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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( E! b: ]. z: a1 ^' D2 |7 F
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS" B6 N2 M) a. C, w1 [- Y; I$ r
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.4 i* U# N& _: o# Q; U
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that, p2 \; Y$ D0 ~3 x/ b
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"8 L; Z- @/ |2 f0 N g3 [
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.7 w5 v! L& }# y$ W
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
" `% V1 H& a8 x" C, T/ b; t: v4 X, Pcauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
) b* f i5 U9 I7 ?However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
, I7 {" U' s. ~1 I, kacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
+ O, X/ e, a# P! {& m# O. C8 B/ Dtrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
. K K; l5 O1 E6 W) B, Fmats and sticking accelerator pedals.6 v# j. e* }, F) t( K' W
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
; D6 x8 t* w: O2 hand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
$ R' w6 p; ?6 H1 }$ @criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
2 B- `. i4 R; }5 s0 vfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could1 Z6 P H+ S" T# ^, d
not stop her runaway Lexus.
- c& W5 e* T. i6 ]"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
0 y8 e" |1 j5 L- G6 _3 ~) @Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
4 C* ^ B" p7 N* R" I"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.+ l$ S/ `; x# @6 F0 Z) ]( D3 R
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
k* ^$ u( m A9 B" P0 Mearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said4 O; B6 B/ P9 S/ y
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
, e8 W0 M5 v( x7 a1 X- Gdone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
- S) O% u/ ^0 s; G( s R* ?) ~through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
0 k$ P5 a4 G# E( ?% w5 k6 [investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
+ M, I8 U, h: V6 p( |+ z. aLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an8 ^4 E9 d8 A' z$ O; N8 M( G
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
: M& q( K$ y- `! t6 Kthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
4 s. d% @, v0 T6 W8 ~9 u% omalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he9 f+ P$ _( B& N& A* S7 F
said.
2 j6 c0 q$ M lAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
1 S4 j4 ?2 H/ ~ c) z) ?, p( I6 @happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe. P4 L' z1 L! H0 T" N7 A
about driving our products," Lentz said.
* |- e$ Y& R8 @3 E6 G- L, hThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
+ e v0 E1 m+ G5 X5 z4 nproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
9 }" v) m4 G: i4 ^8 Crecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6- f( T6 y+ r: D) F
million in the United States -- since last fall because of
. n7 r7 ~# J. T. o$ ^, }$ R8 iunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
% R1 T! E& g# _( m; E( Zissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering+ l P. O$ G% u% X
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of* J6 U3 Q& W8 ~8 X
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
' {" P- [' Z) f, F$ Y) K ?, Pdown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
: z4 ]" Z# u) |+ Xreceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
: G( ~4 }: a1 F* e! q0 kof Toyota vehicles since 2000.
z1 r$ Z* _: f4 hLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
2 m* p$ a- b' Ybrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
& l# s3 |9 K% Z2 Z3 M/ funderstood the pain.
; B3 h% e2 E# P& s9 v- ^, w"I know what those families go through," he said.9 n8 N( A( }. y9 G
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
) ]3 [6 q' y7 x7 G2 Yfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
) J' G" Z- _8 aBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
6 O4 p- n1 D- n/ o3 r9 r# MHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
; I% T2 j" j/ R) K% u/ vin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,5 W: S" F: t/ P( T) ]2 x" c
Lentz replied: "Not totally."
% o0 ] P! w( i6 @- c! zStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
7 G* X5 l" U W: }7 D+ H6 B"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said* O7 _- d& u/ S) `( g) Y/ H
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
( Y, T6 O! x; s1 Q+ t3 v# hpedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its% A( t; X0 w9 G4 @
vehicles already on the road.3 y5 Q" z1 b0 k) G7 W; K
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify& B& {/ n2 p8 z
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full, M) c0 _; Q- F
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
. e7 G( _# [4 r8 i. s' coffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
9 b. Y9 h7 a, V- D' ckilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.( }; p, p- q6 o4 J% W- l
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
- S1 b5 I! x9 w9 m7 d! Otragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony4 H1 A* Z, @. Q* J7 A
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
% Y5 {) q: P( M, e' |- F) @Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
1 f6 k! r1 t5 P8 Qcommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to G6 n' z$ w0 O( ]# {3 x
restore the trust of our customers."
( h0 x& o i; Q7 q$ h, PLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from+ V5 z6 o8 {# m5 G8 a6 r
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly/ O* L, B7 x2 r! b! U5 |$ z8 l
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --7 C& [% N2 B) u
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
8 u# u! j# }- A8 d6 Fhitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
- U$ ]' ^1 C xthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
. |8 w. O$ f" e& X4 u: dturn off the engine.& R, l( U" ~1 i% P: a
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
* o* h% d; E( m/ k" x: W- tOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
5 }5 W9 |. i8 w* b1 U, x"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she) w! I5 `7 ?* P2 S4 w6 H
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
9 m3 h8 H/ v. v; \8 _# _to her complaints.4 Y9 N* v6 V5 {4 I- Q
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
$ @2 ?. Z2 g* C s, Freturned again and again to the question of whether electronic
7 A0 w3 x& m7 H9 K6 E9 Lmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.0 A8 G: \& ~% j; c$ `; D' l8 r" o5 [
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
- t1 i0 h! U0 E- \" z$ ]throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited( E* a; S. R4 o) z
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut: f, [3 _5 \& u E3 X+ d
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
/ M( g) Y% e5 V$ ^" D" `, QTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in* _% C n0 [$ Q. u4 a' Z8 H
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
# \' w/ x7 c9 l8 o- ]( s i* Bbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
5 z5 ^ Q8 f; H$ Z( {were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer, p+ Y) R7 g1 z
every question."
; A5 j( ^ p% H. [$ I3 X& y- ^Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether& p |1 |, H# u6 m* ?4 G7 T" W0 m& [
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
6 {& ~# J* W' dfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
! A0 `2 G, e3 f% P) G8 Ocommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small
. i5 |/ ^* S1 e0 R0 v! snumber of vehicles
. o* _ R# B1 f9 z5 [2 ]1 U+ ^Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more
% P! g! P7 O7 J) i7 w1 Qdifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
0 y) {( @; ]& [# T1 Fmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one1 @8 M7 ~$ T7 a ]
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.+ s. ~- d- _7 ^) c
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,) b* v8 [' A- n# g3 i9 ^, b! W
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no5 \5 {' M$ c! e& _% S
trace at all.
0 S* Y1 L% h1 L0 |3 }4 u7 hHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call z# @& T( W- [% k3 E1 V
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden4 R- q p E; {8 p) u' Q
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the5 P: o6 @- M L. Y- ^# @* u9 F
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
* n& T( d& u' M: ZRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee," }9 t4 ]% |( F# e* t% o, w
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
8 ] x8 O! b& Gother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the# d7 V" U: ]* a$ c" F
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
3 v) o3 X$ `, W0 C( L7 Y icause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only2 Q5 i+ Z- r- j8 E$ X: c3 X5 G
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
+ F* g0 P1 A5 w( c8 ?7 cby Toyota's lawyers."( \/ m! ^; I* b* d# ~7 s
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
9 m$ y- {3 Y' }! K) f: bproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our: ~" L! y( I- G& b
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he" ]( h! i9 q( `3 ?) `" R
said.
9 W- b; P5 m6 v3 v3 J"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
' z6 C+ O5 x% t3 c3 q9 Za rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
# Z1 s' z2 M; fgood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating- P0 q/ B& [/ |* y$ U
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.5 n% i* U, s! w9 J3 D$ ~
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
( w' h3 p$ d7 Imembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
# `, x: Z4 m# a; ~ E# ]rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the6 Q; k" [9 t* ?, Y: _' ]6 F5 {( Z
automaker, at least in part because of the government's
% @$ E# M& ?& |) b& Winvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
3 p# h& Y% x7 mChrysler.* ^+ U( `9 y7 n- q: z1 R& c
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax' g. C; k5 c# M) i
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
' t/ ?! }. p! s# O' H9 W2 t+ ~Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also/ S; \4 @3 l# Z# l+ k% R% P
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
: ^+ }! \3 \$ r. {4 a! C- ~with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty% t6 R2 G6 Q6 g$ O9 |. [
tough."
3 K% _3 d$ p+ ~% r---4 B- n& s0 [' [) |
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom# E9 e/ A! ^4 b1 c% L
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
" u7 j& A& M' m+ n; Rthis story.
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1 p: z" B' s/ C: n7 G-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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