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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
/ B$ B+ D* x: W! y% ~0 {4 ABy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS: i+ J5 D' a( A* v6 G* [: t8 w: q& u+ M
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
& I" l- `, r/ a1 ^. b" n0 U Noperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
2 b1 F" C# L# @9 z9 {the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"+ y) J" K$ B1 p8 m1 q$ a2 v
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
* F' c8 v* I$ {"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential5 q; T2 V1 a6 q& H# Z( I
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.0 L3 f5 D% G4 o; q/ c0 Y9 b0 w
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
! Y1 J1 P& ^3 y* b% l; P- Yacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and3 B5 C" m" `. L8 o+ I
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
2 ^/ _: w4 o$ k3 G( amats and sticking accelerator pedals.$ i$ ^+ X5 R& g' @% i
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal0 e8 v5 C! c" ]# Z* g/ i# H
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
; a$ h. L6 ~8 \5 h xcriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be- J, Y }* P; I9 z4 X4 V- ]6 A
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
, _ [5 W/ c7 W2 t& [not stop her runaway Lexus.+ ]7 T- T: A+ a3 f; d; t! W5 Z
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
* n1 v5 Z; ]3 m7 B* M" V5 zTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
5 ~( }7 h5 `! @! t- g"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
" [5 [; i0 r; Z) @3 V! C# z; V& BTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues1 g6 e' p( p s
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
@& u* j- W9 M- ]+ v _"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
2 D! b! V" g) c5 O( a5 y* ldone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway i1 J# b( W# f6 r% r9 |
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
) o. F) L" M d: Z4 `$ k1 uinvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham." F- L- a* P2 w5 n5 L: l; o
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
j& H3 _* d- @/ k5 @electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
2 V; K# U8 t7 P& O) S) i$ kthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
* Q8 c2 R* M3 a/ K* x9 M5 ymalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
3 U3 M1 U3 P1 X1 l6 D+ B# ]$ ?3 \said.
+ L( W0 R5 ~+ tAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
( _7 f6 A4 m/ q' C* P) D9 m* z- Bhappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
3 V1 u& h5 F( k7 p) R/ fabout driving our products," Lentz said.
$ d" m# y: G L" s) B; dThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's0 Y( w! |9 ^ Q1 V1 w+ p" F( A3 {
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
, @1 Z' c7 ^5 K5 ^6 ]% vrecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
) @5 _4 }; n# Kmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of
, n, a& c9 I( n5 g) t' u* ~unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking) P* W/ V! ^# ^2 F& P. P, r
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering6 C! Y$ {" U( _( W' x/ U. f
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
5 s" [! y" g* rtheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow- b! b) m2 s( M! `! I
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has- s1 F$ y' P) m( o2 c, V7 \
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration5 c4 r2 [8 h7 S$ H
of Toyota vehicles since 2000., Y3 ^1 D# ~" x: S5 B# Q1 d
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own- Y' Q3 ]2 t6 B0 a( i' j
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he w- X% S# T* ^, a* e3 ]
understood the pain.
8 d& ^2 h+ B A"I know what those families go through," he said.
0 a9 u- c/ z/ ^* P8 CLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's( ?! C9 z9 n5 ^$ A. A
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
$ B$ E0 s9 p$ d3 z1 [, eBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
) f9 n) \! o/ d/ U# i* }- [Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
) ?' C0 D$ D& B u3 j+ }in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
/ E0 j! o4 D/ I+ K8 `' gLentz replied: "Not totally."/ Z r5 ?- ~# ?) F
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
0 y0 p2 Z& {) r+ K* h7 T) r, X"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
) ]8 v8 r6 _ I5 ]" y) `: M" fToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
! C( c" N: h. e3 `' ]+ [2 npedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its. S; U1 q b/ i; o
vehicles already on the road.
% w; N: @/ H, V: v U0 rMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify* ~6 h- z& I/ a+ ? S) i0 B& Q+ C) n
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full* ?( f* D' h$ Q% n2 u
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
' `+ F- c! _) x& w8 f" n, T {* {! Koffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were& Y7 h( p5 `# O2 L
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
( s& O+ ^$ @7 D* K+ u; V2 G"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
; K6 S, b6 \+ a9 V/ B' x! itragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony: W+ F: i0 l- l1 w' h* ?2 ^2 d0 t
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
P: T! k+ Z5 V8 O4 q5 @Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal5 A L' M' [0 J8 J# I8 |1 z% m
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
5 I7 s8 v# r& I9 @) srestore the trust of our customers."3 Y1 F4 S& i" q5 v" ~/ k
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from" g# Y9 n) ~- x
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly) o2 k4 Y7 A$ [5 I) A% n5 ?) q
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --1 {; I( ]) P; ^3 ]5 c6 i
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and9 ~3 _1 Y' O' z0 H3 y* y2 S0 [
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
. a' B6 d7 O/ A, G9 J. D* k% {that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and( [$ u! V& I8 ], b$ _$ V
turn off the engine.0 h: C: x* j, @/ ]) {2 q0 z
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
2 A) D5 S- {9 VOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
" p4 y. i7 T8 F/ I; C; u"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
8 E7 H, ^+ K+ V0 ?$ m; z& isaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond' {$ J1 S' q' c4 S- y8 ^- Q7 E
to her complaints.4 P. I/ X0 O# e! |. E/ l
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
) Z8 W7 Y; d0 Z, f1 G/ Preturned again and again to the question of whether electronic
, \+ X8 ~, V+ \' T8 d2 ?malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.2 t9 K, {9 \8 _1 w: Y
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
7 w8 a# \$ z! B/ Bthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
- l8 _5 j2 ~% g. k9 }"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
0 u' S* L0 r! ^off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
* @: W0 x( M! P' y" h+ p6 F/ U KTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in6 ^6 ~5 S0 y" } N1 o$ A
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were, b( h9 ?- \3 Q
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls3 L$ b: `" l% W a" |! Y
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer9 Q0 ]. w! c- ^. N" L8 R
every question."9 @ f d# v& e5 k7 E2 t6 N
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
: M% Y& I* N% G- h* Z; ]electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The' z" v6 K' g9 M) Z) L# N
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
! D* e$ D1 f/ ]+ [committee investigators said the testing studied only a small9 x* h# b# I. H. r+ _
number of vehicles! o ~8 L3 M* S: w4 Q7 Y
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more
0 v$ e% f+ e& O! Kdifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
0 v7 Q2 b, v+ p- Qmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
# Y( g/ }$ v4 l osource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
! v9 a4 f9 b0 ]$ ZMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,, o5 ]* F: I6 q9 M8 k$ o9 u m
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
! I' n, [. l# L( A" B% c, T' Y ttrace at all.
1 G( p7 E0 g J9 I$ p( l' FHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call6 j5 U' ? U& C1 y) j& f t
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden. p/ s( I* Q$ y$ A$ c! P
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the5 E6 V' ?/ W I7 I. G. v4 K# \% ]
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.2 E) R) e7 f6 v& ^7 B7 U! H' z
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,8 r. i; N3 n R5 a& d# E. v
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
- o" C& u$ U& L& n7 Dother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the- Z& o8 w5 Q5 |0 a9 L/ e+ }3 o4 b
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
9 I. `& F. N, A4 M$ {/ wcause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
, I# u* K5 l" r+ I) Hsuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained0 V: f! @. K5 ^5 R" F0 s' _
by Toyota's lawyers.") Z( f; q# W5 b* Z8 _
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of6 @4 M5 N1 ?/ ^; c/ T4 J }
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our; z6 m$ W. ?# d% o" j/ V1 Q2 \4 u" r
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he9 a$ {( F' p! b0 q. V- V* j
said.
9 ^' Y! X5 ~2 R"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with g& [4 t S; m* r4 F+ R7 j
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our, I' }7 x1 S0 y) ~5 v2 h
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
! n+ m' r: c" z" tofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
, M9 }' G$ I* t0 B5 nSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
* S0 m) F! N" f; A z; d7 bmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread' q/ y$ S- i# p. s k5 I a
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
( }) U1 r- R+ b9 G) E0 e" C" x3 jautomaker, at least in part because of the government's- z4 X% w2 V( m. N
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and, V! H% y" z' Z
Chrysler.
6 v- V7 q5 R! j: T3 R5 ?. M"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
: v; k0 j/ n, R* z# \ qdollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
, g: e- T0 P8 ]Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also8 E% x8 ]. E2 T$ Q8 I' S7 E8 X9 u; P
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete m7 o& Q' w s( i- B
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty* N" c) I: a( W$ T; B
tough."
8 D9 r. ^) D' e---
+ q) [. F3 P2 i3 d+ cAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
/ m/ Y3 i" y- `+ E' |: pRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
J8 b; O( O% e; `. Ithis story.3 A8 ^" ]! n3 A
2 `" W+ [) O7 k/ T/ D-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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