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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
5 d% g) Z1 D+ K' t( d* aBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS' T4 J+ w4 @& [
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
% @3 k6 r( d/ Hoperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
4 }# e, A9 r: o3 N5 \the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"6 V. W$ |9 ]. a$ S' \( d4 P1 n
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
9 N# I2 i" e' f& ~1 F. F0 c"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
- u+ u# P- O1 o7 Ccauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
& a" c/ k' o+ l2 p$ ^: J% A: KHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected) I, Z6 O5 e/ A: D8 N
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and% R) k% ^, j7 J! c4 s
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
7 C6 K) i. F7 _9 s4 t# z4 vmats and sticking accelerator pedals. N/ W' Q4 A% k6 B; Q
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal4 G, w0 H) P5 g$ o/ Z: A X
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp6 _) x% @& e- c+ j8 k
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be6 w! n2 @- D) h6 ^% K
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
1 j0 H( t) q6 R A) fnot stop her runaway Lexus.+ n1 `8 u5 K* H" X3 f8 _
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,2 T' l9 U! h& s9 l% J8 [; \
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
X0 ^1 O8 v+ b- }, j5 Q7 o6 ^) x"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators., H8 s& ~6 j/ C7 U% w, i) J
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
& g" f" g6 R: \/ X. yearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said5 u5 y* M% S" U- L2 h; L
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
6 M: p+ \$ Y* k) cdone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
6 }& b1 t |0 Athrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
/ D9 N# X4 b+ I! k% x, w0 ^6 W$ Tinvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."6 W- D, y0 |# d# A5 y6 F
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an, d, F/ a& a/ Q& G. t8 @/ S' S
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of F5 ]: n5 \- q# V2 f
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
. [, Q u* W. }; d. l& zmalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
6 ^) N9 k* y8 G) R$ h+ Z0 h! f% psaid.
9 Z* F' ^1 c+ k( UAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what& t2 w; A$ E* B) `1 ~& Q
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
8 O1 V% J# R8 [1 S6 \about driving our products," Lentz said.
M$ R; }( ?, HThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
* B9 l. p- m" {, i8 y# rproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has. f+ [) G9 D N7 g9 I/ w) O
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6 D9 s/ `, n. Q8 N% l; j B/ {( [: U
million in the United States -- since last fall because of0 N7 v; o2 q- G# b# T
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking$ W8 D% ~( K5 I6 u" ~* F
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
- E: X# {/ X7 C* ~( \" Jconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of' _" O) W) S1 ^( j+ z. z/ c: f8 f( Y
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
, j* d* a6 w3 T. D& l. ldown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
% [. [' s# {2 Q x5 R6 freceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration" z' O, k, x: M4 ]
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.
& _; X4 p6 x: o. ^ yLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
! C, f7 G; c/ e; A( {# ^# J1 }brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
! k. u% y2 k' Lunderstood the pain.) w8 s) \; G5 q* n' U h
"I know what those families go through," he said.1 j; a' c3 O& b7 a3 k; Q, V/ n
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
- V: M- Y. f& |( E5 s9 u" w9 mfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.) c, G w* Z( h. M5 Z/ d
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman3 _+ O1 B$ g0 `6 E: t# b
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
4 B; V5 M U. A) |5 _( Cin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
% v U M: _# y( |Lentz replied: "Not totally."
5 X& o6 O8 b* eStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were5 y% }2 u u, m* t J; E2 x9 c
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said* r' y0 q6 |% e: ]0 x
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas- M, Z+ U, w _. R8 V" v- r
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
8 B4 X6 \( s5 j5 m2 |vehicles already on the road.
5 L2 u( `4 r, r8 iMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify$ t$ M- F* w* k* e4 \5 v
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full2 P; V R0 _$ H2 Q& J3 Y
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and v% r0 ~, x$ n) H9 Q
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were/ ~* [+ W3 ], [1 N9 G1 k2 ^
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.7 c1 g( A. ?9 ~& I
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a5 V& L9 Y7 Z3 Y, ^2 N4 s
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
; L M1 I: g5 l/ bfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight$ j5 b& u; ?0 }8 L
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal% d# |$ O$ {4 r# `) i
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to# N: {' V2 W$ p. Z w3 b3 ^$ `1 Z
restore the trust of our customers."
+ D6 m9 D+ A- } N% V, ELawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from, K/ x1 t8 ~- ?0 ~/ G& B Q
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly- d% O# u/ b* L5 Q
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --' ?: i4 A0 n0 M( `/ t: ~+ M
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and7 \6 o' V0 h" N, Q: W2 l
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough5 d" A. S( z# B; ?5 N+ M
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
; c! A9 c, b- J. i- d6 Uturn off the engine.
1 d2 e% p" v4 y9 rFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of$ J( Y9 W9 X. s& ~
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
- V8 a- L# n: z"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
0 V. ?: }+ V* A8 E# Qsaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
' Z! D Q) O1 lto her complaints.
% T8 m1 r T A) k# rIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
( ^9 E9 e/ J; ^returned again and again to the question of whether electronic3 r/ L& a+ k7 c: b8 E* O& X0 q
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.* ~ M- A' W) C" c% g4 H- E
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
- O: B" |1 j4 |" D6 i H! Dthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
/ v; `3 z2 g/ D) G$ {, o9 a2 m"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut8 e+ ]5 Z9 ]& W4 N
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."9 C% L) i9 G$ I) ~0 r: ]
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in4 s3 @/ E. b) F7 |* i* q, b
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
) H) ~( w; Q' Fbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls$ y4 U: g/ g1 |' s# G
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer% W: u+ [ h, Q% X" t2 X
every question.": B( {5 i$ s+ h% L
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
+ O8 w- N; ]' k2 X" B2 Velectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The' V7 F1 X. ?/ ]* G! \1 n; S, Q! H1 Q
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But8 |$ t) k. E: ]! u: W: t7 O
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
3 f* H. z8 O7 z: G. S; |6 ?- ?number of vehicles. S/ Z7 R( \* Y& F. {
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more
- W' Z; X3 Y% A/ _. B. o4 P2 Ndifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
; }- W" f% T# _8 p$ b& ^) Jmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
$ ~+ x$ o1 Q: V$ l& o1 _) I5 t) fsource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.; G% M* {6 y) Z# S# @& m8 M5 e; F& r
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,* C! {! q3 _1 p/ E% p6 ?" X
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
* U2 z+ H+ Y7 }- ~$ O1 l6 Ptrace at all., @$ P2 k+ ?7 _+ b2 P) z0 V
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call! Y! `% i& [/ ]% v, _
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden) K0 g# O: R4 v0 ]6 Q6 j+ y
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
: v3 r1 Y& L/ ^' E U$ z' brecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
7 ^$ ]4 f6 J0 J' z1 dRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
# ~" k+ A% l$ G* H5 p# Isaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and& `! V7 [1 i% x5 r: S. |* G" C+ W. [* ]
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the5 C- h( O: z9 t8 M7 j; M
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible5 W6 D, _( H* H' w) ]
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
F" n% G3 u" V8 P3 r' Asuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
" F4 b& o- S! Q. {' H' zby Toyota's lawyers."
! e4 [8 e6 [# A" [6 n* w, z( DLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of; i4 q# n& E' D6 ^4 r
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
3 l1 v+ n+ a1 |7 l. l/ |customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he, r9 ?* x" S1 @' R
said.
6 Q5 k- b7 i$ X( ?# U1 l- x"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
) L: M6 N' u2 p4 D9 ]! T: ua rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our1 H. [7 y P& X! V# P/ |
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
5 p& M' x; v( Aofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
. Y& O' E% D* A, Y% [( }Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying$ y; ?! {+ Q& A( s5 _ R" G
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
6 v3 O! ~, {4 orancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
- c/ h1 N u3 ^4 Bautomaker, at least in part because of the government's
; Y5 ]/ c8 j; a) q& minvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
?: n; V& R! RChrysler.
1 X7 o; e4 {$ Z9 q0 S/ N% K"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax P$ f, l% `" z( I# a1 g: n j
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a/ A& F7 ]! K' Q: {7 v
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also7 M0 c+ S0 {- S6 B
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
0 @5 O' ]( f8 H1 e$ ^' nwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
1 b8 r K. E8 j1 ^. X* q) Ztough."
9 n% \+ s2 P' ~---
' |4 F, m5 t, k6 U0 I' D* ?4 C; a/ oAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
* }( y/ [0 ?* N# X: KRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to" i5 K' N! Q( `
this story.
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4 E" a# ~/ k% L( C5 m1 y: s-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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