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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
& S# f! y7 r) V' W" m# c3 dBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS# B. G: @8 ~9 m# U9 ^
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.) _; {9 C2 L, D! P7 l
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
* b) m9 s+ O0 {0 @the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
) x, J# C9 u. s: D9 Hsolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.( z% }$ s9 s0 }
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
3 X( a; ^1 x7 w+ t, Ecauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
% [0 T% c5 K1 k" F! I& ?: zHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected, G7 e: R' U. r( ~) N+ O& _
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and9 N& _1 l3 a& V9 ?& G
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor3 [! e: f6 _* n8 X. T y
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.# j! u$ H' e1 R- ?. |+ p
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
) N& Q5 d( n& _and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp" |5 S9 q+ m, u9 w6 m- D$ |& }
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be% M; U8 G! F; x0 v
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could9 O8 L5 @) k; o# j8 i) l) J. H/ y9 u
not stop her runaway Lexus.
, q( t* V3 i" r"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,6 H0 x+ D% P: t0 I) k
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
1 K+ ?1 B1 k* O- d" e2 ^/ f* E# y"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.' Z5 {- k. g5 r
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues5 }( l5 z) a3 T- S2 v; z1 F9 G
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
2 K( B* u, p% I9 J"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
, e# m! }" s0 y# Jdone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway6 `9 W/ @( a: {& W0 t
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
% D; L! P' R2 ]) ]( }% {- Qinvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
, E9 h) K" I: L( y4 v9 {3 Q1 A: o' QLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an3 O/ x" b$ z, p4 o2 Q" O/ S
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
# E" s: @3 F& J( P1 Y# C6 a. v3 hthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a- w2 g7 Q- g2 i9 _7 \
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
5 g, b' ]# T4 f+ v3 msaid.9 [4 Q6 D( F1 A, r! g; N. ?
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what8 C! v3 L- c' c' g ?4 i
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
, ^& f4 `* n$ v2 Eabout driving our products," Lentz said.1 f' D7 T. o# ?/ b; [
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's# X' E! U* D7 A7 g8 _
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
7 u/ p( E( h: W- n3 n: orecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
. V" S" {0 k% \million in the United States -- since last fall because of
; i0 {3 P0 c! q& Y8 K ~5 Ounintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
, `; U8 A5 `% W4 F3 q _3 E2 F7 Cissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
1 }) j' O& I( L; u, c* H+ Kconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of( V z l" Z6 T" y0 N1 s" A
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow, W2 \/ u0 o2 u
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has# _% N; S1 R9 Z) I/ p5 M
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration1 ~, [" o, f4 y) |5 c
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.
' R3 D- G6 P" Q9 _% Y# \Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own l! B$ r. f8 Q
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he- Q2 \( {+ v% r6 j2 ]
understood the pain.
. I D! |; ]$ L' N8 C"I know what those families go through," he said.
9 t9 e9 d* u1 f0 j, b, v. HLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's [4 G- v# `8 Y2 Z$ C# o5 N3 x* z
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.5 a6 z3 D) [8 U$ B. p* A
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman" d, L! h6 G: y) e. R
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
) l w. k# ]' V% L$ k1 R5 din place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
- [8 a. ^) s4 g' i1 pLentz replied: "Not totally."- c$ b0 J) {: V" Y2 w) q V
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were/ w3 w% |$ D' f! f% a( A
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said* T8 j( I5 g6 m+ t4 t9 L
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas) ^5 e! ?; o) T, K' B% s; q
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
! D3 q$ h8 d g9 E4 s, Zvehicles already on the road.
4 U: e) @& B% Z! o' N" p3 j- lMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify" l: K- U9 D9 j3 P6 x8 x
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
7 {3 y4 \+ C, f% c6 o' g$ v" l$ lresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and( t5 `8 e7 p- j. e' l& Z0 ]6 b
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were; [1 a% }! \. s5 X
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
3 E7 I$ W4 Q w* {5 O( N3 R"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a4 ^2 {+ t W+ ?/ I& b) @7 o
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
# @: Y" Y. i/ q" ?5 F$ x: ?for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
% n4 m3 S i+ F0 dCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
2 M, G6 U+ X! Z9 Jcommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
4 g# T! J0 L+ J3 o0 ^restore the trust of our customers."7 Y3 k3 T7 L v
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from& ?. `! r9 i# [0 S
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
& ]4 P. N9 l3 vzoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --( e! J) b) f: u! @, |
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and& F8 j( D- q; H! S+ ]
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
3 \: h1 X* @! j: wthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and7 i) t3 ?3 h; Z/ r4 Z9 A! Z
turn off the engine.
: S* S( E6 i: W" }/ l7 g# {/ T- SFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
R( p) z1 ^& x% u1 R& g2 ROctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
/ h" x; S( e7 L, x9 J"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
1 a, J# G" @/ |0 {- i$ c9 fsaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
! D6 [- N* h+ y1 C: O& T2 C/ wto her complaints.
% L4 M8 A1 h0 p, j4 oIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers: ^1 f9 ]; C( v3 F+ P4 z- T" e
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
7 n# }2 v9 N- q2 y3 J. y$ W7 A& |malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.1 A9 ~9 p$ |) f4 |5 k, Q' z( k
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric( S7 {1 ?! ~% K* e) k C' s) m u
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
. g( V+ ^$ c5 }( f$ N5 \: W"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
) @& U' L5 l) H z2 P% Z. N8 B8 Uoff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."& A8 a4 V# L5 T$ M
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in6 }* |& a7 `8 t8 ?0 t8 m
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
7 u# }1 f3 j4 |. U- lbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
) a |# ]& c* @* W, \8 Awere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer/ W1 Z: t/ ?5 J& K! q1 Y' g% F
every question."7 O" z7 o2 N4 v3 I
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
3 Q) P$ a5 S; F0 Z$ r3 m! x( x8 Aelectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The2 [6 q7 u3 ^+ j) O
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But' x0 F& h6 a4 D) v1 c
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small) Z' `- Y% P+ G# J
number of vehicles+ [6 f7 \ I0 k" v; a
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more1 _1 J9 V c! W' e9 p
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
2 R0 C2 |9 }* c/ h8 V8 Vmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one+ g @* k* H% u9 b( l+ l/ G
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
* F5 {9 r* b* c- p1 I+ s; }Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
' u, ]/ B; j! A6 }" ~ ~3 `7 L6 {where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no: w2 a/ v; @5 A2 }8 ?+ G, Q: v) Q D
trace at all.
I. H; Y$ E6 A5 c% B4 RHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call" j7 ]8 g' ~; i# @- G
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden% ^# u) d( C; m3 m
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the& e, \! u. x y9 Q$ g( r7 q* v
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
9 D1 |8 H, f$ ~, T! NRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
5 Z" ]7 ]- I; R4 B3 s; V7 v. {5 fsaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and/ ^' ]( |* H8 Q. ?
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the3 f, W! ?% z! M
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible) ^" Z8 l. E- M; l
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only# p: n0 F& o# z8 C% f3 _
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
2 {! y5 x$ G2 T, c/ Rby Toyota's lawyers."# m }( M; x6 f2 A1 ^$ U# ~! {; v
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
+ c5 y) I& E- k o( ~" T, f; ]problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our) ]( F3 f! H1 J0 y0 ~1 X# p7 B
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
$ b0 ^1 J$ q4 Z" H9 k0 T( qsaid.1 g+ X. g/ K( ?2 t/ H$ q
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
: ?; ~5 V- x' `% z3 Da rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our" t2 m* |# o0 ?# q3 f
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
1 z) W O% Q) }$ |' oofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.! R8 T) d- s+ r3 f
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
" k+ m6 g- n r/ s; H. G; M4 v+ jmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
9 l& u: t5 t" x7 g' n0 Qrancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the0 Z6 l/ R" x6 P
automaker, at least in part because of the government's4 z6 q7 E+ p, _# p8 H, A1 h, e% O9 B
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
& K/ }: K9 p& a* U: VChrysler.
+ O, t# U4 k' z2 f" M. O"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
& b- W: x. I+ A, o& }dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
: v4 l* L8 J: _2 V# s% q* ]9 bHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also! ]" o0 I N) p! U2 M) [
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
/ X. R, |5 C/ @! I$ V! \1 Xwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
0 S3 t: t9 [' u! h4 K% Y4 m2 atough."6 a- p/ R/ d: H; k/ H
---
9 K$ G1 @1 p3 b! {$ V9 EAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
0 y& ~! \- A5 I6 Q* e, z3 G! [4 q% RRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to# k P4 U/ Z7 N2 w
this story.
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