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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
8 s" n1 D H6 ?: u( p1 }9 HBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
. ?4 `1 G' i# D) I* yWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.( D# o+ h1 V0 C
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
3 h: h$ c( n0 b5 }. X Fthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"& |1 S) R' M$ i0 c
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.9 V( G( |/ {6 K W n
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential$ O3 ]. [8 ?0 U
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
+ F2 a8 X4 `' w& G; [However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
6 M2 `* I C' l. ^9 Yacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and3 B& f, ~0 D. _2 p7 }+ |
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
; g& D# q; j3 V+ [) Z7 `mats and sticking accelerator pedals." z+ Q: c# Y+ |$ @
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal8 P. D$ N' D1 a- [5 I; i* A9 B( i& y
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp6 }7 q: E& {9 R# ]! o& j
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
2 u0 d5 q- P: X6 [) w5 g# Xfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
# ^' a# d2 ?5 D( z+ d# M" u+ Cnot stop her runaway Lexus.
: S% e5 n$ q" S2 Q ^"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
3 k: v* \# {& g @5 Y! bTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second0 @: P: _- ?6 G5 m& _5 O
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
! `, M4 l9 ?9 u$ X7 G E$ kTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues7 u$ |9 v3 S: f6 R5 W9 |% p1 u4 o. k
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
H5 D, l; A7 q"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
/ F# T$ u0 V" S: E3 ddone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway7 p: V* C$ _( v; y3 ?
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's3 B% v0 z/ a" } [; [# Q
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."! L1 U$ A+ T( a" s" Y/ {8 l4 N
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
! p. z; u; [* Y7 U/ s6 E0 Selectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
; k5 M- ~: \' e+ _. ]the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
2 K* Y6 _$ c" omalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
6 @8 U9 J1 V5 U% ^8 N d9 p6 e8 [said.
- v7 r/ A, H( e1 ?As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what% g. }3 Z' E/ ~* S, _- s
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
/ I/ h1 C/ U' U& K3 J7 _* |5 xabout driving our products," Lentz said.
" t3 S% R Z% N: ?9 MThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's% ~/ h1 p0 @6 ^4 y. a8 W0 e3 Y* w8 C
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
' {# _1 O H9 Z% Mrecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
! K' K% j, ^' }, Gmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of3 j0 o& C0 `! `, j! o2 G0 m
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking$ j0 ?" J4 h+ Q! m- r" B
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
3 X% \. Q7 e n$ E) W8 W( z! t5 Jconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of3 Q) `# Z) K: l; y) G0 F3 w
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
+ M, N& v! {- kdown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
, X6 }. V: z* L5 Wreceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration! b, Z$ X, v7 }* U a. }6 d
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.
# {! k2 l4 i( t: \ f, a8 NLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own( R6 S: K i/ G: t2 l. a
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
2 E1 z8 k" Z2 }- U& junderstood the pain.
8 p: U0 l3 [. ?! n" M"I know what those families go through," he said.2 t% s0 E) o+ M" ^& _8 K* ?
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
p3 G4 y# x/ \" K7 jfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
/ Z5 C% J% b+ jBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman; ?: j4 V( A- C" _( z
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
+ M; }5 `7 M8 e8 U1 Vin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it, r) e q8 w; h& F
Lentz replied: "Not totally."
4 p. V+ p% Z$ V/ q) TStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
3 X. j" h6 K0 m+ z: @3 Q"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said8 ~7 n; C, b3 w* p
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
1 Q, P" D6 I' X* v( epedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its/ ]# ^7 H0 {) M. |7 D4 C: p
vehicles already on the road.
8 t( W2 C2 e* eMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
' W/ m9 m0 ~* C" X, W. ybefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full( X( m$ e& C5 @% V, Q) W2 R
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
; } x( ?: [2 c5 M- Zoffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were0 r% z+ ^8 ?, I
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
! u) q. N) M* e8 F; n) |2 e"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
- f5 |- X* M; b) W; d# y6 F0 Etragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
7 i- ]0 y# E( o4 l0 ?3 r. E5 }5 Lfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight" P; t' z0 y o5 W
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
7 K1 c3 @9 U1 K2 j* rcommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to, m& X" j6 c0 V$ d
restore the trust of our customers."
% |+ |4 d/ f9 }! XLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
+ ^/ }0 l" R6 }+ I7 VSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
% c. z, u3 U' Dzoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
4 F( Y" N" c, E b% qshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
$ ~' [- T8 R, H7 i0 j( whitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
" L" C& m' @9 b# P& Cthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
. h5 k- |5 b% K8 H3 Z! jturn off the engine.
( _* q9 E6 ^( p3 d( H- h! GFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of q' N' J; p4 h; b& p% [
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
; R1 J7 i( R+ ] k# d1 a"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she% @3 e9 R6 _' b2 H6 s8 @
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
3 B% j p+ u- S) P5 Uto her complaints.* y# ^" v2 p* P2 a; @6 J( x
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers8 {$ d1 E6 P! F# n6 {/ }
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic, E% y9 j6 w! _ j# {+ v
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
5 K5 s1 }! M$ W+ c( ["We are confident that no problems exist with the electric% C/ g* B* E' O/ u: P, \% K! }% J
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited' X3 i. x% {1 {" p
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut$ f6 u- | O* t3 b3 H
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure.", _2 g2 v1 _) U) Z1 p3 `
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in7 d6 e4 F& ~7 p. Q, c
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were: V6 I# @1 s6 ?. \; ?
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
0 ~' k% Y# S& R( cwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer/ g8 O+ U, X6 R% Y7 ^$ \
every question."
2 X H0 R6 }9 ZToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether$ [" V4 ^! I3 ?4 j* _
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
# t& ?2 }. K" X1 K& t5 `firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But7 Z) U- M; C* v$ k' p7 Q& b
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
! e" w* n8 v+ n) [, Tnumber of vehicles
8 Y( M& d* p0 C# Z) [# B% UTracking down an electrical problem can be far more
3 Y0 k6 O* |% i. r4 V* v) V+ D! B* Kdifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
7 d" W2 g$ `/ v" Vmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one3 v. k3 t6 V/ t2 y% d8 ]3 I* U* H
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
6 A9 L6 W/ l( A: v4 D& i8 O) }Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,# U k! r5 u9 G) a- O, k
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no! f, Y t( ^5 {7 j% h
trace at all.: f; f4 k+ X. w; [: v
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call3 r/ F9 H0 N: p$ p7 J/ K. }
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden$ {, w# l9 I* l
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
3 M4 W) I6 Z8 l: W" d% K/ {recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.' Z0 H7 E/ R O- M2 `! P2 x
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
$ `- B% P! [7 F$ Y) }said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
% \( U k1 l$ Q3 e5 D" b# O" hother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
9 @: W# \& g7 B3 uelectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
6 \5 Z8 n8 ^+ U5 ucause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
7 O" v& J4 a; msuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
( a( Q( O( \, Oby Toyota's lawyers."
0 o+ C) G! K3 E; t& k2 vLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
. E4 v8 c& _7 L% q2 X' j/ }0 sproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
: P) f' p! @' s Rcustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
3 |$ e* l$ y4 h {) jsaid.
1 K: o7 s; L4 f"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with8 t* @3 n7 H/ F! r" `/ Y+ l! n
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
; M. ?' q$ x* ?5 x3 _! zgood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating' l: U% l/ C# U) N6 g) C
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
: ?+ F9 d* Q4 |Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
3 r* p6 r# \: P8 \0 tmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
2 L. T1 V+ ]$ C! a! krancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the! C6 W% n" I @" t/ o8 P2 W
automaker, at least in part because of the government's0 Q+ ~+ C1 b3 T$ \+ u3 |- ]7 b
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and8 g6 q' s. U* Q9 [9 V( P* Q
Chrysler.5 E9 i$ s q- Y
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax9 o! c$ N. |6 y' Q/ [4 q) @# P, E
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
9 Y( ^' I% D- J; `9 C. @$ AHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also9 |. _6 ]: t+ L( \, X! P
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
& A! A7 X B2 ?3 e# Zwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
0 C2 n) `1 Q/ v: @( {4 u0 ^- B) c) H1 j Ytough."
+ c8 F8 u( Q% L: Y---
# p( z: t1 @7 E& m5 z6 g7 J! AAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom% ?$ i: S2 N; U% o
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to2 s5 ~3 B: v N7 K0 T2 d
this story./ p# {$ c+ m9 B. T$ @
@3 w: h- Q; L2 f3 @
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