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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
, ?5 n9 q4 w+ B+ M9 D% OBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
( L+ U3 | K5 F9 i9 [; m8 LWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
$ s z4 s5 w& O2 W9 toperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
7 Q* M, L+ e# U9 y2 C$ [the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
4 @% l1 u* X! f3 b& C7 j: `% isolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
. V6 C% |0 l! E8 K) E"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential! L/ p5 M5 X3 C" U
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
, V" b, P$ C& `1 e% C, p) M$ ?/ ~However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected' ^9 r4 d9 N7 _' I" t! o7 {' z- p, `
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and/ w% W: c1 v/ D0 h& @1 C8 E
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor f5 G$ ]* ?' O. M% K
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.
/ |$ {. @9 u3 r1 o9 iHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
* X& ^) x" F1 q; tand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp/ U; s7 J N. J H2 ?) O2 I
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
- R5 {1 c) l- e( m- Z, F5 _5 }further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
4 t' u( u6 O% N7 y, h1 Rnot stop her runaway Lexus.) S& i5 u. ~; v! T- X+ W/ ~7 q
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,4 X) M6 x+ S ^) u5 `3 j/ n
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
7 b$ H- _! f P5 S7 U: i3 }"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.1 O- ^0 b C5 S" F# q6 w
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
; t' Q6 u0 m5 i% W4 E C: q. \early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said7 ~0 ? k: W1 j, v5 q
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
! M0 _4 G8 f4 @% u) R& c p( F- Rdone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway% Q; t3 r* F, t+ m: E
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
3 G9 R* N; v! D3 g9 V7 hinvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
' R4 D N8 f2 d' h$ oLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an2 o, d5 R' z! c1 t6 {# |
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
+ @$ \/ i- m3 l! xthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
9 ^ \+ W. P! x# x8 W4 Umalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
# b/ K( p: M! m% f8 I2 F% e) }said.
* Z4 D) S1 P( T* j: i9 uAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what# j3 e5 M0 j* p; _/ @
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
1 j1 {3 E; [5 ~about driving our products," Lentz said.
7 m) Z% w, Y& o: g4 C- P# `Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
3 W8 C/ e* s5 E: C! e/ fproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has( o2 \" q) {; V- ]/ |% b
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
g: `$ Z0 ^( J/ u0 V fmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of
( ]& Y* K' G [+ V) runintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking* y( J% V. _, W2 y; }6 }; ?: X
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering% ] Q! I3 E/ x- n# y% e6 V" o1 S
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of& w2 ~/ p& E; J
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
/ m" @( |# G" r! g7 bdown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has2 |" p* Z0 @! E/ h- l
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
* t3 X V5 g5 U0 N! R( dof Toyota vehicles since 2000.' a& [; o2 m# k' R( u6 f
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
5 @ _4 w w8 Y8 ~* pbrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
& a5 _8 W: L. ?' s1 u* {understood the pain.6 U- j& A2 U+ u$ ]: ]! r7 J
"I know what those families go through," he said.8 K& v, S9 c/ V. {* K) d
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's: Z" N: P. I$ y1 [% x
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.& V: @) N/ G% f4 I( e. T
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
+ r3 G4 u7 n; aHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
% s* p h8 l8 L5 Z% W9 S& p, T( kin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,, \) p# f) u7 I/ T' g, V
Lentz replied: "Not totally."
9 z8 T2 z( F' a6 cStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were1 ]+ ]6 V$ o) u$ K- ^8 w$ k) i( R( D
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
7 x H! O, q3 R4 x @Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas' H1 H" t+ _5 ]; ?8 Z
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
- p6 G% A" L( Y6 hvehicles already on the road.0 e$ J7 z5 W$ j; @ e/ G
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
0 D! P0 x4 p y/ @8 N0 m; K5 ~+ tbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full4 v$ M& `. @! i$ T* i
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
) c4 ^- i3 ]% [ voffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were& H) P q/ ]/ A1 I4 W# u l
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.3 b) o: c* Y F' J
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a# S- _3 B/ F. I P- l% t
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
7 {' n* {, B2 {( o9 i* l& afor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
4 d; ], N5 j/ B. ^# p1 K! VCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal6 a L% t. \( q2 z( V
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
8 ~9 w. Z# x& ~+ ~9 m2 @3 Urestore the trust of our customers."
9 V5 ?; H/ u& k; G! X; {Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
' @% c" [2 d8 G6 f6 zSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
3 l: S9 t! S- O9 uzoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
- U3 U$ W( n0 G: ~shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and) Z/ h0 X1 Y, j( `7 ]2 y6 a
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough: p7 I3 S d) G2 d
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and, r% r' H5 ~5 ~ G+ J" Q& l" l
turn off the engine.
' g" t1 C4 Z3 \* \& HFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
! I7 A0 W% b' I G" D) KOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."( K O4 G8 O3 j6 f, e( R( D- x
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she6 t$ Q8 s) u( }3 q: h: x1 T
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond' X* m+ M" s5 \" \+ U0 q
to her complaints.( m$ J: Y2 X( F/ p2 V$ X
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers- o8 Y' j+ b' x# X- Y
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic: Q; {9 F1 ^: u: e5 V! n: D
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.( a3 ~8 u6 R6 s, r
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
6 _0 Q" ~) b" e" w; ^( O1 _throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
3 S% q4 F0 f+ G0 u9 ?"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut, N' X7 [: N( Q7 s% k7 y; C
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure.", h3 {& D' S, G4 O6 Z$ v+ P
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in0 `( U0 A1 |% H1 \- }+ O) m
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
' {" p$ p) j& E% zbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls, V5 l8 {0 K$ D! @9 O& U) D K, W* P
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
' Y+ [! o# i: F: b7 C% o! t9 _every question."
. Q. n3 z. Q' _- B" n2 ~8 iToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether' E8 T& x) o5 s1 f) n% y3 u& R
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The, w/ v$ `# R' K/ [, M3 `; K
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But/ B p5 H( G/ E. ]
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small' z3 u1 L; c0 n$ p
number of vehicles
1 h/ |6 V0 f# ?$ }+ L, aTracking down an electrical problem can be far more
* z3 g% \$ x1 d. i$ D! ]difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a' s4 k1 N+ _- H, @: h
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one/ A) n4 `/ d/ v. N
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.# z( O/ E \! }) K$ i" x2 T! J
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
, a* F/ s. x0 A, N3 iwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no4 a. y3 K/ j3 z
trace at all.4 s3 h$ b5 e* ~; ]
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
. q- G, Z G5 @+ e4 ?" fdatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden3 J" n& p1 i2 c, ~
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the/ o: {- F+ s$ F) B
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
& `( `: |' `6 f/ ?- zRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,. f1 W' Y# T, M1 b' D
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and9 ?$ e5 B3 C" O$ Q, X0 E, d
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
* Z8 C6 F7 v- Xelectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible% }2 j- ]. ` L$ T7 ~# b# I% q
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
8 m S' U1 @4 O7 j0 g0 hsuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
; z' e+ z T, m3 C' q2 sby Toyota's lawyers."
# W$ d( }. O( c! cLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of r; M! A8 `6 C6 v4 m' b
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
1 N7 C" P5 D Kcustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he3 m, q/ y3 m9 m" A! K
said.
% s! N8 v% D* V" ]0 h0 G"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with) g, K5 }1 L: j
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our* P/ G0 L) U$ W* p8 \% M
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating9 i" f# v* M& \0 O* n
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
' T4 p- H( x0 n$ d& \4 zSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
+ b3 U; M# G* \, Q: smembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread, \3 Z3 k( }: E& _# Q9 C7 S+ [2 K
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
+ E' n) d0 f3 }0 i. M4 y6 Fautomaker, at least in part because of the government's: D8 M* D0 G8 u# c
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
2 S5 j- @4 A- z1 P t! VChrysler.; N3 F9 e. P. z3 p5 W1 Q- D
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
- _4 \, E) H, h: R% x2 a, e% ?dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
5 G; i% w e$ N; v }Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
& Y% t5 E5 O5 h8 Pserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete* d3 p9 `* L" `/ F& [4 F2 i
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
2 A+ t5 R6 S5 ~4 U ~4 X8 X( ktough."
6 @5 N6 F+ \. G: r* C9 w---0 N3 W7 G7 [4 o0 e2 n
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
2 ]( a7 r. O; X2 k) b: I# URaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
/ y: }& X: O" P1 ^, Gthis story.
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7 g9 z& t2 ~% g" f-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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