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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
7 _* h& }# m k# p& x4 `By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
0 p ]9 K) o5 P) m3 [Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.+ D, f3 \4 L8 V: N) \
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that: \" M$ c5 J m: J# E3 M0 w g
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
$ z9 X: `- D" `. Esolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.4 M5 k4 W, |. F- P. L: m( h4 ~
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential z# c. y$ t. A4 J3 I. |/ t
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.5 a/ F M7 ~0 A$ n
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected/ x! V- C6 E% Y7 ^+ y B
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and/ }% Z- U' I& I g, p
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor) O4 {, I9 M O$ e: N) Z
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.7 U% |% ^3 G' g6 y
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
h( X' Y- J5 F$ u$ Hand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp6 c9 k3 z, z# |) X }
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
- f- Y" n% T4 T' |1 ]9 pfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could- l" o; O% u$ m) c( s) B' [4 d. S# r
not stop her runaway Lexus.
7 m6 S/ y" \( B"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,/ S0 Z$ n2 f3 ^4 X& E( w- K, E
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second* d1 r4 a1 @ D7 w7 J) C8 Y/ x$ [
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators." k3 d' C4 n+ V5 E
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues) F: ]7 l# h# O/ J4 A
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
) o: h3 E/ w$ O5 \"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has3 S* ^/ H. P# l# w
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway: P- Y. _# ^7 q0 C' D( j
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's5 v7 r# K8 i Q2 q" V; p! U
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."& C6 x( N* `. l; a& U/ f4 b
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
: R# S1 X0 D0 j. L) S1 ~electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of+ X! H. e$ }6 q
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a; Y% G# b: \) b
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he9 y9 C* }' m: ~
said.
6 h1 t& Z/ @- TAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what5 v% @( i6 s, U! _( z: l) r: l
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
( ?5 h! n3 d9 F0 s6 xabout driving our products," Lentz said.) N* ~ D. G/ l
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
& B# t+ Y. k5 n$ {problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has( `- u! _! m+ p0 f9 M
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6' K4 q$ e, T/ [
million in the United States -- since last fall because of, k4 t! e/ I( ]' t
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking+ p. {/ R$ ?) s& C" t$ d5 T" P
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering7 e( A1 t8 ], f7 }
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of' E. m. B0 @0 `# Z. Q5 B" O
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow! b% A/ A. {5 K1 t& C# {
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has S# ?" C1 e6 x
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
- d) k$ f! V$ l& W! k! L) Oof Toyota vehicles since 2000.
( G5 J: U7 @( Y! `Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own% ~& }* @ _: F
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
1 i. q: A$ W! ]5 i Runderstood the pain.& C. v, t( h5 c7 F
"I know what those families go through," he said.. I$ ^- @& f: M( g$ @! x" I1 W
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's9 T6 k3 X# T3 S$ }
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems. l, d% o# G# i& O) F A; y) o
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman7 o4 u& M; O9 K8 L# M: p s4 [9 \
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
! v9 _6 y3 E, h& g* I5 Z. N: P, A( M; xin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it," @; l* |* ^ V6 _0 ?" o& \
Lentz replied: "Not totally."8 O }" U5 a* u+ b; b: U
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
& e7 U1 N* n5 b3 Z+ z"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said% k& p) y+ t: \: h/ ]. C2 ?* i
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas0 n3 r- r+ N+ S2 k+ H+ ]0 H
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its- u3 c0 A! o& I% n
vehicles already on the road.% ?! n( `) C; a2 R
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
# C" w" c2 J2 Zbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
0 U: \4 \6 f2 f( _4 \1 ?0 ~2 h! J8 yresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and0 V4 X+ A6 t& k5 c3 U6 ]' E& p; U
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were/ Z+ ]0 S6 v1 B- [. D
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
6 ]# @ e- S, O: w) A( h"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
! m# ?' J/ q+ p Q+ J" Btragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony8 W8 W& [- K8 \1 h7 D l
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight0 H9 o" l0 E* }1 i
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
0 \# w7 |" ]5 k6 A9 Acommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to0 b3 s* C$ o/ S+ ^* L6 V+ x
restore the trust of our customers."5 q( k- Z$ r' H% [# ~
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
- |: g. i, a) T& p+ O% ASmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
. G. B: I! S5 s& lzoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --) V3 P' f0 g8 C5 R6 K, m
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
m' M6 ]& k% x c3 R* q2 @! `$ ~hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough! n% n7 c% C% e0 v! g% B8 }2 H
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and* o2 @" W* F9 P
turn off the engine.; Q% x' x) b6 f# |- v$ h* ]1 o2 J
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of- w8 W- z5 Z# T/ N
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
2 y9 T, p% B3 z( a' S& F, W9 |"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she. ^' n: m* y7 q+ X, A2 E6 N
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
( n- ~5 {' x0 D; _to her complaints.
3 T8 d/ `5 Q# y/ m) fIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers0 O; y4 U/ B- s, [( `
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic, ]- g! x2 s% G k3 q7 v9 v
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
6 \3 W g4 ]- M. C) L+ m4 j"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric! W6 a# n, C/ k: B
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
' \* L, g9 b7 Z5 Y# U"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
. ?2 Y5 N. F3 R8 ~0 Loff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."! j7 q0 q" j6 A+ r) s& E* W1 J. Q
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
( H0 n# |. B \/ ~- ^# l) [6 qprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
: ~1 ~1 w7 _! N; U, j0 C: s% V: Lbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
5 p& l3 }: L8 f3 Iwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
7 c4 S6 p- i. [0 m8 ^every question."
5 i% X5 e. Y. L2 L5 R& K& L( gToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether5 P T( @, |* X& I+ E
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
a" k0 s. c) J$ x3 Z' efirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But q7 y |1 ]" W
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
6 f, D6 `: l0 c) g# J/ f Pnumber of vehicles. x6 s9 p3 z. w/ K
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more+ G- q" H* o1 c- {
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a/ j4 J/ y0 I- T# V- W; g- J8 g j
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
) w0 T5 [9 b( B- `source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.1 p7 P* g- I. E1 m+ K3 p
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
, |7 M. q* z3 V. R7 ~4 g: Wwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no3 v4 U0 s T! E
trace at all.
/ B1 Q& c9 e4 V+ e- ^House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
/ N- P6 r" \6 E( adatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden* j! |' {7 a8 P7 n* M
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
6 j6 e- [# z8 m0 Qrecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.! M2 U7 c7 ]$ m
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
! ]8 t3 q5 A1 x$ v! _' qsaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and0 e4 H5 h, L+ s% v9 O3 W
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the) P+ V: X4 |2 |: u3 m! t) [% m
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
% H; Z: Y5 Z/ ?7 f; ~. c# g' ycause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
" G* H7 a: V* V( Q4 D( |1 a/ Ssuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained* j$ E- o% F4 @
by Toyota's lawyers."% d3 f& g0 F- ^; ~! u
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
6 H z# \- \+ v3 P9 yproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our$ Q/ _( e7 |: y" k! O2 X2 m( R/ |
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he$ j$ B5 i% I+ Y$ r3 J4 X
said.9 _! N0 T. W/ P' m
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
1 t' T, v% h. m+ U1 x" O( Z, x, X( qa rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our* w3 P7 O/ T3 _% i& h: l9 f
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
& R* m9 A! Q9 }officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.7 d2 ?" e! O- R
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying/ s( T0 j; K( a! K0 e& Y2 o
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread0 l+ v4 F0 `2 |( ^
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
! A( p. X6 W" {! {, hautomaker, at least in part because of the government's
* Z% l0 W/ O/ j% E& a9 e- Dinvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
7 T% J+ r: k( G# bChrysler.- E' E1 w% U( @4 O" F6 i
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax6 S, M& E! o3 ]: q% D' y
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
( K$ b5 |, Y* F. u1 Q7 EHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also- v+ o4 N5 v: ^: h! p) @
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
) O; X d: m' J. }: g/ x5 w3 uwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
% \8 A- r. _- t0 @4 ]tough."
& r, s; I2 Q- `$ e2 r' \* L---
$ N5 p# W1 T# h' k1 i3 r1 kAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom; t8 N4 L0 e% B% Q5 s5 i2 P9 n' K# u1 W
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
6 ?2 q: m% c0 A1 [; \ j6 ?this story.
; I' M6 t) c0 |7 g) T3 U+ I4 \( ?9 P' l: q
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