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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
% J7 q2 Z# |% T$ J5 N6 YBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS. C$ t9 u, K6 { @
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.4 R! T8 I1 e% ]4 {5 H( I
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that ^3 ~5 W4 h! H4 ^1 ~
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"& J2 ~' G( @5 f/ m6 w
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.6 d7 ]' j3 b! c4 E5 Z O
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential& }9 x8 Y; X% b5 A' b6 i/ S
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.+ e- D+ }. ?$ ~/ [. c# m% A/ \
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
! Z. d$ r( @( @! A& L' xacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and% J3 M" g1 O7 Y
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor% a8 ?! _* n5 e/ R9 r
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.+ d9 {: o3 X0 c/ Z
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal, g8 t7 g* u1 ?, o+ U
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp6 q6 a) {0 J: }& Y3 M
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
( i1 k; y4 @5 l! Sfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
2 O, e: I, H7 {* _9 G) Z1 tnot stop her runaway Lexus.& R5 i1 C. l: o3 C% P4 _- V, X
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,, _; h$ {+ Y ~ ^8 j
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second/ F! w0 c& c# l% l. L1 D
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
) M. q* h/ d9 D! ~3 Y6 {! ]" H0 sTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
4 k+ ?, O# I' dearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
) a$ u( P) e, D0 v- q"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has: f" D' d! g: H& [
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
4 F& l" g& e9 u1 _* e) t$ Gthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's, e3 a9 |- @. ]' j6 {( r
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
, r/ A+ m( ]$ ?9 ~9 |4 l* nLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
; c- h! q& h6 n. G1 S! Aelectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
1 c3 t7 w7 D- L7 y; ~, {7 Y$ Sthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a- [6 g0 A E5 j: a( H" z- E
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
- p: l1 }8 _5 Lsaid.
# ]6 X/ I$ N/ K4 Z) J! VAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
# O) r9 U- t, K9 P3 w# hhappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe `' u/ R% s: g! t
about driving our products," Lentz said.) o! n. [" w2 M7 K" q; j
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
' h8 Q, [$ g& l2 Qproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
' {' W+ C( q% r ^. Nrecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
# O$ z# Z! w c9 Y$ xmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of3 m/ r. [- F9 Y9 ^7 e- R O+ h9 |4 K
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking1 X+ c! c0 l0 X
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering5 l9 a' o$ f3 r
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
8 l$ ] I1 Q$ T" [& btheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
4 C" Z' k6 y- |3 R* C# |' Pdown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
$ |/ O. D9 |8 \received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration$ ?, m e8 r6 q* u( j
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.
+ ~% B$ S9 P5 Z, s2 zLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own: F5 N% g$ P- u0 {# z: t
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
& [9 a+ z* a8 Z9 ^) i8 Y; Qunderstood the pain.
! v% t, m& `# E1 \. a. M"I know what those families go through," he said.
' @3 ^4 w6 I) xLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's7 k' y x9 A5 K( _: g
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.' C6 c3 a) |/ S' j4 R& k% B; x
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman3 V! V4 p) T, T! E
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put3 ]+ X( \1 Z% m. G; F3 [. x
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
) l" I9 ?4 l6 G: V0 S- d/ ]: G; TLentz replied: "Not totally."7 m j8 _+ i1 V, j9 ]! ~5 }
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
& e, k1 j3 Q# e; O& @' T"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
' Q) p& f$ ?7 U# v, A6 \/ L) n5 UToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas1 ~0 O. B8 p7 R& E/ d
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its! v, d2 z. o5 }8 O% y! B4 q) @9 g
vehicles already on the road.
~. A; a$ w7 I( OMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify% h& ~) X& j8 b0 C- }: |" s$ Q
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
) C# a! {( M( D5 O8 bresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and# Y; d @4 a) z' T5 \3 m4 ^
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were* W: ]. I5 F8 p" A* m5 H4 f& u. X
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.! `. G5 N/ S* L- [4 E: N* Z; m
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
) F- @- z* _( \4 k. b) Mtragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony, i% f$ I# n8 m( K& t# g
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight2 c6 ] E6 Q6 ~, k" |7 H6 a
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
; E! Q$ @0 U3 a* ~commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to% d9 n4 f3 x) j
restore the trust of our customers."
# N* Z0 H3 t3 P" b& T( ?+ R0 qLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
. v: X" j) r w6 D4 R# I' v7 LSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
; B& a# w+ T4 D+ I; B+ hzoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
# r+ r K2 O1 y2 ?6 E4 Zshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
, x% I$ c/ L) I& r* ?# m; Mhitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough) \7 F# j) M7 o; f9 G* E% _ J( E$ H( p
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and: q: N# v: g7 E9 ^- F' q! t
turn off the engine.
. g1 r2 n% F9 n/ jFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
1 D: r5 Z' k8 P# O z( w pOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience.": a d( w1 C/ e# P6 m7 x, r
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she' n1 {/ f- |, i4 @1 _# l
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
8 s* `8 N, d i9 D- eto her complaints.
2 h& Q3 r. d% I" o* FIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers% A6 h/ Z6 g4 j4 `# h" }
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic, J7 j; i f Q2 G
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.+ {. w# S" w# u* s1 g8 z: ^
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric. M, K# |3 `2 k4 b8 [4 n; ^4 C
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited+ I! A. z- ^" |9 T) q( ^( G/ L8 v
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut2 t% _- U( g9 R/ l8 b7 b7 N
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."+ a4 r; S, d! m4 f% p+ N( `+ V
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
, f3 [# d5 F, H$ r k6 Tprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were# S/ H% B1 x, Q9 V) t# b
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
9 Z7 f! g1 y0 {# \# Twere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
" a2 b. @2 f7 a* levery question."
2 t$ u6 a0 S, X( C/ x( J% NToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether* B% G9 s. h: g# E* A
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
+ j" X) p$ o4 G8 ]! Tfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
% F5 G4 @$ |* V8 g5 Ocommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small, t% I( K- v1 [' r& e
number of vehicles+ ?& ^9 A* p( {$ ?$ ~' {4 T
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more& p1 Q! g" m' e4 W; w+ a+ E% ?
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
0 T* k9 s9 Q$ F3 h1 Tmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one$ v, ?- F+ O5 e' V. P/ ^3 m N
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car." P/ x8 Y4 y$ {+ ?
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
6 j+ F% K n( L6 w% W# Zwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
+ ], b2 Y1 }& c+ ^3 d! Itrace at all.4 {% c G; X- p' C" v6 }/ B0 @, ~
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
5 r4 ^- Y/ a8 i& [$ Q( x$ qdatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
/ N3 V' @7 Z' ]acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
$ Y& u% \/ u! \5 Vrecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals., R6 I9 n% l3 ]" ], y( Q
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,% C( n+ J' F) ]; m# K
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and, C; B& ` L% G/ V
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
* Z |2 O7 s/ l/ M0 v& Aelectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
# }% k8 h! Q, g5 D* z& ^cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only5 h/ C; k0 M% z X
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained1 D; ~ h' z. ?* [& b
by Toyota's lawyers."
$ a5 v# K: b# v) XLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of O8 X {2 v# W6 }
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
. ]$ R$ A4 ~! f! Ecustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
, ^% }3 p5 b" S; Y9 m e2 Msaid.
- n2 I0 o) N E& g) h3 j D5 ^"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with. ?* P; O: e! r7 l$ p
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our; u9 X! t1 Q8 c! ^5 ~' o, n3 p/ y7 b5 ]
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating+ Y1 E6 `5 _6 M q0 q7 L* K4 {5 Q z1 t
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
! v, t! r* I/ s4 l, D' r' eSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
) j5 M1 I5 v, X1 _0 b. C/ K9 J1 d: p2 bmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
A5 ~" P1 s; D1 N3 U2 I) Y# rrancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the5 f/ m+ J. w* E! t
automaker, at least in part because of the government's+ k8 z) \8 ~ X1 {: }& ^
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
/ ^9 E0 e' y% Q8 n- l& @Chrysler.. W) ^; t8 k, S+ E; L7 b9 B
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
1 N; W: X' w$ n7 B8 ]dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
3 Q% ?7 h( S' q3 ^4 ]" iHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
- o9 D8 P& k! P* {# |. Y, Jserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete* M/ s% r# t, X
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty0 ~, x) O1 U2 W% r2 _ y
tough."" }: U) Q) b5 f9 q6 ^: @8 x
---
e% I$ q$ `" Q/ SAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
$ L# l4 b: N4 Y, @Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to, P1 F. `- o7 C* a+ J! A2 [+ Y! u
this story.
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