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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' r f8 A8 k; i7 [6 Y, a/ d
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS5 Q, t4 r$ \ i) N. [9 L& V
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
) m9 Y+ `1 ~, i1 ]5 {/ _operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that1 e; n" z' }4 t; g
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"' U" `% x% w5 L2 h9 n. n
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
& I4 T L( `) p1 f& I"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
6 P1 Q. E: P: F2 { S Ccauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
$ A# ~$ Z2 H z2 R5 KHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected$ L4 v7 C* V q8 z0 a1 V
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and' q7 i: Z9 g2 ?+ w0 ?
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor1 c. ~0 q$ ?' K; r. C' N) r. J9 V
mats and sticking accelerator pedals. T; J1 l/ H2 y2 n! o
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal* Z$ ^* t! h/ j% n& b
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
) _ _3 c! p" L* Y) |: xcriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
( ^, l: \; j3 l* I, N- [+ Wfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could. f5 c N& H2 { H, P
not stop her runaway Lexus.
|9 V) B5 x6 D! y"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,( w" k- J/ `: u/ Z6 g) q
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second+ G g0 C/ n$ o/ d. c
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.' w) B& N* Y( d d0 N+ f
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
$ _ Y, \' x" ^8 N3 gearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said8 J. F) X: N" l' |5 ?% d2 H' |2 n
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has) t& l& J, ?, P7 f. e6 q
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway* f* A* ^7 i% Z; _9 t& V/ J
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
: X8 f, F G* binvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
8 x {+ J3 C# j' j& w( FLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an" B) g; S; E: r% b. ^; k4 d9 u8 J
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of6 w2 z! K) Q2 V# C
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a3 q7 t; g( J1 E
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
# \, @4 {. R. Rsaid.9 u9 a. ?9 `4 l* a4 g; g0 z
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what3 n+ D7 R- i& h; N* u" R
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe2 ?1 y" Y7 T+ y- B9 u
about driving our products," Lentz said.
9 n$ V9 {; o: W" F' HThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
# m `! s! C [# z& x5 X$ X: V0 dproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
. P* s) N' _. ^# Nrecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
# n4 [# L- J1 c P7 m7 F1 D0 gmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of
. u5 V0 \( d4 z! h! Z9 M" Yunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking7 G" X$ f2 z n* X
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
8 ?4 [% ~; F8 z! oconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
) v, [% z' q7 W2 e. ftheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow0 _, b" E7 {8 \8 b3 _( q" G
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has8 r! _8 q& E% z3 j# L1 {# u9 q
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration$ t+ U! |& F* c+ p8 ~5 i
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.
. `, A+ a0 ~( H; M8 uLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
* R, S% g' d8 V$ u) M; N0 d9 Dbrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he# R. j4 H8 e ^" Q2 Q* }
understood the pain. |8 e, ]8 Y0 E1 l
"I know what those families go through," he said.
: s) O3 P3 U& t7 u3 b0 ~+ B' rLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
' T. L @- j+ K7 B0 x0 R3 Nfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.+ |; e5 M* R; F2 {6 c
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman, ?- h# n/ s* @: H/ u
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
7 J0 _( }# l3 |, Lin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
2 y5 d: |6 |+ L2 d7 M0 W* ?Lentz replied: "Not totally."
E, k3 s1 u9 O( PStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
r$ y! g1 a" G# B! l7 ^"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said2 L `4 W- W) v7 d3 E
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
$ I8 G+ |. \) Z' K e( T" `! m- Lpedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its) u6 w: H. f2 G% g7 B
vehicles already on the road.
C% X: w) ?8 T: P7 N6 Q# rMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify6 R- b! R$ B2 Z8 ?0 L# _# N
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full& B$ [( N/ X# r5 T
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and- s+ }( n5 y7 y7 m- }
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were. Q8 U: ^6 a" m
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.2 n& w$ A* ~7 D7 q3 _2 a
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a/ ?$ W0 B6 @+ V- F% E) p. e
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
1 g, \! R8 W7 s x+ Afor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
% I% z* s7 U" x, Z% b8 `+ _Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
8 o$ I8 m ]* W, {/ Kcommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to. s$ m' s7 y3 U! U! A8 \5 e6 b: v
restore the trust of our customers."
4 |' @- i5 b/ D6 L# Z5 XLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
) [3 D" ~+ v" V% USmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly; p3 O0 z( e& x$ f& Y2 H# U
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
5 w! M" S9 g& ]: Ashifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and' a$ u7 _4 m, d# l0 u" c4 h
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
; ], W& N- f/ ]that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
' _+ J2 ?2 q3 u0 A R5 a8 ` v4 kturn off the engine.- m; ]2 y( m9 Q" C
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of9 Z+ [7 n, @. |) l
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."- Q9 O$ t2 p7 l3 \
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she0 a9 c+ {- r. Q3 n" U% M
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
5 t: f0 k+ d) d8 fto her complaints.6 `) u% `8 @8 ]0 z; U/ l7 S$ S
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers7 t9 m$ f- `6 K, v
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
/ f% ]+ y0 @* u% m2 tmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.* Y; [+ A+ M: z0 w
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric2 E3 t% w9 h% {) I: l0 q, D& G2 P
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited/ H1 V- t. |4 U. L
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut6 F2 k4 q+ O9 ^: O' E% w% ~6 i
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."1 W' t) i7 U8 ]! j& I- K$ X
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in6 N/ Z6 t0 N, q' c6 _, U
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
: z$ `$ W+ `5 E0 H& V6 M( Pbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
4 P3 l' F7 o# G- K& P4 fwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer% J! e5 a0 g' m
every question."6 c) {% F4 ?$ q" w' @7 y1 T1 V9 |
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether8 a8 z. A5 V% v; A7 N: f
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
# `5 j$ ]8 e# a5 W; sfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
4 D, I# r. W0 f+ Ocommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small' T# L. y1 h9 d
number of vehicles, X3 ]$ k& z U5 ~5 Z7 r5 u: a
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more
' `* Q2 q) t- q) H' y6 D, D: Ddifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a) v; c* \8 t2 o, z2 g6 q) L
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one3 X9 M0 e, E, n3 z7 L! y
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.( B5 Q7 F4 J( ^% Y5 |
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,' U ^4 B" _$ i8 G
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no) `4 {' ?: L2 D' T( r# n# g
trace at all., ?! y# ?+ U: M- N
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
& U3 S. q1 {' q8 tdatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden/ k/ m% {+ h5 r1 U. w, M- q
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
K7 {* r4 d- Q) F- M# ]# X6 Precalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.9 B% \8 ^% b' u" q
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,2 c" i2 V B, U
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
0 K+ X/ ]: z1 m5 q. i/ g7 z) ?! `3 sother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
( w7 ^* Y4 u- o- i+ Nelectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
) U( K9 k! ?" Acause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only3 C, x, @9 `7 C; b& N1 Y8 \( E
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained4 ?: h& D9 I( o0 X' A
by Toyota's lawyers.": @5 @0 N _& S* d% x& @: A
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
, L* G5 J L0 X# ^3 mproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
) p# ~. f) {6 T- k& icustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he8 q' B3 Y8 w& R. y: q
said.7 j* x" I' N& W$ Z1 @
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with4 E K; D W7 f3 Q9 F
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our3 @, w7 O% g K+ K4 j( C
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating5 I, N8 F |) j: c
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
1 b# c$ Z* q% B' R1 y% C& QSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
( W9 Y( z: N7 G! @6 f0 e! qmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread8 \, E q% k3 t) m% ^9 g! p
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the- G! K& V2 V# E% C
automaker, at least in part because of the government's
7 ^* Z# X2 a! Winvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
9 m0 \ }* t1 Z5 G) h8 V1 rChrysler.; K! p: ^$ Y# i7 p
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
8 M* P, _7 A5 Fdollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a. x& `/ U1 A' r4 T7 N5 y9 P) \
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also3 @' F' K2 L% L6 p8 v/ _% G7 g
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
( S( }3 k) j0 ]: u k p4 a! `6 Awith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
' p2 q: l: I9 n8 Mtough."
/ I1 ~0 x/ B1 w---
: W2 Y* Q p3 a1 L0 JAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom1 N) g d) r1 t8 B* w) D z2 g) }
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
) f/ u) ^7 G$ Zthis story.) Q* Z0 l+ ?" T2 X6 J
+ T7 f+ A7 \" D; M-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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