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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
( e. p" J+ v: c `* k7 s- iBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS# H6 p( x: Z/ T
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S." M0 p( ?; n7 z& z
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
5 n+ Q( T' X; t6 S/ @the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"+ W9 Y: h0 o1 a4 \
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
6 B1 q! ~6 h1 q9 j! \"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential& @7 }' s( T1 ^! x1 T) d. G2 o
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
0 T, N2 x# [' }9 \However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
q2 b# T- C5 o' lacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
/ i3 K0 N# u. @, s5 P5 ?3 htrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
/ l4 S, `( ?8 h5 e7 u% N5 jmats and sticking accelerator pedals.
- W- D" l/ j& {3 g9 @He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal% w) d- V9 p }2 t
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
+ u; J4 t3 x9 L7 Y. n2 i7 Gcriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be, }& m0 T4 m( B- S* h- D8 f
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
4 J6 ?3 G2 T" `. A+ t" k3 g3 onot stop her runaway Lexus.
- ]4 E# T. i1 y* H I' g' T. y+ F"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,. b# ^0 P8 ~: p! W# r1 l* i* y" K
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
2 S6 G' h T) W" [6 g$ j' O"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.: U" E% {2 r" Z% w
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues, I9 f& I5 T1 B O' @- ~
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said& V& e9 ]+ }2 ?: E1 s# d/ F
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
q) R R3 O. }: J0 |: J. [4 Gdone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
0 ~% A' _0 g9 |8 a- {& Y6 h' x% ~/ \through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
( V' e& e7 ~2 ?9 n% A8 Yinvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
! s6 e4 b4 J5 lLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
6 V: A3 p/ k' N+ X) b. @electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
) a- O+ ?0 F7 V0 J$ ^the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
9 y9 H: T) G' } Smalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he; P* v' u1 L4 b. x" m
said.
- g( T% E! \, P; V; h# sAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
7 s6 x0 W# ?2 a) A& ihappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
8 C T7 w, `0 m7 t, y/ Jabout driving our products," Lentz said.
8 `' C5 ~, C4 `Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
; V# Q+ e% u8 S r# a9 wproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has& {: a4 S" P6 f) J: r3 F' ?, t
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
' Y( r& i5 A2 W" C; T$ V: Omillion in the United States -- since last fall because of
* i7 {( X# _: Z1 Hunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
. V" ~4 d+ ^+ k; d& {) eissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
! q( G1 n% P1 J& E. Y. aconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of/ k8 S! a2 y( F' l
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
- W0 ]( c* O# l4 F/ Z' Ndown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
& @7 x* Q2 C2 Q- v% x( i6 ?5 {( P$ K% I0 xreceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration' _8 Q4 o! c s& l1 K
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.7 |$ |8 [/ _ I& P
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own, w; d# T1 B0 G; J! D
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
5 V, K2 T) W, ~understood the pain.
/ P& s! `$ @+ \0 B- d- y# `: S" Z"I know what those families go through," he said.0 ]7 N( n/ F" Q- t4 _1 L: h
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
" S$ a* ~! X U2 Tfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.. P @+ i' ]# f- K$ ~7 }$ c
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
" d) i4 u1 I; J* p' x3 a( X) H$ tHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
+ D( ?* s0 v9 vin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,9 ~/ u+ Q. W" w& A) ]: b6 @2 i2 c
Lentz replied: "Not totally.") v+ h5 Z8 S% ]4 m, y- P
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
' X/ m+ W U& [4 ~"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
: g! _. V3 r/ i: Q" B9 C2 XToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas3 y1 J' b& `3 T
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
( Y3 b8 x! R$ D0 }: k3 I$ {vehicles already on the road.
; y1 Z3 ?. T: }0 M% _2 h5 Q, Y' D' DMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify. N: }# B6 h2 V" t- y
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full, V( l! s: y- u @" _1 O
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and% r- A- R% e$ Z* p b4 H
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
1 M: R) s. P: B8 v8 nkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.0 x" v# B& X2 j
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
9 C) o6 u% ]# \$ C. q( dtragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony% j" J. |9 S, m6 N1 {
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight: S; A( j' ?$ o
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
0 d1 ^, D* ?8 ?5 f; ?commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
0 M. o- X: u1 _# N# grestore the trust of our customers."
/ b+ i! ^$ K7 GLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
' e- W( H4 m$ a3 F4 \0 @1 v5 QSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly# }) {3 x+ T% _1 ]1 z6 h, }/ b; {( d
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
/ @, N$ W+ }4 ~" W0 s: lshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
% h& X" h1 y4 c: |' Vhitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
6 q8 |8 V) z/ l* H2 I& v# X Tthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
- d( r8 X3 Y. d, R1 O5 L2 iturn off the engine.! \4 R6 u& V. x3 K
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
9 z8 v1 K1 C; g$ l" C5 N# q* uOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."/ j# r. }! L1 v0 b" S
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
; t. J+ S, Z; p2 N7 v# Dsaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
0 b2 d) ~' T+ {0 x5 L1 j+ ato her complaints.
% O! X2 c' N9 _0 xIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
# s3 \$ i* Q& h! qreturned again and again to the question of whether electronic+ { c' o; M+ g! I3 {( f/ x* L
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
" o$ Z1 `+ ?8 K+ K0 {( Q+ v"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric, d$ j; @0 w3 }9 i( q$ ?( \
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
( ?( u c; x6 z. z4 Z+ Y"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
( r# |, C0 z1 C( }/ l2 Q7 roff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."; }3 i2 J4 }/ s, R5 T+ N2 Q
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
- j2 c+ v* D# w9 G) h6 }prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were9 r/ a* |( `% B% f1 G, T
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
7 N& ]4 K" M( a4 uwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
( O- y& P& V0 x* aevery question."
A0 g J8 \; v J1 j/ ?Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
6 H9 F/ y" @, g! Oelectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
0 L0 _( O8 |9 H' W" Rfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
5 ]( a2 T9 \1 O. b7 I' ?1 H% Ncommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small9 i5 L [- I* n1 n9 ~8 u4 k
number of vehicles
, A$ m- a" u4 `* [. _, nTracking down an electrical problem can be far more' p" ~% I3 v4 d# J
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a# r& ], h; B3 l W( ?6 z
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
9 m; Y* k7 y( e' W3 ~1 ?source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
. X/ n0 o. m, BMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,% \7 u5 A/ [- r S
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no# V* {1 H1 m4 e1 x1 t' Q3 a I
trace at all.
8 P/ d/ c# k* KHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
, x" ^4 t- z) \database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
$ @& ?2 @( a) Z- d# Sacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
, V' N3 K2 o ]. grecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
; O( f' r6 I: o5 _Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
8 x* s- [6 T6 b8 j2 Z5 nsaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
+ i0 _. T! @% O% x: b5 C9 mother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the( g9 w' Y0 l( r
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible" |! d8 K; I% M/ c, [% ]( R
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only/ ?( P3 ~% W5 z( C1 c% F2 y
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
, x( X; d- B# g/ C9 p+ M' P! qby Toyota's lawyers."# g/ B) r* G2 \" K
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
0 D5 i: r1 Q9 ?problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our$ J7 `2 V; P) r! z9 K9 v
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
% n6 M) i8 E% }said.4 q# b A4 U8 T8 Z0 {2 p5 f
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with+ W! ?2 [& N% t" [4 }
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
7 [6 @: k6 C4 Tgood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
l% Q5 L/ f; X$ M: q) L. Aofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.- ?* g' o! t& S* c' _& r f
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying N s2 z* I) b2 j# G& b0 }
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
9 _+ a& I! r# I6 E: m* A6 v8 prancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
+ b6 F$ Q7 H5 d, |" g- Dautomaker, at least in part because of the government's' x3 v1 d3 v5 ]' h1 `5 V5 x4 z3 |
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
1 \" K/ G1 L( hChrysler.: E/ i; K0 I: ]4 j& c6 z
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax7 p. }9 g( m0 `
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a( `8 Q7 [ W( J
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
8 Y$ D0 _ m1 Z+ a6 `+ Hserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
- w7 e d* w" e0 G+ ?with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
' i+ ?$ M0 n# M9 p* A9 e2 gtough."* t) [- f9 q4 f
---
/ X: A: W5 z& r* F9 sAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
9 }* v/ P1 B: DRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
( R( H! h! f$ W/ l0 }1 D6 [this story.
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