1 i' R, f6 }- F+ G2 F3 [. aMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
: y( n5 e" {, z2 \6 Ywhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no% Z: C& E- s9 z& U" m4 M1 T
trace at all.! O+ {7 e! W5 i( b" ?
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
% b0 d5 i# k( F, i& ldatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
* B v# [9 b- `2 ^acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
; R* q0 P p* [0 Q( S6 A3 g& vrecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.& ~& z/ G5 V( I& p4 Y& o
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
& W% p/ N' x0 m( Y4 S+ Z0 N/ ?* Psaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
1 A" e. S. P4 e) cother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
! I2 `2 B6 N/ y) @; n( Qelectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
3 b8 v; M0 T& f7 v9 Q1 Vcause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
( h/ e) Q: X7 e( O6 Dsuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained. B k7 Y- g |, ?/ ?
by Toyota's lawyers."
5 B+ a% c0 E- _, O0 |5 kLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of f8 I, U' O) c' _
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
+ A( y! Q8 r& W8 Y1 Y6 [1 x' Ucustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he) \; K) @4 J. s2 G5 ~9 ^, E4 ^
said.5 G( i R' r) N& N% S) u
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
p+ ^& x7 k# b( L2 w. [, d) ca rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
; B- k0 L W8 y% k' w+ g+ cgood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating: `6 p) M8 [7 n: u
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc." ^" P/ R. R. z8 U e1 |
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying; ~/ Q+ I) r3 F# F/ g8 a
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
6 q# v9 I' ^ v" G) s% F7 \- P9 wrancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the: Z. k. z8 @8 n" T) x3 X7 }# v* d6 B
automaker, at least in part because of the government's
$ Y( e8 Y4 ~. b$ q' n8 }, \investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and% U. O# G7 R$ L' [( f
Chrysler." p1 F, v2 b) M, m' F9 r
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
& m ]9 u% J# Y. I( Xdollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a+ f1 Z' ~/ m' P) Q0 T) N
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also0 Z' z q: F: C0 Y* k& U
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
! m' M7 M) U" J2 Nwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
/ H& ~# {# w+ Ctough."
" C, k* y9 x1 O( s8 e# w---! X, {5 r' w: e& c8 K
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom2 a) F6 G, T, a+ b, _" W7 [7 {6 y! k! |
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
/ J3 ~! y! u& \- q* ]; [0 Uthis story.$ B' l& @0 T9 j" K0 x: L
5 w9 t" \$ w" X+ l, Z-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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