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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
" n! b/ b& J: Q( [5 H$ q4 T nBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS/ y$ x& p2 R+ b7 g2 _1 m9 w/ ]& P- b
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.! [0 [) w) F) C F: F
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
: t* ` _* k& H+ P& Q8 rthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
7 v, G- S9 V. Y5 l, @solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.5 t& }7 M& R; ]7 F+ U. d
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential( t: i0 k ?, J1 o# Y; d8 o
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
8 G6 a r* K( h. U& O* qHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected9 i5 ~. K* v- Z- E
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and/ @; w0 g2 j" V0 q9 d( A: B4 z% G( @
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor% I1 i2 e5 }6 G* Y; z
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.! {/ T, C8 z2 d" l% |' l: n, E
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
S# j0 x; W& I6 u1 Band fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
' Z2 ? G3 v' e; @8 \- N9 scriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
8 o2 U$ P" X! I }further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
& D0 B1 b+ U1 f: Xnot stop her runaway Lexus.
0 W. y% V. n- y5 H/ ?3 q"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
0 S$ ^0 }( l3 P( B# Q0 tTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
; n; x& I/ p( `7 Q; V: s"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
' P/ }) E& F( E3 {Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
: x7 f+ t+ `" q7 ?8 M' b |$ Vearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said/ _" w6 \9 E6 A6 i
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has( R0 V" A! U) @# Y/ L- Y6 Z ]
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway2 F* d4 |8 K: G
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's: z: ^, v9 C. d8 X! ]
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
N6 N$ w2 f: S% a$ pLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
; {: W4 i% F3 _, X ~$ _electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of- [( K! X0 Y. g- {( f- |4 [
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
7 ?" T5 q- o$ u6 N3 A) |9 R$ Qmalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
2 | \4 l" O, B" P2 k9 osaid.# J5 B( l" A) l4 g0 ] N
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what6 y7 k( ]6 s/ P+ z {6 K
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
0 x2 f( c# R& l( Y# \about driving our products," Lentz said." { e; I. ?* j3 C, r( `
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
3 V; U5 p1 }) {! _) c, Uproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
# @' G( j/ d8 f9 L. Krecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 62 ~% k& e" W9 I( E
million in the United States -- since last fall because of
. @7 K" B: u- _+ a9 ]0 W) g F2 [unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
3 {! F: u8 T; S( |issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering* t% w7 P' C5 j( V0 h
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of% k' c/ i( A# y! m4 M
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow/ N; ?1 `/ ^6 a3 v% O" |, E
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
, ?2 e) B' M: D' h' C. z# ~received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration C! |0 Q! E/ X( r# j) d& }5 |
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.
. g8 Q j( n& U( yLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own) ^0 L# \. U4 K3 {' I/ J0 `
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
' h5 x+ a( ?$ f( X/ Q) F g1 gunderstood the pain.; D: B, P$ R& }$ d1 N- s
"I know what those families go through," he said.( O' M* [$ s5 i5 w& U2 r+ [' ]! ~
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
5 N$ z" d- R6 |1 y' c5 afixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
( U# ]1 T/ L+ e; D5 U; Q6 K/ }But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
+ @+ F( U1 C2 b+ \! l5 QHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put6 o8 D" J/ ^5 ?! L7 S/ ]5 ]
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,# z G9 x+ m6 B$ f/ q5 n; l, @
Lentz replied: "Not totally."
( N3 r; C- ]' Q0 ~- r2 lStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
* D" p5 ~/ t; j1 h+ j"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said' N0 G$ \7 `2 I' F$ L
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas+ T) m; e6 ?# V
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
' p5 u/ ?- {+ t+ x7 zvehicles already on the road.
+ v+ X K/ t: FMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify! p8 K1 {& W6 d) W
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full/ @$ B3 z; E1 g6 H s
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and( E$ U6 I* p6 a0 Z. U' U$ a. @( U$ s. {
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
2 `1 O* y# i7 n: O2 w. [! dkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.3 J7 T, m. n* P! `5 ~
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
4 x M' Y% l0 @% o, stragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
$ E0 S% G/ ^. }8 l* M/ g' Qfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight( \0 x2 g3 Z( E7 P F
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
/ m |% t' V/ F& U* A7 ?commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
% e4 v. w# v9 y+ n# f- e" @restore the trust of our customers."
1 C8 F+ z2 g% K0 CLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
" `+ B- u9 I6 B5 L7 y" F1 FSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
2 X$ C4 f! m: F+ U0 c/ }# I0 R4 N8 Vzoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --9 E" a; v- c7 M# S% x5 B, z* _
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
: }/ v% E( k2 A/ T+ nhitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
# N1 m) J B5 Vthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
5 n$ w; O4 v7 Mturn off the engine.2 _6 R1 |% `" b" ~# T9 d: _
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
- y% ?- }7 s% w- ~/ bOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
( F1 ]4 ^2 w8 l; ]8 y"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she. [% D( u0 n- S; s5 m$ }* H: t. V
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond# o6 f7 e8 f# M$ ]/ i e
to her complaints.
% D4 E5 y1 b3 |* p8 [3 h6 g- o, hIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers7 H# I2 p e! W1 L# `
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
5 K0 U9 J) n2 xmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
" P: ^: Q! o$ [& A8 ~ C9 j% @7 M2 K1 u+ I"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric2 z6 |; u. v) j
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited. `8 m9 o3 I" U, Q8 r
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut. b. \5 c5 A& F4 J( u; j K# Z
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."! M0 H3 _, s- F0 n7 W
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
+ `+ w8 |: ]* v4 C$ Wprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
" j+ X8 j- B7 p e: g1 bbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls: n# G, G: x5 M* D/ e- a0 _
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer) J- s6 {3 C) r2 F) P( C5 e0 V$ o) C
every question."
6 x/ o1 z5 S- t4 }Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether! l5 T3 @& M5 U
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The9 m' c& C' M; S+ j( C
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But: `. h# k, S0 K/ [ Y1 q0 i
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small# F, ~5 T$ w$ Y+ ]0 \) z# R
number of vehicles8 O( |4 K. w4 x( M1 S
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more& U& S6 m/ e2 v$ b2 `& f4 v9 W
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
5 O' \. A0 ~4 \. G6 }3 H2 Qmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one. V D* w& D+ U' y/ @
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
! a4 D: v, g- |Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,1 J, d; ^" I1 v1 c. D( a0 a
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
* I; g6 _* _& _9 F; _$ S& S, rtrace at all.& z7 l, h R9 B2 n6 O {0 Y
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
+ t! v7 ?, H% K1 k! U; t5 Odatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden- |/ R+ ]# b V" d9 G+ q
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
. p9 F, R: }$ u' l3 w6 ]6 t2 irecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
& w7 E( f9 Q) |& H* V5 D7 o# Q7 M7 D: \Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,* w/ z' \7 R* d
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
( L% @4 n- X8 [other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
@- }8 \9 B0 O. @2 Jelectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
+ }- x1 C- ]$ A, j4 a2 Ucause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only2 f/ o7 H. ^1 `; v. B8 _ A' c
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
$ n2 z t$ B! q1 }8 _by Toyota's lawyers."
1 P6 t; L7 X& k/ c8 v W" D% O( bLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of2 @* }1 _1 r3 C
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our8 `+ d5 d. c/ c- l1 q7 h# R
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
: m, e, b" _/ C! Ssaid.' T# j* O0 V1 S0 F! I
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with" R3 J; v5 }5 d+ g
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
3 P& L( k+ }8 v$ `/ Kgood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
" E% h; f [5 M6 Q }officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
; @. I, z9 o1 U$ O4 c8 p2 BSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
: X$ {% y0 o3 T9 Q$ X4 smembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
$ ?3 ~' M8 o) s) b1 {rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
% W4 A2 Y/ L/ n+ w4 nautomaker, at least in part because of the government's
7 D4 d; g5 t9 m) g. k* j0 X& _investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
0 `) i; q. d$ M* zChrysler.
0 a) D/ r3 h5 Q& \8 G"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
! d% ]! u" K: T( Y1 u; n" _, e5 Ldollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
! _0 B* R4 T! {0 p* Y9 a3 n( vHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also4 L$ p7 }! @; \ x
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete1 r% A+ P2 J; h7 h: ~0 S5 }5 N% J) A
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
+ _7 g/ T" y K9 wtough."
, B6 Y& q, R9 D# E- X---
" `( M9 a- `! a& S# t' o. vAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom# Y9 t1 `3 `6 T" Q# N
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to" H: L9 M7 W5 ?" h4 [/ N6 B* E
this story.
2 L' K5 j* e# u. W
+ ]4 @) { ]" Z+ X! m* q5 h/ m2 e( I-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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