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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
9 X& I: {, O$ Q5 EBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
; T$ l9 C' o1 W- p: SWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.# g7 T. W1 C6 p0 I6 d$ O0 N
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that* X$ x; E% n5 g0 o
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"* ~7 C9 I6 B6 h) ^" _6 n% V% Y& p0 Y
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.' ]0 \* m' j; Y2 t7 Z, M
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential# }8 B7 x, J9 y7 U4 L
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
5 w' |9 T4 ~: Z/ m8 `8 HHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected2 {$ b5 N- K& u+ C5 z
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
8 ?: E) l4 J0 {. S1 j* Y/ }trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor9 k2 z4 K0 C% o2 {, I1 i; _! b
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.
: V0 ]6 G# ~* a! sHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
" X% H `* a3 B+ Kand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp: s5 k0 @$ w' K! ^3 `) d T
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
7 M- Q3 ?! ~9 t; `further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
" x2 s7 k. |% ^* y+ G: ^) s1 znot stop her runaway Lexus.% {# y! I3 L" |/ b% S
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,2 ]- j3 W1 [! U6 i; M5 l
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second; Y Q* |5 \% ^! j
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
: m" I& |) `6 i" W# RTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues4 N9 k+ ~; q. z( ^- P4 U: ~" C
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said' D! p( C2 A8 r6 `+ f f( W
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
! o, j n$ }& q% a' O* Ldone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
% M3 x x) c3 x9 D' Mthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's) Z" N4 w1 c) m$ L% R
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
8 |4 k l, r& Z! K8 {7 a4 HLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an& ?3 P" a) t7 _* [9 b
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
9 S* c9 j3 B- E0 hthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
& L1 I- ]5 h1 y- I4 w/ dmalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he: D5 x* R0 c$ T3 Y' b( [
said.' U$ q- o: I# ^4 ?" m6 v1 k( T% F
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
* M: ~8 r& X, {/ p7 Mhappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
5 o n( B' E. H! _9 u1 W0 H0 f$ A7 labout driving our products," Lentz said.$ {$ [0 s& Z i% \2 {
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's5 ]& G6 r) u4 X2 Z) b! c. R
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
/ x- r. o: b. L. q1 h# |recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 67 d7 `2 K4 K5 U# u" z2 o f
million in the United States -- since last fall because of8 E7 B5 z. O, A! S
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking6 ?. }" x4 M8 r) @& T5 w0 n s4 ~& X
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering1 Q$ F0 E: `$ K& R, V: q
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
( S) K( E) o* y; x% H# Dtheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow+ Y% E' S! F% x' d
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
' |. m, Z" I* hreceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
* b( a+ h# g; x; Qof Toyota vehicles since 2000.
* R/ n# n, L1 D5 |Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own% x0 k5 Q& I2 C: |: W
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
1 k4 w, ~! _9 Xunderstood the pain.
/ {9 y" f2 Y$ j5 M5 U# |+ q: a"I know what those families go through," he said.* A" L: b; c( v0 Q. I
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's! X, s0 |4 [& G9 p/ u
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
+ Z: @/ s: m I( f1 u; _+ L" f/ n$ wBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
+ V0 b: Z; _3 d: |Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
4 B, C6 H- ^9 [/ I, A# m" @/ E; @1 Zin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
" N# d$ ?; P$ A0 D# a- SLentz replied: "Not totally."
' D7 D E/ j" G5 R1 J4 Q% QStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
# T1 |# ~: j9 G# H"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
$ r( D# ~% ?: _0 i9 [Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
5 e3 }, h9 O2 J4 a# i1 S" tpedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its. z3 i, K4 f0 b$ I
vehicles already on the road.
, `+ G: f, f# W4 N* J. \% Q3 d4 }Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
5 m9 C: W. A p4 Y. L8 h. ?before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
. k* Q9 x# G( N3 p b4 a1 E! w P; Yresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
3 h2 Y4 k( L& j! `- Goffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
" F6 D9 h7 \2 u* u' Q% O5 e. Ckilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
6 A, _% v, v; T& D ]"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a( D& Q0 h" I+ @0 I
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
4 K- ~( d* H. L2 dfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
1 c: j* U$ g) y$ d- z. KCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal0 `7 z$ ]( D7 E% d+ h, j
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to6 U5 H6 u9 a2 s4 X& P
restore the trust of our customers."
* \* v. o5 A/ X! @% u8 d+ y: H: WLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from5 D) j$ V, V- ]0 l! _0 h" R4 U/ {3 L
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
" |4 b% A6 a2 {4 x* azoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --; s l) |: W" h B0 d$ y
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
# \4 L+ V" J9 \, Bhitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
; E! U! C$ Y4 f' Q" ]that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
4 l8 V, @9 l: o7 ]+ A8 S. Q3 kturn off the engine.
' k9 ]9 y: g" ~1 v. ]- V+ C' @" qFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
" i9 q- _/ m/ Y! A mOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
8 e3 `) Y# C5 x: \; J7 a% s"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she# c" K- @7 b) H; N1 [
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
* w. b; |1 r3 Uto her complaints.
/ j# }; b% h% B% e/ X" N, hIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
( N" i; O& X% M, freturned again and again to the question of whether electronic
+ V) f" K6 v& Imalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.# k* A# Y8 G9 e) Z. f6 D
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric% }% _! h5 u v
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
1 v: e" q1 N, o4 b8 N$ n' l* e) j"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
* @9 g2 W4 {, d: m2 Y" \3 Xoff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
8 C! E: \4 ^ |% w1 Y6 P. WTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in5 E, ?, B2 E) B5 ~
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were! ^5 G4 ]7 \3 w! \; E& f0 }( H
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls: U+ L4 |7 F9 ~8 E
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
: ?$ k" G. @5 |every question."9 Y0 i/ u, m* a9 l: O+ t* z
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether0 ^* s6 g% \+ O$ s+ c) E4 N" r3 }
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
7 [, w- I! X+ q: U# U- Nfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But1 e( Z1 C s; Y4 L; Y$ @+ b( y
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small4 V( h+ H4 E' g) t8 V$ `3 {
number of vehicles7 E5 g) |% J/ \
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more
0 Y" u: T( a9 p; N0 T; A; m" Odifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a- d6 P9 @9 s& P0 d- J# c
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one- \! a1 |$ d& B$ I$ u
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.) V* U2 `% @9 A& ]# p
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
( }& m- M8 y6 I4 R( {where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
% R9 E) l, c6 `3 `% btrace at all.
& A0 L5 ^: n8 U z5 j4 rHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
5 Q* ?( z( T" s& I6 L& D+ ^, ?$ X. a4 sdatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
2 }7 \+ e0 S1 hacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the% |% F6 x5 d' M* }
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.5 ^1 `2 P6 C4 n6 C
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
" m. F& J9 ]) ]; u) q1 Ysaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and: s& G3 Z/ C* }, r$ u) T0 s$ s
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the& I9 G& O7 Q* `0 S
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible4 r6 m+ b- `- A) B, J! Y
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
- A& P P& ]" i- }8 W! asuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
* U- X2 \2 }/ _- zby Toyota's lawyers."
% s& S; a g$ |Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of: v; G t9 _! B
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
% {( F# ?6 m8 f" u. O7 U0 k+ \& Bcustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he+ Y# Z5 H, `- s& h6 x( ^- y
said.
& m' y# }/ g) Y' q3 \! ~"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
k" z- O& O7 y- ~# za rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
/ Y8 ]" ~' p- A0 D1 vgood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
$ @9 ]: s. v, q; f0 g) X6 h6 F, {officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
. o0 C1 i- J* e/ J( wSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
( x4 L! o* j% Hmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread% }. g I3 h. F0 P- B0 _
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
T% U U+ Y6 {" }, z3 q, cautomaker, at least in part because of the government's8 \9 a0 T5 Y8 ?* N+ W" O; o
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
- b: _9 Q$ j$ Y! `$ ^; \Chrysler.
) F7 ~7 N& Z2 f4 e5 t. P"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
6 l5 U/ H& C' S6 m7 Y) jdollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a; X P- I+ c! @1 F
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
1 L: ^1 P( }2 ~8 o& p: [ I. _9 A9 G3 fserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
0 k* E9 v4 s C* ewith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
6 L% [" a0 J8 {* T* Jtough."
' s5 g2 K% `3 y4 n3 i7 ^---" H' C0 ^$ L7 f7 J" k: q
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
& T3 R8 `# R5 J4 TRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
: T& ~- Z0 a0 m% k2 G' Ythis story.
" B* y; H* M7 S9 H; u" L2 L; \5 H/ n3 ^: ~5 p5 v7 ?6 k0 i4 J
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