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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
: S) _" ]2 R B7 C# \7 d, C3 VBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
7 Y; a# e1 L) c6 t4 u5 tWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.+ S" D" w6 }3 q$ e$ @/ A5 I
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that4 G4 d0 v1 q. m/ ~
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
6 ]" H* c# W- b( K( psolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.9 p1 o; R5 u% a7 {7 p+ K( t- d9 h
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
! K, |5 ?! x) {5 ~) Icauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
/ z" D1 |0 x/ r% V& o# B/ ]# I+ pHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
; e( a# n( z1 q. i8 wacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and0 d8 m ]2 l$ h" f
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
! \6 K' C$ [/ w \mats and sticking accelerator pedals. F3 j5 i; { M- m2 p) V! k2 D6 g
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
! E# c+ y- Q3 X8 H' Jand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
& I, U: u" W/ A% e3 D# Z6 Tcriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be7 }' _2 G9 U( f( o
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
& ~$ h; Y3 @0 a6 {0 S* \+ o5 ~not stop her runaway Lexus.
4 Z. o# @4 \* r- r0 F Q8 K( m1 P"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
/ W; |; o, O! [! s' tTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second, Q1 W. d' ^1 k7 J
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.! |# T3 H: g8 p+ K
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
1 [$ U/ ~9 C* Z+ F; ~2 V$ v$ Aearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
8 ]) S, u$ y0 ?( m"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
' q1 f, G# G; j# [' ?done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
9 G. i2 M3 y/ ]8 O6 N' ]8 U+ Ithrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's# ]" ^' m2 Y5 X' v p3 j
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
2 W7 S) c! F- r+ l- w% LLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an2 @, w- k/ U* c
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
7 C. @) S4 \5 b/ M9 s# e* H8 O1 ~8 R: Vthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a" Z4 n$ `3 t/ I$ \
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
- e& ~- b" a/ n, F6 H, csaid.6 U- G: ?% L" s1 F+ r
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
! A) s3 E6 r1 ]# @2 o4 S0 h1 chappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe. C( t3 L) M# p/ E. n7 x
about driving our products," Lentz said.
2 d7 D" r: Z+ ?: |) i5 T& gThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's9 T# @$ R3 j; m5 q" D6 T
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has; ~" l5 e, r& w: b6 |( f3 O* [
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
6 ~& r& k- [4 }: x0 v& Pmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of% U z# d9 M" Z+ ?" T
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking$ |: o O1 N3 Y6 [9 C% n, q
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
! K& H* W9 X- \; d! \+ A; P1 o7 R' V) cconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
* f/ D( X/ H0 I! e0 a) Z8 e1 ^4 Ptheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow4 I) F x2 J- [5 r
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has( S1 q* f$ a/ B- m( z' A4 r
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
7 j2 m8 ?0 k5 c; G& N( {of Toyota vehicles since 2000.- k- ?/ b) Z7 p6 w, g) d+ C
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
& U G1 _( N9 L9 m& K% J0 [( Qbrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he# ^! s+ i1 u3 j; H9 t
understood the pain.
4 I! b: D) N/ I b"I know what those families go through," he said.
# A* W/ Q/ p4 L7 v) FLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
% b. ]: b" u6 [" kfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
+ H3 A- H) A7 ^; CBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman% W+ S8 y7 W4 E
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put, b% W5 n& v6 N# Z, d# N0 [
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,7 f& |2 q/ t. c& a( w( N
Lentz replied: "Not totally."2 z. E/ [% x3 O! ~8 f
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
+ I9 h1 T2 U3 O5 R"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
- c$ T) V6 p6 d* sToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas0 y; j: C( _2 \% R8 L$ U4 Z) V
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
: J2 g+ Y' M. m) G! w4 `% Evehicles already on the road.
" J K, n0 F/ u7 L" wMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify1 |2 Y( R1 I9 ?6 S) K, r3 m9 }
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
A! u' q) |5 [# I4 Xresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
" L1 j" V, |; k0 Eoffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were5 s9 U1 F& y1 T8 b8 J
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
; u: R# Q% x8 L5 Q8 a7 H"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a1 W9 h+ G) D. z2 M* x# n
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
" q z( F5 ~! c0 Ffor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
. }5 K9 I4 a6 [7 I2 L$ L# xCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
9 n E2 y( ~1 d" E! H8 {commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to& L S* ~. U' m/ n8 B; r/ y
restore the trust of our customers." O; G; Y5 w7 o; k
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from' X3 Q4 |! T6 g8 M) W( s3 |
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly' @' y% W) ]6 b( ]% v
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --( d/ [) s* i. D3 b/ N/ U" R
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and5 e* N- k' L9 b8 s1 d: L& `! L
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough7 M& O) Y1 s* m6 U
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and- u( k4 H- I. X! \8 d' {' h
turn off the engine.
/ D+ r# u% F! T v zFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
3 z& @ B) }. |- H& YOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."3 s# t! Z3 C/ W' |& ` t' v
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
4 p. Z9 Y( ]' F2 u8 v6 Jsaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond6 \$ K; \3 a8 a k1 Z
to her complaints. H7 z8 e( x; R+ Q/ N- L* ~
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers# P& S) n5 W. h6 w0 X
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
% Q% r$ R/ u; M' L ~1 c' P' Zmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.5 t6 v8 \" U9 r5 C2 l
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric0 F& G# L. a' \7 o
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
/ O1 S" }6 H% Q& S, \+ N' S7 V Y"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
1 L3 d5 c: D! t; {9 a! _off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
& d9 W9 g8 ^/ `" w2 STransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in" G' Z/ `! ~$ \
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were' @. r0 ^% ^$ B8 ~) z2 R# L5 \
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls) X7 @( i: G8 P1 r
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
L' n6 K4 w+ P D( Wevery question."# C6 f$ z+ R, j" Z6 ^
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether& X4 s$ b# K# d5 q
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
0 ~: {$ F! b0 m* Mfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But3 c& {- y: S( ~ g0 |2 d
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small# z& |$ u3 M; T) J& O; J2 H
number of vehicles/ P) ^) l* J0 }! K& ]; R2 a! n( z8 E
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more9 s0 G8 }- C9 W; x
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a2 D' F9 ]4 P: w% B4 V* H
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one8 M" W: q _ p3 P T2 n/ t: d
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
# M) ~4 A) Q6 H& dMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
6 r+ V0 n* p6 m0 y# Wwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
0 [7 z! b5 Y7 c" i% V. M1 q( f4 gtrace at all.
1 P: _- J: B4 K+ Z/ CHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call4 r9 L+ h. [+ D. j
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden! ], V9 E" a, \: w" C% x+ N: d* W
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the$ }; f( q4 D4 P( G1 p
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.& m; A" S( U T
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,& d J N8 k5 d
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and9 d' J) p, Z- X
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the3 r( f% D. U9 N) q
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible$ j( K# `5 c# @8 g
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
V' k- T: T) ysuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
/ a5 _5 n4 e8 ^' w: N" Fby Toyota's lawyers."+ Q9 h8 r, y, K5 c) m- {' a
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
1 `9 p9 @, _" P2 d9 q& I# P, tproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our- @2 i k: q, P6 H% k
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
+ e5 e2 |8 @( R4 S7 x$ z& ]said.$ s. D M+ D/ `, t1 ~
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
! X6 Y8 ]! a* ~1 V6 |& ^a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
% F/ V* r3 p, Z/ C% G# \good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
8 P# u6 L% ~* k N5 I1 gofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
8 W9 f* E! ]1 M1 n. d+ u# SSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying! t$ A. q6 w' L) ~; V
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread& W$ o4 |* [* J6 u/ Z0 b/ o1 P2 A, e
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the7 N! b$ T0 X- t# u, \: _1 ^5 C
automaker, at least in part because of the government's; T+ d) m" J; W) s2 ~: c1 z
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
2 |3 R7 k! H; b) h ^Chrysler.
! f# h- [% a* p' \6 J/ P"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
# b" p+ D4 `2 ^. idollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a, g( B! B* p+ ~0 L9 _9 D, z
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
2 U1 P! ~. K, d! O ^; F: K* Zserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete4 |; m0 l d# O" }* b- T2 L
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty; [! e2 @9 c$ b2 C
tough."
- ^" s+ E4 h8 ]5 r! n---& h# e" y. x; s: A8 [" J
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
4 `& ~. b. E( }- g, A" n, @Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to/ f0 |. V `% W0 G. }' G/ u
this story.8 R* W8 ]: v4 E0 U8 K/ }0 p& b
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