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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
% o& q9 R# ^ \* W! _9 T& ~By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
6 c, c5 }- Y; x, R+ T5 F1 EWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.) o. r" U3 A" A$ P9 a2 |
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
& ? C+ l+ e4 Y4 w6 c& s9 mthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
+ c: c( Y5 }/ f* usolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration., S1 o+ z: Z" R6 K- l& y; C# E
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
/ ~2 s' I8 Z, M4 Rcauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.' F" ?, J. c% O" ]
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
: Z. z3 T1 f3 G; G, Zacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and' |3 ~! `* ?2 z! q
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor; H6 W6 y$ j9 O7 S( S
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.
3 {1 _/ U6 K. I7 v% zHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
8 L1 I- c% ^7 B6 r8 M: s: Hand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
* U" r. B2 s5 Q% e R. ]5 ccriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
$ Q$ X: I2 u- ?( }' i2 Z; K/ Tfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could! w/ b$ U2 p) X( r
not stop her runaway Lexus.2 R- t, |2 m; @
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,9 C; N& x# f8 T; _) R9 W( Z8 Y
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
& K+ C) X$ v4 q) _: A: S$ k"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators. ~6 K7 f) E& R% y0 Q9 Z
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
- T) }' W9 L, P) Z8 V3 cearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said5 ?; N) \" O9 }; E! O
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has) Q) W, J; N$ n8 T
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
( e ?4 l, Y P# H% r4 Dthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's$ l2 j' W( G9 @, P9 X. g
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."9 ~! X! f4 x; n2 z0 Y _# |
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
: G# f9 l% I9 q$ H8 b& relectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
% j7 e) G( r) C5 V' y4 Gthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
1 F7 n) U5 _7 S2 Cmalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he8 i4 Q# @0 p1 Y1 C+ [
said." P6 ~* E5 m0 D
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what' n2 D, o/ F% U
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
* E# Z& {7 B( W& i# ?about driving our products," Lentz said.* E0 V1 R5 A8 K* |& f6 f
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's: w2 `/ m5 C8 y6 n
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has/ Q$ l9 q" S: }$ M$ v& k" f
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
# N& ]0 [5 m- i# x: ~" Emillion in the United States -- since last fall because of: h7 L- L1 a* S F: i6 U3 ?2 u
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking; M9 T, c3 Z; F4 x
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering* |7 H4 E0 _( f3 U
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
5 \/ p6 R0 O* n! ?their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
; P7 |% C3 U$ w7 sdown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
, y- ^' r0 e! s: v5 t8 C' Breceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration/ Y8 K5 W. [1 G/ f
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.
4 y2 L! G2 V+ O6 K+ w' O) S4 _Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own3 }7 y1 F% }! b! D0 P* M: s& q
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
/ j5 D" l; c: H4 e" J, Eunderstood the pain.
. z! s. B j/ Z) ^, q"I know what those families go through," he said.& \7 [- u5 f; [
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's7 Q. {6 ^2 L/ C) l5 `! U& d
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
/ X5 V8 O; d) ]; w2 H# nBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman/ A4 ]7 K+ l0 S; t8 A; w% ^ f
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
C4 B# |9 y. H# R, u# nin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it, |* F: ]1 r/ Q% a- i$ ]
Lentz replied: "Not totally."; H, e( _: x# K, o( N
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
3 V1 y7 A+ `9 W9 v0 N- b( C"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said% r% C9 I! ^# l w5 P# E2 H7 ]
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas6 Z7 N8 B1 E7 Y! |( t
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
! v/ w( A' q9 L' Z4 y' ?' {vehicles already on the road.* [- \9 g: D. H& b
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify- R' L4 X& [- h K" }
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full2 c/ ]& N) W- V' f
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
* }9 S& e3 ?7 q# ], Foffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were& R4 F _( Q6 C E9 K2 W5 y
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.7 ^- R( l0 o' c
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a* {; r! ?% C- s8 m3 G( z1 i) l% S6 J
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
2 V1 o$ n z7 I# f" C( b3 |for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight" n7 d* f9 w2 ]) T# b5 {& M7 l! c. f
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
( n" J- o; I% @commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
4 G$ B2 G4 F0 t' _/ Z+ i! e( I5 Zrestore the trust of our customers."
7 ?! `" K4 A( kLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
( b# P+ L4 t% ~ |9 f; Q s1 U* FSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly ]7 R* l( D* w7 [) L" }4 Y
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
+ j+ j' ]/ N" a; X0 R' N" xshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and0 J* M/ w$ c7 k6 d
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough3 u/ A4 c8 C4 j2 v0 \
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
5 V% H+ c. Y" a y5 jturn off the engine.8 O' t9 J( I$ S
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of; d7 r# X6 Q+ ~8 V2 f" I4 _
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
7 u. }8 z% K. n9 \/ N1 _ L"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she$ w C- [. m: ?4 q1 V( k
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
, l3 B- f4 I: P' Y5 Kto her complaints.# o) X5 X, }& f! ]2 q( F9 j$ o! U
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
5 p" d2 S/ m: p. v5 E1 B. b. g0 Dreturned again and again to the question of whether electronic" ?& Y" x, A8 |6 W3 y( a
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.. ~2 n% ?5 z b, [. v+ T' N9 l/ b) T
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
% p$ V; N" `( ]# m. L" s+ {throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
( R: e) A% {- B4 g! ]6 I"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut1 ?* v2 W5 G8 I1 {# K; D$ P1 @' d: o+ x! a
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
2 w$ d: ~8 f- J+ a. T1 tTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
- U% u9 n! k1 _# N& M2 {" iprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were: I, E6 w, n: K
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
$ Q# ]" h/ O9 f8 ^were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
3 ]: D3 A- t9 H* H ~every question."
4 g" g) `* e7 C5 A$ J) L0 CToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
9 r9 p- k6 _. b3 W/ R0 `electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
$ C, H H, {2 w1 J6 [" Efirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
# ]6 @& [- e; Z O! f2 q2 y+ @committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
7 M! i9 v6 \6 x% |) ~number of vehicles2 ^ H4 Z1 Z. P7 L8 `6 u, r3 r
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more$ f: z: v" Q0 Q- D
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a& {3 {6 [7 \5 t0 N% J! S' B" G
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
: N# m! N6 g f- t- xsource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
7 M1 \. B0 M# }4 OMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
) H: H& J1 y$ `! M' xwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no, c* g) W1 q' W; l; |0 H
trace at all.
* l! `; r- c# S6 jHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call4 O* k# a" w& U+ B2 B
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
7 X8 g2 o- F' y$ F+ Racceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the( z4 G% }6 e! M
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.5 G" B' w) B+ [9 w' j% b
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,/ t4 N& Q' k* m6 r# U0 \ H
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and! Z( n$ C. @2 b+ k
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
p9 X; R9 P% t1 uelectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible* [$ k) i, l. g) x& i2 T
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
) H" e1 R8 L- ~ ?0 j- c" Ksuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
7 c) P2 P" j1 b+ ~- Uby Toyota's lawyers."
: q: b' m- \5 I# Z% HLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of1 n) K9 W1 a& W; Y+ A/ Y9 M
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our! i% R* _" ]7 L% C
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
; f5 z/ W. _* V) v& ^) X' ^% tsaid.) M1 ^* x/ C9 p* n* D) i
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with% P% |. Z7 P# G4 h* q
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
]" l* T, r- o' c3 L% Vgood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating) ~+ r! {: U( q: z% D3 N
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.9 U: N1 R7 z/ B; {" g
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
6 W9 q. j# e% u Fmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread# s" u3 _. k4 ^, S/ W
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the5 ~7 {8 G- b E% r2 N% [
automaker, at least in part because of the government's
6 E6 G8 w, h7 ?3 L7 C2 Qinvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
3 C2 z3 D6 I7 l+ s9 wChrysler.) b+ @, b5 l( f; \& ^
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax, @+ J9 ^. s/ C* S
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a' n, h6 x; m" {$ [4 X
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also* w4 ]. d2 D& b0 r3 h
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
* W* K! I" D" K/ e; @: _ G0 l Twith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
9 |" Q9 f5 D: B6 N/ P- b0 ctough."% J/ S2 u; `- T2 |
---
( R% A: X1 g E% T' E' oAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
1 G. D/ K$ ~. LRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
g6 I Y8 L/ ^this story.) r5 Q3 O0 [2 u- B
) k7 [1 d' M5 V! U) \. R
-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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