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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2 m& C- ]8 ?+ M. z7 W3 a. t! W
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
& H$ q( K6 N: ]/ t3 x7 t! O/ RWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
$ D& ^3 ]: r6 M. m# ^. S( l* A! Aoperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that6 R" T/ \5 n# e, [' z
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"2 j2 r" p M4 I6 N6 a* O3 Q
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration., E. |8 f( r4 U( j& t B
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential i" _0 \0 [5 K
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
( V0 V- G1 y4 n( K! S* i4 C& AHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected7 ?) P8 @& v. I; {) r% z# w
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
- Z0 S2 n5 s! g( T1 O+ z, jtrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
3 r1 X" f4 S O; x9 B: imats and sticking accelerator pedals.
+ y, `( v2 o$ v+ B$ wHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
# ~! y, ^" W/ I3 e' l m+ b& `7 fand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
" k0 c7 y1 [4 `& m# [criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
9 I* n5 U6 @8 K! S. Cfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
' b: T% X4 X* R7 ^& D6 Bnot stop her runaway Lexus.* x/ n: e5 q, a8 n8 i/ i
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,. w7 q! O0 W$ z# s* P3 _2 Q
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second9 B& \1 q) J! j1 h d6 W
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
+ _, \: P1 \; _% h- k8 qTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues) b$ M/ M* o5 V/ V* a. e
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
2 U( Q3 k9 e" r; n6 C9 ~7 c3 u"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
% M- n6 p3 [7 t: X& R/ Udone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway. J) R/ m! L- D7 z* d) m+ O
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
' Y9 b! p* O pinvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."9 V! P0 I6 L" Z/ K( f" w
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
% A1 n- A! D! H/ H' I) ?. eelectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
. R; u8 [% j8 C' Nthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
. B6 H E' o+ P! [5 ?malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he/ t8 O- i7 G/ A( R* J
said.
- M i! _4 Y3 c4 Z QAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what! t& u: L0 C9 ?) S% a
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
7 ]6 s* N8 d1 o5 Z1 i' dabout driving our products," Lentz said.
& y& G+ x, d# C8 M+ u: M. VThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's/ o- A1 q+ Z+ P
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
7 d; o% N! a: R! k$ [' Arecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
* ]4 b' i4 |+ t0 Q( N1 Ymillion in the United States -- since last fall because of" a" R4 P3 i9 D' f+ f# a
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
* e, D+ N! _7 \ h: k7 K& ~issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering7 [8 o. I6 I, I6 W" d0 b
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of2 o4 T0 U+ i* E6 ?% T+ T
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow& ~- g) e" q( z2 W
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
5 N( K, k6 E- S1 p1 M8 preceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
) T" G* e8 D4 i" Eof Toyota vehicles since 2000.! ~/ W X2 K) f4 A+ P
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
|. l0 b0 _) F* D1 c* _brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
7 f4 v+ R: B5 F& H9 Funderstood the pain.' x" ^0 r9 O1 [; r
"I know what those families go through," he said.
5 m" p6 }5 b0 v8 c) oLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's4 P1 F7 {. v2 G t8 t
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
2 z& a3 s5 L3 sBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman! q9 K1 D' n6 U' d+ [: Q, b
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put3 s. C# P) z) d- G2 F6 l
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,# r6 \- P$ W/ q) [+ I5 z% A7 B
Lentz replied: "Not totally."
% z% D% v5 u: Y1 |3 l; ~Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were. Q T" A0 T0 o
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
, t/ R9 g' d7 cToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
4 }9 z8 K1 ]- @pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its# x' p, |1 h: I0 m# S$ O& u# w- w
vehicles already on the road.
' J, r. x" n6 ~# m6 ?6 J g) M/ fMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
" J) \1 @3 Y& n; dbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
/ P4 y- g% g4 C! Vresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
: {3 c; @2 A& ?# Yoffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were: l6 }' c" }% S# R( A/ d' M
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
+ E7 f! I6 ]1 X$ ^' C3 o"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
; a. Y: F# C3 X. H3 Otragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony. [4 N, a1 u4 ]" t1 l) L+ T
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
3 e7 L5 c9 z o) m; g! g" ^: tCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
( m5 V. h/ R6 xcommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to3 v$ |; Q" S& Z: ^. L; I9 p
restore the trust of our customers." a1 L: N: S& R2 m3 t8 Y) r
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from* y: q' o; E7 E
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
( c F f) m# Zzoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
+ U2 N; c/ k( Fshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
$ p- R; {) Q# \- g4 Ghitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
2 y/ \5 G0 ]* S' e, Zthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and2 d1 [4 x: L; N; K
turn off the engine.
* k8 }. ]$ U$ G; F& `Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of- }% d( t" q, Q
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."5 B8 X& F0 b1 c. a2 N
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she N* H% ~( L4 H
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond( A3 L% F7 Q- `" z2 c
to her complaints.
0 I& O, K$ `1 tIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers' H7 i, M. R- l) X3 e
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic/ B" _. N7 ]6 ]9 T, s
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.5 K1 I! a) R8 H
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
# C) s3 f$ R: o' Y9 Dthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
( m$ D S$ J' L7 Z" y"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
. F3 [# ^0 j! _8 l) g' J7 Soff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
, r+ J2 a5 R. ` k% T. Y; U. a% ~* kTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
* T; g% l" {( E' j; c" m# q& {/ kprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were0 j5 j4 s, [& H& M
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls. k; L/ F" n0 ?
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer2 c$ c9 b" I( h* Y7 V
every question."' A* Y+ }, `% E) s8 F( [! K
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether3 y+ O- m7 d8 |. z7 N; h
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
8 \8 z0 J% B% G& }firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But/ a# T2 P! w- C' d( k; A
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
+ u6 n$ @8 Y+ R- `6 Pnumber of vehicles
4 x. s' v' i. GTracking down an electrical problem can be far more
& \* @ T0 s9 f2 t" hdifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
4 O. j! C" [0 f% [8 Dmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
0 _& v, H3 G, e) usource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
" {+ s2 @. I2 Y0 {4 \Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage, t& K7 a$ G$ |4 X, J6 q
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no4 w' h2 P$ e8 g% z
trace at all.
# N2 |8 d7 `3 m5 @% \/ Y: OHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
# E( m9 O2 i9 f4 w' ?. i: N5 U2 P2 Edatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden. N8 g! m4 _' o$ u
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the! x$ S! [) p$ N/ }: c
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
8 n& A8 t6 C) ]7 I8 x8 ]1 G: yRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,# {; q9 n9 t& k b! e$ G9 v9 J7 Q
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and/ P; X6 p) S7 \( C
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the; r. I- Z$ o& D8 \
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible) ~7 |8 N8 B7 `; j- B
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only0 \6 z/ h' R7 _ V4 _# u) D
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
% k4 U# ^; B) N+ ?7 ]6 B; J4 W& mby Toyota's lawyers.", y+ R- H, Y" M Q9 l1 C
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
3 v* x* _+ X9 n) F }1 t+ Hproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
3 v( g x, E' G5 ~+ o; A% n4 `1 Ncustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
, L9 ~0 g4 o% }( T- nsaid.# U* c! H: k. c8 r
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with8 s& W2 w T; S2 Q
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
1 S6 u9 p2 n7 j4 f/ @; J/ J" _good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating1 Q1 t; W( q8 t& J9 X1 X
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.) S4 b! y) V8 {/ I
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
; _6 d+ ^( u! |7 v2 s3 Omembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
/ @/ d+ ^* ]' U4 }/ Vrancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the& l% E; w9 H, @( M. A
automaker, at least in part because of the government's# w, {/ o% V! ?% G7 t0 H
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
: o. x, m6 h1 P3 E$ j4 J% JChrysler.
) `! m7 [. _ \3 K+ i. O"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
& z" \! A7 V7 t( ndollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a; \" {5 A: w& \+ b, s9 l6 q" [
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also1 T2 h5 o) y( S6 Q" k9 p ]
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
. ] g% F/ I0 C2 k! V( D% Nwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
& A5 P$ @: ^4 D8 \tough."+ F& @; I, x0 ~8 [+ u1 b5 J
---8 w4 }) a' i% T8 \4 \
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
) @- i5 i& V: O8 sRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to( b% ]1 o1 Z! p9 D( L4 v; B
this story.5 U% l" i$ t6 m' q
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-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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