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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
/ K* f$ }/ w( A/ SBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
% O+ p: ~! c7 b; |Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.8 @# I7 b' l5 X) i) x
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
; e# |' I9 Z3 mthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"- P. l1 p/ u+ B, K" I
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
' }6 U( d% D; O, }# F"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential1 P( ~( V6 x1 D7 a% x8 b% m
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
5 V9 a1 w2 p t4 S9 `) D$ H# UHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
$ T7 Q8 A5 V8 }( cacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and4 s' \; [4 `6 P) b9 O$ \3 }
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
p" M$ ]/ c- k, s2 u6 k; ^; Tmats and sticking accelerator pedals.: B- T$ o" h0 ]' Y! _
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal+ `+ ~5 X3 G1 x
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp" k! ]9 ]7 M6 y
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
- [, R9 h$ p. Y Vfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
* e- y2 k) V+ l2 S/ m6 Qnot stop her runaway Lexus.
2 `4 B* j! g! \- E0 U) X"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,* v2 B/ R4 h8 v: A( O! X# J2 O2 ^6 I; V/ U
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second( f7 b, n7 Y9 c( |& b" a. D
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.0 f9 u$ Q& t N- Y4 l
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
! f: U; X6 d+ r4 L U" qearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
' R) T# o) ^9 i) D"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has" Z9 c% ^# L" G/ v& T
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
) `4 B# H! K* r/ Q" z, gthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's. U1 c" G& f6 O, H* d
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham.", H l2 a7 g+ V
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
& f* `! N" v* M+ ]+ t* ~5 t4 j. xelectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of. f3 u7 d1 C8 x, q, L
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a5 z, ^/ ?" y8 k
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
, m" j( N' x. T: psaid.
1 R4 I: @+ s$ L0 b) ^4 PAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
8 d1 W/ r8 R0 J! Ahappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
% \( u$ C6 `, `about driving our products," Lentz said.
4 v+ E' o- n+ x+ `; g" q E% m4 L; f* IThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
" L$ P; ^: p! Q7 M; p4 Xproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has; L* _/ Y: S. e( O
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
. h! J2 r1 r, i, C' y' L0 L- T4 omillion in the United States -- since last fall because of h& q, C+ |6 m; f3 \. @# b$ M. }
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking8 {% e5 B7 \8 D8 L u3 w
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
) t4 @5 C- a9 o0 p, G1 s$ J/ Wconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
2 p: H; B& a, e6 { Otheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
' c1 {( j) W. R6 ?' k0 c3 Zdown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has0 }! l0 [8 ?4 `! z9 V7 f
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration! n% H- W+ Z! k/ Z: r) O
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.( ~( W% ~) X6 K' k" x$ ], R4 x1 j
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
; B/ r3 |& u6 ?! s! L3 Abrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
. [8 J( I9 ]! z4 b9 S+ p M! Eunderstood the pain.
5 j4 G4 g$ z- R4 S2 S5 Z"I know what those families go through," he said.5 \) N7 J! w- t$ [
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
1 |+ Q4 }+ K3 Z3 e# c. efixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.6 M7 c7 N# B, ?
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
: J: a; Q, H/ t4 G6 r+ A; rHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put# x6 P0 B2 W, A6 m
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
% l- }: d" G' @* Q: @Lentz replied: "Not totally."5 S( {; }* ~/ Y& {
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were# X; C: R# w! U( J- y5 N# C
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said& R) b ?% C5 w
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
9 v* }9 N4 P: \/ z- Fpedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
. W% U! p8 T0 h3 W [, \vehicles already on the road.
# x1 M3 P/ R- q% w2 f% qMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify- `: x2 C/ `( p3 a# r$ j9 C0 F+ u
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
" w$ b2 w4 j3 S8 B6 n6 hresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
" l, p: h" g0 v& m/ H7 u w3 N3 boffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
+ r! |+ L" ~- O4 ~6 u, ykilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.! \4 g3 E8 l/ I5 e5 C' M
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
% F% t0 x/ D! q$ }3 f, f* htragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
3 y$ k+ E- M& n" [) ^for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
) V; W! C+ m9 R4 _Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal" `0 _- M* `5 R! |
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to) f; O4 @1 q' y, @/ [
restore the trust of our customers."
3 M6 W8 J( a0 ^0 y% ]6 xLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
. B+ c2 p, ^/ }& ]Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
( w) B; ^. Q5 F. T9 D" Xzoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --6 N% s; O* [# O% t( Z
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and* l: Z/ p$ y& E
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
" V/ b! r+ o! [5 d# u/ B6 D- Zthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
2 Z+ Z, h0 d5 T. vturn off the engine.
3 H/ Z' g! K5 aFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of7 B5 K2 U, e9 Q" V* X9 n
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."( Y1 D$ S+ G. y+ O
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she3 }- _/ U3 q4 Y% H' N
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
) I# O& B8 P- F* o* l$ P8 Bto her complaints.
T- h! }5 w4 y% H! g! `In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers+ j, d: g) @6 y, z/ ^
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
6 n7 f+ A* f4 m6 dmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.* j! G5 |1 N" h0 g8 n
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
- K1 @! A3 Q; k" ~: k/ E6 _* uthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited8 K2 h0 H% h* Z: s- ^. Y
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
. a; Q( ?5 G* K0 m3 G* |& voff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."; I7 A/ l- t4 b X( r8 l* M
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in" D) }, b4 m4 L4 F
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were" x2 l! T8 r* k! X
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls8 k K# I+ Q8 f' t& o
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer$ h) V" g7 o8 ^ y" ]6 z
every question."3 L* A' W+ }0 U: c9 U
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
7 d( o0 P7 \% b5 q" D, ~electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
- X/ t( M& D+ O3 d% Nfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
! H: H. _. t2 I9 N T2 V, U! L! g6 rcommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small* q/ R! [( n( S3 c( I
number of vehicles
+ Q/ U \# b% F6 H! q% Y+ }Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more# Y% {7 I e2 d+ w7 E6 _% _6 T8 R
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
& G, G, X% E; s: M' [: zmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one$ J* a/ s, G) z$ L1 E/ D' p
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
# [# q2 z" P- M9 M8 s1 HMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,/ ~( L$ e! O8 }* ^
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
2 G' K5 _; g! v2 ^3 ytrace at all.
! k( |6 [/ F/ i: K9 WHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
; A+ Y8 i7 H# l7 N* {$ Sdatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
2 @: a6 T9 ~, @9 @acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the( H$ V( K; K) k' O8 h% ~
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.1 s* B5 X$ j0 N/ A1 K) v5 P
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
% ]- j; f7 [5 l9 K- Ksaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
( ~1 G& u8 F/ Eother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the3 F* u' A7 |" `- Q. a) i
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible% `6 Z) F& ^# e! b5 _" Z
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
( i! }2 r3 A" M# ~such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
8 T1 z: u- A! d7 aby Toyota's lawyers."
5 @0 |5 U+ s# H- W( I# ]5 _Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
/ @8 f/ @: j9 ]5 _8 ~: M! l9 X H$ o) @' ?* Gproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our! P. `2 i+ }8 s, |2 z: T
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he& E u R- s3 Z& w* [# e+ b) n
said.3 o2 q Q1 w3 j
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with0 |* @* W* O& D! Z4 f4 p
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our9 _- Z3 h1 s( s! f$ z8 T! {1 N! ^
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating$ t& Z0 N% N, ^/ m$ X R
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
% @' }$ r4 r4 I5 q% J* NSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
$ _8 r X& r8 D; B; s A9 rmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
2 [: I- I$ A/ m+ l5 z# T- o2 c& R. jrancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
( [( g0 y9 w- B% u2 ^2 Jautomaker, at least in part because of the government's
2 @& c: R$ i% X0 B6 ]2 O0 o* a6 E" yinvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and, ~6 g$ t* g1 C, O8 \7 q
Chrysler.* A) D d$ k& K7 Q3 I, |
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax9 V! A* m3 G, p: l% B3 \
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a6 S3 ]* T v" m0 T7 _
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
" G2 s- L9 p3 x( q$ B) R Rserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete( g, Z+ ^* ~& h) p6 i- `
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
4 b3 U3 }" p7 p6 u/ T) gtough."
; N$ H5 o4 m! d8 R---
3 g; I. f7 R0 x+ s' x/ u0 K* MAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom8 L6 d6 `7 v6 \5 ~/ _: ~
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to# I$ V ]* Q4 A3 v( i
this story.) e4 p! W7 ]1 k7 a
O& z$ q6 T) G+ o2 g1 M( o& F-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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