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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
q. K- O/ v% X$ r2 ?' KBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
- s# k9 ^9 h4 b: o) j) \: UWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.; x" o: r' C1 {
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
0 n c6 f) a) B" F o( mthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"+ I1 W {, ~6 q
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.5 ^2 s4 h) _# K8 U
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
1 g) B, c7 T7 c- V1 o% [. bcauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.. l" |2 l7 w+ f! N4 Q' N4 J1 c( X0 t
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected$ z+ ?+ [! ^ E5 `% _4 A
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and& z m# {* W) \. d
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
1 R1 R% d' D3 P9 z4 m1 hmats and sticking accelerator pedals.
6 }, s$ [: m+ f I* V K0 YHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
( z' ?4 v: \' y @; @" A! eand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
; i9 P6 i9 {& R% F& T$ Dcriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be2 f3 `( c3 V* I) t
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
2 [, D6 C, U! Bnot stop her runaway Lexus.
1 O$ G5 F1 |4 p) z! C3 |: H( f"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
% k& O+ T$ `; P- \3 u6 sTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
8 t& W, }" W e. T5 F) e"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
7 r( k4 A2 `( U, O l; {$ _ X) rTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues( @1 E( v1 A% ^- \; O/ l- g
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
3 W" U) i! `. D% F! Y# N"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has1 B( k' O$ O/ T! }8 j
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway1 n, G9 ?" r. m; T K
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
* U6 Z' _% t: p6 D/ k3 hinvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham.": x" i; N3 L9 R7 H; X
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an7 {( S" R3 z- P6 t$ s1 L% g' @
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
}* a3 ?' v2 u% f8 A2 M2 L' nthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a+ ?5 x0 |# u& l! J, z1 M) o
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he" X& W9 K& x% p3 N
said.0 m" k* }( e8 ]8 S6 `
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what4 c9 N" I( w9 @6 J& g8 M7 ]7 \
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe* s) ~6 d: [& ~. W7 t) X
about driving our products," Lentz said.
! |2 s& j# s! i$ v5 y+ D/ QThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
- _# I u( j& F6 B f1 @3 Lproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
" A9 f# H' \! [' V! C1 wrecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
+ o. i$ j$ ]8 L% ^5 Ymillion in the United States -- since last fall because of
$ o# N6 p% U/ n3 r# d3 x! Sunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking* `% [# G+ o' l1 \ u
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering. o/ @% Q2 h& ?
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
$ b0 S$ W7 i% }3 p: J# Rtheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
6 v* X) I' _0 \down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
' T5 M: H( {: }* E- Lreceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration6 l8 G7 U! q3 ~5 f
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.2 j/ b( x" g5 a; d) G# P
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own' N" t3 n1 w- k
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he b; ?0 b2 A' d
understood the pain.
9 t& x. ?- P1 M4 |& g: r; R- f3 d. G"I know what those families go through," he said.
' {; Z" a1 n! P% {( Q/ W7 oLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's6 Q. |; D2 o! Y2 A* B% g. O
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.# }% S' p; E- n8 [
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman( J% ?5 e; o' I; l+ y9 o
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put. \; F f$ |: r- r7 W& ~* B
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
1 M, ^* ?5 ~' s; J( L# qLentz replied: "Not totally."1 U+ |: C( _( k) \7 p: }( _% K
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
* ~/ B5 {( d$ V0 g v9 ~/ L% q"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
- z6 u; B4 U4 cToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
7 P5 J) O9 R! o6 L5 wpedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its2 W3 r( q# Z( K0 z
vehicles already on the road.
. M* m- P1 f* q2 y3 F, {Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify# K" X; C S4 g1 M: y
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full2 X! _3 V3 T! D$ L( ?
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and, Z" g8 u; B2 i' r0 z
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
0 ? N4 X( `1 R$ z: ~* Z7 a; @5 mkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.3 c7 l! z( n8 X0 T3 J$ c
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
( O, m+ x9 j( d5 ftragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
+ g8 z U9 J, x# ]/ V2 {' Gfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
5 {9 A8 Z/ u& s/ J" j; eCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal& X; z0 K$ ?# O9 i. g! ~$ R
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to r$ F* {1 }! A* H% @& M
restore the trust of our customers."
5 v+ m, X* O7 f! _/ F3 ?Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from, l0 n- T A2 d1 E' Q) j A- t* \
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly( a: l; ]: g2 |9 n9 D7 R$ A7 w* X7 ~
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --- ^9 O, @ s$ z4 w" J
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and% x/ h/ u7 p, O+ _7 K4 h
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
4 J: J; u# j; ^that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
- X' A b3 _+ ~* Rturn off the engine.
/ c8 R/ B1 i" `/ e* kFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of# g K' a! H& |) h( S* t
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
- w7 o3 X. W( s) {"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
, p$ ]+ F6 N0 O1 x# Ssaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
# z7 D5 ]( a3 Dto her complaints.9 T/ m4 d3 G, y1 y/ V- k
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
0 ]" \) f5 h5 O5 Wreturned again and again to the question of whether electronic
?, t+ D: p! _# |malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
2 G3 F+ ^; w4 }; G; a"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
- k2 b4 {0 M) R2 m \throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited l8 E& d0 J6 `. i" p# T6 V& M
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
2 c$ _, F9 x; ]' M8 P# r1 coff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."+ R& o D/ R" x. Q5 |: }
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
; d% T% \5 G! @6 Yprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
$ t: [. [+ C5 W: Z7 a# Lbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls; u5 t) m( x1 s+ N# W! e4 E
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer% ~4 D- n9 @6 L5 Q# f
every question."0 [& t, t$ r |
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
( X& F/ E: `# Q4 k4 Oelectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The0 q1 A" p) Q- X3 E0 s' F: G
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
7 |3 y2 [2 D) O6 [4 G6 wcommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small b2 W! A% W' R( T/ @& a
number of vehicles
( l* x6 B5 C5 DTracking down an electrical problem can be far more
1 K+ F* M4 Y/ B/ l' gdifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
- n" i L D7 Zmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
9 S3 Z9 `" p% o! `source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
8 n# K( ^% B# D$ tMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,8 `0 y% |- Q) N9 `
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
/ B F2 T# B% ~ ktrace at all.1 g' P! `/ Z( |
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call* ~1 v6 [7 z" a. L7 h/ h! l
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden# ^0 |0 A9 D" c2 t; C. F
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the2 X6 b# ~( Z* U7 l [
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.# ~1 c! x1 Z5 p7 D
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,$ f* I4 g: B9 _2 [# m5 b8 K
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
g c# _; K( r: N$ @ `other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the |$ k* G( Z1 K4 h' I
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
, m# W: b$ a- o+ w( X/ Gcause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
. h& M! e2 T& A ^6 tsuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
& }& q5 \: n; iby Toyota's lawyers.", a! B" \0 H" U7 q- F
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
0 C7 W k! X, G5 |* `0 Kproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our6 ~* [; [& g( A. A! O% d; I2 M, V
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he% b( e/ b' u: K# @; O: t4 {
said.1 E, _! y4 V" v g
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
3 c( y* K& Q9 q) s% I; b% sa rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our+ c" a! q/ Y N6 C4 d" ?$ `
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating* G) T$ X$ `0 ]. u
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.$ A: v9 F% G, [9 g8 `/ I
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
2 I, ^9 a, J, G$ m- Mmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
! a. V; b+ b+ u; Q; f% J: Jrancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the/ \" S1 X2 ?2 [# Z7 k% t
automaker, at least in part because of the government's5 r" _" P! G& k8 R3 e% D
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and7 H ]/ Y4 Y. L* U9 t6 T% N% L
Chrysler.
4 Z) h. `* V7 U, T"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
" {( t1 Z1 E8 g3 odollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
7 {6 \& ^2 L9 T8 u9 _6 yHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also# _8 ?: t- _7 i% Z0 q b% S: G* B! z
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
. z7 w8 X( R- Fwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty7 E- L. b4 z+ k, r7 a
tough."
' u. i8 q$ T0 q2 }! `# m---
6 q! ~! B( n) V$ H6 O4 rAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
8 M4 D2 E/ L( g' p6 HRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
# U, O! f2 E. ?( n# E) gthis story.
% X! w; o2 A1 ?
3 B6 z- e6 U8 m! ?-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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