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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, a% l( ?: \# C# @6 |
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
% W0 t% K' d) k# dWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.6 k1 W$ j3 Q" f6 `5 f) }4 O
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
1 U1 f& w) q3 g/ E) h/ n/ ]the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
6 Q# X" P+ ?! Y6 z4 D2 Lsolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.8 j4 n* q+ \ E
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
V8 `- s0 q4 _; X5 X5 {causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
/ E- b% {, U& o3 s3 f0 `) yHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
% z9 K1 i- c6 p2 Pacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
- y. r U& n. n, W9 i# ?# H7 S4 Vtrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor7 I O- o$ a' r1 n" H' R
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.
! Y# l. }+ R. Z @He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal m4 |' i( q5 d) J3 O
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp' M! v- y. v/ v E1 a5 d
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be+ n% n' J. D9 h4 ]2 Y# t4 j6 _
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could' T+ Z2 Y( R4 {: b' ]% F
not stop her runaway Lexus.
6 n1 n8 |9 b, ~8 g! i) v"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
$ z3 b: q6 K7 `, ?% L/ C- Q" qTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
2 ?$ U, E& n A) U"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
! M4 c3 i) G, o2 uTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
" b$ x5 t! L' [4 W" \early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said* L- v, f. t! T. H& \; v
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
6 D$ v/ s4 D- _9 P% {3 @done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
9 R" [+ [/ i5 Y+ s- @$ Ethrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
6 o8 r2 s1 }# Qinvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
; M+ d1 z3 S) ?( ^" aLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an n! a. w1 t, r+ S7 V( s) c
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of# O1 t; b! U! U6 M3 d
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
7 V/ [$ T, M' s# ]$ m3 h: b zmalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he/ T' ~5 A$ ^8 F5 Z% k
said.
5 U7 o) [) U- p9 C6 G. g. l: `As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what' Z& l, X9 @4 K& b
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe0 ]: r, ]( l I7 r/ Y7 b" }
about driving our products," Lentz said.( g( _! I# j, ^
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
# f* x' E& m7 ]problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
* w# S! h: Q; i, orecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6: M5 K( d0 m$ |2 U. ]: b% t
million in the United States -- since last fall because of
# k; o/ _ x! Q# r* m0 W6 \unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
4 e/ ~4 n) j) [' c8 fissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering7 M4 k' Q! @& H {' ^
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
# k( h5 w3 [" @& ctheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
/ p4 E& K1 G: _down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has3 ~& U8 u, [1 |" v8 `9 k6 h
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration( f. O8 P0 D) n6 w& T
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.2 U* v9 j* R k) H8 H: @
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own) E( R8 t% Y; @' R* o; t
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he( u! s& k; |) X; E6 K2 N
understood the pain.
8 J8 x6 ~5 _) _ f0 }# q"I know what those families go through," he said.' j% O: L, }( l( `6 i" `
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
, ^, p& `3 f8 yfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.; [0 y/ W9 a$ V2 @8 Z4 i5 T
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
( W: w! D% e4 _5 SHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
7 o% |; @1 ~, F& c# A1 Jin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,+ S5 o3 G" a6 l4 E* G
Lentz replied: "Not totally."
' S- V- p% K2 Q8 L5 @( Z# DStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
5 A' w4 c* w# m"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
# J) Q. O2 K2 p4 s8 e3 y+ C, vToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
; c! G3 a4 }! a* @! p3 upedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
0 ^1 s) r H1 P$ i+ z1 A5 u/ jvehicles already on the road.2 }5 _% a6 B& W/ B/ q
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify2 u% l7 g8 }/ }0 n6 r4 \" |
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
n+ E# w* e' L1 r5 I$ a- w: hresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and$ R5 o* E, E8 A+ Y* o
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were3 B( ?) z3 C. u" n3 s5 ~
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
. ?4 r4 d4 b' n5 u* T+ Y/ u7 \"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a/ r0 ~- z9 |) y& A4 n1 G
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony" s4 g( s" \- F/ J
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
3 `" }1 E( T. e* e& J5 t4 e K# ACommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
+ N1 N4 i- q6 S N* ^# Gcommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
. @+ J' Y- r) j' W5 x7 {restore the trust of our customers.": b! J- o, z5 y" c# a" ]
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
@- w7 g8 k9 H2 A# HSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
! u& o5 d4 Y; M4 W5 azoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --( K/ U& |1 x' F! Y# x4 c
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
; q4 L* z5 J" ghitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough; E. t% O0 x' G7 a# D5 @* ]
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and* u( M! v1 b: o
turn off the engine.9 G7 o) w6 O3 t' L
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of1 R4 o1 O/ G. j3 m' h
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."+ N6 x1 e+ y2 d5 ?
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
5 B. V/ H/ |. fsaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
$ U! q) v/ q$ v/ ^; J5 f+ oto her complaints., ?% o5 l1 q( t) {4 f! \
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
. _/ C8 B$ @. c0 Z+ ]7 z7 {1 ureturned again and again to the question of whether electronic
* r) p( M* k5 ~+ P) Tmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
) T% D/ X$ Y( h/ h5 P( Y% ^"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric6 }% |: ~2 p; B+ |: Z
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
3 L& k7 W: \. ?' r! X( {"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut9 h- I) I! o& D5 O& a. K
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
/ ` Z) e7 W- o& XTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in9 o$ r+ \4 m' Z" o2 C4 f+ u
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were V( H ]( G" Q, f% b* l2 Q {
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls2 J3 F. i4 n' e9 }/ V
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
8 _: [# e- A T& {! Cevery question."
$ F4 e4 c1 a, @$ S& D( fToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
/ }8 q7 z. ]( P* t q; p3 kelectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The8 Q, e* l# c8 h/ T8 z- f& O2 J
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But0 b- B# h8 _6 ]2 J" j$ W$ q
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small$ X7 Z' P" s8 a
number of vehicles7 T, Y( y4 J7 Q1 H# [0 _
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more
9 k- x' a$ T V) R2 [3 {4 Ddifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a! u- }3 k4 O4 k! |+ q
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
' N7 T" n1 ~8 N {source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
6 b& Z; H" G+ y6 z- p$ EMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
+ g0 m1 _4 B0 o4 g: vwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
# a1 q3 ?5 h6 x- L: wtrace at all.
' a/ a( p/ q2 DHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call& Z. C' y# o9 m: ^! d5 M: S
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden% B' ~+ \& z0 F( B5 H$ b7 m- R
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the6 n. s9 n5 R; [ Z W, d9 M v
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.1 [7 u: }. E9 Y* c
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,' p6 X. V. ~2 V' S; }) v
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
/ a9 r# j! l0 b8 Q. ~- C( j. iother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
8 v) c* |+ A" d, r' x# g" h6 a# _" b# lelectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible$ s) Y+ \( ~' B/ [
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only1 n& d9 d% V% `0 v' G, H: N; M
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained' E0 Q0 ^& {7 K' h* X9 `
by Toyota's lawyers."
. U' U: |. R: F- u4 u ]. |! T% YLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of; ? g& j$ L1 Q$ b8 m/ ]
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our) ?/ z7 f2 |$ c3 ^4 \ ~8 @* Y' T
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he/ F; E1 ~7 R; Q( V+ m
said., ? D5 Z, q4 h) J T0 C
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
' I' j) i8 u, W- T: G0 [8 Ja rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our6 @- \& p# O) C! I4 E; `9 a) @
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating) \4 |" J+ e* b/ s- O ^
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.8 L& _: e; Q8 p
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
, h5 {- \9 V j& Nmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
9 f6 j+ ?0 \+ d Lrancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
- e' c! b% \; I9 ]) U" {automaker, at least in part because of the government's
9 o6 R _2 u/ x( Dinvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
0 F# k2 @: R, d! Y6 A c! U9 a! @* h1 uChrysler.* H7 _% p, g5 l& l
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
8 Z1 V- W; S4 W; E$ ydollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a6 C- ?6 B7 a8 l6 M' Y1 C
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
, Q$ N" j% Y J8 Z6 Yserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
( o% W( \! B( `0 p. ^with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty; d4 Y3 c8 ]3 A
tough."7 ]1 S/ q) r) r/ ^# l# e/ M% V
---
! J ^. J5 ]$ P. TAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
9 x0 ^$ h) j/ a' x* v! ] \8 ARaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
2 |, d, k% V1 I `this story.) p6 m* S" R9 N' c
/ E+ _0 l1 W( i' N! H* B
-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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