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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
; ~8 Q9 W: m: D! n3 k5 R! _By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
; P G* Z0 x9 \- d" f3 T, e: A) H4 uWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.; b v) F/ _" x/ X
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that8 x+ K8 L/ c/ m8 m
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"6 n3 i8 ~; W- e5 ?7 Y! b
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration./ [; ? j0 A3 N' S9 |# T) ~9 U! M
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential% t3 C5 D$ Q. w9 Q# c! i* n: o
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
- L* U) [# C5 p" ZHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
5 y: z f6 U. B9 Bacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
u$ ^$ J. S8 _! z- Itrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor+ S+ M9 ]% H0 Q( N+ A" o, b' P' @
mats and sticking accelerator pedals." `* n! |6 X& N' N
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
" i9 w: L& _/ _. }+ P/ \and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
0 M6 Y$ }& E! ^8 _ R1 y) Hcriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be; @" [& a3 u- F' ^
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
, B7 ? \5 M4 E1 n3 h$ W! H. P* w( n4 Unot stop her runaway Lexus.! d" q2 e1 C* J! f6 I% d" G4 B
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,) l. ?- U" Q8 {, v
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second4 l' N& Q4 A. y
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
2 f$ H0 H2 y2 O' Q0 l9 wTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues0 {+ u1 v6 W+ E
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said% }8 O) a. g2 \5 [' r
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has& b; |/ _5 S# F5 P: q$ ^( t8 C# Z
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway& e a& e7 o+ m+ W, \8 g! r
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
$ a' w- V8 ^4 rinvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
* s! u7 [. T+ gLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an+ _7 a' A3 Z( G$ n' G$ _( I& M
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of5 i9 z& S( S% \8 U
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a- H: H4 H7 O( ~2 b2 f' l
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
8 ^$ d5 x* y8 K, Tsaid.
/ ^4 j- w2 f2 o. KAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
5 Y9 A' ?2 I+ D' }happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
% G3 R+ Z7 v1 ~4 B: U- Labout driving our products," Lentz said.# V: p2 c _6 U% W% N3 ^
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's, Y6 q" s! X5 Q1 r$ r' n
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has! y/ T- d5 U0 ^' P+ Q" L- p" D
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
! K' y/ m% I/ A. f- u' Omillion in the United States -- since last fall because of- q/ u- }) Q$ m5 }0 ~3 A- l
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
9 Y `" E3 W8 x ~issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
7 M: _" @5 h' G5 M3 uconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
, S; P4 a! Q4 Ytheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
) ? u+ e2 b; m( W5 V% ^down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has" q8 y9 a$ p; ^# a$ O
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
* }4 ^( }$ N4 q6 A& Qof Toyota vehicles since 2000.* a. j! _( j0 b
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own# z/ \6 H. S. ^( k
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he; k$ e3 `+ V+ c# }. e1 _
understood the pain.' l+ }6 h/ p3 I
"I know what those families go through," he said./ G' I( ^! K! G, J. {
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's. H; z; I$ E0 q, z/ {/ {6 V- t) `
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems. s4 [% C8 V4 w. s& T+ t
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman1 r" A! O6 w2 u& g! e( R
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put9 Z* {/ S7 _% d6 `7 Z/ E
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,8 b- j$ j* x7 E
Lentz replied: "Not totally."
8 c$ A @# T/ @Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
* s+ K4 T) G. F: `"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said% d5 I6 {) u3 B3 x) U g z5 Z# ~
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
4 k( M* E& j! ~3 O! G" @pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its# e2 w# l0 t! V4 Z$ ^
vehicles already on the road.
2 n( f' C0 O+ {! U% t8 ^Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify+ }9 e+ E6 k( R8 l- T0 {
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
" ]/ d5 i$ l( Q3 y- R7 Aresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and$ S" P7 }, Y8 ^0 h8 `
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
5 _0 U: c6 {( I: k! O, F* dkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.* f2 Z/ I- J( k# K0 V5 {
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
7 g; o3 N. ]2 `tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
% \& @, x. ]" v# hfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
2 a; m5 Y8 \0 I; A3 t9 YCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
K3 n0 ?# L9 x8 W9 Ucommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to7 |! {2 O9 _- i$ Y; u7 F8 H
restore the trust of our customers."5 z, G% M1 f7 v% e: p
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
) Y% d/ F3 {' _) tSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly- t, m0 v2 A9 k+ Q# j
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
7 X0 e+ s% m3 i: Cshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and. `* u4 A$ J, m0 @2 B
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
+ w' E7 I' n, ]9 l+ ?that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and" H3 w1 C; Z& t1 g( x) R. w
turn off the engine.
4 h: `% O8 m7 L* EFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
m+ X7 d2 a/ a' A# }October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
# O: P& d+ K% z( m, t- d6 F"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
4 J/ p8 o! g6 |& I" e( q, `; nsaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
, {$ k2 i0 K# w, X" c( W4 y& ?! Eto her complaints.
$ m: Y+ K+ W9 s' g) J ^* C7 ]In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers6 u4 }% A2 A9 R* a. s$ i& @5 i
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
$ T, U# b- M+ C+ K0 f# jmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.3 r! c# n4 h% [4 @& c. c, Q
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
! d+ G1 w. F% c8 L& Athrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
/ V# b! l r i1 ^8 L4 o$ i"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
6 H$ w. \: b9 ` v* Uoff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."1 |) G/ t: ~3 f4 a
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
! ` ~# \6 l& }prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were' E; j, w" k) A- k, W" _7 z
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls; e2 r/ c0 t" A$ r8 Y; M
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
" o0 `- A5 X2 X% ~) }every question."3 G5 I4 H, ]: d6 W+ k! y7 K! K
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether, w1 v8 F; T2 T- e% N
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The8 A# A, Q; M0 m! q( `6 E7 ]
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
- i- d, D' B9 I7 d% w+ C, r7 dcommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small
( o% n. ~: r: \. ~1 Wnumber of vehicles
; `, j5 _9 i5 o9 y$ z, U* V6 X7 XTracking down an electrical problem can be far more
- h! A# H/ D/ K) Edifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
5 e3 w' n2 C1 |" Smechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one# u0 @: Q8 e4 D/ E% W4 ^9 R
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
; A- b ?, E3 y8 G$ S# W- m m8 wMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
2 o* \1 Z3 m5 q! ?& Ewhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
$ |& `6 j# m2 @6 mtrace at all.0 ]9 V& @+ F' G8 Y! U( _
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call4 \" U9 Q, M8 a3 s2 F l
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
- h9 O; K& T& {acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the( L, L& e# ~) [, z- E
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
( l$ G: V9 T" g: R0 }Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,( F$ B8 U6 i7 U1 F4 t5 A+ D- h' w, w- w
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
: n" y6 J$ T+ |, D3 |other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the6 K7 [- y+ |" ?* _5 A" L
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
( D& i. R3 w5 i! I# \cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only8 u1 {$ |$ g3 ]( [' X; [" g* F4 Y/ f- t
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
; F( |: J! |$ E: r3 S4 d9 i% kby Toyota's lawyers."
& \$ {* u( f( ?0 H& I2 k+ m0 nLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of5 G- g# q# E6 A0 e1 ?4 H
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
+ [/ n7 ^: N1 E& _9 ~1 _; dcustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he, @3 R& O2 G2 e0 p# ?
said.
5 C6 G( {6 x- | ^4 I"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
/ D8 Z9 X; V+ Oa rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
- n/ `7 ?' B# S& l1 b* u: xgood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating: o4 h/ o) u. z0 I" u7 u8 B1 V3 O
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
5 U* I5 Y! O7 |( w* NSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying- C& v* |5 T' _6 ~# |* _
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
# r& e8 C! j8 _7 srancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the9 n0 b2 T& p% g1 Q* N; d' h) w
automaker, at least in part because of the government's$ m5 r: {, I3 ~& [1 N& ]9 F
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
1 s5 F" p' t, Y) ]4 mChrysler.) Z' A3 V! B; N! S* \7 |
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
! ]2 U) [# i7 P; J1 h9 R$ M- ]! Mdollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a$ c* ~+ F' |, v, C& V/ Y
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
; m4 Y8 K X" V$ d; e! jserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
* d& f7 p5 n6 o. q1 ]5 s" rwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty" H9 O G' l- e6 x1 s9 l8 |
tough."( l" L$ f$ M8 U. V
---
5 p+ r& B5 G5 G: }( }- X) I! ?Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
. r# R! U! [8 c d5 q0 L5 w4 TRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
5 y- _# B7 \$ P+ F% |5 Hthis story.6 k9 {- i: I# D- j
8 I: S) H6 z! C v. K. r6 ^
-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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