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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+ P8 D* w. e2 p8 w
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
, ~- I! t& m2 RWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.# a. o, D2 L+ i$ d5 y" }
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that% G0 t5 z" f) R0 Y" H! i; |
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"8 f' W! f, f! ]3 W3 w. h
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
6 y7 A6 {: G; c3 x7 e; i"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential6 n$ O3 U8 n a' Q5 g# j, E
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.7 p2 _0 [9 n3 a8 r7 Y
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected- l9 z6 u3 c8 ^. K5 U8 w
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
: F/ O9 g, C9 M! Ktrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
) |9 x/ Y: d: g5 m# b, L" `- r' a; Hmats and sticking accelerator pedals.
/ u% Q- i! M- {" L( ]& sHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal/ u- t/ f7 v2 b
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp2 s e1 {2 v3 X4 O
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be5 Y) k( k7 r4 L$ F
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could8 W, }3 P( _6 ~1 r% O9 y$ Z2 G0 _" _
not stop her runaway Lexus.2 o! k- j. n5 |: A& ~+ n9 Z% M
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,, S, o j# E, H3 _. n" r* |
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second7 C ?1 r. X& X$ C4 X
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
' q1 e T% [" v( `! O2 {Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues6 _, }, c) w; P- P% O
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
. k; A9 ?( H% \% l6 N"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has6 N2 C; f8 C! o& \& B; j
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
/ n' K- n5 L8 `0 h% Q7 athrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's, }' F# U f7 A6 }7 n- v" A ]
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."( E( V* R6 `- z7 n% ]' t: Y
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
5 F) `$ D+ K, j' T2 \. k# helectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of0 |6 D2 B/ w" ]" s/ o: {) {
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
] J$ p9 p, Z4 F3 Q& a `7 D; Cmalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he& w# h% V3 B5 B* Q
said.
; D& A+ _" z5 n5 KAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
& v% a; v0 r3 J3 y3 ?, _8 jhappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
% @3 O- q7 o; J. f e+ Xabout driving our products," Lentz said.
' _+ x. X' q) w% X* p$ s( J* vThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
2 b2 W8 |+ F& m! F- q0 Tproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has) _/ G3 ] ^, y$ ~. e& T$ m6 f
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
5 a& R5 a$ ?3 m6 ^1 ?' i- }+ Omillion in the United States -- since last fall because of3 Q ?- A T6 Y2 u
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
- o& ~# z' d( H F7 \) R7 U3 nissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering6 b# e( C( i, v) F1 V3 S
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of8 p: c, L& m5 I8 M4 |
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
+ S% w! v+ R0 u3 L' fdown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
1 ?# x! ~/ }1 z" Zreceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration5 \9 M" C9 D# V. C4 i1 Q
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.# z( z6 L$ z0 U/ W3 Q: @
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
! U1 l% v3 j$ l2 @/ i+ J, gbrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
$ d* H5 ?+ @: a: G- S+ z" cunderstood the pain.0 b5 [/ G3 O, d1 c& B$ R7 w
"I know what those families go through," he said.
$ u. n* f1 v7 ~. v& v0 dLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
( S" Z! x, q* ^fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems./ h n$ s/ F; O) E3 d
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
2 P% R. `& d2 L0 K2 N M7 N5 \% gHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put# T+ o; z" w6 \1 y9 B+ e7 A
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,( q# V( N0 Z) v: Y
Lentz replied: "Not totally."
! W$ _: I1 r; x+ N! L: e: UStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were" l: E2 ?" j9 u2 G, ]- V% K7 q3 H
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
, ` f g1 J! { A8 l. z% d" jToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas( U6 p4 q2 C7 e+ L- _3 N; t
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
) U" Z7 E* I+ M- i% ?4 }! A8 lvehicles already on the road.
/ A, T. `3 e) i9 z+ u f6 uMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify. ~3 ?- |( L$ W+ q/ i
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
0 |& F* h; i; p! ~/ i$ Gresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and8 U/ i/ }: D& \( I
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
/ B( c& F% W. ^, ]+ _1 ?# dkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.3 W0 a Z) e* _
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a+ e ?+ A' }) L2 A
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony- ~# \6 v6 d2 s( k I/ w4 e
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight9 q& G4 ]& ~$ D0 ^/ Z3 b# v
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
B- s* n1 ?/ X- ^, x' F4 \) ocommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to. E4 s S" r; y
restore the trust of our customers."
0 j) H6 }+ ]1 O- }$ b' J0 ?9 iLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from- c2 R) K* @. b- D: N- z
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly6 r& Q# }# l- j1 A
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --+ Q+ ?/ W! o3 I3 p5 x
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
: ^1 @" |# b! _, _0 `hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
5 _; z% Q, t8 N6 Qthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and! J; F! p3 d; e
turn off the engine./ {' v- }2 D# a1 W
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of& i* b$ N0 T9 Z( L& k! O5 l$ a9 u
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."! y; A7 \( ~* g& c' \
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
2 \ g6 S" u) X' Z( ^: ysaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
k) A3 X; _& ~. yto her complaints.+ L; n) U+ ~" J# P; @( K/ s% d
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers- Y, Q$ S) N1 ~6 d9 L( H& g
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
* f* U% v* p' @malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars., m' H. O9 C3 \8 u% Z
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
) n: x7 f9 ]0 dthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited6 z3 c0 G5 v2 [7 \
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut# i' E! `' g) v! N
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."7 \0 G4 R: T- e& q' l5 z! I3 l) S
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in9 _' v" ?( r6 Q. Y4 Z( m, L2 l
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
6 Z, r" s, x8 n$ _! g0 wbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls+ u @8 F: {. I, H
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
7 V" A1 ], T4 kevery question."
" A" j1 U& z2 YToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
q4 {; p4 ~5 B2 t' \' Relectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The6 P# ^6 R! r0 w9 V, R
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But. J& x/ J: |7 {7 @' M) [
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small" I- |- W. F' p" N. |) X
number of vehicles/ p' P# P- {( e' Z
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more% S: E0 a9 P8 a$ h
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a. ?: D( f$ L. v
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
6 m% w+ C8 a& x8 z6 e, Q: d; @source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
$ ]* Y$ w# V# }) g6 r; X0 l, P. tMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
5 R- S( @' k( ^ _where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no$ m7 Q/ N; ]0 Y7 v( O3 o
trace at all.
8 A6 d2 n8 ~' ]% NHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
; s; W2 L! f; F& J; p/ Vdatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
V2 ]: m$ X! t5 C ~% lacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
. G9 k( T7 c$ r- yrecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
- a) B1 L, x/ c& T* y) PRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,; f0 A/ i" y3 o9 F/ b9 ~
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and7 x1 o/ d- a/ a2 T7 X, I
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
0 [0 t* D( N! H9 j; melectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
5 y$ Y0 J, ~/ h) S vcause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only* b- h! @- |; F& P
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
4 ?3 I7 v/ w; M5 O' f, O0 |by Toyota's lawyers."
: x# X8 K2 [: \9 ^Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
3 [: L% ]) K: ]# K% v2 Lproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our7 y$ m7 w$ G! y% S9 ?1 {- ]1 L
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he4 h( z! t2 B* E; }4 `' J' p
said.
% ]9 s$ x3 f: [ M' z( H; V& V( v5 ~) G"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
3 Y0 A) U0 ~' }3 d% Q% l" Da rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our& B8 X. Q7 J& X& o' L' h; }
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating9 w1 n4 j, X. g+ G7 O* n* O( u
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.' M" l3 d+ |" J. j
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying3 ^5 Z4 I8 S+ Y' I, y
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread3 k0 ^3 [' P$ {
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the! d1 i+ _. q6 u( G# C/ v/ u4 }6 p
automaker, at least in part because of the government's
2 j2 ]$ a& e3 Y8 r" binvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and+ L$ W; X! @! H
Chrysler.9 q" V5 X; q Z- z7 I
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
: |. u6 Y* D' Odollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
) h# s8 Y Y+ C$ w6 vHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
k% C' O8 c. c: [: y# ]# {served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
4 W5 H+ i2 ?, c( Cwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
$ ?3 n- d* x; V5 Ftough."
0 o- t4 G6 o# L---
/ G& I) q2 @* V- QAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
- I* R! j4 t8 l2 y2 hRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to1 b0 O- x0 K% V% b9 N8 {3 i5 e
this story.7 X3 }0 A! D4 u
# t) |4 o4 q% e5 Q# z; j5 t- z-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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