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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
$ ^: d, o" x% {& g3 g, m9 oBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
1 C# S9 K+ y+ F* u4 g- H, J3 kWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
2 [. B' i6 x2 Y: `- }' z0 toperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that. f7 R' h1 s+ ^% u$ I
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
1 y6 G" b2 n: B" B U" _solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.! u1 }" }1 \0 W7 l: a
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential2 u' U; a4 X) O4 c1 A
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel., {, X; W2 M; B+ k( T0 [* `2 X
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
5 ^8 J' M6 P3 d# n, U$ H5 S; B3 b* s7 Hacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
3 _) `5 U; C) d5 h. Q+ btrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
1 S y/ ~; h' N6 Xmats and sticking accelerator pedals.
: B1 [. ?# A* t z/ a% [He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
0 P% S, s9 w. Gand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp" d& o1 }, [* @' |
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
2 P; D* C/ ^& s) w7 K2 C( J: sfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
/ M% ]2 X0 x& Z$ L) W; ?not stop her runaway Lexus.. k- w% G4 _% q* S( Q0 E
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
" w3 J4 j( f+ a. k0 _/ W& Y TTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
' C+ Y4 V4 ]6 p$ Z" p+ n e"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.$ a& G4 [" `! a8 X: o
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues. P8 a9 a9 R0 C
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
, \$ d# w; `) K' n7 D; n: l"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
) `' F- i0 F3 P: k8 Q: U) Sdone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway: a7 ~' A h# j2 B
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's) v% D$ H* O4 e; S, x x; A8 h
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."$ H7 c# ]0 d; F4 Q& a L8 n/ J
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an9 \ v, O3 w$ d! |& N9 ?
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
2 }+ c# u: ?5 |the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a5 j! ~9 A5 X) k4 H2 l0 B- {
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
' L, s s: ~4 |! f% z3 }said.
! n5 k' G* T4 L$ z$ J6 ~1 RAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what' ?& i3 v6 p+ k+ e& l/ q, I
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
+ O1 Z1 I0 o/ X2 y4 V Uabout driving our products," Lentz said.
& G9 H( i: e, q% vThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
% l( `1 y' I' oproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
4 U! _. ~* o0 [6 q% a6 E5 ^) x: Irecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
$ {: d1 t b4 R ~$ P. p4 c+ A! mmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of( n! C6 {+ L" n% U* ?( ^
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
# W4 \' C' W) f3 |+ c, K- Cissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
9 m3 W, ?& ^* A& cconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of% a* D' f1 Q" S
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow, g* n$ _4 e* e5 o$ ^
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
* e/ [, |" |* V3 B7 Xreceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
; ~; |% H9 f2 `6 ~of Toyota vehicles since 2000.
' q- p- V& `5 O" F* mLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
% z6 H" x" ?" R: Qbrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
8 z( ]+ S* U, Y4 V9 Eunderstood the pain.
8 M' l# b5 }* c6 o+ s" K"I know what those families go through," he said.0 R' E( I- m# h/ B+ f+ M
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
4 P4 Q k, P9 r- \9 }3 xfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.# P: H# d6 e! p; H
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
* t" Y2 [% B7 D4 }, L# QHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put6 U3 g" S1 C; D7 x' k4 O7 s
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,2 `5 S. o8 G1 a0 C
Lentz replied: "Not totally.", i5 V Y: w' b# F7 [8 ]
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
. L. j- h7 b P4 N; R# b- `"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
8 M7 v: ~5 Z+ F7 _Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
! X% [( c. G! e3 Fpedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
/ c; r; G3 K- m5 Z4 I9 [7 Gvehicles already on the road.
, K0 \& U/ Z0 O8 GMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
: |$ S" ]7 h- u) \+ e( ?" Ubefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full" Z# }! a: e* G& Z) k! G
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and) j2 O( Z% U3 P3 _4 |; X" K
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
. E0 P6 w V+ c9 s8 d. c Okilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
/ v4 W7 C$ ]% M* R W"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a3 q/ M7 U; |1 b8 }3 _- H8 Q
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
' a) g$ j' p+ O5 Qfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight; z4 u7 t# y/ U* a* a' ] Z3 N
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal- I* [8 D- G+ o
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
0 w' y( S# _5 d' v; jrestore the trust of our customers."$ @( x0 B! X9 [2 C. Z+ A5 `
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from) U: T. L2 e+ ?- e% `
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly( W7 u! X" u1 I" R
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
3 [$ |$ G- X- Y5 _" p/ z; Pshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and8 G1 l: f' v/ i! @
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
0 X& H( Z& s4 L. tthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
0 _( C" e7 B1 u: F Rturn off the engine.* G1 x; @/ K/ j0 P0 G3 g
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of$ b! U% g- ~/ O* Z I
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
5 ^$ X% c) Y, \. @; u"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she) z) W6 \. @! ~* a. ~
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
! z. t3 F4 H7 X1 J7 Yto her complaints." _4 ~# G3 H0 p/ B% p* n0 k
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
8 N' h5 n/ A, `& M( `' nreturned again and again to the question of whether electronic
2 S+ G: l' J! ymalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.& h3 @5 t$ E. g; \/ H
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric8 i) s& i+ ?6 |4 X2 V7 o
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
1 s2 O( J$ ~8 e0 y) a5 Y7 Z"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut& }! ~! M2 x+ ^! O% Z$ Y" S
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."* ?1 X4 |3 x8 C4 `. v2 d
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
. C0 v4 H2 A) V$ {5 `prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
& q9 T& f" q- y( q; zbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls* p8 d( [. ?- p6 U
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer* L A. I/ w& y! G8 Z/ A
every question."2 H ?9 Y+ \0 ^
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
& c$ G% H0 [0 u( t: ^; s/ _electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
1 I j. @+ P' |* ~( J& ?. Pfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But" G Y; i7 s: [- W# X3 p
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
' S% N8 [" j- W" Znumber of vehicles+ e4 L6 v9 J5 f q2 D. m) W2 ?" K/ t8 w
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more% N4 x' J' Y. `6 B! S" h/ `
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
' W0 ?( b6 ^/ m0 L! \+ Z# Smechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one& s0 _. U. ^3 z2 V; ]
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
5 B9 z7 C9 _$ {8 q8 iMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
2 M1 e& u5 i- Gwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no: ]3 t( v0 r6 @# U' e% F4 I( E
trace at all.
- K5 ?& x `2 D2 VHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
! o- _* r5 f" H% ~( A! Fdatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
7 n; F, w! g7 |/ u+ ~+ S' Qacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the) p) H. x; T* A+ |8 c
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.# d p$ h5 r2 J% S
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,; R& E4 ~7 n$ z5 m- i& u
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
$ L+ n2 u; Z% x4 pother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
; ~6 p' `0 }; }3 g4 P0 T' uelectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
L& q9 A3 g* k9 a# d4 A8 H) }) w3 rcause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only. A2 U2 {2 u! T& T8 C% z
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
1 M5 K3 e( d& C2 ~$ {' Y3 t# B: L: }by Toyota's lawyers."
* {( U2 F1 |2 X; vLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of- {. c, ~) b& a" P" _- S7 ?
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
5 r: K L1 Y4 b" |5 d; P y d! Icustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
9 G1 h9 F$ R. r- Vsaid.
' ~. b! {( s0 |% ]' T2 m c"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with4 h. v2 i8 S$ u! s
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our1 y% q0 A" I- W( f
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating" W: u8 e- U2 P
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
. c8 i9 R) Z& WSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying" t2 Y; K5 P4 C; q. W5 {
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
1 `# Y" u {( |. Y- j! ~$ Z' E8 lrancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
! \( F6 x( M1 p4 p/ h9 ]/ Iautomaker, at least in part because of the government's; O4 i4 u, |% C4 G
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
$ z2 Q3 d6 \7 Z% d; q: V8 gChrysler.& R7 n8 i2 G7 {& f% T
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax" O( J2 U ] n$ N
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a) p. o1 I7 \3 J; O4 U0 b
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also% R7 Y5 r( {# @& P$ c
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
$ V& W, C/ s5 \% y- `; @6 D+ X# Gwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty7 \6 T. }- P4 o) O+ a, W0 a
tough."
' T, r* [7 }2 H) z( K* y: z---! \; @; U k$ C m' ?' W3 R
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
* ^+ ~) j; u3 E9 BRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
3 u8 H$ ], ~6 {: {' q Uthis story.1 I& @6 r9 A0 |* t9 V g& ?
: G, A# a: c9 I! N' {) D, o4 S6 S-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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