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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6 s; g: a7 ]; Q/ M/ \5 N: g
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
# H- y3 f9 z4 `1 yWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.1 Z3 [7 N7 D9 H Q& i
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
) ^& E1 Q& Z2 r) E2 tthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
; E4 Y" Y9 x' `( _+ F" a% R9 jsolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
% ?( x4 J, Q( v( c7 X! k"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
; D9 g: t" n! \1 W4 q0 vcauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.8 V5 E% s( Y' v( z% n- u& i2 N
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected* i: e$ l4 ]! I$ t
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and( P5 Y9 i; ?, U6 m) Z) D3 f5 m5 {9 E
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor! i( w9 A4 Z( A1 c
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.
2 K3 g9 a9 d5 H1 [. HHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal6 S+ Z9 Q2 J5 ~5 Q
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
; c2 v q9 z0 ?5 ^criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be h/ q _, B% Z( R# K6 {
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
& k0 H2 G4 y2 ~! t$ F* u. Znot stop her runaway Lexus." _( g* @3 H. @4 M- _/ M0 ]
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
& m8 X8 M) ]' b" f% xTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second. m7 I, U( s5 Y" v {" M
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.; ]9 t" G" e0 }5 |4 B( I3 u/ a
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
; B, D4 Y8 v F+ E6 B; x$ Bearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said8 f$ {8 k$ p: S3 \: ]. w1 }$ T
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has( ^8 h. ~% \) P8 E Z( [
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
# I' e" P/ `% L( k% M1 _- m1 C* rthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's4 T) X) |6 f! ~3 S
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham.") W$ i8 u) v: _2 I( h
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
' K2 V9 o& B# _( n7 a; _electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of2 o+ F9 U, Q' C2 e3 r+ O7 Y- r
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a* F( e% Y. q5 j3 R6 U8 T
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he: ]) V7 ~# [$ ~5 Z
said.
C5 ^7 S2 a4 t4 X8 d. O, r2 sAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what5 {/ g r3 d+ W$ P( f4 r/ A! B
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe5 Z2 y: w- R- O5 [
about driving our products," Lentz said.- c, X% o& i: @4 ?1 P9 }! F
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's: N, I$ C* W7 K; k" `
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has" Z5 l2 ^, x" `' _7 L8 J
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 61 N" ^. E, Q) s; z
million in the United States -- since last fall because of
) l$ J0 u4 q% ?3 o7 Hunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking* Y# Y$ M/ d: G) ^6 L
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering, E' C6 ?" K" b( B
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
% Q- k/ H+ O/ E a+ ctheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow: B4 r: q5 F8 N& ]
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
, A3 F( J' [6 I1 d& S, l+ m6 yreceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
; M/ S5 ~2 R9 s8 z; Iof Toyota vehicles since 2000.
1 @' B' t7 e" v& h1 D% fLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
) J0 L; W8 n& u: c' Ybrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he, F# r/ S9 p" O
understood the pain.* J9 o7 }" N$ u( D' X7 s% e
"I know what those families go through," he said.5 d8 B: A0 N+ l4 Y
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
2 x: d* C7 k* mfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.! o# d& Q- j; j5 m S( u
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
: d. u# W4 Q" E* ]7 S+ f0 E. gHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put& ~) Q8 \ _1 I& m$ h
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
6 x8 @# N' f; `. u) RLentz replied: "Not totally."3 |5 V" ~: ^4 z6 h
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
1 K; O7 N' v! a"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
& {8 N( Y- g1 L7 ~# a$ ?8 c N5 tToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
) ~5 J. G4 f% q6 Dpedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
" o1 L* j& g T/ p, x3 v2 Svehicles already on the road.
3 p; j, m9 |+ {2 ^0 s' I$ ~Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
. ]+ U4 R& M" `& w8 ^0 y$ ?before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
5 n; y, F Q Q5 Qresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
1 Q+ } @. A" V5 P2 `5 noffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were6 |# }# o1 P/ ?
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems." e/ z8 [6 M. }! I
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
- ~" p* R- A: R( btragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony }0 p+ ?: L! ?* ?! k
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight- c2 `, ^5 P' D4 k% U1 y
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
& Y( `' _: g- O$ ?5 p7 C" U9 icommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
{! R. C1 Z5 I' qrestore the trust of our customers."
1 ?/ [' C$ [/ d" oLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from/ }. l, }$ n0 ~, G3 N* ]
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
( `1 u9 N# e2 f# \1 fzoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
: ], s- K. P, W0 g$ i) Rshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and6 N" u( K# ]5 @
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough) V7 T& @$ y8 Z
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
( A( c3 S( T1 o) E5 }turn off the engine." f m. T& [3 t. H b
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of7 l# F7 H0 n& b5 a5 q
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
5 z9 }4 x& H/ l6 Z( S. B"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
% a6 E2 X2 v7 M6 h1 G6 E3 Rsaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
; u. Y; V @; Sto her complaints.
$ l) [3 `. O2 NIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
+ o8 z/ K, C4 Q4 U! l( Lreturned again and again to the question of whether electronic* d. t& a. y, T# p/ R
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.5 @+ u) V! q8 k$ b
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
+ d/ G' W3 m f0 ?! L8 X$ nthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
* P" Q0 Y+ f0 Q3 E9 @% ^"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut: h9 k$ N5 b$ l/ j1 D
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
4 f: a$ T. x0 v' ^& ?+ e; vTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
3 v+ K' E, w' n$ [! ]/ Rprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
4 k3 O& I2 y# _( c: ~) vbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
& ^/ p, P) _( @2 Mwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
; o" H- q4 I! a, c; Tevery question."
" O2 y; @5 P ]& `0 [/ yToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
6 c0 W: t3 k# n2 A" E' |& P0 M$ Xelectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
+ w: S1 u! s* I0 d9 Jfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
% O9 m) g) l" @1 `. b4 i3 Wcommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small- p# C, [9 |$ m
number of vehicles& k. a6 E8 q$ r; S) |8 A1 I2 x
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more" Z/ t# r5 r4 R& L; `9 {
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a( r( c, H% x% N% I1 @! r
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one4 @% X* M6 Z# s/ p4 Q/ q
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.0 ~1 W' A8 a, b: z7 m
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
3 r" O$ V2 m& H3 Q7 L5 I" @where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
' [. c% f- @7 d+ [, y3 Mtrace at all.6 t6 q R# t. [ d* c9 S
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
) e! J9 H( p. _* h& v; z) qdatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden, I, E6 @ M. H/ s, T
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
" x9 n# @3 H+ E' a( Lrecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.! N4 K# n5 s& p; U# |
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
$ C2 w: ~! K% p* k# h- j' Tsaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
0 O1 F( h; z& b/ U5 Pother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
: k5 |7 _. P8 P, o5 d/ xelectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
7 J" @0 P1 y0 |: Q5 A- Dcause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
' Q& F& K N& I3 Asuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained& X* p6 p) V) S% D# W
by Toyota's lawyers."7 d" ?, Z6 J( ]# l) p4 o0 D
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of. v3 s( j0 _3 @" l! p7 c" j" B% j. @; n
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
3 T9 \* v3 a* o* L8 @1 P, xcustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
6 S; I5 n- j1 V9 D9 H# Qsaid.
: N0 }& O+ {( J6 O- v! i"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
* W5 e- Z/ d( Za rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
" o7 j1 {* \3 j2 v) E' Rgood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating& b4 V8 I7 m& K- R. V# A, L
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
6 I6 ^( d" I( {/ s! kSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying# l+ {* z( S9 E) w
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread: c3 R# k j O& @
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
! g+ q8 v. t a9 x+ ~; y9 V& |' Lautomaker, at least in part because of the government's
/ r7 b* R# }) ]( J% t0 d' uinvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
/ a3 `' K3 Q \. @Chrysler., O+ o+ R$ q5 O5 ~# o$ f
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
& v* o% r! E3 c0 P2 p; Y" Gdollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
C0 r- @5 S6 w2 ^) K; nHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also3 W5 r" ]/ a) ^/ X( N
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
* k* x' ?# ^2 ]- Ewith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
; j* p4 r' e$ T+ ]tough."
0 Q s% J7 L3 c/ y( Z& m _---
( r3 u! H) ]' }" {8 vAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom5 s' y2 v: ~+ A& [
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
% t7 S& }8 m* ~this story.0 A7 X1 B& J& N9 I3 j. f, s
8 z5 N' q c/ P( j-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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