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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 v, ^ b- ~- @By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
8 \* m: K4 s. B; F/ F- dWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.# |7 P/ [% R$ l* P& ]# z4 b
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
* k/ S+ o/ Z# u! h8 ~( m. Z9 X) J- Sthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"9 c$ o- i- k- Z! J! M; y/ ]' F
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.: ?2 s& V. A/ Q! `1 Y
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
7 x9 l/ @6 N" X% ]0 U& X1 ?causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel." e1 \- |/ F! E2 T2 W: g
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
/ I3 B% n6 O [; l" uacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
; x/ e# [4 m$ l, {- ~7 u! [+ atrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
* v" @! g; V' G+ z( k% D5 Bmats and sticking accelerator pedals.6 t% }3 W0 e- q( V
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal8 @" [4 U; ^ [/ s9 ?! W% `: C
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
# Q- Z* s8 z/ m7 dcriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
; z$ y9 s8 T. k5 T6 F# ]5 M) yfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
( Q! t0 ~7 l/ Q+ x4 y8 W I5 mnot stop her runaway Lexus.
2 Q/ y" X! J2 i( A% b G1 l4 W"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
7 k' t. V$ ^5 N: |% _Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
/ ?2 r/ g. s8 a) }: f* m"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
# Q; F8 k* p$ W$ x. uTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues; _0 ]& n# E- {5 U T. N
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
: v: t$ t, _- u+ {"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
0 L9 [+ b0 L1 _" e cdone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway, V# Q' a/ B5 [% j G( O' B( X9 u" K
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
6 f% ?/ z& Z, y( ?" u& Xinvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
' t% P% V5 u" m2 j+ ULentz said the company had not completely ruled out an, I$ U- @/ V7 r I% r) l' d5 ^
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of$ h2 y Q) ^& J- @/ Y
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a6 s6 N$ }4 b) o5 X# h! z
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
" a. T9 m0 `1 N9 A/ G7 `3 p9 xsaid.
: G% ^2 ~* z6 p8 \4 y# J7 e g# B5 ~As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
0 Y! T4 |. ?, M& [* [happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe( o) b9 F9 Y) r8 \
about driving our products," Lentz said.' h. k9 _) E. y# F
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's6 Y2 ~! K8 _# r' j7 [
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
! t. L; A, @. ~! m( nrecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
" r5 ] M' a5 M3 r, L' W" c" xmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of! G" _" X1 F' t6 }: B
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking5 V% d7 w. D8 ^
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
! {" [4 M( D6 g: S/ Fconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
+ B& D, z: b4 d- @& v) Htheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
$ a5 Q: L9 Z, J6 { }( C% Wdown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
3 X- k/ p& @8 c9 y$ f9 E) _; X8 {received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
2 r6 }/ ^- X+ _; i7 ?of Toyota vehicles since 2000.
9 h0 V8 u [1 _) o9 DLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own5 O) N9 e8 Z6 V1 r4 `* q9 f
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
% b, D/ k4 |3 F A; J& ?understood the pain.# O9 w' n- z2 D- e5 j" p
"I know what those families go through," he said.. I% L- I- N1 F6 y/ F
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
! ?+ Z; f* s% R- `. |3 } tfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.: G( x4 ?' ~, J
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman5 g0 ]. t, `2 m2 Q2 P8 Y
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
$ b R$ s$ u0 |1 r u6 C3 Bin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,- d! u! ]3 G3 {" t3 T
Lentz replied: "Not totally.", k% X) G0 V2 A. R+ r
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
* S; k! L7 k: q1 K, f" C; c8 ^"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
' x$ G) }* r1 R0 zToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas; v5 H* o! j, i" o& R
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
+ A# w1 T% c M H/ Bvehicles already on the road./ E/ b3 ^2 r2 L2 T. L+ e K' B$ w
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify5 b& Y& y% Q& E4 _& j
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full0 m5 X9 {* r4 y6 U& E/ h& g6 u2 w
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and6 `/ w+ g3 p9 W. `, T7 g
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
& D; ?( ]! X# K3 ^4 R. Qkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
; u% v. g8 n% L j3 o8 r"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a, z' P& M5 `' p( V( v8 X7 X1 y
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
' \& w$ K2 b! o; r: a; sfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
! ]- w" O( Z v; f9 Z9 C( ^6 ACommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
* y! A# m/ ~: m- Wcommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
# Q2 F6 W8 o e$ |restore the trust of our customers."5 a* j9 G/ r; E9 L: A( P2 I, _
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from8 j% R3 z. Z# I4 p0 \" D
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
" m. c# g+ p5 n3 e y6 L; H6 mzoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
& s3 F: N' P/ f# Q5 ?6 i$ ~shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and! ?$ H6 N, O4 ?, d5 ~
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
4 H: s5 K0 v$ L" M/ O* A2 {that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and' n4 e0 {- p1 W8 W
turn off the engine.) A- R9 p3 M0 o
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
3 I& o8 @# }" e. c5 x1 AOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."! k9 I7 D/ \3 q: ]! {2 c
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she3 b9 T% B6 N2 N7 O$ s
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond+ `9 A4 @6 n5 r, b
to her complaints.
$ h. b* L- i7 ?- g9 J. pIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers H$ @: @6 b- u) q
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic) t7 L/ Y( V) o4 N. R9 |, d$ N
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
& n6 `, o. X( H& E"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric, j1 Q. P: {* X( c6 D
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited! _. f4 ^! j. v1 a$ `- F+ W, V
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
n, z7 [3 Q' s) roff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."' G; [3 h/ F4 X" s1 s
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
# W; c; M N5 F4 n2 Q" f: uprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were" O% h/ O, Z9 }% n2 r( c
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
% {/ S* m0 q6 K7 [5 k& }0 kwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
: L. E' m. e! m- q9 O+ G9 k4 tevery question."% [& @* D8 e- n- v) O/ q# ~; @ \; b
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether4 K; ] d; ?+ ` q8 `
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The, r# \ {' n* Q1 S/ y) R
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
7 q8 s- m+ Q6 T0 @+ Rcommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small5 l- l5 X, z' g$ T1 X
number of vehicles: F+ Q) Z) s! G
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more0 q/ T. a( c( I' _5 p
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
|$ g0 R1 Q! O1 I. Amechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
( W4 v6 _% ^# b f! Gsource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.& z6 l7 Z6 I% y$ ^6 e( X
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,; F9 u' H. u/ a3 P* Y. n. Z
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
( u3 @/ }$ H2 w+ Htrace at all.
; E1 e1 ?% T0 [House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call6 n9 b( X- `) g4 \# b! g. v
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
# X/ Z) D+ e, Q8 u5 r8 f8 E0 G, eacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
# @0 s6 a! x2 ~8 p' |recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
; @# e1 e; {, ARep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,' D9 R0 n3 C! m( X& n/ f7 T
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
0 C& Y& _0 f% _% c7 l) P8 ?other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
( S6 L7 }$ n5 Nelectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
0 ]$ Y# Y0 A, k/ A. B. Jcause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
3 J+ m$ S+ m% b; Q5 Wsuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
9 L1 Y1 w0 {: g, U1 Lby Toyota's lawyers."" {* { D6 n1 d- ~# R N% G/ @3 ]* E
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of( g5 ]) G+ l& p3 G% ~2 Q+ w' }" @$ u
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
8 x6 V+ g" v" J# Mcustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he. ?) y( A: h- w9 d
said.2 b5 R m; M$ ?6 A* G
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
8 D1 f: M8 S/ e; H" O7 P9 da rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our1 D1 e) _& w* s& M! o
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating$ z* m+ B- y a# n# M( `
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
0 U& B% L. m7 ?9 i- K5 j. ^Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
3 C4 l2 N9 g' p1 F7 N% H ?. b8 Smembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
& F: q# V. K9 @0 H- A. H( z3 M; krancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the) B, I% i9 M# [, p6 a) i
automaker, at least in part because of the government's
: L7 \1 c6 o$ b# E+ M$ cinvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
; e3 Q4 ?8 G( r1 r- JChrysler.
N3 _7 d# c; d"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax1 Y) G) L% N. m/ @; r: p+ H
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a* S1 R7 l1 Z6 s( ?
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
3 K- \2 y& n0 J$ Gserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
1 p' ]/ j3 N7 Z$ B# L' Hwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty8 v4 O1 H% t6 L4 M
tough."
Q. E! r9 b, |& \. h---% ]* {9 E% d# o2 W' v
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
* L4 E; c. A; z2 m! DRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
$ A5 u+ S/ |# f# q+ Kthis story.
2 V/ j" |! v( |& y! i3 }7 u& Z; E; ]2 @! p4 J
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