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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3 |9 K0 z* ^% p# i+ n9 T! E0 e
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS5 S2 n. c5 i6 |+ a9 j
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S." P! D* X8 ^% @2 e0 F
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
' s# T! w8 {' ]4 Zthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"2 E2 R3 A# G4 `
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
/ c2 _7 N, V% D+ Y- X2 R' `"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
9 W( n* Q) p( t6 K" `2 {: @! Ucauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
/ r- U6 `! E& D9 M# oHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected- d+ s- ~# z2 u& e S
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and" X" _: p( p3 ]" r
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor( J/ u: o" g9 \9 s
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.
: | {/ k: c0 W8 O9 lHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
3 Y! g- {: ]! a' m& V: ^+ f% o6 c Mand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp" @' g3 l7 {0 q
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
( f3 i9 ^" c+ Rfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could+ E; U6 W- B1 R' B
not stop her runaway Lexus.
4 n5 y) e0 ?6 Y2 Z/ H6 ^"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,, H1 e7 T* W8 |2 w. j; h
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
2 j- ?2 U) |3 Q4 o2 C" c"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
8 R) r l- Z; ]. A7 z/ HTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues$ D! f# l, k: L% G$ A
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
8 W9 h# q; |' E$ k& S& F"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
, P( H9 p+ \4 ]done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
* S# s* O- N( b, }* A+ a, h9 Qthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's4 Y C* w7 C, M4 b, a+ m& T
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
# U* L; C6 w4 |( f% D+ ?* Y- P CLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
" ?1 w, k& H, P" aelectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of+ z1 |) H0 Q0 j# U# {) W$ T
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a5 N9 a- v1 k k# c, v9 Q: B# d
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
; g0 S9 @* `9 G" P! m% Hsaid.( z' m* V7 }6 @! _; J3 Z2 P
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what/ s# I9 q# P! z
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
- K# G% e; c" R* t7 b" fabout driving our products," Lentz said.. [; d( r+ r5 h5 I4 ` b& i
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's& Z/ k% Y5 }) Y6 u
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has! h: e9 [* i0 P
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 61 z- ^" }2 T+ c) V( S5 \
million in the United States -- since last fall because of
" I7 S) _3 x& O% G/ o5 i" gunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
9 k6 v, Q$ i; j/ h4 ?4 rissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering& f4 E" u: N( K8 \
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of: M2 t$ C2 R! ^& ~
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow1 ?3 n. N# G. ?, @: `
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has4 d6 R: p w! Q$ r4 {( r+ ^/ ^
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
) o2 R0 W- r! R6 s0 O+ K! D: iof Toyota vehicles since 2000.- r2 M; h y% [% q3 b, p$ f
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
( X8 b* Q( U4 T, H9 s% @brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
2 E2 l4 a0 |* @, E0 i% J8 `understood the pain.6 `3 q5 F) A$ q( a5 O7 \
"I know what those families go through," he said.
4 ^8 X; O. O3 o7 f% O2 Q; ELentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
2 ^7 ?2 I- l# N: H* P9 Kfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.1 c5 i/ g2 Z! x" o. e/ S
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman/ u" E2 b5 e( w3 b1 G
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put$ b! X* R. j: L! u. r0 ]
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
D' X* |: U; l; j& x: S/ _. RLentz replied: "Not totally."6 |, U0 e+ ~3 i B; k% v- t/ n) A( h
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
0 l7 I& W; k1 T- a2 N( J"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said0 H4 a. k5 C4 h0 w0 t
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas, l+ |8 [. { ^+ I3 K& M$ J* @ [: u
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its0 T8 V8 u) Y! K8 ^3 A
vehicles already on the road. x7 n: ]# x J( a6 s+ E2 m
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
0 H4 K2 A2 s* J# [before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full2 k- a: ]: U& s
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
0 v2 y0 r- a4 F6 \# ioffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were. K4 ~7 B) X# r
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
8 L* t* a& d: E8 }( Q"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
% y2 |2 `3 Z& |tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
/ F1 d, T5 B2 D2 H) tfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight( x, j. @( r) y F
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
) _, ^8 m. K) p, a Q+ g# Ncommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to, K2 H' J/ A/ G
restore the trust of our customers."
3 ~8 w/ t( x8 a# C, I, U4 i WLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
6 X% y0 X* T& \# u! ]Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
/ x. O; ^; ` J9 yzoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
9 |7 A/ s$ ]! I, E2 _! n# qshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
( q5 x2 y2 L7 `1 a) j6 shitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough. G' v6 M2 E, w5 u9 o
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and3 f" a! L+ b; z- L, R) P
turn off the engine.1 z4 e3 d7 K& z# |* c+ w6 p
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of4 T! r8 i& A, M( B, f3 g4 ?
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
/ ^: I7 i, k& Z% Z- n) w% @"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
/ E4 ~5 x' ]' i j! }said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
8 X/ u$ Q' D/ r" b* ^to her complaints.. N% n. q$ ]8 S. n* C9 I- X8 o
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers- R0 w2 U6 C- T
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic8 p. W& H+ J1 S; Z- b- V
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
3 P, v8 W. V, v"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
0 [: ^# h; d N: Othrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited# C3 I% y" w/ f% g6 e
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
; a1 Z3 a4 F9 u4 H2 \$ s/ Aoff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."8 ^% ?9 V: @9 g6 x8 x4 }, f
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in' i6 q5 k$ q$ r. i
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were8 y W- x2 Q( C: _
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
# E4 ^) h. H8 b+ h0 _! Wwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer6 [5 S. H) R9 D0 m2 O! o
every question."
$ @3 G5 a4 m0 n# h/ D1 r* Z. N7 jToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
( B' l) B% D7 s; Velectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
i$ F' `5 `: _; ]firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But, a7 d; w7 N M' R4 X
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small* X* ^( w' }; x% |3 K
number of vehicles
9 d9 {) E, q5 DTracking down an electrical problem can be far more
9 Q9 a$ N+ h; a5 F% R/ edifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a- F( Z" L- s+ Y* {# }) W# @
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
9 e3 {( S; a4 u) n/ K4 V* |source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.9 {( U% ~3 A3 A% c6 i% Y
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
- V, A8 Z; s H& U$ Gwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no& X) D" r5 m/ i
trace at all.. R& |% j% t9 e) K$ j- z9 p+ I
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
3 v2 x6 ]/ R, j! W3 q) bdatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden' k+ C6 h [& [/ w! z7 i
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the0 Z( E/ D4 L- U7 r- _ |: q* E
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.6 X9 [- q, U7 q
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
% n$ m- W; l2 ^$ ^" U) L. V9 usaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and1 N6 g! e& p3 o* e% Z9 V: R" {
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
* C6 t. n0 _5 ]" F" |+ R# velectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
1 b( ], X$ w; d7 K7 Ocause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only% g c' h5 X0 Q& U' A5 _4 M
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained1 j( W# B* u# c$ r5 N) V
by Toyota's lawyers."
+ X8 r7 E& d+ E. HLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
9 D5 e. L* _9 J) f8 i9 pproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
7 s1 O3 b" Q N7 m5 ~" I* ?( ~6 \customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
. S" f1 C# m6 u- |3 {3 L2 tsaid.3 m- V7 @, I7 p3 p
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with) Y1 X% x4 n0 ]" U3 W/ k
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
9 [- p1 {# s( Jgood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
7 W! L" h& G3 Y6 x0 w( ]' Uofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.6 K. n+ r7 c A! u) W! N
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying7 }0 k `8 _2 O7 A8 ]: z1 [( w
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
2 L6 R1 L3 V8 n& @; Mrancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the$ o3 Y2 I, \% h
automaker, at least in part because of the government's8 ?8 ?/ l. p7 B2 R P! `& O
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and9 a/ ~$ I8 ^: e; w% o
Chrysler.
% `1 O! G) D0 j% I n2 ~% l"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax8 @5 M/ h! c7 a# h
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
* k+ q( q0 E7 A, D( p: {9 {Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also% ~; K% h3 t( k3 U
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete% o6 q$ a3 y; d% b* k( v( N- G
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
2 a4 s( \( |1 ^% @1 \2 w5 E- @tough."/ c9 ^9 J. N/ q
---1 t" H: |$ z8 d. S- V- a
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
0 `3 s1 e$ L) F5 W+ H- hRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to. E- y" n, z7 L$ |+ T
this story.
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