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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 b' w9 X3 YBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
( q0 R7 s B- w+ a( ]/ yWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
0 c. }4 I2 _ i4 Z% D8 {) boperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
: B* O s( d2 ~! zthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
) q5 O9 x. h. l6 J" d: [9 Nsolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.! X, K$ Q- Z+ n- W4 z
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
& w% V, ]; c7 ]+ I" wcauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
$ I) d R1 g) m# RHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected7 a4 N9 w% Q; T: L" k
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and' F" r7 f e3 y9 M+ n8 ]
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
! C8 P, e% b+ s4 M7 Mmats and sticking accelerator pedals.
/ d: _: x: X, |) h" F7 iHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
4 D d1 \; v( @8 i7 q" m/ T: ~# Pand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
2 e& U( T+ w. w) \4 v7 ]criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
- v$ |. {" V( }8 y) Y$ Ifurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
+ ^) a6 \ _; N% enot stop her runaway Lexus.+ R$ G# i! g( _1 O- d# d0 G
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,) }7 Q' L p9 ^4 W
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second- |, T) V y0 b
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.* l- P# J6 ^5 |8 n$ ]
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues8 u1 v+ R! D7 R
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
( f' p& u) `: B4 Z \7 F2 L"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
9 z" I' F# y- ~7 I& P7 Edone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway9 w4 D5 ^- r2 m0 J8 l
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
- Q; n. ^# {1 P, l6 m( dinvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."; {& N" G+ \* f" P" T
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an- m" J7 n- s6 M# C d
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of g9 a6 {3 U/ N5 S+ R+ G, G& O
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
# [) A( w7 \' y+ L/ U% Dmalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
! i) s' b- y; r+ A, nsaid.8 H1 {+ w, J) d: }) a0 P$ b5 u2 p
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
' h7 H& j' b4 yhappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
) Y4 [, v+ {2 ^, @( w7 Nabout driving our products," Lentz said.. C+ O8 {3 |3 P- f
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's2 n& V) Z) F1 G/ M) ]
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has% c1 O' o- ~# N5 ~$ p9 g
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6" ^2 @& q7 @; F( l! {( Y7 p
million in the United States -- since last fall because of
3 w4 F5 n# h6 s: z: gunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
/ A; N3 n# e0 E1 y+ S: _& U3 N# ~issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering w8 W' y5 @" |1 k* J7 Y( O
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of# U B2 @" p. F5 E
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow0 [0 U# B% S0 ?3 @* L
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
: |3 T' i; }8 i4 `7 Qreceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
; @. C% W3 {0 pof Toyota vehicles since 2000.+ r7 M/ }0 R& ~4 h
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own q6 |; z4 }/ I( Z8 T
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he( d) h, G z) s: W* L4 Q6 F8 z
understood the pain.& a8 _0 Z0 u/ n
"I know what those families go through," he said.) w- K; W$ {1 Q0 o8 X" L( X* N
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's6 |" ^# t3 ^ N; D
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
$ x0 B6 v) v1 b s8 q q s' m7 ]; zBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman5 d# @" d+ _$ |
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
! } p0 i V) \$ G3 S) Z+ Sin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,. I2 z' f) c" c& O
Lentz replied: "Not totally."# E3 u: m* s' S9 c
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were7 ]# C) k8 u& p; @
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
! C3 q6 e, B6 v( e uToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas5 W' @; K8 L; q, n! N R/ l! f1 p
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
7 ^+ C7 m- w3 _& ?$ \vehicles already on the road.% L: ?' ?, e# N) A4 n, a; Y
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
5 u: b6 _( D: T8 abefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full8 p) ]5 D$ m0 F6 z% E3 [ B% y |5 `
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and) _' N, V1 G% h! p
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
& f3 g) o/ C ]8 b4 vkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.9 l/ d$ f! a6 t3 a% G3 j+ q
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
6 r* B( n- ~; e' ]: `$ ~tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony0 t' n3 v( x3 p0 C b
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight' j& g$ b& z) Z% ~, n% r
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal' I% ^ t" F, Z; G. p: f! c
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
' W, c8 D3 x9 |6 x3 ], s; Orestore the trust of our customers.", R5 ?& y! }: l3 { t) h
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from2 c4 i1 @- F& A' x$ t" |
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly7 m7 s6 d6 F/ v+ p
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
/ G, X7 X6 ]9 Y3 _/ `- Gshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and4 b% k; @: g, x' z O( V2 P6 T, C
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough1 a y m% h) q3 a, S( T
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and# _5 v7 G5 [) U/ G9 g& L3 L! z
turn off the engine. b: Y2 h. o- j- @7 r
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
& i4 L6 D% ~: W0 v" y' g+ wOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."* C( x! [% Z7 P2 R, z9 e( o5 F
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she3 U' f' }' E5 H" a$ @. u, D! i+ q, e
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
$ G8 z2 A& \( ?( r" N* c) ], Uto her complaints.* Y8 Z& y# z3 \: P/ S1 g
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
9 O% v( M, M- d ?) [& creturned again and again to the question of whether electronic' D4 y# T! { F6 z
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
; I- s/ Y" U* ^"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
4 w3 N5 k) e) Y. W2 M2 y, ~6 h' Othrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited2 z& F# z+ r# U) h
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut* v' h e6 ?1 e3 p. Q, b
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
! o H% B O$ M( H! kTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
' E6 e: D0 h4 Y3 t5 j6 D% i* R* Z: iprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
4 X4 J! r6 Q8 Q# M$ ibeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls! D) p, V8 v, J/ q9 L) x5 W
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer2 o, G" t$ n Q& y$ j% S
every question."& W) Q" c* d* y5 z
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
5 b' c& g* h2 q7 B8 p5 Uelectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
8 L4 o$ B) u. q2 N" `+ v/ Ofirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But- @' q+ V! G5 E% w
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
; k- ^7 V+ ~* gnumber of vehicles
& b0 A& A3 {0 Y% Y2 z$ A2 ?2 ATracking down an electrical problem can be far more
9 H& S8 `' Y, n% {- Zdifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a4 Q; o; b( J' e S, l e' r
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
5 j& Y# U0 v) s; ~% S" Ssource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
& r% W- F) H3 ~7 S9 W6 M/ t! ]Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
7 ^: Y- c4 j2 twhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
( O+ m7 ?7 q- H R0 m) @trace at all.
7 B& a y0 a6 {* d# m1 _House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call- S! _9 {" A# B/ f/ M" b5 @
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden" P0 O1 Z* N, b! W) E
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the3 X) h* J+ p/ F G
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.! x7 ], Z/ N. X# b: m* u
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,# k" t- W3 U) g
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
1 r. ` p" `5 J9 X0 oother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
5 n P% r5 O1 p# ~electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible+ q: u3 f% ^8 L5 |9 J
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
. Q- V* s: L/ n, U# p( jsuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained# r. L; a# n1 {$ z- c. _) z# H
by Toyota's lawyers."& F3 V, u- e0 }+ h
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of. w/ q. B8 V" _; Q) P v+ T
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our7 l7 f: i2 O6 a1 P6 }% ?, {9 l
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
1 k2 ~3 I" x* E1 {* f& Jsaid.! b; R/ C. }) a
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with' R g2 m9 @: y/ Q% p! r
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our+ X+ ?( { T4 Q) x1 n" s' p
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating$ v$ d9 A8 n/ }
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
0 y {. \) K9 b0 V7 `( SSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
! k* J o6 O; C0 \- I$ Amembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
' a4 j6 L: z$ Wrancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
% M2 ?0 B5 f) z5 ]/ L2 ~$ `automaker, at least in part because of the government's
3 |: t, [; ]; sinvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
- U1 ^: N; \4 mChrysler.. a6 q/ i1 m; Z3 _% V
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax6 j; N* u% y1 @3 ^1 v" x
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a8 r+ W( e, s+ A) ~$ v8 f
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also% D3 a2 ?# A) ?0 i: P+ O# \2 j2 P
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete$ T, C6 z" R% T5 {
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
$ x" P- {! H2 V0 t8 B& L6 ]+ b' rtough."
9 [2 h: b/ l+ Y- T: H. d---
" ], y9 ]' u, P9 E5 LAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
/ P4 x* S }9 vRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to% I4 F/ ?8 `, s9 P
this story.% ]( J% c+ i e" S- |. N" j7 ^: w
' r. W" D7 o+ U
-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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