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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
; C& p% s) X3 R* KBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
3 U- ?% `. C1 Z/ ^2 W$ g. ^Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.+ p! `$ k+ ?/ w( D! y1 f
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that; W1 N- I1 `: g
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"9 e: y/ B( ^. w
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
- Q# K5 `& N' E7 G' A. r5 G"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential( C7 Z1 x" v' V6 M2 Q
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
7 L/ l' I: g5 u& }6 b% Z% z7 |3 @However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected+ S( R: S* K% ?& k9 y& Q6 q
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
" e+ Y; H) R2 z% Z/ F3 D qtrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
4 Q! o/ v/ B; j. Mmats and sticking accelerator pedals.
9 W( g' {' T+ T+ x' |4 M9 UHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
: }* k; y! ~2 Mand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
4 D5 V9 T$ D+ ^& }8 ?2 Q% hcriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
& W% j. e6 x- k" cfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
$ s, m7 k! P4 x1 Onot stop her runaway Lexus.
$ X O/ ]* A8 A" u t6 o"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,; D# c R3 s9 `# P/ b
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
% s& W, z4 p8 m8 U" J"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.+ O, [, y) c! R4 k% R1 h0 h
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues, v2 @2 J3 o. j% M
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said1 ~8 f4 f3 _* Q; ~
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has/ h7 s, t- D9 `/ H: M
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
$ H1 ]. N X& u( {' l& gthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's9 l ]! P5 O/ [' x" R, h, g: I
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
. D5 v5 C& ~) [0 D- C/ A5 ILentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
' f4 N* ^( M/ {, Y0 \8 H% ?electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
' O6 V4 P6 S% R* R* t% i+ Ethe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a( [- \6 n1 W6 n# Q) y
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he/ f* i1 b1 v, m. p
said.
: ^( @6 f4 I/ G& e8 l* i0 lAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what: H4 v% c0 C2 y$ M/ `) \. I" F$ y
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe& t7 c2 g D% F) }
about driving our products," Lentz said.
% ^+ U$ }/ E; O/ k+ t" KThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's L5 T6 ^: r# Z; t. v) R( {
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has- v9 E* ?7 Y& ?# ~
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6, p5 F/ Z4 `+ V3 |0 T( `
million in the United States -- since last fall because of) ]; J' G% U5 K; d! d
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking) Y' ^; m {2 J/ k5 {
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
/ Q& Z% i. V- |concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of% G" j/ `) p. C! l% k( k1 {
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow* H7 ^2 s- @, t: a4 k
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has# K) I8 z8 u; d- T Y7 u8 U
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
6 N! T; Q) I6 p( B: j Oof Toyota vehicles since 2000.) T2 A) Y7 ?9 c. w$ c
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
- H0 l% I3 f/ H7 Cbrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
" _9 Z; T: |. _# ~8 lunderstood the pain.
- S- _& u' R0 [& ~0 E# H3 J"I know what those families go through," he said.
E! @5 {/ v. s+ Q: ?Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's7 U1 `4 ], D2 d* L
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.! m- \0 f# g' t! G( |9 B% e
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
2 `& W) ^" n$ F8 N% O" KHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
v3 `" S6 m9 E2 C- hin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
. g4 y: i& k( }2 G1 v; T4 TLentz replied: "Not totally."3 Z- p0 N, l# i, K% R+ |% C# _! G
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were# S! ?& X7 c, V2 f1 Q
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said4 _4 B9 v6 H4 T" u k6 c& G& W
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
. p2 B k$ B; @4 q- W& Xpedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
- N% Z; L; U" I# X1 i/ Mvehicles already on the road.
- `# e, d9 `' G; e9 A; P' ?Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
8 Z5 x% _# M6 f5 t3 h9 v4 u! y* c0 `before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full, N% l. v" l/ s
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and' g: e; ]6 [+ M
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
: D) q3 y! p+ u4 F$ Vkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.% v8 y" A2 F9 T0 w$ c
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a# f# d* E" L& B4 K1 z* K, L4 P5 P
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony0 {1 `+ _/ K" {: L; M
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight2 ]4 C- |% R) j* T8 v
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
( {4 y) m4 }3 y, C# F" b/ Zcommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to. ~$ Y# J8 `! F8 P2 H
restore the trust of our customers."
( {% J; G. r( [$ _Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from; E+ T9 d. m7 [: d! ?7 F8 D
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
+ @; X. x* L1 n; Q5 Fzoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
" [) h7 V! R+ Q. F6 rshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
: t3 J: m& ?, L n: k/ a) X" V+ Yhitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
; \, ]. K- Q$ ]6 R) P8 O8 Athat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and6 B0 L+ j+ t1 |; h( n0 }
turn off the engine.
# A, r. n' Y/ u) {1 bFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of4 ?$ t7 W8 R+ b" o0 v
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience.", L- M$ [" d8 Z" u
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she8 {* N! \/ N0 |9 b) o# X
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
( e/ p- O2 f1 Gto her complaints.; [& Q8 [5 v/ o5 H
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers; Z R: R# G, S% c# C/ t' m+ M5 s8 {
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic! Y* a7 O z$ B. w: c) W7 H; O) L
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.+ C! V: j7 O! o$ [
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
% X) s! {; s0 e% |, uthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited, q0 w' I2 M% `: V/ \% _, Q
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
3 |: z: ^2 G+ ]* O+ j/ W J4 X. Joff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."7 b# [3 \* c! ]3 x$ E
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
: H: C. c8 S) t/ |prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were5 a- r; z, Q" S- x
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
/ x2 S6 c+ f& U! l* rwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer, @7 n1 _0 Q+ r2 A( |
every question."& I( J8 o3 [% ]2 O i, H( J
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
}+ @1 U& P8 l' A2 k( ^. f: ^) t" o! eelectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The5 I% _6 c) o9 ]3 p$ L( D7 J
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
% I1 R$ v4 ^- y1 S1 N4 scommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small
+ v3 d! S3 J" |9 `number of vehicles
9 I5 M3 Y" _- [& v3 ?( hTracking down an electrical problem can be far more7 V( j6 I1 c/ h
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
}" t+ p2 m2 G3 I6 ?$ G( |mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
8 _! b+ }5 a9 X1 dsource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.2 y6 _8 O6 w: F- s) K* W, f
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,+ }/ g6 B, |: Y8 c, f4 N
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
) R) C/ I: |3 f4 o& m7 Mtrace at all.9 p3 P7 r0 I0 R# g! E
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
- _% \0 h8 M! ^. d( E- e2 ]database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
: q) T2 x& D, V- |2 a, k. }acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
& ~" d* S% e( Nrecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.% ~# H: E( ]- Q( i
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,4 D1 K% H* U6 M
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
5 [4 x3 `* p, w) K+ b9 pother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
6 s6 E1 s7 u& g! _) Eelectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
* T v/ C. H- g, Qcause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
& ]4 K" {2 u/ e& Asuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained& Z# @2 Z* Y7 S) L- u+ E/ M' y
by Toyota's lawyers."
8 j7 A, T! ], _4 B4 ZLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of. ^& X+ L3 b& x3 N6 t( c1 e2 Z+ ]
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our; o, B4 E& `* @. }1 t
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
d9 X* E1 ], \+ T$ c5 Zsaid.
2 o: a$ ~+ l8 |" r( j"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with2 s" O5 Q& v0 q/ i1 {9 P
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
% l6 Z# C3 O0 c4 k+ ngood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
, ]/ e2 l7 [8 Oofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
' g! ]2 N" t; i1 G8 ~9 FSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
' `9 b; U; W' H' Tmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
- E% J3 N- p. q. G) K, F9 ?6 d8 grancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the D+ j, f( O$ N' u
automaker, at least in part because of the government's0 N* Q$ N. c, m; i" A+ u
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and/ d* u" Q+ f7 ^$ E w) ^
Chrysler.! g& k9 _$ x+ X
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
! K' k& |; ~8 }6 _0 f! kdollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
# h, Y; ~6 b1 y* eHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
" m2 D5 v9 L- F1 x1 Bserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete& K' y$ u& F: X" [3 {$ D
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
7 r/ x2 H' C# Y6 b8 f- x, Gtough."# v! `; {0 b) Y, I' G$ T" w
---
" U) i, g3 _& \! X. l3 gAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
; a" b; k8 l( M( k8 yRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to" B) ]9 ]9 Y, l: J4 ~
this story.8 N% @* d! w; ^% {8 b. z0 A6 l5 g
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