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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7 T @8 S- N' s: v# B
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
, [; ^1 O- E. k5 n7 ^& v/ XWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
7 H4 ?0 x2 \0 h- S) I2 |operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
/ F0 g8 [5 C' A; Fthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"# R1 ~2 a. P+ L" q# Q
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
$ ?- H) L% |! J"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential8 w; q5 j* O, D
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
2 L1 m0 ?7 k+ m2 S) DHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
: X/ E3 y* h3 j* Iacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and! w! @ q4 o3 b. i: Z: w
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
" v) g5 Z0 i+ \. fmats and sticking accelerator pedals.
! a3 s4 w$ C/ U8 A: {* u& _2 T( g- THe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
5 n' x3 F E/ z6 _7 `and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp, u0 h3 [* M \( S- ~
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be* w" p4 w# _# s2 a g
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could# ^7 y2 l) Y; T
not stop her runaway Lexus.
7 k$ e! w/ J1 U2 K- I1 k3 V5 b"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
, H4 N+ i2 U+ r2 \Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
; P9 R# x1 [8 P0 m8 p6 Z"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.% I& o2 ]6 d+ |* M' R( c: v
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues( v' v2 R6 C5 ~% K' w/ O; C! _( i
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
- H6 j0 u$ z4 d/ e"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has' {+ |3 g3 c" Q. G
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
) P; R( Y7 D5 @, U/ n+ }through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's2 Y1 ]& Z0 p _. u; U$ g
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."1 Q# f' ?0 X& ?$ n3 u' D: h
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an2 v+ R p: i( G9 `
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of5 Z) n) j! M8 d$ g( b
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
' Y# P5 S+ w7 w' @; A0 d( E: vmalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he, _; A* T6 x$ W4 w
said." K, t! @7 s4 a" e
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what" `$ Y1 M* P: Y- x% [- H9 `% F
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe/ w) _- p B; ~! V* W, J' q
about driving our products," Lentz said.
3 v7 z( [( }3 [7 G7 |Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
6 F L: Q5 u9 j7 }, j2 Oproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
8 _0 p9 L: I$ C7 Yrecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
5 y" W1 Z( C- u, q6 z4 Z9 K2 q3 f# Wmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of
/ k9 X7 H; w2 C8 Q; k1 }6 qunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
, P9 Q) n* O/ k( B# o) R+ X4 M- {+ @issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
! Z+ C7 ]2 d5 n. _concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of& h8 J9 X% x0 X
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
" D2 O$ A7 e- E5 P8 Sdown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has: j6 V: ], |3 D* `: t& g; y
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration6 u9 i5 a% r; j$ b$ w3 G' `- P6 l! [" U
of Toyota vehicles since 2000., c' |5 j6 r& `9 Y" p
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
* }; U# e; K- A1 e9 Hbrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he8 C/ p& Q6 j* q& r0 U$ l
understood the pain.$ Y' E" T7 L+ n0 H$ u0 G/ M
"I know what those families go through," he said.5 H$ a: Q% F G; e2 H( i4 ]3 H* A
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's& [: z W5 F. Z. F- }
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.7 a* K @2 ?3 C4 B$ U1 T
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
" |8 N& u7 r: Y7 k- y MHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
2 B3 q3 A1 I: s4 u6 iin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,2 T) v) L! j: n0 \7 Z& V
Lentz replied: "Not totally."
5 P2 h9 U$ T" J) C. t$ mStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
2 H ?8 d, x( [1 T& H2 n" Z, \"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
; }0 I4 g" [2 C2 C7 @- B6 h9 [8 OToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas o M$ {/ Q* w! K
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its+ V8 R( D. L |: T0 e9 h, q4 B
vehicles already on the road.
7 a$ a0 E) G; L7 U- dMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
9 f4 a8 s' B0 s' Cbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full5 W# L) @5 R! r3 c4 L; O+ o
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
7 d0 V& {+ {7 moffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were f# |/ t3 Z9 L# ]. i
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.& s3 w% L/ N8 W3 F6 j2 d
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a5 F' \, M. ^& ^0 l+ G
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony# j# T* h1 X, _. }. x4 S! W* @
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight4 r- C( P+ F' j) S/ N) P: K
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
% @; d4 i0 y' T) A4 H( { d( Acommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to& E+ Z5 r" A6 M, J; q* [; g
restore the trust of our customers."
. x* Y% Y0 A( ^8 Q! ILawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from6 [( e. |* E( u
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
; |/ V0 k# O7 y* P4 j8 Nzoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
: m0 R- X, f' @' V, I" P5 `1 D/ e8 oshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
# K$ p2 w, J" Q) h3 Zhitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough4 d# P, \4 u3 d7 v$ C T
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
$ I7 v% q2 E2 g7 Hturn off the engine.
! ]& F& p3 k/ V& c' FFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of* K4 C+ K2 k! l
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience.": {# x. \& S; ?% O
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she( {/ t* U; [! t9 b8 D
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond, F _, I1 J: X3 W- G* p
to her complaints.
) q7 P' B$ W3 o: cIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
% i z# a6 J! ~. V, |2 Vreturned again and again to the question of whether electronic
/ I6 ^/ V; z+ L$ ~! ?+ zmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.) B2 w' t5 |9 l9 ^
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
0 J& j& u. V: v& ~% V, ^% xthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
4 |( i& A0 `9 T. v/ g# _ Y1 Y"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
* K1 P; e, U/ Z# A9 Zoff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
3 I) ]4 P N' [& Y! gTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in2 h/ K) I( V; {
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
( L; S% e( x" i$ Hbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls, ]" q- |; t$ m# q/ a
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer# F& Z/ b* x/ a( e! S; |
every question."
; T8 ?4 g, p! C& g7 U9 N5 @Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether! x+ \' Y7 J. v! c2 M" ]" [, m
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
' R( X4 }" A; q, rfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
4 q B3 D* ]0 G5 r2 fcommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small6 r# n. }9 t9 @/ t* l
number of vehicles
/ ?+ c" d+ J( fTracking down an electrical problem can be far more4 Z$ @0 P9 l0 b8 J3 @
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a P: \- `& y( _5 N: f5 n3 `$ H
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one% T. I2 C* ~5 I7 X) K
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
. g( M0 c( z4 G* a! f' mMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
9 @% c0 {+ J8 D) b# }; g; Ewhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no X# C4 H1 Z K7 U5 f( l- z- a* R0 Q! e
trace at all.
" k- w8 A& `/ [, \6 sHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
; q3 Z+ l7 l; `9 V ^4 p& \database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
& C, E: ~ J" N: [$ Oacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the W; s8 p4 K8 M' \
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.4 j2 Z$ m$ r5 L" x; I
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
: r4 {3 n4 a, t# x$ d8 qsaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
' _9 J4 V$ k+ h6 T- uother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
! W5 y1 L) C6 w) Belectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible7 \( R, z( u& t- ~9 Z
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only! Z1 {# S; k0 v* \ o- \/ E$ K
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
8 P* a2 [1 S5 U) S0 Z G& \% Hby Toyota's lawyers."
5 Q: [' H' X$ pLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of. u, v. |( e& _1 \: t5 x3 A& g
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our. N3 \- v% g0 q5 `/ D9 Y' _& g
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
. g. Q0 v6 @; l! C4 qsaid., H/ Y, |5 A. |9 q0 H
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
1 K- e; z' g7 C0 \. F3 Wa rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
% z- O* N7 c0 R; R% Kgood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
( Z: U! X# K3 m9 Z! [2 cofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc. P Y- R# U+ Q) \. }
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
* y! \; a: U6 w* D P2 F1 Bmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
5 S6 h# J- @& m M; ~rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
. P/ \5 Q: o! r. a0 P6 W6 Sautomaker, at least in part because of the government's [4 r4 X8 x( l- m+ L
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
d6 D2 r) @. c: `; J$ y9 e. IChrysler.
) ] w: y' q" z# g"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax' M5 C! d. G: M# g: K, n* A2 _5 x
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a4 V) e. D3 f5 N5 F8 d1 ?3 n
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also, d( A& p# N0 e
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete4 v( a: l5 ?1 X6 a1 t
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
' S( _: u8 k" C; T @4 y, `" ttough."% w* Z( c% D0 y7 C
---
, d5 C5 A! |! o$ Q9 Z* oAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
" S) D( B# \' y5 G; e) ^" cRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
; o. P8 c. W) K4 b1 N6 ?9 ?. Athis story.4 x. w1 j8 F% M5 J2 I8 x& x
, j, |$ P; k3 T. b: v8 e-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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