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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. b' [7 Y0 M4 N5 D3 x, ? x; Y
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS' j" a* ^# _# k6 F/ e: O
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
0 C1 z& X2 l) M# G5 Eoperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that& J( |0 J" H# ]/ r& _# U' R
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"0 o; }$ L. n. g0 P! m; l6 O; R- e0 k
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
1 \+ O% k7 t2 |8 G"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
2 \! C4 \/ [# x, K I/ r( Ycauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel. g6 q4 k3 y& Y
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
- `4 L" f! L3 `' {1 O: cacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
& N, g& F7 B, ?1 d0 }trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor+ T2 K, J$ W* B. A# ]9 {) `; J
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.
7 }8 s0 C, E. }- o5 s4 {: N% }$ zHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
3 f7 n5 W% G3 hand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
0 `8 V4 s% M' |. Rcriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
6 `( o( ^2 o# ^- J$ kfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
3 N0 _: e2 ~" i' l# Lnot stop her runaway Lexus.# Z5 o6 _7 d1 b$ I. }0 ]; q M
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
6 j0 a5 P8 }: x' u; l4 WTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
+ J0 l- g9 z2 c) O9 ?"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
0 \6 e0 b) X I' ~; t0 NTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
* C5 `: f% E. S yearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said+ g6 C: ?. ]( n3 l
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
, B# Z9 b( P: S0 Q/ R/ l9 ~done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
4 Q7 |$ J( S! M& I: Z% Ethrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's. T( Y# ~ K: J+ j: d% v
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham.") G/ m8 n# B/ D) C4 y
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an: |( C" R3 o1 ]3 v% [, @
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of4 R) W& g. Q+ g
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a, c3 j7 }5 K% Y% K7 J% R
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
, e. W4 \; ~; W. T. E2 _8 ]said.
2 u/ b) Z! h* b) GAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what N4 j& {) t) b5 Z$ R
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
8 W( S, u$ ]2 fabout driving our products," Lentz said.) q( J' K, H$ J+ X; Y5 z
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
' o& N/ W) L; |" _. x. N: b: }! pproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
6 A3 B t) P# q1 I( z) xrecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
. u6 Q6 N) M5 m _" ~: ~million in the United States -- since last fall because of
" K0 Y' U9 ` @6 l; tunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
0 k( J0 v9 |. D' U" u" S/ O& \issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering" |) @5 G/ |7 |7 K' N8 U1 r0 Z# y
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
8 N y: A, l+ H( {their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
! X2 ]) M; \( Q6 d' Mdown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
8 S9 m3 S% J5 F1 u8 l8 [$ |received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
% k$ n: J( e2 U: T$ n+ yof Toyota vehicles since 2000.
`5 b J2 r @) i, N4 {Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
- P t3 a' c$ L" Z+ b5 I; Dbrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he# a+ D/ Y/ U! ^: F; c8 |& \. M
understood the pain.
8 }' V2 N- w5 B8 G3 n"I know what those families go through," he said.: ]2 e& y0 n4 c* \
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's& M% z; i/ f/ W/ F( \4 @, i# b# J
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
, Z; C& [/ L5 vBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
7 b! ^" J3 q: [0 Q5 n3 gHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put+ r9 Y1 {7 T2 ^( u( _; T M5 o
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,, E1 q( o; E& C8 ^4 [
Lentz replied: "Not totally.", B$ \9 Z9 p! q$ P
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were f4 c2 ~' D$ G. F
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
2 V9 Q. e( N& e; C4 Q' wToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
4 ?" q0 Q' M: W* u4 Fpedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
) r1 v+ {( D" {vehicles already on the road.
+ Y" ]% d8 p& ]# ~* N( Y/ EMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
0 s- v* w3 H4 E5 Abefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full1 c" O; s2 D0 r5 y8 X% j8 `6 s# t
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
$ X& p! v) s# A p9 V% Qoffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
( @7 g/ R! a* E, W4 Y) j9 A+ M7 }killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
1 T3 b: X' v* I4 u5 I" G$ m! A"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a0 j( N; n! }( |% c) O
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
: o; M, \4 P5 Q( c# |: x" ofor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight- g* {% Z) T' K: c' ]2 \+ _1 _
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
, Y% p$ Y8 R; y$ u- G: K6 lcommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
" L; \3 [' {5 J8 `4 B7 zrestore the trust of our customers."
% ?6 p. ?5 w, b% C2 l% zLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from) T* X( M5 ^4 o* `! r4 [* K; ^
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
. A2 r+ V* u2 n# C; I2 Rzoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --$ T( h: p& n7 P) R/ b+ M
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and* {% k$ Q9 U# T/ f6 E5 ?
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough* t8 c" g+ j" B
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
( A5 @; o8 D3 Cturn off the engine.$ |% x1 y5 I' s; k( ~3 h3 U
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of( U5 P3 Y% M+ X) A- }! ~" h/ G5 }
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
4 f! O% b! I$ `$ L8 n"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
- v7 V8 X" e) f. k: t+ Nsaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond8 T0 b7 ^% p" U# p ?
to her complaints.
" Z* h* U9 O) Z) | [In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
. {- s9 Y0 b+ B( v+ `4 zreturned again and again to the question of whether electronic
+ Y2 r& J) v8 }4 bmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.7 H+ b* |7 u! G/ \$ l. @. M3 A
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
3 z; | G9 _4 I ]throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
' z, x( x* a3 C4 O2 I, J"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut5 u4 F4 h6 H$ r0 Y' U0 N$ c* z0 ] O
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."0 V; s1 q& _2 M$ q
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in W* V0 R7 O: u/ U) w* @9 H m& y
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were K7 V) b+ L' o6 M( }2 D
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
5 T2 U# K. _2 z4 A3 h, f3 uwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer% W y$ t( O5 O+ {/ m, W3 ]% h. x
every question."2 e. m: L- A; ]1 S! L
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether- D+ _6 T/ F8 a' L# X
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
; a! ~- b( n# V) g$ m' B: `firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But9 c9 N: ^ L* ]4 H- Q
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small* A6 l0 C; T8 q% e6 O
number of vehicles
: Y/ K9 v% y, ~+ Y. q/ NTracking down an electrical problem can be far more
$ Z5 [. d9 r$ N$ r* g3 zdifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a5 |: q1 A/ C* P+ O( Y7 O
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
: `1 f7 ]: K( K8 Tsource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
- W) ?3 g' p9 r& YMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
- \/ _# [. x! Xwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no$ T$ ~+ D8 T8 ~- f
trace at all.
* Q D8 r) k- O2 ~House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
! C+ Q/ m- S# I fdatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
7 l. y) k5 v, {* h8 qacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
; ?3 \* o8 [9 T2 r7 f* Grecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
+ I! r, @2 c5 n7 Y3 J! f* V9 uRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,# v; i! f- ]3 F# }1 Q
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and+ l1 b: F7 Z2 j7 v
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the7 V; z* ]+ A! E9 J+ p% Q9 z
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible8 x( _1 h' U3 g2 M0 ?1 D6 i
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
! I" ~1 x) Y z- s9 \4 Hsuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained- r/ _! a. |5 D2 ^, k! D8 \
by Toyota's lawyers."4 ?3 X7 i. ~+ X5 q* a" J" U4 m
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
" ^( q* P7 [2 @& ]! \; zproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
/ k! S6 u+ J' d7 S/ Ncustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he: O; J, ^9 K' L
said.
* Z5 J% j {- O- k( A* R0 n"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with: |1 {) D) K& P/ _$ h0 g
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
; Q$ S1 C7 y5 m9 v6 igood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
1 F, `- g: k: K/ s5 [, ]2 M! `officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
9 k. N9 M' F& h; Y- z$ T; }Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying5 W |3 \# e/ v+ J2 ^ ?& H
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread8 u) l" I' J# ]0 C
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the/ f8 W" K8 t' E& f
automaker, at least in part because of the government's
/ |0 G0 Y& z+ g. N3 W1 b9 [investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and/ X9 `5 Y! z" b- t9 g! u" `
Chrysler.$ T# ]# P2 [2 i7 z: N8 o
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
2 Y9 {0 c5 y2 ydollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a# g, m k, Z/ M" Z4 S
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
" i3 T4 d' a! e; d+ ` t& xserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
4 w5 ~! e7 d0 X7 `. l7 W( Q! ~with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
1 }) |: D2 j; y# [5 |% ]% Ctough."
$ {. T0 G# T+ ]; n' E---: a9 Q1 W0 U, {/ L# q
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
* P0 z% f6 u) o1 V( J- ]0 r6 ~Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
, a9 b& {5 O& R8 T$ Dthis story.( o& c: a; J/ M' _
I* {0 w- i5 _ ^3 j-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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