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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
5 I+ A4 {5 {4 n# `0 t* kBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
7 q2 G( T. ^ {% y8 hWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.0 h9 `0 _. V( B
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that9 l* E+ X$ K+ x7 ^& R# [7 s
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"/ ^. O$ G# s) F- K" g( E
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
+ _1 T( N" b$ ~ H) W1 V"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
3 K+ {# N/ w: Jcauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.$ ^% @: v% |$ X- m' f
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
8 I L& R! a7 s) ?4 bacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
( x. o, m& t; c5 E. h) C E& ^trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
5 `0 l/ F; r' O( Wmats and sticking accelerator pedals.
p) Q; O) ^- H' vHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
; ~ L6 s- a _and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
5 p& ^; ^" L+ m2 ^criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be% q: F$ ^/ e2 }2 m, D. F
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could5 O- J5 n2 T+ }; Q5 `
not stop her runaway Lexus.! Y4 \% g& ]8 G7 U& p
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
2 Q. Z3 I3 q9 E6 X- R! @Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second7 k7 t7 x5 K0 ^6 a* R: |
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.# D2 r& X$ z; N) C
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
/ b* {/ I0 W& rearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
5 @$ _0 h w* g2 m1 Y"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has5 h# m; c! Q5 Q3 t1 G) N9 ]+ W) g
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway. u# t3 N+ Y9 ~& i- i. S& n) U% [
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's' c# K. q- N/ z( f
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."; w# L4 ], i: F" y( |
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an3 |: D8 B9 q; i c( ?/ H! k
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
( s* K, e$ p/ X! Vthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a% a% G! ]9 v* t5 L) J9 J. r9 _) _, S" A
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
, x2 n* z- y2 B$ @said., Y8 J" Q, m3 t% n1 ~# Y
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
+ u6 B8 h9 }7 |0 [happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
7 P8 o8 O* C7 Q; fabout driving our products," Lentz said.
- E! o7 `4 Y2 P& F* vThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's7 E. J6 U: O' O) ]0 `% m
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
, r( u$ b5 D4 c3 J! N! srecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
8 g. Z2 Y0 ]0 ~% amillion in the United States -- since last fall because of
- T- L& g! g% O1 [' r/ G1 o$ bunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
; P+ D7 Z$ k- hissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
' h8 b# K2 R3 kconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of) \: L3 f; e% s0 k% H
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
- V |' n7 Y/ H1 Y: G, adown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has1 g) P3 E4 P" S8 r7 V
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration& f. M6 |7 \8 C
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.
0 z8 S; c7 h, H: x$ _Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own9 f+ f- e1 o7 [% W+ Y
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he6 C$ @5 P7 H5 r8 H$ u7 d$ m
understood the pain.% I- `1 y' a% q F Q, [, q6 H8 Y
"I know what those families go through," he said.2 q; B/ Q, t* r. I" f
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
/ h' \( \/ F: \# e4 h& Mfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.+ g$ K0 R1 i+ p$ `. {
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman) O# { Z) b+ L8 D/ s
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
8 \" }# b" u5 C5 fin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,# T8 u1 l( T) h- O7 A
Lentz replied: "Not totally."
8 A/ d4 U1 F6 l3 {$ |/ e; d1 aStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were- c# ?2 h& B0 H8 y* w+ { a
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said5 F# C# w Z4 l6 j* d
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas/ a, U: E3 t4 o+ s, c" K
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
- J) J- ]( B! F3 d2 I( Ivehicles already on the road.
( J3 s* f. V: A, t! d% pMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
! f: A$ |3 t7 v Q; B. v, vbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full* W4 P' \6 \$ g) O& f2 L y2 Z' I1 X0 Z
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
( N9 s1 m* X/ P% Poffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
/ l, m% w/ d5 ~1 Ikilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
2 G1 b, \( M3 A+ `1 c' G- J0 f; v"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a4 d) H4 H) U+ z
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
4 i8 Q& y7 {' W, r ?! S0 Pfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
5 Z) E5 I1 |) W- P7 m2 u t3 }4 FCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal/ @5 l9 X! `# c0 c
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to7 z+ C) M2 S( w" |
restore the trust of our customers."
- I' H- F0 s5 ^+ v$ X% ULawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from7 Z \) M7 c) p" a+ K J+ M- G* k$ u
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
4 u, `% v& r2 j' O, i$ ?4 Izoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
0 T1 f7 B" }+ h+ g+ H! ^& @shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and7 u6 y2 O& j# O% k' O9 Z; O
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough+ o# m/ Q# x& s! c& C4 |
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
9 |( H8 \& D1 @% ]0 s& S8 ?turn off the engine.
! Z8 |- g( Y/ F$ ]) L4 s8 GFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of( b$ M8 o' K+ \0 i% u( z T2 A, Q
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
/ Q7 V2 D6 U' b( p! ` {( X"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
2 g" V2 ~9 D+ _. j @said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
! a; S+ W9 j$ d; ~, _0 Jto her complaints.
. o) d: o. D) b( c1 w0 ?In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
' j, g8 ]7 J/ j) U3 d# Dreturned again and again to the question of whether electronic
. `0 Z% ]( B( r& C. Imalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
! I" v& l9 A5 w4 j1 r% O/ }5 ?"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric% V$ p4 C: n' v1 c, M
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited6 Z! T# s3 K4 F4 |2 `- D! r
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
" u- \+ U6 v- f" O; C4 }# ioff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure.": l3 w7 x- J O. q" W4 K. Q6 h
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in# x/ U* d: |+ N8 s$ \# L) A8 r
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were$ `) \! ? f% w# j) B8 W( [
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls+ j* P- X, P& T- }8 F4 |# Z$ d
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
8 X* I8 H& p: Cevery question."
, f7 t1 h. r/ D* gToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether- u N: ?4 D6 G1 R% X6 ^* |( _
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The Q! @+ v+ t7 H8 x/ i: v
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
0 t6 Q$ \+ @1 e4 n* \( ecommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small
/ G( x! t) L: U. Hnumber of vehicles* Q. b7 \0 ?+ P6 H
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more4 r- L5 c. k& S
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
$ b# D: o" A% [6 b9 a& Ymechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
1 G5 X6 f, R( I* z3 ]' d+ f- ysource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.2 Q o! J! C% N
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,; |5 y7 v+ q7 h8 }, v
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
2 n2 F9 Q m% a+ G( u+ Otrace at all.
0 Q3 V) ?3 y4 K! R3 G3 H) f/ GHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call+ w6 {/ s: D% N1 J8 n! H
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
$ f# q; p) c# o2 J( e' k* Aacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
3 D& T. j- k# v# K+ krecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
4 C* K% I" s& j \1 VRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,/ D* H, F' M4 b8 @6 u$ M/ p
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
' t2 Q, D1 _) R# L4 d7 _$ y0 E. ^other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the8 e) X% k3 O: z; T
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
9 o5 J0 e' h! X& j( G/ `! d3 X6 qcause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only8 |3 R# J$ q- h! O/ {! ^! W
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained a! y9 U/ Q1 C2 q) V/ D# V1 j) H
by Toyota's lawyers."6 Q$ \5 ]1 `& d. f/ h% z- S b# y
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of8 f% R# M9 T7 Q; }) J) N5 }0 v
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our5 @5 J( v+ n8 f$ J
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
- Q' q/ ?( O0 `# Q( L/ ]said.0 F5 l' Q) _$ ?% r
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with! Q3 U" I& n) d+ G( l ? C
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our* c& t+ p; w: V" }- h3 ?2 r
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating* _8 g) S* P. |$ ] v1 L- Y0 _
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.! y* i5 L. E; s9 t' B
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
$ D- k: K3 j4 r0 W1 |members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
9 o( V1 }' p( Y, I9 N; Jrancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
/ N/ z6 C$ K+ sautomaker, at least in part because of the government's
' A% K7 e1 o1 T5 `3 h' rinvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and5 h6 c2 } U- q% b1 S# T5 |) U9 D
Chrysler.
# Q, d) y" `9 z* G" _: F"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
, }3 }! F# A8 {; vdollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a" V* |1 g+ [9 \+ N6 ?
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
" Y/ }% g5 m, J# o1 ?, Xserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete l6 p9 g4 a) C+ k$ R( _
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
7 z$ a4 o% N# U Q Etough."
/ @! x% w3 a+ j' ]5 X# J- n, G. j---- o' c9 @* r+ }9 S
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
( ^6 y1 |6 D# ARaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to/ P( c, }. u4 ?, [5 L! m
this story.
* L- z v4 X! I+ Q7 C3 ~$ V( y9 C! t; a: D! r" [$ y) N% o
-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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