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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
, l5 t$ u$ V! G; l4 ^By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS l, s7 g% s1 `3 P: X/ D
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
- x* J) [1 M* w8 e! Eoperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
5 f7 r8 I; h# ^: E( gthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
/ f6 b* C0 p2 j( ~: X# k* {solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.( _" _2 G5 J0 N
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential) M9 h$ }, b$ m
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.8 @8 U, s/ w' N/ v! I
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
8 m/ y' k9 Y7 X8 `! @% Oacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
8 x0 Z% ?. `. r1 V0 s- Ptrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor& e- k% X9 N9 Y) s
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.
" z6 w" A& p4 p1 _ k. n; I: u7 Y9 GHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
* i2 V' |% U; Hand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
# V7 y$ F" m- H; v% Rcriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be" c0 G& K, {& W; W
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
@/ ?: O# a/ ynot stop her runaway Lexus.
8 F/ J& D6 V+ s o8 ?% d; W. G"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
8 C+ \! g6 H* a7 p/ }* BTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second! W8 {# Y2 m$ Q1 \; s3 H
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.& r4 Z% W% l- r- A" s# b
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
q5 G3 r$ M" I% U) ^% gearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said- a @9 n' l, N$ F7 T
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has% {( F6 B" C* i1 x0 {. V! S
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
! ~, g5 C5 G1 C( ~through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
/ W& |; k0 b3 P6 U# Oinvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."' m* }; [) G1 ?! a
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an3 Z2 |& Z: ] U3 p$ Y1 f
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
+ e1 j4 A, E0 n5 ^* }+ wthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a- d% b/ K% N$ K1 d; b- }
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he, Y: n. R- C8 X% q9 z/ S0 S
said.
6 R! s% e. Z" F& iAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
6 w' v; x5 U1 k8 l) b6 \" M7 v0 P5 ahappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
6 B$ b' i3 Q$ A" n$ n, Iabout driving our products," Lentz said.
; x- P( x$ g, e1 t( { I3 j! DThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's0 W/ [ A2 H6 Y% [
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
0 @9 p4 |8 x* A1 d. ?. U5 ]recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
* \6 O. e0 E- m& [1 ?2 F Nmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of) `# \& P0 {8 [0 ]6 t7 j/ _& r. q3 W
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking6 ?+ s2 A5 p, z2 L( d; L
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
& u! M% Q. ?+ j- j9 `2 R M" pconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
) w# l- B8 _( N% u9 f# vtheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow- y$ B2 E' L7 U4 j1 {6 ~4 Z+ O; l8 b
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
3 r+ l1 X4 C" g* \received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration& N! c7 J- O" O: Q3 n& h: U
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.4 V6 q4 L; }* } [1 Q' ^1 {
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own$ d# U4 }; o/ r. h. B( }% G9 x5 ~
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
6 Q# F" h9 k# B% n4 u6 Zunderstood the pain.' U3 U. E$ N% c7 t* Z4 Y: A1 d
"I know what those families go through," he said.. k, M h$ R" o2 u, C5 m: [5 {
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's" ~/ ]; Q: J. I5 d
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.1 J- U* c% e$ c0 y3 F' p
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman8 o+ T' K5 k3 x7 O# D
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put8 y6 ?- G1 h7 t0 T1 L
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
7 J0 h. ~! x9 `2 D/ k# a5 WLentz replied: "Not totally."
: v; ]" e& `( GStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were) K; o, M. [& }0 [- Y6 F0 ^
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
( E! N' G4 w( P4 Y7 ?* x) D' YToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas m# t8 S; b# _4 Y( U5 \
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its/ c/ U) u0 l4 v
vehicles already on the road.
1 G; W. c( y+ y; n# tMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
5 @; j8 N; W& I7 z8 X; B# Y# C% `before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
1 R+ w: Q, {, k& B5 Y+ ~responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and, p# z, c$ R4 o; D
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
5 [1 _: s" @/ k9 Y9 hkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems." G; I: x9 ~! O T0 U5 d
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a7 E/ `3 u& _$ D& O/ m
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony4 a7 I) Y" {/ W2 y' @
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
5 D0 ] Q9 W8 kCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal4 i" b2 O0 ^& n- _
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
8 |( s2 l, D( Y# N* F: J6 jrestore the trust of our customers."
, w4 c% Q! M$ F! Y: i) gLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
+ A9 B( B( _, \# c( v: \( JSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly0 ~9 R& D& ^& K# g: [9 X
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop -- m; E% [0 k- F7 b
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
# l& Q. v! ^- T9 ?, _/ L ahitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough1 f a6 F& D2 e4 n# i
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
, R$ z2 A) _' P6 z% Kturn off the engine.8 q! `, T" a" p
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
7 Q& ?) Y+ _$ S( {6 _7 l# {! ]5 Q' ^October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."2 t$ c. g9 F: i
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
# |/ Z s9 B* Z% t* k6 l' Isaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
& r( |& C# I( O: _8 jto her complaints.$ _2 ^& A$ l6 {" b9 Y8 I
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers8 g- V; a& f( d/ ]; M1 i% `3 T
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic" b4 V2 b9 z: h# H
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.9 P5 z+ m" v b/ o+ x' X
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
* H. v* s/ f4 {, M9 Rthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited/ Z; e L' f# o( F, x: W: f2 w5 K
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut$ u* ]5 G2 u3 F5 @7 C, B: i, A
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
: b% N) r# ?. K0 \! ~4 ~Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in K3 f8 @4 y9 O7 ~6 ^ D
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were' n% M3 w5 j9 C" E9 y* }
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
! r5 p1 ~# h# v2 b2 G& twere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer4 Y7 [+ C2 s& q
every question."
; A8 Y3 [6 w, @: ?" OToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
9 a6 Y; _/ }5 P9 l3 u. k5 _) Eelectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The9 Y0 F# \$ k! Z2 A: o9 w. ^5 i0 p
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But# m5 s7 F; i7 ~/ m( D
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small+ @$ a+ W1 L4 T- W! t
number of vehicles
; T. ^/ P# [0 h! C3 H2 X# \Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more
8 R' }+ \ ]) o) u* Y* j" G Rdifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
- C F. _+ [! A" b/ a- Qmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
8 ?6 h0 @; D7 [5 P. A- g) k/ ? @source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
' r( o" G |' e( F& r' B z; FMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
5 K5 C k j: T# ^/ pwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no0 A6 m Y! E; Y, [0 p
trace at all.
6 V4 r7 T4 V$ q2 xHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call8 B t4 I% H6 c( \1 v
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden j% [; Y# J6 G
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the4 g% ~+ w6 p6 ]& G
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.5 }& u7 D- u' K; d Y1 }7 C' a; F l5 h$ D
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,6 w7 Q9 b: X4 v; W& n4 H( o
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
: o% i: A* m. }! A/ e# fother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
) w4 q. l0 \; @electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible$ {6 w* m7 ^2 _+ q
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only6 D) ^& [" t' }- H6 O4 b
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
! o' h" Z u8 r9 g; v& }& `0 vby Toyota's lawyers."
0 ~7 |, b9 i3 fLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
# c. L G; @0 H0 y U/ O/ bproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our0 X9 }5 g' m2 Y* ^% r
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he$ C; x4 M4 h5 x7 T. W4 ]
said.# C0 _. D+ ?. p! M2 L+ m
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with) M/ a: [ c6 h5 U2 w1 J+ U
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
9 f5 ^7 R% O& [4 tgood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
- F. _/ J$ h# W3 `officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.: p7 Z8 C- s7 Z8 G; h0 h% |: q
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
- q' _/ x' n* X! G7 Emembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread) S+ D4 i% I! x8 W
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the/ E7 D2 V. I' y& A; s( m' b$ b3 g
automaker, at least in part because of the government's V; E3 P0 V4 g* t( j9 m
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
) l1 c2 k M: T9 l: }5 iChrysler.
9 X" R) P. R& z" a"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
3 {" R1 H) E% l( l. Edollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
# I$ J6 l. A: W" i" T# l! T t9 pHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
' c6 y3 B5 G1 C4 q/ wserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
2 \7 J' F; P0 `, U% a8 S/ |with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
8 d/ G3 K y7 I, Ntough."
m# ?. P! t( K8 D8 N3 }---5 k; r. L0 u1 D* p7 E: L( \. B
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
6 T+ U& Y: ^" ]! n! ORaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
: E& y2 W4 X5 U" j2 h. V3 |this story.8 X. L* [) k' \% _$ E# ]$ v- B
5 D. n. p3 |; r2 x% g5 E0 I
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