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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
: R* N; w# J$ q3 r. aBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS0 w4 f7 c, v* y& n
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.- {9 L: f# g. g
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
R1 T% R7 H. z0 p1 Vthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"7 ]1 o# `7 \ I7 n0 q" Y
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.' ~" t" I8 }$ w; i& Y2 l
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential. w" \+ z9 d3 S
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
' r( \. \0 P8 B: V" ~" MHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
' ~; Z5 s1 s# R6 |3 A) K; ?acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
2 q0 ?, Z$ ^6 t, Etrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
# v9 q5 o* Z! C( Imats and sticking accelerator pedals.
$ U( P9 u9 f8 T4 l7 P" M* v3 UHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
$ L) I- E a3 H+ t3 dand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
, \) D% s/ w! \) h4 j; wcriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
/ l. b" A- q9 S9 y6 V4 l! }% Y' ffurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
# c/ O {( C" @( m( x4 H. V$ m( _ [not stop her runaway Lexus.
; f8 g% u* t9 C; y9 `5 \"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
4 X" \* G7 y& {- ?9 A; xTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
! x o9 Q: x5 w9 x"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.: q* V: b& p P, n/ S0 B& x
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
! S, e7 F& J8 O+ p& s8 yearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said! F8 z; ^+ k' t8 v9 A3 _
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has4 g' U. v6 W) \& i/ s4 e% p
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
& }# S3 T; g; V8 W& Ethrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
# M8 I6 j9 a: e6 Y/ O+ _/ m% pinvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."+ ^7 Q7 w/ O( `
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an1 u7 d$ a) }9 V- N5 a! `3 h
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of9 g2 O$ W7 O" _- _/ r4 I8 c+ v% I
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
* z' N8 M+ I/ {: G" u4 L$ Mmalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he: ^1 t8 `- v3 M. T) g$ X1 `& y
said.' g7 p" `% L2 |9 s% d
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what4 u3 [; v1 Z4 o7 t
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
; G; i* U# b0 O- |2 i3 Cabout driving our products," Lentz said.7 W/ n1 c* _. l* ?+ \
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's L0 h, f P7 r4 _% v
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
0 C# Z0 Q# X/ V( X4 I0 Hrecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
/ E0 L4 R0 V" X$ I% \million in the United States -- since last fall because of
* _- F) M$ P8 `unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking& D% m% r8 Y, w N4 E( v9 a
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering; |+ Z' q" ~# F6 \* L& r
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of7 Z3 }( X4 T0 ?
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
: S9 b! L+ q- T9 Q. |( v8 `down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has! O. g( r% H. O- p, i1 M/ W8 G
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
, S) G8 k+ y4 Dof Toyota vehicles since 2000.( |7 k: G( Q% U7 V1 }$ ~, J
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own2 T s$ g/ j8 x
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he. z) ^4 x: c0 h5 k
understood the pain.
+ H3 Q6 t _3 u' Y) t m I"I know what those families go through," he said.
1 c2 P! j8 w G* l; l# B' RLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's6 p" m2 @6 F6 ]& t1 i
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.$ a! E( w3 a% T3 l
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
& U W/ [! d7 Z2 EHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
$ a3 {" u/ c; _1 P# Qin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
" d2 V! ]- f0 [% d' pLentz replied: "Not totally."7 W8 p% D5 C' }& i& X: d' K2 z
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were4 O; O; p; G# j; K* {6 y/ j- O1 K
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said( |9 x2 {. d z% F) z6 I
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
6 L' V1 k3 S! L& b, Z1 K+ Wpedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
" A Y# w; [; Xvehicles already on the road.
* q) ` s) r5 u% Y5 g8 p/ WMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify. ]! h; h P8 I& g. T
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
: f* X/ i6 [, w5 j* F9 d% b0 B$ Sresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and8 v: c; r5 e& R9 p3 z I
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
% A4 t0 S$ J7 R) ?4 N# I% ~killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.; | j/ p% ?! g1 ?/ K
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
7 {# X& ?/ z. n, _tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
6 | ?1 D% z7 p! F8 Ufor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight# g" t/ c1 i$ @$ i! ]; D# t' G- _
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal H& r3 M( v4 b5 ?
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to( H4 F- W$ i8 }* c
restore the trust of our customers."! C# X- T9 ` J2 m) P( X) `
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
5 |( f( O+ F# |Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly% s3 |& w8 F! N' H. O& w
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
8 K5 Z3 [2 U7 b' Jshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and& n, r* t4 f. m2 G2 ?/ R8 F1 O
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
* k" T* O9 V; N3 j# `5 kthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and( y( p5 i+ l2 t% U" J7 _* u) T2 R
turn off the engine.
5 n3 q* ~" O+ b: f) x' bFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
- E( X5 B: G2 \; u. S/ ?October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
8 S5 L' h. C3 s9 m$ _0 j1 W9 `"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
* p% I' g) q5 G7 _said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond* t& q A: ` T! O1 d0 E/ [1 U
to her complaints.
' X% \' h) @2 E" l6 @9 }9 RIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
* c8 t% H- [* f' d: `# w& s7 }returned again and again to the question of whether electronic$ l3 O# f7 L' r2 P9 s9 f! I
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars./ Y" `0 Y% A" C" r S( O1 c
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric4 E. T. x* |. G h4 i2 h& l
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
8 p2 E* o- q" v( k"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut- T0 ?9 M5 ]3 q0 t5 Z6 e
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
9 i+ Q7 T, N8 G& ETransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in% J4 j+ ~3 G6 m3 Q# I1 C6 f8 W# _9 N
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
% R; y/ b4 F& ~) C9 U, Bbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
( c4 E) t/ u a5 M- g! ?3 ewere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer) l2 u" Y9 `9 ^
every question."
" t1 Z2 g+ [! A0 _4 K! \! f1 ]Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
# p/ E! l0 @1 delectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
% y$ I# a. |+ Ffirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
# d) s/ D$ @& Vcommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small
0 j5 r. y! z* [8 j( Z' Y" Ynumber of vehicles# d' l: N4 b0 U4 u
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more
# i: d0 N5 }$ O' a# Kdifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a7 h7 C _& }1 g1 _, J1 b+ s w
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one$ s5 w0 w8 n1 b# _2 `, v/ {- W4 F9 h
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
( k: l; [% A9 B# |+ w) X9 }& b. _" DMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
* B% T8 a, _$ R4 z+ N3 {3 nwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no9 I5 S9 N- y: a
trace at all.5 K) a3 n$ U% x) L& O- c/ x
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call: h5 X4 N) ~6 A7 N9 W' ~& {
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden4 g! j, s4 m% p" R' J
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
. o) V1 T) ]% \$ orecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
0 m0 r3 N$ I7 o& @; Y5 sRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
0 }7 J$ I' X3 v# ?( bsaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and: F/ d$ {) I% W, V5 v/ `1 f
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the; n+ G' V2 s; O& a/ q
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible7 p! l- }9 x& P( Z. K ^ F
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only# ~4 }' m/ M/ y: S1 g2 Z% ?9 i
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
, n. o0 |! j3 q/ x1 Bby Toyota's lawyers."
& p5 B; Y8 H- X2 l; z. xLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
: E. F! ?4 R2 I5 {: f. E3 d2 Sproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our, r; H9 E0 d! h
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he" }% L' ?" x0 C% @2 u: ^3 @
said.
. w' J/ V7 Z; y* Q6 d"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
3 ~0 _8 _/ {- a% ^1 j; K3 N, J2 h; Va rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
[! h& A& `4 N7 R9 V! D1 ]/ ~good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating" e% f. x$ k9 x
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
6 z6 I9 B1 b9 a1 Q9 _: CSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying- h5 w6 z$ U3 s b! Q( N! m6 {; y
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread7 [0 U+ r" z# K' A0 i! x% T
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
* I7 c6 p c. mautomaker, at least in part because of the government's
" R. U- e# z+ y# n% w# Einvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and5 o+ z; q' E/ K* V' l# W8 W
Chrysler.
! j8 L7 X+ X0 [3 z, N+ _"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax, { G) O U; t) F8 n3 T1 ~
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
/ K: ^; G4 K* x2 WHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also5 V$ a2 [/ Q: z; X' n4 a! ^
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete! D3 c0 I; a$ L% X3 }
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
, q! o# B7 C9 _8 B8 Ztough."/ o3 b$ G) _) T
---* o! N. c& Q* m( d& o
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
9 ~; F& J3 O' X5 eRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to" y* e+ j( n2 ]
this story.0 v# }# W$ W1 d9 Q. {, k
$ E* G; @8 v/ l-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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