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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
u6 ^( N' n5 E- P0 g0 C4 xBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS' F5 w% E- E. ~+ Y9 F( x& @
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.# {, y/ o0 v( s
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that4 e- u5 _/ e" k8 z( J1 ^5 p
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
! G7 t! q5 [* y( Z2 `solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.) _4 w* l0 g$ M4 Q5 Y& V
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
! k2 b/ p6 f' G& Zcauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
& [% M$ ?$ }) p0 C* V7 U: rHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
* `5 r0 K8 V' V' nacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
& v* ]& y$ m! `" Rtrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
" \1 ]1 T% `/ @mats and sticking accelerator pedals.
) {- H( F! _: H" rHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal5 x! F+ z0 W8 {
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
! e1 C+ D0 N0 ? Q: s9 k* Ycriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
4 P! T" s2 E @2 M" rfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
; s' }* Y7 w5 Q% N. M1 a xnot stop her runaway Lexus.. g. z- ~+ ^+ i* \: Q$ m' M' U; D
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
- p) @; H. j) M6 KTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
, D9 V6 ~0 P& m a) n; v/ p" B. E"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
" Y: |/ n- |0 E- E. _Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues, z1 r9 h3 Y2 x7 A. P5 N
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said) Q3 \& g2 h; C( _
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has" s+ S) n% v4 ]0 C7 Y( \3 i
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
2 F4 z8 Y- G! G7 Q, L Tthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's9 Q7 j# ], p( C* F3 N6 e3 ?
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
5 X# q8 m) \" {+ M( @Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an- U* t& o4 x4 @3 a. h$ h
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of/ I% q* V) D8 S5 q5 e# ^! V
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a. g% @# s6 n. t% T* O' Y
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he" A8 X8 o! n% L8 j
said.
4 h5 t0 @) q9 b9 A0 d9 d3 T9 M. k; @As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
) `$ P# E; D' D6 ]& ]happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
7 A/ E) W, ~! Gabout driving our products," Lentz said.1 G4 W% z4 r- A2 b/ h# M3 c8 s
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
8 I3 k# P+ s& y$ C, h6 Yproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
$ O1 n* V+ l/ n. h- y$ a9 qrecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
( M( F1 M: a* g$ i, E7 Lmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of( c; i6 ?' s0 N+ Y& R- S* B/ k
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
" _6 d* @- f- W1 y+ |; Fissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
6 m) e3 _3 c! I+ k' O$ P* ]2 ?concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of) A( i) q! k, x( C3 ^
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
" X+ P$ c7 X7 o5 }down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
" [0 |6 ?9 ^ Mreceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
" P1 \! Z( V$ a) _of Toyota vehicles since 2000.) Q& F3 Z1 O7 C7 k9 @
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own3 u _7 i' a7 Z+ k: q
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
2 a# |$ R& ~! I* ^( N/ |1 @4 Kunderstood the pain.
* P7 e2 Y4 E( _( t4 i# ^"I know what those families go through," he said.& X: V) ?2 z/ R7 G! d3 B1 h0 x) \
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
+ e+ Y0 h0 G) {2 sfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
5 B. \5 v9 M. A ]+ G& P9 [But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
2 {5 I8 [" ~) fHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put; _3 o2 s9 z' U9 U& f
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
' x1 m! }0 Z& v; H, HLentz replied: "Not totally."
4 s8 Y( C" }8 _7 e$ ~! s* h6 D( `3 Q- eStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were0 b( B# t. C6 |5 W* U. W) v( N
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
, D( k" y2 e1 X& }/ r4 K3 qToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas! g7 ?" n) L; a+ V: L. h7 C) N
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
' G- E* ^8 T0 z7 s% Ivehicles already on the road.
, C# v1 Y& V- N4 o/ `9 t& _; {Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
& U! k5 x9 l$ M- z \before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
$ _8 W6 K: y) }1 Yresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
* E8 v# O/ D) z! joffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were4 u2 v7 e& s3 o T" ? l
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
% ^* ?) s$ a, K4 Y: k4 s- J$ `"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
2 R, p0 J$ }/ ~) r8 @" Wtragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
% n# q1 h& J3 Jfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
- v5 {+ e# D% a6 o7 ]Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal! Z4 u) ]" A, c
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
2 \$ y+ }# y- f, prestore the trust of our customers."
' Z( Y2 @% ]% L+ S; hLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
9 x7 U- v' K% {/ v6 aSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly1 b5 v2 J8 s% `0 _+ s
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
/ A, b/ y1 z7 Xshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
; g3 I+ V/ D$ ]- J& b3 Z, @' H- S+ ?% Fhitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough* x7 S+ ^- x# i' _$ L
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and) n0 N9 o- D, _3 @ O$ E2 p
turn off the engine.# X" B8 Y( F( s5 @
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
( f! j9 g1 L/ I M7 \October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."4 Z8 A) j4 `" s" q. }. m, ^0 T
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she! H5 n5 m7 m0 `0 w6 {+ x$ @& K
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
0 P5 U1 C3 a& ^/ k7 N- h& Xto her complaints.+ {; e0 f& B3 u- q& h# x
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers5 @' u/ {6 j: {6 U3 f( g# q* \9 r
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic( \* E3 q2 N* b
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.0 M! ^5 m& d6 \& }( c
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
( K+ Y" B" S0 M& H p% gthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited' `7 G) T: j2 o9 C) ]
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut9 j7 Z6 s+ k/ |' |0 R4 F
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
# L- A# D( A8 b, U8 d) ETransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in) o r* P1 D% i, C5 n% ]' T8 a/ }
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
9 y. A4 A3 J a! fbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
& |; C. M( z" @0 P5 B1 Rwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer0 F# D3 { [: `3 `6 ]/ @
every question."
9 x! C8 u" e; lToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether' d# ]9 T- m$ I
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The* e C3 w1 w9 Y
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But+ O/ h" M3 q* C9 A
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
, w3 m& d0 D/ L0 m8 W" Qnumber of vehicles4 S5 z; a2 D* L- a) |/ ~6 i0 b! Q2 K
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more
3 f3 ]6 I* J o* Wdifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
( S. \* q* G+ N% L; l4 cmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
q) h- w9 L% j$ O+ Jsource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.6 Z. L: h1 u% p$ l( N# a
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage," T- A" i. `+ s' h) d
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
) J _% b- x/ j6 F- k- c/ B" Atrace at all.* l" ~& R8 |+ S
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
$ S7 `! `8 Y' Q) Z! h p) bdatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
T* f J5 O# K" ~3 ^' Macceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the$ `1 _& f% ~/ m3 X
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.2 m6 l) W; I7 W6 m3 a) H _6 C
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,4 ]( Q" z$ H+ O$ H8 ~2 x
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and- t3 a/ X/ ^& d/ ?* j0 _! E
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the- K& Y. o. c/ H0 e! e" |+ P
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
9 d, T( }4 `$ l; [: E1 Ncause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
* l9 T+ d5 r; ]3 Osuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
* x+ W3 L1 P9 a# ?4 ^6 J; N$ }by Toyota's lawyers."
9 C+ T- e }; K- e X kLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of1 \) l4 i4 P6 ~/ P$ e
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
# N2 }+ `- ^* dcustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
' f1 k% n' j4 Z/ t. ?said.2 L$ r' ^% {1 [( _/ K2 c# w
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
6 r& O! N+ M, ?6 `0 t0 x1 P1 z5 ka rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our' m" C3 F0 |2 O& a0 E
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
# U2 j$ k! P Z% D! V! V4 o4 Dofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.# s/ i) Z# V/ O/ h- T6 m9 k
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
+ c3 }- @) y3 i4 Y# I& ~members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
# _1 q2 c: Q5 U' B2 F. N; A C! Urancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
! c* W1 P8 x4 Z6 q: @( t0 Sautomaker, at least in part because of the government's0 f: f5 U' i6 H# D( U
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and5 B+ F* T6 o2 S& X& o- p8 A
Chrysler.
- g! F# y1 [7 C- ^2 q) O"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax2 w% W2 [$ ~' K) V2 [
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a, E$ p i. I& g1 a/ d) M7 f+ R) }5 g
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also5 F$ Z- `; z- j
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
8 W* F7 s( e X$ K$ E% B; }with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
1 L8 p- L3 Q3 q" R# \5 N8 h" N4 Ztough."
: a4 X; `8 U+ s- i5 o& x---& m! ^& t6 S# L2 D
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom( ^4 K, F$ a) ~8 [: \! T
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
, C. z1 [& \+ a7 vthis story.+ j. |7 Z8 r. y+ k# B
8 a& a# m; v) E- K5 M
-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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