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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
. c: C, I! k" VBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
1 A1 G2 R/ J, n- hWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
# _* g4 n6 I& |( q( C& Voperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that0 \8 h, P' Y* s$ E
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
) c2 Z& O6 Q1 b/ @) L) Z6 jsolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
; n' U( c9 U, g- [$ E. J8 Z"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential% U3 L0 }) v. v9 e2 V1 P! _ O! H
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.) L. `0 @4 [( t0 m4 g! v* r2 A
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected8 N0 s, |9 t$ M; Q6 `
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
4 y; V D" O' V9 ?9 Ptrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
, @; C$ Q, a( z- q. B$ Emats and sticking accelerator pedals.
8 W( ^0 A; ^+ h1 {. KHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
, c- n- b- c9 w4 Zand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp' `* q# q+ n* t' J
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
6 r& q: S; Q; r. ?further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could8 g* y$ c5 K9 W* v
not stop her runaway Lexus.$ Z; j# T0 _# v- o5 E! L' [6 ~
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,: Q$ h; h1 V" A" X5 ~4 s1 n, O
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second% Z) O+ @: e# W8 C/ X: Y
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
6 J1 a( i2 ^4 Y4 x( zTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues b- ` b* L) ^, t0 |) {
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said+ G# `" w+ l: S
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has$ }3 x; a2 d( k& k4 P2 Z4 P9 \
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway/ C! e1 q- k. K& ^$ G$ I
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
~0 d U; ?& k9 Sinvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
0 @+ {$ {9 g) uLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an# G: T# u; t e5 H
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of# L! u! t" o2 O8 B0 c; `# N2 \8 @
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a, C9 p3 z& h* J/ v! l! x
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
+ B# R4 X1 [8 Q4 p& x2 _! b. ~8 q0 vsaid.
- n9 A' ]) W2 b7 PAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
" f/ S+ g$ m' d1 B0 shappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
4 {; h" Z" w, `- C* L1 Q6 f7 xabout driving our products," Lentz said.4 l# h9 m8 g P+ L c' G, W
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
" R6 N2 @7 N9 N1 R+ y- r& kproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has) {7 [ b3 @: o1 f* G
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6' ?( K) B9 r/ F8 ?
million in the United States -- since last fall because of
8 r' b! K8 c' r$ q: P3 `unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
. S( p6 ^5 r6 H3 o }$ Vissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering+ T8 _1 J+ H+ j" e% d' u1 H" f
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of: {" C. r+ G- m6 k0 r
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow, H: T( e; ^& z9 i, V3 Y
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has; l0 ~5 d- v4 B/ O0 n
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
y; Y; b8 A7 d5 }# l' w9 I+ {of Toyota vehicles since 2000.
& g/ A' |2 w4 {' T9 M* QLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
2 k) L; J4 l- F) ybrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he1 x& M: K* o# J7 f7 _# R
understood the pain.9 U/ d5 c/ l: N) w$ I2 R
"I know what those families go through," he said., W$ X0 a" u6 `
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's- ]5 h0 j z( K, y/ u
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
1 g+ }7 H; D# f1 Z7 J# OBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
( @2 T6 ?+ d ~$ J7 J6 A5 {Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
4 ?. ?3 d7 ], h' I- k3 Ein place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
& H: N1 P9 W/ c( F8 NLentz replied: "Not totally."+ U( s3 _: L4 T; ]& {
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were5 o; h( l3 U9 K
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
0 _3 M8 ]5 L, VToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas9 K4 a+ x7 F2 G4 F
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
9 I. @3 q/ g! O) X2 kvehicles already on the road.
, g7 ?" n0 r( X: FMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify% K: q5 e9 v5 X. H$ J( C( y
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
( f1 `! ^6 J, ]7 b3 a6 }responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and. t" n N+ u" V8 ]) L
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
8 a9 L* ~8 h) ]9 z% h/ Dkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.( b: Q4 }2 m+ V) V3 k
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a7 X( ?5 N9 J; _2 K# b5 Q& }1 n) _, q1 N
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
d/ H* z2 t) q; S; z/ mfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
( t: D O1 e0 QCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal- I0 v0 C7 o- B+ @( r
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to- d7 J2 b6 f3 f/ Y; T$ o" H
restore the trust of our customers."
. `3 B0 n) ^2 uLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from {- H& R0 |8 x8 z$ l- M5 ?% A
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
9 G( n' |+ S' rzoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
; F6 u o7 N* D0 s8 m8 ^: d8 Wshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
" I+ v1 G. c( p# O+ A, Q8 Y6 A3 {9 lhitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
# M% U* h& t" s! B8 Qthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and; V" e- K) G7 U$ i# V) F
turn off the engine.( }& h8 w% l& U5 u4 A/ [
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
& K9 `9 }0 S+ }2 \October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
& _2 c5 ?3 G8 I2 E4 v& O' W"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she- g5 J: N. u) I9 V; [( O
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
1 p9 M+ s6 B8 |: ~: x& Z: uto her complaints.) @ `* v+ K* }
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
+ D0 L: Q( k5 S6 mreturned again and again to the question of whether electronic8 ]. X" e# ^0 E: t6 I/ Q
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
' i# m! H/ c5 G"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
! s3 W( l2 j" t4 T+ A) pthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
5 N2 l/ o+ ? g+ ]! X3 c"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
. E6 d5 }& e" d! goff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
3 U- P, c$ I; S1 v) ?$ Y9 vTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in& W6 b! \# N+ {* g! F' a7 E- y
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
: l) u1 P9 n) {/ g# {. `$ B8 _being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
$ y3 R/ F' X% dwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
1 f+ X) L" f, Fevery question."
I# U1 ]4 j0 w+ u- VToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether% @1 _* u8 R+ }, w
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The4 L( g9 u* e' z$ D! ?8 [) o. I
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
! p T4 [) T# c1 v; U0 g2 Fcommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small
& s% Q' v2 R# [number of vehicles- `% \7 o7 d9 y$ q2 W4 l. f. _$ a
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more* I7 D( G3 w/ ^- X2 j
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
# }: V8 u M" fmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
) F C5 W6 I. g) U5 A& `0 psource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
h/ t. r( _$ ~. e0 z: J! G% dMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
6 Y0 \: i; t. `! n$ O9 Vwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no- m' n' b6 U f8 `! u' o
trace at all.! Y* {# a Q4 l* z# M! b
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
* w( H7 u: [! N* O# bdatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
: Z$ L8 i" Y- w4 Yacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
( R8 v& @, M0 lrecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.1 W C; A6 ]' T
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
2 v5 n* v0 [5 h1 f! ksaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
* H) S% @) K9 @' Zother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
5 Z! [: t7 y6 [$ x% ]9 |4 `electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
8 J" e# E7 j) {* r2 jcause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
, s* I: I) c7 v, t9 p5 V9 Lsuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
& z }4 R: B* e/ y1 V; I( Y+ wby Toyota's lawyers."
! i+ Y0 A( q) A) l; z3 cLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of' U0 B5 [9 H* O8 B' c V
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our O2 t! Z5 e7 s7 \6 A
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
8 o0 [0 Q+ k3 Z$ l# v2 ~6 bsaid.1 c4 N, u* ?3 }3 }# R
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
% Q3 ~" j6 g' Xa rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our7 S3 T9 J+ N6 j4 o6 [( N) R
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
. [1 ~( ^) N( T$ B/ a' a9 i( Eofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
/ t. c0 [7 }5 \$ l2 o3 kSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
& L# ~% p- L% P0 y, {* O0 z; smembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
6 R$ v' z# s' G$ w9 Wrancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the9 r! m3 Z, [0 a2 X2 G1 T
automaker, at least in part because of the government's& G: I3 t3 x4 Y- J. p
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
& v1 C- ]' R) s: K5 t8 j3 R/ qChrysler.0 H3 M! l* s: M% j8 r) l' [
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax. U7 }! {0 I, c
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
- `% E3 o/ x. CHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also8 Q/ D! \0 K$ p
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
# ?: {; i' ~# N+ a: cwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
- V5 V4 _' p: ^5 ]$ r/ Itough."* E6 R/ X% i P; I, z3 w0 z! {
---
! U3 Y& g6 D# KAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom" p! g: h6 K( r4 i" N
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
\) m' {, l2 Z$ e3 D$ }this story.
/ e1 m4 v3 C, U; j+ v4 I) Z7 ~
-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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