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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
( p! J4 I, [+ |6 WBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS/ Q/ t' Y: {+ o3 q# n& t
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
5 H4 F% y7 P& U3 x t, F# ]+ Z, t4 Soperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
8 h4 l$ V2 h' e& M! @" h8 zthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
! P7 r' ^8 k8 Z0 P. B" Psolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
5 J6 Z5 ^4 @- a7 U, u( M8 |"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential4 }9 N3 y& Z3 h0 u' ?/ D" X
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.8 e2 x3 B) s+ s4 h4 ~' m R2 P9 U& U
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected$ l1 I w2 r) Q6 g8 t3 t& c# J; [$ ^
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and; \+ B+ N4 a+ V2 [+ k
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor, {0 M! T: \4 q: [
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.. |5 l0 L1 \0 R, ?# R8 ^
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
+ F n5 }& r% y- w3 ^! P8 y) d! Tand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
7 `7 t6 y+ M' mcriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
: E4 n4 L: y3 O8 N2 {5 c! ^further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
6 ^- U6 t* ^ ~' }" |6 knot stop her runaway Lexus.2 j$ s% b+ B) Y3 j& f* z
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
7 [8 Q1 T9 I1 s( s/ _4 V/ STenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second$ v: S G/ R# |. R- [% T" d
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
! d; f, R. G) B: e( k% O5 KTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
5 `( B% Z9 }! k: iearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
, N: z& X" W( E; l( \& F- A' l"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has0 [7 X' I* w5 I/ S# ^
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway. g: P- `9 B) R" O3 O) r5 b
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
r# D3 c; l8 @0 kinvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."4 A; k$ z6 ~ Q* u& K& j! c- Z
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
# ^$ ^! a( E! |) @9 t1 qelectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of! r1 y' H/ H, s( z
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a; }$ T3 D. g+ i( ~1 `
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
8 \5 ^, \# Z: K& e) A/ Ksaid.
9 j! _" C( u; y8 f# x H1 a; K' D e, AAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what4 Z: V4 E$ @: A$ U
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe) l) y/ r( ~- `- E
about driving our products," Lentz said.9 ~5 x% L7 n1 U0 V
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
4 Y+ w8 h4 f3 Q) F/ P; f5 w& m Dproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
" x. {) m' C0 M: q/ Yrecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
4 E4 Z: n+ S- N$ |million in the United States -- since last fall because of! v$ V$ w) k4 J" U. Y, @
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking# H& M; i3 ]1 r) \8 n. s s
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
4 p* ^8 \8 [( s Xconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of* [5 L! P: A% ~& \' N' [* R( Q( F( R* y
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow. A7 r0 b% b% x7 E/ G
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has" D- x6 {8 Q3 \/ ]
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration2 {8 f5 L, g" I Z- D
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.' D6 v/ P, s3 |7 [# f, p
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own% k) P6 R7 U8 J3 `2 K+ t. h
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
* V9 I8 ?! v% Aunderstood the pain.) b# J! @0 R/ R4 n' @+ p8 Y
"I know what those families go through," he said.) H# K/ y( h' x9 j; l
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
; g' Y/ |( l7 T$ F b, |$ t+ l4 v4 z2 ~fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.0 e, u* A0 A' O+ P# M2 f$ F o
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
' T; O, s* Z( E+ B& uHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put4 r0 ~/ H- |: M$ j! {% b
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,, V; x/ A. [: S7 v0 E2 ~4 E2 _ G
Lentz replied: "Not totally.") i& e! Q4 F* D$ ^9 U3 ]6 t
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
5 Y8 [8 P' n# F1 B, ]"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said$ t% ~" X- c( P; ~# N; O) c0 \
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
! f3 ?4 }, X, i opedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
. ~2 f' }0 V! K+ X4 Dvehicles already on the road.
- P) o% r/ l7 r% OMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify& a/ z" k9 b! ~- b( B8 r4 z6 D9 Q
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
, H& ?* O$ R) C ^responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
" {& j, V: l s [9 O4 i @offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were( F+ |# f' n: [7 H( `: {/ X, S
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.4 }6 ]. f' x9 R+ L& ^9 ~
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
# k0 p7 M. \ [5 ztragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony. ^7 p/ p9 H' ~' O# x) [
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight- ^' {# S0 a, C5 k
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal9 S% B2 n/ s0 |; z
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
$ H8 W& l8 e; E& i! `$ x5 ~restore the trust of our customers."
/ B0 a3 i! j6 K& t) ]Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from+ w6 Q$ K" G, ?* Y* V
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
! B, c7 m2 h$ F3 h6 P+ o/ x' Uzoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
! `( [/ x& Z3 G3 yshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
7 _" A! u$ s* k% X! phitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
+ Z% r3 D, P( k M; ?7 |* X4 F3 k2 Fthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and* _- G/ L2 a* b# U) ]. U
turn off the engine., |6 i! Y9 _. ?# Z* `8 X
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of: y$ j" J( p0 V: d/ t! I
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
( E* x8 Y9 t$ o" h& I"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
) m, z% m$ t. A+ s; gsaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
/ x% u: s+ l( j7 y( z. ~- I% z* Dto her complaints.
7 B" x" b9 W8 J7 x6 m3 b, hIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
+ ? J3 B% ^+ t( ~returned again and again to the question of whether electronic( I. |3 d3 u% p3 @7 t
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
2 H9 `+ g6 a; _5 M"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric' F, ^- L8 v8 @
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
& ~ R2 _- U! U( ]$ f2 ["fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut" s$ }! l: V# D) k: }2 S8 Y# |! t
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."/ V' o1 q6 u ?' X3 y# ?+ H
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
$ [; e) q; J. zprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were" ?' x0 A8 T4 ^; C$ i
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls+ c% R2 U `8 J5 g
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer$ q% s: t6 L3 u/ R7 a5 O& a- _
every question."4 G2 y$ {% x Z' o
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
4 A1 l& K' A4 r/ C. ^electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The# k+ m& R& o4 Y: j# L; N8 U, n
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
6 t( g; ~ s5 U. y9 C+ _committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
0 Y6 a# p9 ~, T0 X) Bnumber of vehicles
* C# |. k( s0 B0 j+ ^Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more
* E, Z+ D1 Z adifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
, ^/ R% x5 J! J1 nmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one$ ^( {$ j5 p4 ?6 @0 [6 W% u8 |
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.) }$ g6 S* q8 d8 z% ?- E
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,5 }3 K7 d; d, l6 C
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
6 y# k2 s( t: ytrace at all." q- d$ r- v6 m' Q# k- P
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call! E* n: Z3 M' r! g7 c. m
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
8 H+ R" H9 V$ _+ c' cacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
9 r9 V+ K1 c ]6 E! K4 Drecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
* }5 k3 t# Y( m+ jRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,* x9 x* m5 Y/ ~) V6 N
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
" i: m j/ N! O* y# O' ?; \8 Z. Mother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
' N1 ]+ i' C/ Y0 V' E& }electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible" r/ e- c2 L7 ?. C1 X' ~6 p3 L$ X
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
* a n' z5 l7 R# Lsuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
" U! X- i, o8 Uby Toyota's lawyers."
0 f% d4 F' z2 i$ ?( G! tLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
9 B* c5 P. k- y9 D) \' q; Iproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
4 E# k. Q# l7 a3 F7 y( f& @6 ?customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he! v- ?2 s' N& W$ J2 @
said.
- r9 s6 h* B( C' o/ }0 j"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
* ?" J- n5 Q% A3 [3 l! aa rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
4 b8 z! Q) c' d5 J* n5 h0 H! j Tgood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating s9 @. g/ m! `: H6 B2 e0 I
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.6 X0 L/ i# T$ _2 Z2 [' H" _, v
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying# g+ ^; ?+ l' N3 i& T& p
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread& l% m2 N- z. n2 r! Y
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
! J% ^) f1 m" q6 L9 _: Kautomaker, at least in part because of the government's! [# v& Y- ^* u6 m% [
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and2 |' ~( R4 [- a, _; W2 F* S7 j
Chrysler.0 c& E3 ]& h. b% ^, p8 r4 o) i# [
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax" O9 i9 r7 B2 u+ F _% G; ~
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a# {, Q/ c* ~/ j# S! q; Z
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also2 N, c! M% `! A
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
. v6 O' d* {& ?% jwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty$ d9 Q6 ?" t3 F; O
tough.", x# C' F0 l" m- t; X$ Q
---$ L/ h# k7 v/ j& V) G
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
1 _( L! A; a) l# P1 QRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
1 B4 ?! l6 _9 `. b# Zthis story. |+ S" p3 h( L: L8 v* \, b
% H0 N. |& ^. o; I5 L, n
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