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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
6 E& f# L/ u/ V% |& x6 V$ s/ gBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
/ ]7 q: k4 w. [' u$ j' q* jWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
R5 A8 S/ Z# l8 r+ t/ Aoperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that4 }" Y. z7 G K/ P
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"+ y" g% |4 k7 _- O4 ?* z1 f$ _) f
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
/ S! P# y' A# H" ^/ o. U"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential# B- e- a' K) _2 B9 o5 z
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.2 N2 ] c# i" A/ e- N0 J6 {# J
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected" b8 Y6 |7 O0 W
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and% z' [7 O9 x4 G$ T, f8 O5 S
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
# B: _1 L$ G6 {8 }mats and sticking accelerator pedals.
1 x9 y3 j. K# A5 ]6 B0 pHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal$ F0 N- g* c0 u8 F; Y, E
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp+ S d& Z" C, K x) k
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
: s. K& G+ c2 v! l& J: C' Pfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
5 ]7 |" Q" ^- O- r N* Tnot stop her runaway Lexus.& m) Z0 {. E! X
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
) W: S q! v4 O2 z0 l% K9 g# sTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second4 g l; ]2 {0 x$ y9 t) ^( P7 h' Q
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
4 B; q! _' G% f1 a' K4 [Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
7 V/ t, k6 \$ l6 T9 bearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said! A! J; t. P- c6 q3 }9 }" w
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
$ {# i6 G) }$ R* n4 W3 _8 m3 H; Mdone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway- A( ^& W0 Y; U" l: U
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
& F; q8 E0 V% M4 i, X/ [$ T' Tinvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
0 x, a( [1 E9 R% PLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
9 [4 J% r5 D. Z/ @3 B$ k- Ielectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
3 v2 y. j$ {1 l1 hthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a& u& e1 a: w6 r, H' C( O7 u
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he4 d4 Z, R9 `; V, h1 U# ]6 B
said.8 v; f0 B! i* A
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what; c% Q/ u2 q0 d7 G9 g8 @- c3 P
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe) x& B$ E; O6 h( J9 t/ o
about driving our products," Lentz said. N8 ^. ]/ E$ h3 \
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's/ w' ~! O+ d. |, }
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
f& P7 A: i, G9 zrecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6+ o* d9 m. T$ i e Q" T7 f
million in the United States -- since last fall because of
# {' E+ R3 L9 N: runintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking1 R Z W5 u4 J9 u5 @0 W
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering4 |" V+ Q/ b+ G2 Q! Z- Z( C
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
. e6 a# @: \/ _their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow; P( |" D6 ]/ {6 H4 S3 V
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
% J' w/ s& \7 D3 q7 J1 wreceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
& n/ o) [; m: K9 ~1 w0 w* I' vof Toyota vehicles since 2000.; X5 L5 C9 ]. z: T, w- A
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own$ i y; W( V7 ^* w7 I5 e
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
1 S5 H, L' _! K/ @/ c, C6 ~understood the pain.
: h# _( D- t# ~+ U! ~"I know what those families go through," he said.+ s! m6 } u3 l2 b% o& o
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's' U9 x$ |' r2 j( l: `2 ]; G
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.% j: q$ _! m6 I. S6 F7 V1 g
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman' t, T* w9 q; K' f# _" i
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put- F; Z) W: K6 @* Y3 B
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
9 B. h$ M: G8 CLentz replied: "Not totally."
2 R3 T+ t5 X' e9 Q) o- F* YStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were) F3 Z0 T/ t2 s1 ]
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
q+ ?" Z* H* N5 t# u7 U/ n- _; H o; n8 }$ WToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
% ~$ n4 |: x! H$ ^1 M) y% m% S, ipedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
@8 g7 V. W0 m6 p/ x$ u! `vehicles already on the road.
" g; v1 `$ ?9 zMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify4 s4 o0 f1 M& }/ v8 V) t
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full& E0 X- l" c7 e
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
) ^' @; l; P; r# e/ V% j9 boffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
2 u3 s; e. ?6 Zkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.9 r5 H: F5 ?8 F0 I2 u
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a1 I; Q- ]3 R2 Z- `
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony) t/ i" c8 f3 Z; a
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight% _! |1 m6 q9 q
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
' n5 `; j, k. x# M% R) B2 r4 \- E$ Tcommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to9 o1 c, r7 c( G: |/ D3 i4 m
restore the trust of our customers."
( q! \. X; D8 S k; j6 nLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
+ n5 v4 a* ]1 r& }4 t) dSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly3 F2 @8 T+ i+ S) n r
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
6 N/ U% B8 z, Z$ k* l6 c2 Lshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and6 Z9 A4 q6 p" s! c9 d1 Y* E
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
3 j8 p! K+ Q8 z! U- E* cthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and+ o: G" w# Y2 _. x- K, h
turn off the engine.
3 M% c2 `9 s8 F5 S& `' P' ?7 rFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
+ X. T' `& d. h1 l$ [* U7 g/ f" d* AOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."4 i" N6 V9 a$ c* R1 D0 k
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
) S V* ?1 X7 Csaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond2 a" g/ I; J P' K1 ?7 I
to her complaints.
: N0 i( Y5 o) I2 IIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers4 R5 E f* |2 V) _, v j# @' x
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
: z2 {( \4 N8 T. I& [malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
) i; B1 A) n; l"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric, h& r/ I2 h, i
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
6 N0 \' X6 P! f) T$ m2 g"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut J% W7 X3 Z! s: m$ I
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
- F9 v+ B) d. v0 a" R6 v v) ]Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in- a' }5 l, L5 @7 B& I6 `- ?
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were9 n' t1 H( s. j. m
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
6 L. }" h+ K" i4 J5 ]were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
, p4 K! z! t8 _every question."
' e9 f' L, U+ ?2 O) ?Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether( b2 x4 Q& ^7 ~9 n" m/ [
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The1 p: T& F: K1 ]2 L
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
: ^- x6 w- t' ^committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
: h2 t) ^" Q5 z3 [1 pnumber of vehicles
0 w3 Z& L& x: J& XTracking down an electrical problem can be far more) ~0 y0 p# A0 R4 y# G O
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a4 T1 Q3 s% C% Z+ x: e# y
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one( V$ x5 j' E+ {2 }! ?4 A [( n
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.5 E; a" K& M; s! {( t0 H) i
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
- Q7 ^5 o: `7 ~9 {6 Uwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no" h. I X8 G/ u0 V0 d+ {: L {1 f
trace at all./ @: V+ E4 D5 |5 z- }
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call4 _$ G- a% k5 j# h8 |; d: E8 C
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
# r, {8 s" z. a8 Wacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the: w/ H7 G) z% @0 p# m, j
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
( h+ j. l, d3 BRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
. B- c5 }+ w" `* I7 fsaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and6 A6 x( Y3 w8 T5 r$ e
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the( M" @, H. F- U# y$ X* U* e l" |2 x
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
( h# {7 v9 z# k7 r/ vcause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only. A( J. [7 K# r$ K6 V Y- ]
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained9 \) }" \) b I6 s- }
by Toyota's lawyers."
- i! D3 S, D# I9 E1 MLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of* R) U9 `& m4 T# H
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our; H/ l- i9 B! ]' t0 s# Q! K/ k
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he7 N2 q' k5 l1 [
said.
% V: Y' T5 m7 ]"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
8 `% B0 o" [: t( t& Ca rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
. Q' J1 S, B: C1 h' Xgood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
) W) z- C& c& ^- Bofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
. M0 k& z; h* O2 r% \0 VSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying* y4 U/ ~0 v% ~2 b
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
; ?, d9 `7 h0 }" rrancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
( ?) d9 X8 D# u. z6 hautomaker, at least in part because of the government's$ [( Z8 S3 R" L, C
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
2 C) W7 F* L1 ?, Y0 }Chrysler.1 Q% `$ a2 X; P; o7 B0 ?
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax1 u1 e/ a4 X+ C* Z% A' K- N
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a# w* K2 l$ u: F1 T
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
9 @4 F: k; B0 F9 v( H; R8 [served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete8 A" F F7 `1 b: h3 b
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
/ d( B, v7 X" T/ S7 Utough."( W# Q3 V# G Q
---
3 G6 j6 K5 x# o; T1 {' e1 _& I% AAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
% k2 n5 d' j: ?3 IRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to: }3 g" u+ q! u Q
this story.7 l# C" z% x- ^# ]/ @7 C3 a
# ^) k% U s5 Q, i3 w$ s( G" F1 C-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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