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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
: v; n6 }7 I; T% C0 t# U3 ]# v4 L, KBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS, ]+ N4 |) |. y; {5 _: m
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.6 E% i: U% r! a7 L
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
# L9 T$ s$ K6 p9 ?9 Ethe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"7 Z: @& c b3 u" H/ H
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.- b; V0 }/ Y; y, D4 U* I5 h
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
% X1 R4 i# A5 c" Y. L/ V% R% Icauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.) U# f% Y6 S1 [5 T& x# s1 Y9 l
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
- l, q( D* b1 B2 c8 yacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
) \# x/ \" O7 c( c: T% Gtrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor0 s( u& O! I3 U
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.
: z* b- A$ b+ QHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal+ a8 ?+ D; H) [
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
+ L6 ^- r$ I- S3 @criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
" h1 C8 p" a, k' s+ K! Afurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could3 C) H- g) O2 Q+ D* ?, V0 M
not stop her runaway Lexus.
- V% [) O m' G"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
$ V9 t$ F! D4 T% P* n1 I" e5 wTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
6 N m' B9 q5 H"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.0 J# O0 G' [- ^# d" X4 E% m! \! ^
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
' H: T! o* b" q W* R7 b! ^6 jearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said$ N- Z4 m$ W: m; q
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has" Y$ F/ ?0 C( [! U" t! o: U6 r
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway' d2 L5 @6 V6 s
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
5 m; Q M) [) L% ^, m; q; Q; Winvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
. V. G; e: E9 [( I/ @: CLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an* n1 _' j% R" c, W* s# f
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of. ?* M0 h# G" f% v+ u9 V
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
: k1 b5 Z7 `) e, J4 p! n6 Vmalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he: t* Q2 Z6 E4 }" W+ f$ w# i) X) [
said.
F1 ^1 G o' I9 s5 W$ EAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what$ ?& v' r' W; ~; V7 W
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
9 L1 x% W9 N7 mabout driving our products," Lentz said.& V0 u, }+ Y; P( F6 ]
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's8 j. x H- z% Y! D- u
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has D# v. O. c8 B( D6 f
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
' c6 c. t" W2 i6 e& j4 imillion in the United States -- since last fall because of8 g. J' i5 L2 ~0 {
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
9 y9 x4 b! m' V' x) x+ Aissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
) O7 n+ X3 B1 M5 U) aconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of7 c; _0 ?; S* I8 Y& B; u
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
8 l$ q/ {. Z% s( d$ J# ?5 }4 {down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
1 T1 g" m. B# l: l& X/ Breceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration y% Y7 n$ i8 ~$ l* |
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.' I; f# q p# c( {4 [6 c
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
# ^* k( F8 {% m6 v/ Q' D/ ]brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he1 a, t* G# Q+ p$ y7 ?6 m4 L
understood the pain.
+ A8 z& B- U1 q0 w$ X. D; U8 Y' B"I know what those families go through," he said.1 |$ d3 w: E( f7 j' X9 j+ k5 L
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's4 |8 r+ l" X/ U: ?
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
- u/ }3 F# p8 {6 EBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
7 C! e1 {0 L% ~. J- [Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
* Y" \- {, E: j# n8 Fin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,8 S* E6 j$ m: I1 I2 }3 ]
Lentz replied: "Not totally."
6 |# q& j% x( e: WStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
* _! B- [* M4 ^/ z! E) [! b"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said& b" E+ @* T* f4 P; ^
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas/ o2 B; Y8 h. T; C
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
, x9 B2 @1 b6 {vehicles already on the road.2 o) O+ H- a. f* l+ B; v& `
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify8 W- h% E9 k/ C# x- ^& h0 F7 y
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
" q0 j/ i# s3 [* V& U6 y+ K8 Kresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
6 \( }# e9 `* e0 joffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
; r- m/ d1 d6 |% tkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.$ D4 y' j0 H) |& V% U/ C4 E5 ^$ r6 F2 r
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
% j5 F0 D: e- O7 i/ Ptragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony- g- A! t$ Q! [6 |; N; F
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight# v) _2 K9 E. L( C+ O( Y r# S4 {
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
) N' i8 v6 q+ jcommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
- D: @( F1 a% n+ x8 Xrestore the trust of our customers."1 R: g- w* I# V% C6 o! k
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
# v& m/ G* U+ P" b) j: vSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly9 L# G8 l6 o1 [& Z# z) s' H
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop -- F0 A% ~1 O4 e8 l5 h
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
/ h3 J" D. A3 y1 Q8 X+ I9 ghitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
# h# v) l2 W$ O- }0 `3 [) r% Bthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and; W5 E: A; l* e4 z/ B0 t5 [- V/ Z
turn off the engine.' l) ^- R# U5 {7 ]& S! H! m/ A. Q
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
5 J0 A; o3 ~. N8 }& @( ?October 2006, calling it "a near death experience.": J2 P. S# M- s9 ^- L0 P. P& e2 g% n
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she& o9 ?7 _4 L9 `; o* O. `! u7 \
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond7 B, a) D0 J7 V# V
to her complaints./ W3 J, B4 g* r
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
5 Q5 A' [# g* n* sreturned again and again to the question of whether electronic0 I5 g* b/ Q. S; A% n
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.- m* J; u6 @# d- Y
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
# O( N2 Y9 ~8 o" _throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
3 K& J6 I% ]/ s, R) I {! A"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut- V4 ^' ?9 y) U" B [: y! _
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."& j6 w8 J4 r+ A0 b) k. w, @
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in$ S( t- d3 ]+ o- }
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
+ \; @$ U( O& J/ cbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
: ?* @9 H# A% g5 C& A# m8 Twere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
l" ~7 G: E1 v3 y- pevery question."
' f/ T% J, Y5 N5 Z2 kToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether9 p6 ^) i ^; @ u+ u
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The7 O7 o1 H+ {+ Z# f4 K/ _) V3 h+ g
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
3 o, p4 U& a `: {# jcommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small
" a8 c6 g* P. Y: T/ W6 F6 d: o; b. enumber of vehicles
9 I- a O* C# PTracking down an electrical problem can be far more
9 C$ f, K1 a$ O1 d( G. S V ~8 Bdifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
. ?6 k( T# \2 h7 y4 a2 Y2 j; jmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one8 K! ]2 k. v' U0 a
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
d% H" P( y% YMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage, \% H/ u$ q+ ~" F( g9 ]4 P7 [% }! J
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no& i* l8 a, Z" y. }8 ?
trace at all.
, G/ L$ q: K+ VHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call1 y( k& M9 s- I# |6 J
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden; G$ e# _9 ~% `3 c# y7 k
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
% [8 k B7 f. j1 ]- E' f, a' w+ Zrecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
: l" P9 X; Z0 p. j1 lRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
+ ?" l4 N# B) x+ d: I- ssaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
; J+ G8 e& F8 i& kother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
* L; O+ c4 l1 e& _electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
9 J; P4 n6 b. v3 U# ]) Ncause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
0 t& l4 y) G# X' xsuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
- i* n7 H1 `1 ^8 D8 y4 Uby Toyota's lawyers."
; _9 _% K& A# p- J$ }; r QLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of, _# D8 V; B: k0 \6 g$ H
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
- l- v8 E8 I4 X% c& N& q$ X0 Bcustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
) n. a# d" b) \, C9 F+ lsaid.3 n, d- c5 K: A( s, t% `$ Y! u! t T3 @
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
0 v% D0 H: F& C- k$ ?8 H0 za rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our# z0 s0 `2 [) I# U
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
' E1 b( n/ I9 l0 h5 A" ~7 ~officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
" U( G% O' |; P; z4 S! T( f0 B7 j% PSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
% _/ h/ b+ ?$ X' @members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread. A) _7 v9 ^- X; `0 r
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the0 A8 _7 p$ f8 ~
automaker, at least in part because of the government's8 S% v2 }3 A1 s; n8 z7 _( p3 w
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
$ g' x& ^' V8 J2 F. v3 E6 Q5 a" o2 j5 pChrysler. ] b7 {6 c! q' b, x c
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax. Y0 Y* W' I1 A9 f; V' s
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
4 g& d5 p! C% J8 t( pHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
T' j2 p2 m6 X& cserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete3 L" r; J; G8 |7 H0 |
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
' I4 o. {. ^& c4 }0 M/ P) x* Mtough."
3 Q1 c/ ?2 s0 ~2 W, n---) Y4 l, q3 v0 G
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom& N4 o; r- i$ v- v: b6 ]" U
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to8 m p- Y1 [- x' S% Q+ r# ~$ b: `
this story.
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-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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