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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0 b! d3 F& a' h/ `' V# F T+ d! R; F
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS! J' G; k. Y% Q$ c; A1 c0 ], ~, t5 {
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
' R+ T' E: i3 R: @4 M0 [operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
% f% [, ~6 I# i: W$ w* _) rthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
2 g9 Z( b' L+ W+ V) Rsolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
2 X; [9 b) O0 I; D, g5 ?"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential4 T* O8 D2 F! q% Y9 v5 d0 M' i+ `
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.: q2 i% Z l9 f5 ~: I+ O& J
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
5 w2 M d* F2 p4 H5 gacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
1 K7 e3 C- I k9 jtrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor+ K( C& R2 j4 N
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.# b2 n3 u% ~* z1 p& W! D" w
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal V7 Q8 G8 r4 J: X
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp& G2 H+ M0 X* A1 _6 v' w
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
+ |8 H+ F8 ~) s4 m4 ]further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
' q# G4 y5 e# Ynot stop her runaway Lexus., i" }& k2 N( y
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
6 f' @( ?( T- D. x" Q$ P* u1 iTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second1 ?4 d# ~2 b: c0 A, _( I
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators." @9 K; _" p+ W/ f5 Z( f% c; i
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
% T3 B5 w( ^. D4 Z" O9 }6 Fearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
1 \9 _. @$ @3 |6 ?0 a) ]; y: {"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
2 L+ v$ H/ T* v7 N2 L8 Y+ mdone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway" D9 w: x- U% j( r* k; F7 _! n
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
. k8 ^/ | H8 \: \) Jinvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."* r' I6 W$ p! v; w
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an( u3 Q5 t6 q' c! q1 y
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
% `5 _9 V# N4 xthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
1 B7 E# ~ F& smalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
7 `. T7 s$ G6 \7 a2 ssaid.$ k# N0 c& a t( O1 T, _
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
* Q/ t" p+ G! \* o+ ?3 Fhappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe o: J/ @1 `, a0 I+ j' H
about driving our products," Lentz said.8 t1 j; g4 F* s9 G
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
/ p/ m: e8 F7 \' _3 p; zproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has# O/ r5 Q6 b7 i0 D
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6* b! l0 j6 T) @! Z8 y$ [
million in the United States -- since last fall because of
7 c. `7 U/ J+ R) b3 Gunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking- E) w" I* A: F$ M6 Y
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
! |7 n' Z7 V+ Q( t$ v, P; @2 Gconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
' j+ O! \6 D% u! F/ T i4 jtheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow; N% R0 z0 h$ c. G- N
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
6 d( y' Y8 }4 H# l$ Areceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration/ G2 \; O& q0 m2 R5 N, f$ t; ~
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.0 j# v8 d: f" ~1 T7 S9 B
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
8 S, ?3 y( B4 F4 Pbrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
* J# o9 R8 c+ c* X4 hunderstood the pain.0 w; |* |! L9 Y6 c5 O% ]
"I know what those families go through," he said.
* J; s) W* @1 \' {. A u, E) R+ QLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's* H1 x3 W: H' Q0 Q
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
5 {: c- r8 r, Q$ tBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman9 ~# H8 Z) H* }9 B R5 K
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
$ c- k6 D4 H* {. |in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,8 `% j6 x9 r, L
Lentz replied: "Not totally."% B0 l _7 m9 h+ z9 y
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
$ F* a% r x/ G( d7 W7 f"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
. c1 h3 `+ h# xToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas, ~7 h& ^2 y" b$ @
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its7 C9 p0 m0 t; g5 ^- E
vehicles already on the road.
1 T+ d3 E T" J+ g. K) i2 v7 qMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
& W# ^# ^) I1 G# a) V) u4 o- Pbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full" N/ j3 F9 N+ ~* I9 x7 X) D
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and' x& _, J5 A6 f( L. e
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
! a1 R$ I0 q; L9 v/ m M7 Dkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems." ^7 G( T6 q" }% S. h' W& `) u6 i
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a# g2 u6 s8 P- t2 y
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony- G+ r6 v5 C$ O$ y( x9 A
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
+ ?3 }( z5 ?+ ~; |' }* j1 gCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
% ~; ?; g7 J. wcommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
: r$ z2 u1 n$ _/ G5 J; Hrestore the trust of our customers."
% W& P( L! S- O$ ?Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
, B& A' ^$ ~, e) I% E+ ~Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
$ E K" J c0 x, F! Y( Pzoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --& S5 c* K* z& s: G/ b
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and! z" _7 X& ^8 x! k- Y) n9 l
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
0 b8 d! s) A8 |0 ~: T( s3 |& Gthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and2 v. |0 ^" V2 c" m; M ~
turn off the engine.
+ V! B- E, F- |5 s, k! v; |Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
( y/ X5 Y, I( ?October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."; [7 x% b: p/ n. O6 |1 _4 M6 Y0 s) E
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she( T& S' A6 |4 Y( j
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
( v* y- F, l+ T. u; A" Zto her complaints.
8 i1 d3 g" B% x$ J: Y5 O( `In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers0 z$ w4 ]* B0 Y0 Q0 b! p! V
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic# ]0 D# P* u& V8 J) ]4 ]
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.0 l' J, S) }8 p6 L/ u8 H
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
_' m$ C3 }8 L6 x" U h" T. m1 ]throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited1 i0 w- z5 \* d0 x- f$ N
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
4 y$ X4 z2 ?" l9 n; m0 Woff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."1 m, r+ x2 w- g3 s8 p! e
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in: b1 q$ y& {' {) T6 r
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were$ X; y, t& I; R2 }" i
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
7 g/ D }; q/ g) ]4 L1 Ywere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
" e7 M, k, H, v2 P( ]every question."
' ]: I' V! k) i3 W YToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether- Q5 d$ G( x. Y" i
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
* D- h$ R) \7 B$ Nfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But8 h' L9 _) ?0 L
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
9 ]! d' ~9 a- i: ~ |) Wnumber of vehicles
1 D2 C0 @# I1 Z9 v7 @7 rTracking down an electrical problem can be far more/ B5 @" n5 V/ ]) p9 t) R
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a8 d: [# P3 H* K3 H
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
9 _" s6 R: | o; L' lsource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
8 R5 P4 F7 n4 d8 a$ ^) zMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
' W. P4 x8 s1 swhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
8 ? m8 C$ f, ]$ c+ Z/ K" Q" Ztrace at all.
3 G. h% P) F& l& p* k# @House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call& o# |! y* t$ R" L! p
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
: Z- z: O! D8 x! k# |" x: Uacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the0 [$ M! n# o( d! l8 R: k) B
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.( n' }" y% d5 i, v
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
; s" R" S% Z8 m# h& W3 Asaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and# `, G( R8 M# _: u% F) g) J
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
6 Y: _$ n; e- relectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible! F/ x7 M; l) ]
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
/ l% S- n( h5 P- P! L6 Q1 |such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
0 o, ]/ V. O3 b5 e1 V0 j# nby Toyota's lawyers."
' P% W8 b$ v4 `7 r$ M4 k5 N9 YLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
. z* c+ E: E' Kproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
- j# e7 q& f8 R1 v& a2 _( P# xcustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he) U/ _4 j9 E/ }+ D
said.
1 z K# D& _* |6 Z. [( V"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
6 u$ v/ G( x0 n0 i/ ]3 X( {& ?6 L# `a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
1 _9 J( h; m" ]( {& ]: z% ]5 Ggood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
' ?6 s% ]3 d! N3 R9 T# y# Eofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.& i4 ^$ Y/ _" B7 o5 p" R) ]' m
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying- X. _7 E3 _8 c- N& _
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread4 R9 R) G! O l
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the8 t' [# ]# p" o" s$ \$ U1 [
automaker, at least in part because of the government's
) Z3 p {4 U. g7 L- B$ qinvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
3 [0 R( \: @: q( y, h+ y& wChrysler.
* ?/ X: L6 w/ M) C( i"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
$ H- S( ?! c5 t9 g& F# I6 Jdollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
9 u: |4 i# P; l7 Q' X: n$ fHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
; w+ E( A5 W4 D' T7 Pserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
( v3 G4 B1 o2 M8 mwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
$ n) W* |8 Y/ n! t+ c( g5 `' Atough."
" J2 `. ?& l( k: Z---% X, v8 J) A) ?( x b4 s! o
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
" a: d0 y1 N9 `+ b3 _, HRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
! Z9 G8 D5 r" R1 C5 |; n, i# m. N& Cthis story.
7 c4 F# {/ C+ ]6 J$ i4 ~# E# e- r* L3 V/ a% s; s3 ]8 P
-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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