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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
. i: ^+ Z+ a2 q8 a* w9 E) SBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
5 N! v' X0 f) N7 zWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.0 q2 w# \ h( x: G: n
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that; }9 `* H1 [1 d% ?6 v
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
* f- F6 F! [' ~* asolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.; W+ ^- X! y6 y# e; q& a
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential4 o5 M+ m4 g7 Y; s7 {; ^
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.6 T0 r5 b3 Q5 @3 S! m+ Z" H2 Q
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
6 ?& n. h' W3 V! Jacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
$ H3 f0 ?. g3 k' @trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
$ k" u" Z& q, Pmats and sticking accelerator pedals.$ y E' P/ t+ p5 @! K+ p+ @
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
2 w& R. V: {/ Y- ]# {( n) Aand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
$ Z% b# @1 e7 c" s+ [criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be) N. f7 C7 p# y) U
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could) }8 g+ @4 w, w; O4 F- B9 r3 _
not stop her runaway Lexus.
6 A+ z# F" x0 I$ S& W"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
" ?- C8 f- r% r9 o' V$ |+ B: WTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second; I/ n8 z: t6 C
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
: H. B: q9 R' k: ZTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues* Z$ `( F$ m& Q: ^* [/ R
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
% M6 d7 s3 L' V8 s: L) T8 y: E"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
$ T( J) O( J7 y t! Z; Y4 ddone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway0 }: [! C! J2 A/ m
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
9 V0 k# n+ U6 J2 q) u' Vinvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."# q2 O; y! b Q9 H- X# `8 w9 {
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
9 t- ~! e x* s& \3 relectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of8 M; P& }3 H: o- r" c3 Z* B( L. N
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
, p5 S) D* r1 M% K; Omalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
0 V: I# \: s7 q, C A/ wsaid. s, G% z' {! [" M. Q7 X; F
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
. `4 N. T, E3 x2 j, phappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe" \6 w: a& X4 c' |
about driving our products," Lentz said.
. U+ ^1 g5 u3 V# r; q) r: p2 KThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
) U- p, u# H9 [6 d$ E& wproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
0 x. p4 r6 X$ qrecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6/ ^- K& b/ x* H0 q. ?- W0 q
million in the United States -- since last fall because of; }1 }+ e9 F, v9 z1 c1 B
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking3 W) Z/ F. n5 g( l, y4 N6 I
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
/ h% D/ u: P, o sconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of+ B' B+ l+ ]0 w% s$ b O0 [& Y
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
) e7 b' \8 d7 `4 v: p* f# K" Wdown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
# p$ E- @5 D8 u& Freceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
- y( A' b$ E* M, |5 U$ a! G; l8 vof Toyota vehicles since 2000.
' ]2 W( p: e. [' ?. I& TLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own/ R, X. {1 z4 y+ S% K+ K1 z
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he' j6 t9 K3 g7 j- u
understood the pain.
8 K o3 p7 [+ c"I know what those families go through," he said.8 H2 o& L N& r. r0 L3 X
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
- ~' j4 c3 k6 {$ tfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
; a: O9 m9 F. g" Z& bBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
# i- }) e( E0 V" Y3 y' rHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put9 A$ e1 ?' L, b% E% v* ~
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
0 U, H% m. o: J! U+ P- k% ^% MLentz replied: "Not totally."* D0 Y* U6 a. V
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
: v# z' L( v# f/ Z"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
% M# b8 O0 R8 A7 J& g# |Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
# m# Z/ J1 E9 ^pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
" Z0 X3 Q* }& t, R! lvehicles already on the road.
) d5 S6 J4 z5 z+ j) [4 BMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify5 H: `+ X6 c$ l' W
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full/ |- w+ m. Z% u% k1 f% t3 C) p
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and" j8 c, v' M. [! }
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were* f# T- e$ o3 G; ~
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
( h1 V1 P ?+ m/ j, K"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
0 U {/ F' n0 R/ M" t( { ltragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
0 m4 c& C9 b; p7 sfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight% |* z5 X/ V; ^8 A& B8 ^0 U/ N* }
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal3 H8 u9 M3 b* Y4 ` B9 ~- i
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
7 H4 u2 p9 \- d6 V+ Lrestore the trust of our customers."
7 v6 r1 ?6 A+ t; O, ELawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
# g9 Q: w* t% X. E BSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly- ?( v9 o/ M: [& R, p9 J& ~- Q. |: y
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --+ V1 k/ f8 {5 c+ {3 Q/ \" |" t
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
: G- m7 k1 \% hhitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
8 \$ r7 i0 w8 y5 s, a0 C5 i% Sthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
& k# F. L3 e7 P9 @6 G' Dturn off the engine.# [; C2 B4 R7 }# r' A
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of; {4 \. [) }4 j$ R; l
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."# A! S+ n1 @; w6 J0 A9 w* E
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she; b9 [: B! r; H2 O$ W
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
, |- r6 Z) r$ P5 z* Gto her complaints.0 E" w; g& b; g9 i0 Q
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
, E1 e6 Q" E+ n( J) N- c+ Areturned again and again to the question of whether electronic. a: S) ?, `' S, {/ Y4 ^, X
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.$ w& |% l8 w& ~: c( p
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric& k! M5 }0 C+ @1 F: j- E
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited9 r x3 }( L! U g5 V7 Q' u
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
' y! T' L r4 xoff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure.") _1 g1 s( K; J7 I% c- T
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in/ V+ `# Z6 ^) M
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were/ e* i8 e9 E/ f/ g; I) F; o
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
" J0 i& H# T( L5 r) Uwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer3 }6 m2 C% d# j2 o* M
every question."
+ `" O! [, \. I8 E" e3 eToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
* V& y! R4 a" N3 y; Aelectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The, \6 D. [- n" [/ J n
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
- Z; _8 y* B+ |4 R' i" [) {0 Ncommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small
5 o$ n1 V2 Z, e+ ]4 N2 Cnumber of vehicles; o5 W) H$ M1 y5 f! N7 [0 Y2 H9 Z
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more
- p( u; j! f3 {1 r( }( m, E5 vdifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
" W% o) V" v. p/ P1 j+ C! ~6 b+ Cmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
3 Z" x; N3 t7 L2 T$ bsource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
$ A: u V1 K: Z, l0 WMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
* F2 Q2 n5 x1 O9 Pwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
9 H; Q5 ~5 B/ _- r% R' x; ~: \trace at all.0 O7 D1 S' v+ c8 e7 q: ^) i. k' B
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call c; D& _2 S" \, J1 m
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
$ Q/ ]; x5 H" {: ~7 D( f) h0 T( ?acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
& n. ]6 c/ b* m$ Nrecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
& p1 @% ^# P# z' BRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
: R I# O7 C. g2 Jsaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and/ z2 E9 P2 R( ~* \8 P8 |
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the# Y" d9 E$ g% U0 K1 ?4 F
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible: w1 T7 K# P% W4 ?
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
/ S7 Z8 B! x2 Q, i/ Tsuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
Q1 w5 Y! U$ j8 l# oby Toyota's lawyers." W* {- M+ ?' t% N
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
; `. n8 D2 j4 ~9 }& Yproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
8 N! c* c4 n l7 |customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
* @1 z9 \& J! i- Osaid.
8 c& C* }$ e$ g4 y"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
: ^- u* Q1 I7 G& f1 c4 `) _7 z0 i% Qa rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our9 {( r8 r* {/ f2 i
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
4 w: `- H: S# |/ {officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.* G3 S% Q6 l0 v' E d& O" C
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
: t- T0 \# w; R$ V' h5 {: imembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread) }3 O: C# A# y) q( G2 D& q* a
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
! B1 ]- g. u! k0 j& O, Xautomaker, at least in part because of the government's
; u0 i3 Z: h: ~* {, x. t' R$ }" dinvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
a7 z% H, D# SChrysler.
+ q# M, \, j" b, G, I; S"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax _. F- N8 F2 w4 E: L! h0 n
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
" r; A3 q5 k( SHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also- ^2 R8 V2 x! [1 E% O9 {
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete' W4 S& B3 N# E5 V1 |
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty# r8 \/ K; o# q
tough."
% j2 @) i" `4 H2 [---% |/ M0 z1 y. R! W
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
4 h+ v6 v0 m) U& |; nRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
* v% P F. S) Q2 x \! bthis story.7 m l3 ^" v' n; _6 D( y
9 M% ~* H2 S7 ~( a/ k4 I) {-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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