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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
1 G& V+ Y8 C# x) pBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS4 l1 Y, P( g# n+ F/ N
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
. r W" b8 f) ~2 g0 yoperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
, Q* ]0 F% R) @& ~the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
) f" D& v$ ]; usolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
8 e& C- X3 A1 i2 T9 _$ V1 \2 E"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential+ ~0 E7 s. u( [. F- [
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
5 n, k* y8 m3 L5 A7 YHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected4 R9 f! h3 j5 }, z
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and0 Z+ R1 o, [+ l. P4 s
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor+ B3 R" w: e; n6 X* g7 Y, k' f
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.' }3 r; N+ Q. A9 f f
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
( z }& {) G+ S/ k9 A5 o: l' M: wand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp r( a y/ `, }% T& V
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be7 {" }! m2 t, E: W$ v
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
. s. o/ y. J/ vnot stop her runaway Lexus.
" g; F$ N3 l' Q, Z/ R& t& x& y"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
0 G- Z$ b0 ?3 xTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second' S$ v7 \( E1 I* M
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
) n# h% ]/ |, T* h2 T, bTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
5 z! d6 r' g3 L& Y/ r8 U" B. eearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said c# C3 M" \; T# `+ W0 f
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has' V. s: q5 d" Q
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
! J+ o8 \* E9 O/ ^1 ]through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
, F- j& j; C$ ainvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."7 r# \3 o$ b$ a
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
/ H9 _6 D6 V9 Celectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of' P! h4 e3 b5 |! t
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a% }0 s9 m/ P) D6 T/ x. d
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
: I! q) v0 X5 u8 fsaid.$ }7 {. V: H) G8 @$ f2 q; e
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what$ f3 }0 t( M3 _9 u* @# A, K6 o, i
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe. Z: _$ ?# v) _/ `/ B6 O2 M* M
about driving our products," Lentz said.
3 f3 U2 ~- g5 K: yThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's- F- @9 D3 T5 t1 X
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has2 ]# q8 e& G" c8 Z4 k
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6/ X. ^! ?# n; f! A3 l
million in the United States -- since last fall because of
& x% f# u5 E" r: ~unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking4 a* U" j) n$ R
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
; q+ H) {1 Q4 U. ^; v. |/ v( mconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
) P- G$ B4 m6 G1 Q- Ltheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow& j, f) ^- {/ B$ `# X: W
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has; y3 r8 a1 ^5 E8 Q) w
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
' s3 \, h; c- c4 u" |of Toyota vehicles since 2000.
, `. U, x7 w# B/ p1 R& TLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
6 _& a0 g- f& U7 I r1 M" Fbrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he$ T5 l; X) a3 f3 ^2 }* q
understood the pain.& z+ `2 C" {* ~- m } l
"I know what those families go through," he said.
. y! n+ |- ~9 k( Q+ t o( o4 xLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's0 |+ r4 r5 X* A
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
( j; i5 L f* e- _7 dBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman; Q6 ~+ C) X1 \4 m( r% M. h
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put9 S0 D. H9 a/ L+ p
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,8 u$ t& B" t; z: q- F5 d( q
Lentz replied: "Not totally."
: U6 {# `/ U& F- i( x7 BStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were- G, p3 I. p7 v0 `
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
" X0 ^- h! V- c5 u5 s: lToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
5 k; i, T, z3 @, x1 e9 }' xpedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its: N/ ~ c T$ p
vehicles already on the road.
; l7 ?1 S6 J( g3 r- S NMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
3 i/ D; E( \7 K: F/ Mbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
8 G; A2 p) P. m3 y" p$ M* Nresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
* u# n% K. F, l3 G$ roffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
! c* P* i# J$ n* h. i7 h5 Bkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.) g. Q" F! s- F1 ?+ @
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a0 w' e$ ]8 ] y2 Q3 @. m
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
/ X0 m& J8 I2 Afor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
3 M$ ]" R9 E/ N [2 \; D: m: rCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal, [/ o2 b8 h- R/ `& N6 q% z& j. x
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
3 Z$ [2 a5 n; vrestore the trust of our customers."4 n j, j2 n! f) s8 Z
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from* Q/ h% F% P' N9 n6 x) ?3 p
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly7 F! W9 [8 J: M! k2 }: H
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --8 j# q. Y# R- {/ g6 m) N8 y, B
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
1 T* r; x1 l; V- e2 @hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
/ p+ R; O. i' _2 k4 ]5 r# ~- qthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and3 s6 C) p* d- A
turn off the engine.
8 L( O: Y3 Y' G- e1 P' n2 K$ OFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
2 ^& m' o' Q5 XOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
5 a# [5 H n! R7 y; ^2 W2 B"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she2 r" h1 p1 M' ?
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
+ x; l, F1 m$ a+ Ato her complaints.2 U* L- p9 I2 p' Z, R7 W1 c
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers6 n- P( C7 A. r D: w& S5 c
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic+ F! l" i; @9 D% E
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars., y* s0 A2 B: z0 C! N
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric" N; o+ E b& }9 V
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited9 Q: F9 T ]- ]+ W9 I1 G0 T3 F
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut9 J7 Z, H: |7 L: s
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
3 x1 E; x. K: N, y$ w, F- ATransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
: Z E& D5 U2 b6 Q Fprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
9 K/ Y) J G4 e' m* c. G& {being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
8 y; S8 k9 z l [" {( Pwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
: ^5 s5 d' u* @; O: \ X2 b8 v: ~every question."5 E: `+ N# O H6 U
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
) F/ X- `3 ?" M8 f L2 p2 Melectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
4 ^* ]6 r: ]9 g4 M* V; Q3 Z9 e# Efirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But' u$ h; l+ M& R
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
% B3 T* P B* c! L9 S' U. xnumber of vehicles" L5 N% U; N3 o4 ?: h
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more
- k! a8 L/ M: p$ g9 f, Q0 F6 o+ wdifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a2 @( t+ ?: I5 T, L. |, e
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
5 o' C7 ~8 o4 e W+ K6 Q4 Ysource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.# w; a3 p5 a1 l# m6 y
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,4 X6 a% U% O0 `; R7 {
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
5 ^' A3 U) o% p* L, B- Ytrace at all.0 _5 e" A; c, w( g4 r4 C' q
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
: P0 |8 @+ r. y5 Zdatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden. C+ s* T3 P2 R k
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the& A7 Q( s: z$ v2 B: A' O) Z1 x( j, Y
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
: V' _1 z9 o8 O* Z* D3 Z5 xRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
: ^/ E. L, w, O( b; D2 qsaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and% l! n( d8 t; y
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
* f# w' _7 N: k( oelectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible: `: s( ]1 y7 [6 _9 y9 E7 U
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only" B. Q/ D" z+ p" w3 F' e
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained3 E. @7 `8 @5 j5 s) n# ~3 N" ]: O
by Toyota's lawyers."" k! j0 e6 ~2 R/ I0 R o; v
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
& s: e% M) S/ @7 ~/ Tproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our0 N0 ` B6 H- a4 q6 r
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he* {0 P* V W, }* M+ h; z- t6 Z; n& ^
said.: g; j1 k- ]/ F
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
* i& {' [' K4 f6 p+ @8 c, ra rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our, V5 |9 f2 E" |/ P# x, y3 S
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
) L! u$ r1 h, \! k, nofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc." f, E& J8 `1 ~2 S
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying5 Z# k1 t* Y& O) v+ |1 x; g3 ?
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
! |$ D i: J% O3 x- Srancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
4 X* c/ O! t/ d+ c7 q6 Fautomaker, at least in part because of the government's1 E+ k" Q+ [. s6 e9 T o' [; \2 d
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
' G; a$ g( M2 c- PChrysler.
0 c; o- ~+ X6 s* F, g# \ X"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
+ s& D5 w: d7 _2 x# Kdollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a# M/ e' x; ]3 v* k7 ~3 U
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also& {4 \$ V0 a6 m4 e/ s
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
& {3 ^7 V: h, t$ Vwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty. n; R K: s8 e
tough." J' h& f9 F- W `
---: W( ^% C0 m3 b. X% X
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
6 `8 f$ n! r8 b$ s4 C4 Q, pRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to+ V$ ]8 w/ M3 [! d
this story.
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