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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
, p/ a8 b/ m; r9 w0 hBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS6 M1 D2 W1 B O5 s) m% \1 g1 Q
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.# |1 Z D ?9 N$ M8 V
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that: g- F% ]; f9 ]
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
F9 g r4 J: m8 o3 H5 _solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration. ?& ~5 X. e% }9 G) _2 W# Y
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
/ Q; _2 ]. P* P( ^9 ?+ f+ _causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.) U- y0 s$ g# K; F7 _. O$ ]
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected' Y) s3 ]2 w! B2 h; ^
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
, G" x4 `% [- Atrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor+ d: O$ c9 S, S6 g& W8 o- J4 y
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.
3 G2 Y% J! y! A M' wHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal6 ]) N' z2 G: R6 R% c
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
! h: u& t# N5 a Z9 Ccriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be& z! p- q7 R/ ]" ~6 k5 {
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
. {+ A- Z$ k+ h- [not stop her runaway Lexus., D* t: x5 _7 L7 h
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,3 C) v! R4 t& Y2 ?, h% k
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
% {. |! C: Z# Q U- {. E5 g. q"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.+ s2 s) X; R1 z9 P8 c5 N d1 N
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues+ R) Z7 r/ `+ b
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said; W' L& P6 c5 R3 }. ~
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
( Y% c( u# }3 J1 ?done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
5 D# l" I6 R) i2 l+ |through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's# Y2 f6 D; `) w, G8 P% ^
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."; x4 s6 k; l# M# r% D
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an' z( |0 \6 O! k
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
5 ?. l5 H1 J9 i# T. S- othe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
% R& J5 S- r$ H( h f9 u8 V$ @' Xmalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
& o8 s. i; S5 T0 z: Csaid." \( }1 g! I$ G9 x5 _% i7 e
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what& T9 R) H* u! U* d
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe* H9 m; I6 R2 Z% Z
about driving our products," Lentz said.
; K; b4 J# u; Q. [# v4 GThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's: t" Z1 ^ ~) T$ w! d
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
" I/ i% c- w) Y4 Irecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6) b5 n! w% l3 Z+ @4 v& m+ E5 M
million in the United States -- since last fall because of
% F+ D# F: O& ^unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking6 X" u, }3 z |% T* N. {7 B) w
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering i" j" T/ c) m% t
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of; v- Y! ], ]6 s& Z5 n
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow+ m- K5 y | p
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
, s8 q; Y( ^9 t* q. d$ v' Nreceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration7 R8 Q) T1 F8 x2 P' A1 A
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.4 c' n" j. h) x) O$ ^- |1 d
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
& Z# a1 I; s: g4 Zbrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he9 P' n4 f# {9 @) Y' o- E6 W& U1 a
understood the pain.
1 o% U2 _' W u2 |8 K"I know what those families go through," he said.
% ^ v( T. @; `' r- p; O9 |Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's; r) M4 e3 h: J& R' ~/ r
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
" {9 h& o& \% ~5 VBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
% g! o9 @9 @( d+ D) nHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put: u. y& f, Q' v# I5 f
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,5 G$ ^; h! J& K) E) T" }
Lentz replied: "Not totally."2 X. q* h2 p4 _5 e( |+ C
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were+ X0 e. @8 Z4 N2 Z# {3 ^9 o
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said* Q# Z/ G- J3 e. R/ N
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas; Y- p* w. r9 b- l
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
D) M' f0 Z3 ~& f1 z8 S; Evehicles already on the road.. ~! G6 R2 J# z
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify* v4 L/ Y, m. J# T3 e% ? \8 q) l
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full0 f- h" V0 [# ~. |* k& G; ~
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and! Q* M$ I2 k/ u( L
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were; E! J! J/ i' j# N2 s" S
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.; F3 _" \" t7 I+ U# c
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
: h+ R, O5 u6 O: Ntragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony+ J: W% }% U2 o) o& t K
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
3 e1 t' i7 _; m2 |7 e( W ZCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
, L2 }3 ]. c: F( }9 Gcommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
: x4 ?$ C6 v/ r& prestore the trust of our customers."( n+ ]# }, S) |) d
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from9 m1 Y }$ `. A6 j
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
7 E; W% C1 ]3 g9 g5 K- E' pzoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --: \) {; j' i" \- Y+ c# K8 |0 F( C
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
2 `' o; ? {8 I: m! U( F/ ?hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
# k. d" H+ B* Wthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and) w: }- B. K+ c" A$ T1 h, e
turn off the engine.2 f7 Q4 r3 C; j. Q
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of- t* N# H& U! G9 V& S
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
" |* _; L$ c# U( v" a"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
* V/ W5 B6 _5 l5 lsaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
, l6 B y) N* O# R/ {8 E) E# _to her complaints.
, r4 p: _3 w* _5 N- hIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
7 {* L* F+ G8 _( B- r9 jreturned again and again to the question of whether electronic0 n5 o7 z' P" f% J" W2 \
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.8 z, d7 G! `; N0 t3 P
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric, n- v* I1 a1 r# p- T
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited9 `; I" q& l) S. c. T# K
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
8 z7 F& g- p; goff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."4 w) x/ n$ h/ d# D, }
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in) U: W+ D" K- t* f" ]* `
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
+ ?6 p' B( y6 c* l6 U1 n' ~being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
# @. h6 W3 x" S# u5 m( C$ Pwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
7 d; I' v( F8 r/ ?# wevery question."
8 R/ y; P" W% x: r" vToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
4 b6 h, @8 {1 e; D/ xelectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The' K5 y. s! X* q& C9 c$ a* a! `4 I
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
6 ^2 E* N5 d/ k6 x" c4 \- ]' u* Wcommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small
3 t: g% i; U7 s1 d' p1 n& Knumber of vehicles: f5 q0 b8 F) \# T# e7 G9 l
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more
4 D( ?& x- q0 }: b( `/ i' J) b- [difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a* }6 @& n" U3 P7 ?
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
; b' i; V* I, ], m. [source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
6 s2 S. T6 h/ \0 L# N( \% OMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
4 C% I- V5 Y7 {) r$ O) V& [where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
) j5 h9 F. R$ |, ntrace at all.
: ?# U, M9 n, b6 l! aHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call* D& V# X2 A+ s. W0 n# ]. \
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
1 s/ w8 b5 |! aacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the" m" Y% |6 z3 L( j+ p1 D- m1 x
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
# _$ y4 c) Q7 A" J8 i; c9 ^7 W0 mRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,/ @ m c" V& S( i' I& q
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
* I: y5 i/ e( H8 m4 Uother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
4 w `' |* i% M: X" Welectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible4 g. a: m" N' I5 W, C' ]7 d! F
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
8 c# P, T7 \; _9 L) L6 F9 zsuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
1 Q+ C2 K5 [5 y$ E( U1 `by Toyota's lawyers."
. o3 {, P% j" E9 vLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of6 c. U) V1 O B/ s0 Z8 j: E
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
" G! }6 A* U- d# m3 gcustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
2 c0 k4 y4 |! j: A9 g/ s+ fsaid.
; E: o p$ \" W9 |6 a"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with; F: @7 E$ A! g- S. W5 f
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our" d0 \; E* I4 N7 o- @2 S
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
+ ?& [9 _& f: \/ Z- B* ?# wofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.( K7 _) j1 a, Q& ?/ g' @
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying8 Y; g1 k" D. ~! } ^* y1 Y7 `
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread8 H. w0 z) _+ `
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the2 h$ j( U! j0 W5 R
automaker, at least in part because of the government's! S3 T9 R% _2 l
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and" W7 t! R: k+ H
Chrysler.
2 W. d+ c' P4 g0 W' Z* X"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
" ], R, o) m& b3 Bdollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a; I0 K; f( \* N% T7 G" K3 G
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
% F/ P# y3 O) f; d; n! Userved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
4 y( Z+ [( h- N! ~with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty* `6 i6 y, W& B" q ]
tough."
' S' a M, m, n---
& e: B, B) c* f. R' nAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
6 V0 Y9 X) ~* a9 @ D: C* g8 w: @" m1 ]Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to* K) @- k9 w2 j+ n+ }) G
this story.
6 K! s( i& U7 j* a% Y& ]2 t2 M5 {! E! i! P! a* t2 k7 X
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