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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
$ g x0 N% U, }- j# v L6 Q& sBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS. O) }' ~& t& L% M
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
( h# ^/ _7 q4 k. Loperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
* u6 o# ?0 l/ W; c- Athe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
% B% a# w5 D# f2 w7 B/ x/ {; tsolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
+ V/ n* U, H4 V J7 b"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential& H, S" m2 s |
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
' A. o, d' v% E1 }8 _However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected' _! K5 I: ^- S; ]6 d/ i9 ^; x
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and5 B3 U" P A3 l% Q, V2 P
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor5 A6 Z4 p+ E5 V$ u
mats and sticking accelerator pedals./ L% S* ^% o+ V5 @
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal% T1 o0 I9 R! d
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
2 |8 J/ q% q- [9 f! ecriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be: k8 w: S& I5 Q6 i1 C# u* U- ]
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
7 t9 v* R/ b! `+ ~- {" [9 q1 Vnot stop her runaway Lexus.! K# w5 F/ h. b0 ^: t
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
% e2 Z9 A1 {, x3 e4 xTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
2 U7 x7 e' ]9 c% d% y7 C1 I"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
- w' G8 Y& ~' Y0 J! s. Q+ DTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
, i9 g$ l# V) n6 A i- Bearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said# n, V" ^, P! }
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
: k1 K" p) f: Vdone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
* X6 L4 O4 H8 H' N; }through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's3 u3 r4 w" E& c$ P" P. ]
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."( @; D9 K0 \2 B& M: \9 B, O
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an8 D! C0 J- l- L2 ~
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of: n, j1 L9 p) i. [( G# a+ P
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a' @& [* L8 j; O1 N- v# `
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
8 d: A7 s* E7 W! ssaid.
9 M" X- Q, B& U/ ]6 iAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
w( y, Q7 P% ~0 phappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe% Q: t/ q( v' }: \) g5 V, c
about driving our products," Lentz said.
6 v5 z+ [8 t2 pThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
7 Y2 J V# Q6 F! ]% c Tproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has' {+ f; F, F( O9 C1 |2 T/ d
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
; u2 r; V; A; {: A. n: Nmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of, f1 n! ~' |) A! `- b# {" Q: W
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking8 {+ P8 \$ h, w" J5 h* f
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering' i7 q( q! j0 \ a$ k$ [
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of) S) i1 Q4 H; c% J4 `+ I1 q
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow1 G, d$ T6 Q) T# ~) o6 y4 b9 R. [! n) e
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has( D* I$ d/ Z- E6 i3 h
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration- _) m9 k8 ~) z+ b! e; R: ?6 U
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.+ L( x7 W) H J6 ?- e- p
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own2 g5 H4 y- }/ T3 k7 z
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
2 F. A8 U+ u1 x$ z( u% r; n0 Runderstood the pain.
' ]' W# r0 K* K, c& s"I know what those families go through," he said.
" l) ^0 u5 P* ]2 z1 z2 q3 OLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
9 G6 i( p* w0 U& `9 f+ yfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.* X5 D. j4 b$ x, r- p' N
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman: m; @$ c$ d) q& V7 k+ w
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
; I; \! H& x0 F I% hin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,; p: }9 J/ x6 H; ^# u' h0 `: c
Lentz replied: "Not totally."
: \8 w9 ?4 A2 w# W5 g! uStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
! g3 C$ P0 T: X4 L# i/ q"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
! f. A \, a, e tToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
+ q% j2 |9 Y' O# v, i' p5 }& R: Xpedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
8 u' z' ?) j; l% Z1 Jvehicles already on the road.
' k1 {8 D, p B, a0 x2 uMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify8 Q& A' Q" J* u0 c
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
5 [! X8 j) m2 Y9 j) x! C% {' vresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and6 }9 Z+ U. i V( X! j
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
# G4 V& b7 b3 ckilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.2 p; h9 A" E% C$ C4 F- Q
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
" c6 i$ E u/ V$ ?+ _' utragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
! ^" u; L! W" a+ _. p/ [for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
& B3 K6 D8 R: s- bCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal9 `: X: [ y3 Z5 C8 z7 g& {* J e
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
! D% O2 t x) T" qrestore the trust of our customers."
7 ` v6 D6 h& {Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from6 u/ W4 @4 {6 N' {4 M
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
+ e. X0 L+ c# x. Szoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
8 h" F9 e0 u) I0 H: ~ }* Jshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
* N/ Y! \# h" nhitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough E2 x- V0 c# s" o
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
1 S& f' [4 e# A2 r8 D& qturn off the engine.
. ?, y& f% r3 T O0 q2 dFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
" K1 j( [6 B/ r l, K( {October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
% o0 Q6 r7 m8 W+ Y" f! b: m"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
9 v: Y$ M! O! `1 b4 o$ _said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond, V/ p1 G0 f: Q# d5 N4 y
to her complaints.
' x+ S) f' `% C+ K& LIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers6 s# Y/ e0 N8 l4 k6 R$ i
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic$ [$ h; M' a2 a- [7 Y
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.# \" Z( ?3 z5 Z) a: k; n/ g9 `% f
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
( M) ~) @1 ` L, E# [5 Gthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited/ v3 a# v' R8 z# H9 P: J/ v
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut" S: O8 F) K4 x, E3 ]7 T5 l& ^
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure.", {' n0 w3 S m" ]9 B2 s' a
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
; o8 U' u: Z) b. |" h8 bprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
! I% q* z! |( q( z" S+ \% P6 \being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
6 ~2 \+ b. z& q5 Y& ewere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer; k5 @- k: w$ H- Y7 G
every question."8 j; L$ D2 v5 V0 E6 e
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether9 S, ?& `* Z6 n+ U
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
, x$ i) r3 C. O; w% gfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
' @$ @, E* \ a& I/ U, S5 E! ~committee investigators said the testing studied only a small$ ~; r+ \2 N7 E0 y5 F' G) a
number of vehicles
0 U8 i8 I0 g8 e3 w0 z) x1 M, h# \: Y$ GTracking down an electrical problem can be far more, v9 s" \$ b( b4 X/ N
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a q6 u& s1 q* z4 U" u& J% J
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
, F$ @0 @- C) @% y/ O* w) ^source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
+ D% x* J; F2 f& IMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,9 g- j) e& u/ v! d
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no8 J$ S* a1 @7 L8 N- {9 c- U
trace at all.1 s" ~. V2 w" e0 P9 g5 ]
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
2 R' Y6 w( |; H Sdatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
( x4 M" M& m, v% L2 r7 Jacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
# U* O2 y( N5 [. W# |( Frecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.$ @% b2 w2 D z& r) t
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,$ c1 k4 h. P g. t/ T
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
}1 T: X9 o$ M% k$ b/ aother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
% e4 e. Z# J3 u8 n( kelectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible; Z! ^9 p e( b1 {5 d
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only9 y$ ^( F9 J0 b
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained2 P7 G; f6 l. d' J) W. ]9 L
by Toyota's lawyers."8 ]" i. W: i [3 ]( C3 y2 P
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of' C! O, Q2 C' P2 g/ _( Y
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
! U; _& G# u* J- L8 Q9 o8 v Ccustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he. k' G, d0 d V0 Y" M$ ?
said.
6 r E; n. @4 S, c; S"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with: `$ L6 ~8 E8 y6 c* B8 y7 P
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our4 @ Y( ~) M* t. |: }6 \
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
: u N. U1 }2 Kofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
. x) k' q5 B5 h! J8 h1 ZSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying" D% N6 j, u) y' X7 a6 f5 t
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread; K' n j7 C7 d4 A& L
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
4 Z( H' @3 S |& g5 bautomaker, at least in part because of the government's( R, `1 W% i s$ a$ ^! u
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
# `$ f: g/ o6 \5 EChrysler.
/ P! A# @8 y( B"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
3 R2 s' ~/ e: Z4 Tdollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a2 [" y2 S- ` V( F
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also$ j- ]0 [6 G& a5 X" I6 e
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
! i: a3 n' \: F5 x( Gwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty. Z9 O$ u/ S3 q
tough.", N1 b9 c" e( }, @/ T
--- ]6 a3 d& h3 L# f1 h
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom' U4 Z7 J" p3 |4 M
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
% d2 J; |0 a1 V+ U: p" ^this story.' O0 B# `- s8 ]$ d2 `! u
u4 ~! J" [* T8 p: _
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