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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
( e4 V$ Z. J6 y7 N W& z9 uBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS% v& h; V; K4 A
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
% ~8 c( ~7 V8 q: H- n8 N: J+ Hoperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that2 g- \' Z/ n* ^* t7 F
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"+ b" ]; f; V9 Q, o
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.6 {: H8 w! t% R/ b
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
0 k; ~ T% H- A! Tcauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
" a- Y' R8 k$ r" ^& \/ {However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
; d$ |$ f) X; L( b" Y, s" ?2 ?acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
, j# v' h9 U0 etrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor& }# a6 g8 o; r( A
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.
( Q3 T- Y# G2 M) v( y! nHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
; ~, p9 K$ t" ^8 R+ ]9 ~9 aand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp, Y7 w" L9 O* U) r
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
- n6 c) f6 z* m! K) ofurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could, x$ O! s! N0 i! ]6 i8 N
not stop her runaway Lexus.1 K! _; m# ~$ v6 j" W
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
4 F& Z6 R' T1 d- y9 \' }/ Q& R( q; oTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second2 M% n$ `+ l, |; t/ C7 V
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.) m/ a( G6 ~( |2 Y
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
9 t# u9 b& W" w2 {6 Qearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said. k! ?4 m! {' [: d2 N
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
$ ]0 j' r( Q: |' wdone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
/ ] U R. D# [ \( [. _through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
: G8 j0 j" e! s5 z: w1 E5 W8 hinvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."7 \; F: Z( n9 B, F! ?& ?
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
' s, o0 |1 {/ i0 O/ Velectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of; q( J7 A% {+ ?4 n8 }/ c1 `3 B
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a0 f8 `/ w: W* s4 o
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
( [& [2 N+ k- {: M( Y& Nsaid.
P1 X$ t/ h$ R% z. C1 [As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what- M2 a B1 J% C
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
; Z; B$ s" }9 a) K' Q4 K8 Eabout driving our products," Lentz said.7 `" x& B3 b) E. b
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
( x# \5 v6 j5 k9 E- }2 Gproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
, o' E R' y; C& Brecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 63 q! e* i2 m' {) M: ], T* B5 S
million in the United States -- since last fall because of" b3 F0 X" F: W7 J$ A* k
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
. t( r: {/ t; s" @0 d6 c" C# ^issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering9 w0 ]& h) N5 u9 p# a8 _2 t
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
$ U3 k3 N: x. |0 |: b) z3 e1 _their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
; q/ V& X3 m$ k$ h6 V6 Jdown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
! ~, F# b, z; [" |received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
' X* X3 d* U, d: C) B9 W0 `5 rof Toyota vehicles since 2000.
! o6 }$ q( I3 g: [8 B6 ALentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own/ i' x6 h, @ l* _+ E
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he1 z8 y- t+ u4 b; i* N
understood the pain.
) B i& @, [! m% M1 c"I know what those families go through," he said.
4 |, b! h3 f( `8 RLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
1 Y- q. \' I x0 i5 F; I5 Zfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.2 P# I8 F$ {' V: n$ X# N8 |
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman: U' ], x o; O. Y% T5 [. L
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put- W! ]+ {4 O4 ?7 k1 X2 B; _ a5 T7 y
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
0 [3 V* o; X5 W0 u) GLentz replied: "Not totally."
! ~# o1 I0 y- l( |; Y. XStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
% `$ y& l/ O7 m"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
/ ?8 U: P. F J; j/ y" y$ BToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
3 x. a& X F# s7 T( v8 S' d _pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
- h- d0 r8 Q7 H3 o$ l% Lvehicles already on the road.; }0 L6 G7 X+ X6 F
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
- L( a2 K/ y6 R9 |1 H: B8 Ebefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full" e2 o5 y. X% A- h/ E& e
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and/ f7 H: C/ A1 ^) I [7 q
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were7 }3 e7 w8 j% B( I5 b$ J
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.6 c- {' J3 q3 G0 T6 S: U
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a- r$ ~, R( D8 }7 b# N1 `, `' V0 W
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony/ u+ ~$ e$ K9 D6 {
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
, C* A" V6 u% n2 v5 q+ SCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal9 J# w( h7 R. t. F$ {; A
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to& w Z/ ]! g. e$ Q# B. J
restore the trust of our customers."& o' W/ `2 S, f
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from( j2 a' g# |2 W* x5 K ]; ^
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly2 {! ~" b6 d! \
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --* C9 w! F) i9 c
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and" ~. v, }. I/ E
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
0 T3 |/ q h; |- lthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and, C( f( ?9 K8 X7 I3 K! `# J
turn off the engine.6 f& [) ]4 f: T! M5 {
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of6 q9 U7 x# M/ x8 J7 G; l V6 ]
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience." |. J3 A6 y! I
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she) r3 s9 H2 k& Q K! _3 x
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
1 c; {( z E& r F% ]# bto her complaints.
$ n/ o, z! B. i) N8 n* T1 [In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
3 g* S3 v7 X5 x, o) ireturned again and again to the question of whether electronic
( D0 G, D' F d B, h3 M! Q; X- }. A. Gmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.: i' ]1 t: [/ f" u
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
$ R4 t2 P, V8 g, f8 e+ Ythrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
4 s: _* h$ P5 D"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
4 p" `$ X' F* n& N4 Moff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."( ?) X7 m1 q4 y0 x( W
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in& ~% r& M2 {" t C1 [. |! {
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were8 }7 B& j- x# R9 H# f8 z, w
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls: h9 L" u( R8 N) W x- g- y% f
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer" Z# b" j1 |' V, a% z
every question."" Y) U# Y3 d$ r q8 ]3 o% W
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
7 S% {/ z5 R x, j& selectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
$ a9 n$ I/ Z" `. E1 j3 X5 f* ?firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
$ O9 I* l f a1 u7 ?5 Ecommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small1 E% a* K9 K, O
number of vehicles
0 T- v$ W& a3 r* QTracking down an electrical problem can be far more, Y. f( N& {1 O
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a& T- r: w$ G9 s# \- U* ?* t
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one7 d, z- s" b1 Y
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.0 [9 y( w4 }) p6 l. r6 k
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
4 g5 d8 K- g, U; \( ?where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no& J! I& U( V6 i& _. x5 p9 q
trace at all.! A4 A+ G3 C2 S
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call( D! V l+ d6 l
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden+ ^/ B1 z+ U3 Q: C3 h# X! Q9 _
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
' p+ d; Z# I# g4 L' v* Q8 W( D2 s2 _recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
5 d( R: p6 E l3 S/ ~& R$ BRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
5 Y- V- R1 n# M, P; Ssaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
8 q6 w. g; Z2 z( G7 Y# Lother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the2 }% o/ ?, M9 O! F
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
* d, W0 m$ H2 O( s: N5 m$ ucause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
7 {& _9 W3 ~% ^' H( k8 s* \, vsuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained" z0 G B0 }* S( t- x
by Toyota's lawyers."9 |* a& ^" ^' m
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
( r7 Y( ~7 T% F4 {7 b5 Rproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
0 a* s5 i3 f; i# R8 N9 ncustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
5 m1 P7 F' D0 T: osaid." A# [ d" f) r4 G8 {& I
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
; o: L1 J/ S4 w4 {+ K5 Ya rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our8 z! _5 P' c1 Y4 x
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
( F! D. J. P8 k9 e: _' x0 jofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.# x* E b- Z, d( p* ^
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
$ M, A7 R( Z) {. S" N5 Lmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread2 Z9 E2 d |: |. O7 I+ O$ @1 A" k
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the& k+ D1 l8 e6 B
automaker, at least in part because of the government's8 E1 b3 B$ S8 d6 P, ]
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
: w( m4 H8 ~! x: G8 t5 HChrysler.
* S! g+ Z8 f* U5 l"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax, b0 ^& l: r5 s0 }2 M! m( n# O
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
/ n0 i5 @4 m1 S% B5 e( @Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
1 [# {4 T6 G! J6 _( Sserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete) e* p4 J/ _5 E
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
3 C8 P* g2 J, m* i* m. R Q5 H9 D3 ftough."( k8 G5 a+ p* T/ U6 U R! W/ {
--- H3 N9 A- L, h+ c( w) [
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom: ~* h1 ]0 | e9 I
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to, O% e& n/ A% |8 I
this story.
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! t0 `8 q* z# K/ p$ {8 K, [-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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