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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
: U$ D( ^; ?0 [0 b# B! @By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS3 Y; U, K8 Q- {2 B, C0 R& y. |
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
; p$ O' ^% R/ v4 Q# \2 |operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that& ^/ ]( ]7 f3 j* I% O9 ?3 A
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
o2 J9 T8 k' X; ?% q+ w; Ssolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
9 R6 s$ E. `5 S* k, ]- t) R1 h- }( o7 j"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
$ D( `2 u% j1 T) e2 [causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
2 ]1 ~1 g& l. k8 t; d nHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
, R5 S+ w8 b. B: Wacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
4 L+ ?9 a$ {, r) x! X0 T0 e' btrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
' k" B7 _9 m f8 A- lmats and sticking accelerator pedals.0 U/ d6 d! R4 t, U4 Y I$ p$ {- s2 S
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
3 T! g a: C6 n! \. @- }( Dand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
" e0 K" l5 _( p# \1 Y+ K9 ~3 c3 Hcriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be3 Z" ~+ ^; b0 {' ~4 j' O
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
& @3 l# ^1 x3 N4 O- Enot stop her runaway Lexus.
2 w$ ~! @7 S) V, A"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville, @& ?3 O' V1 B+ J8 N
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
% [; S. @4 V9 a, Q! ["shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
* Z% x" U, ~8 }2 J7 I2 h% b1 QTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
' L( g. r) Y" z. v, \" Cearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
! p. k# ]" H- H1 x3 [; r"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
" h# S) C& E+ A9 v0 P8 q2 Bdone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway/ N# J! `' ~6 _
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
5 C- w( w; x, A( F% Dinvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."( h9 X( { {6 M: J+ I! F$ D% H
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
2 `* X7 r% n/ |& W2 eelectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of/ \, b, {; N) ?! e
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
% S, F! i) V7 c# W' e% {malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
8 a0 B. v0 r0 X5 f2 V5 C7 `. vsaid.
, s* L/ J2 I% ~2 ]4 ?3 E3 i q0 lAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what! m* G7 H* a+ d l4 g
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
T3 }( }' @4 y7 a' t* dabout driving our products," Lentz said.) ]3 R, f, z& E
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
) H: p4 c9 n" C5 y# O; k T; {$ Jproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has% k7 T+ k6 k0 l, o5 Q# i
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 63 G1 X3 o# [6 V/ `/ x. r7 c
million in the United States -- since last fall because of
9 K. s8 M) u* k: a0 k$ lunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
7 {1 y! ]( g4 z; L1 yissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering/ M7 l' w0 j. g4 W. z! `* K8 Y
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
6 j/ F+ X. V5 r8 q/ X. r! qtheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow7 }$ z* `- \; \8 }- x) n2 J
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
% K5 m8 k5 z8 E! T6 _+ y: `received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration' j8 X6 e# ? \+ M1 R& N7 s
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.
% S7 g# Z& v4 t& \Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own: n4 C8 C4 \& p1 Y3 w$ v/ n
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he2 K9 v( U) h* q0 V3 |
understood the pain.2 d! D$ C1 K' r/ U: }3 Y
"I know what those families go through," he said.9 G- d9 `* f" x3 l$ d0 I. ~5 g# C" Z
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
: A( D% I3 _! g, E* d; Q+ ?fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
( D, D5 Z5 r$ J( Z3 e$ cBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman1 M6 y# T; j! N* q5 v. Z+ r
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
) e {: }6 h, Z1 E9 H2 a& Cin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,6 E) j9 d' r* m' g! J- G* d
Lentz replied: "Not totally."3 z7 a9 `, i# E8 C( v6 L
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were% F; j6 L" Y* J
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
3 V' W5 e5 e0 r8 I; c+ N: yToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas% o' K, G5 v5 j5 h7 i* i- v$ I7 q* B
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
: r1 B" b7 \8 a E/ r$ p0 }" O8 Zvehicles already on the road.$ e2 I& V8 B) b6 _
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
4 a9 ~2 E5 d8 d$ ~8 H1 sbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
2 G$ n- Y, a# b$ _1 Eresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and1 S u/ x2 O# x( D& R# @! a
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
6 e- h8 r% k$ f/ c% _2 [killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
4 `( R0 t. ~8 T) T"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a: h! g- K/ [- Z5 r/ f: K! e. q
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony4 I) j: }% F' S
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
+ Q% x5 I2 x. j5 @Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal( g. V5 `: n ~# ?7 i) M. a, ?* j
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
2 P& K( r' |7 p8 B1 frestore the trust of our customers.") h& s4 Y9 N" ^2 l
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from* Q7 u0 e. C8 q) q1 z
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
; O- z4 X; W( Z) czoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --& y+ ~* n* L4 ~. p! K
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and y1 v: e# _. d, K
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
/ s! F4 W. E7 n; ~8 O9 i6 mthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
- v) G$ ?5 }" \turn off the engine.0 k0 R1 b4 D) d8 @, l. E
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of$ s+ d3 ?; }3 G6 |
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience.": t0 N1 b* u: \
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she' F! w$ c. U# R4 U; F
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
% V4 A! N* Z9 V& E9 Z7 t/ L7 Kto her complaints.! V0 O7 g7 _& B' |
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
' e5 ?1 m* E3 _returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
7 G; | b4 S# k) N2 kmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.1 ]- `9 p5 n! x d) ^2 O) s
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric6 i" i7 W# r0 R% v7 N
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
# Q; p6 j! z! [* U"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut" N! O% ^9 C( v3 i7 @
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
5 s, }4 G4 Q) A8 x) X: u% @* H! tTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in+ [' N, G" F& h9 @! U
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were/ C$ y' u) a0 Z9 k
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls5 A8 d; R: g2 _, D; ^9 ?/ c. ]* B
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
! k: v! I. w$ Levery question."
6 k& T j3 Q4 ~5 S5 Q& NToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
2 H" p" A8 A% C, z( K# W: k: Relectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The) @" H! p+ U- B. t# y' S3 _
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But* B( N: O* }2 R& x
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small* _6 V" B- {; k) j: r8 k. }8 b
number of vehicles0 l2 x7 x8 e `3 g% f
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more
1 H- M. T% U7 `0 Z) ^' ndifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a! I! I3 b1 d' k
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one% s3 K( `8 A# O$ y
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.9 t3 z4 K+ o: L5 ?( d# j
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,3 b- w: _! G0 }& x A; z
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no5 @: d" s! K& H/ w- [
trace at all.
; p0 z7 w- k2 J$ I e. k1 K8 i+ S8 d, wHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
/ T# B+ C! {( |, qdatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
4 p; |( J: }1 tacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
& q% f: I5 b/ r( ~5 [recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.& K- H" x1 r1 ~' D L/ e
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee," Q0 b% a2 x% S1 B
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and+ h" F8 {9 q+ H4 P# ~/ U5 T. S
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
7 `& n* f; \- v6 }electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible; l$ u" b( X6 f; ]+ s& Y. b
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only0 p& k& a* {5 @ |, R8 r h1 M
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
5 c0 L2 ~3 ^& x' u9 k+ f& Sby Toyota's lawyers."
$ K3 } `1 J7 F' d p7 P! b i0 ALentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
1 @) a5 I7 w9 n/ }4 }problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our( F2 `1 | Q$ s6 R/ U
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
! M0 X$ X3 F4 k$ F5 ~& g+ Ssaid.* L0 }5 f& Y0 ?) N5 a. F5 U+ r
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with, E: R7 p/ N. t/ |/ `0 h8 R* v
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
2 v8 @0 ]# Z2 d8 Egood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
9 C. G" F. t" D! j' G5 q" y4 Z4 P2 nofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
) e+ H9 x- e7 c5 v( j. Y- U: ^2 `Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying1 G. i% R: W5 m
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread/ }/ f( c, @- K% c% ^
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
( l5 R- I% P6 v) {3 z5 yautomaker, at least in part because of the government's% w1 E0 w6 K! H$ \2 a
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and( C# q! C6 e5 l& a! Y
Chrysler.
3 w! Y& Y* G! B" k+ ]2 l; k5 A"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax# D* ?" ~ C1 S& e1 u+ O) Z
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
' B1 {% z% h( B" F$ g- s, yHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also4 ^: Y4 ^ x+ H, W+ F# I% ^
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
: f% y/ A1 }+ kwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty7 S' k0 D6 p6 U1 i5 B" y
tough."
! r3 k( R/ X R! ?( p; l---. Z/ U1 h& Q6 D: y" M
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
) |# Y3 B9 k3 V# n1 KRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to' L5 l9 B" f' q/ s; S
this story.
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