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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+ R! z3 b9 b4 z8 h! K
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS2 d$ _! I- t$ E3 o. {5 S3 \
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.% K Q+ c4 u" Y( E$ I% [9 D" Y( _
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
8 y( S5 V: i0 d+ E1 n/ Jthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"2 x Z$ A) ]3 _' _, f% \* [+ F
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
+ e! i0 N+ e4 u; C"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
+ O) V4 n F/ D9 Kcauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
" |( \$ M" T3 x$ V/ i& Y' v- h+ MHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected- R1 f i# d( b( X% i7 M {; h3 p
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
( O- V) b; g/ {6 u: _trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor4 q9 n N6 f' C& } C
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.# D: S0 R# e' k8 x# O, _5 X
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
& z; I" r8 U# W v, n$ X j# Wand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp6 T t# v4 V' L7 B& w5 S
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be* }8 O; G7 y, a
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
- L0 c& T4 ~4 u) z2 Unot stop her runaway Lexus.: h4 {0 q5 Y0 N w" i$ {
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
! a4 f- E5 Q/ ]8 j/ }( Z, uTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
; Q2 J/ d$ P$ E0 _"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.7 s+ v& @" ] u+ p) g& ]7 P, g3 D0 H
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues' b% @% J- \9 V0 `" B" B7 h4 j
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said' @" V- J/ K$ f k
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
" o! I, F$ C+ T% o* ^# cdone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
2 z. q# W) x% z+ \# gthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
( {7 G7 R4 z) ]investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."- S% ~1 G/ H. e
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
/ d2 w9 ]( n" \# ~, B: helectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
" u9 ~9 k4 T5 [the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
3 q, w2 W3 j) t5 o, i; _malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he1 \' [$ C( D; \3 N
said.
1 t+ ?' m2 l) mAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what0 W, q9 I1 ~9 Q: a
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
$ [. O# u! H$ O! Xabout driving our products," Lentz said.
0 e$ c* {) {# D4 F$ E( y/ jThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
; Z7 i5 H0 a- V4 [, F9 s& C8 iproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has- W, B$ q" R6 H8 m: S
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
) V, }4 z8 v+ @( m- m3 Umillion in the United States -- since last fall because of
8 C" A; i1 \. Z' \( ~0 Iunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking# \! A2 b' e5 x$ l2 W# Y: h
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering' @, ?6 X( w9 i) D2 z% x
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
7 M, C7 H* _: H7 q2 Vtheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow' D& d- r6 C, e3 _, B5 \
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has5 E/ `% [2 ~5 u. C
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration$ v- P/ U6 `/ j' T% g
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.
# l" s8 |% U* { s: k0 T( ^Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
* y$ v* D! x" {brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
3 M8 z3 C2 ~6 l% t; }6 N9 Nunderstood the pain.
6 Y6 S/ L9 H8 j2 z6 t3 I. W"I know what those families go through," he said.* A& g1 Q+ ^5 ~) z
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's$ f4 y2 X" L0 O
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.- d- R) F- [) N% G
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
4 L& x4 k4 _( J5 F+ QHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
% Q! B5 g5 T6 M' s2 A* o7 xin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
' h. H$ g# A- \( j2 L4 nLentz replied: "Not totally."
2 a; r. A, M4 G; J5 gStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
7 o9 } k8 O5 m" X/ a0 k"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
$ ?4 d9 C+ M! a |, cToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
; P: E. F% a6 _) t7 v( _- Epedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
7 H1 f/ p" M$ g' U9 D- T7 Mvehicles already on the road.
. f7 R O" y$ p* D/ fMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
( q* `5 E8 s# B0 G4 Obefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
: H8 x; K* o* J& j) sresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
8 e" c: E/ t8 I3 J! M1 U6 Poffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
0 Y) u$ W8 R# w) [: }killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
, b7 @* r4 X1 L# p- r2 E" U; |"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
3 J2 h; e, `: U& C0 ^; ~& stragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
! }$ L: i' k& n1 b; {1 Xfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight5 \! @# f* A7 V2 Q- e& U4 W
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
* A4 \! w6 q2 x* |4 mcommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to7 g, d8 E3 s6 L+ L: p/ Y
restore the trust of our customers."" A# S. C7 |% m9 |* i5 A
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from/ i# J% z' Q% F+ c' `( \& W
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly1 S# N* y# x. ^% m! v9 I" N
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --9 m$ K) d6 S+ k7 e F+ o$ l
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and8 X% @: F+ r$ C2 |% ?" D
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
) l# |2 L* A$ G `1 u$ H* Ythat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and9 ^/ x8 A) i% y1 N/ Q/ {
turn off the engine.
2 R+ H& n+ E: S) _+ u$ wFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of6 U8 r% J) v/ L: i( i! x+ x) L
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience." ?5 M# r n. @1 l% s" p6 \; m
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
; [* G* B1 |4 C y/ A! B1 Gsaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond9 @" [+ A2 A6 {$ b
to her complaints.9 z* r1 k' ~+ H7 O ]# Z9 V' d
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers; I3 N5 `- z ~8 N& s4 r! x
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
8 D( {2 R: A+ U# V q- n$ ?2 wmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.9 @( c) I" y' o/ @: b: T t2 j
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
0 {9 b( U- [0 I3 y% Gthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited% c4 u3 n/ v* k5 E9 R: t1 o
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
: |, f0 f; F& F" d9 L. j. v9 noff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
' c8 h3 x. Y5 ?* o! g. u- f* HTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
( t- J) l3 \' ^1 @prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
& C5 J( \( [2 F- abeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls& e$ ]1 T) W3 ~9 p
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
$ k& n: ^. i$ y& L5 ]+ r+ Levery question.". } p/ C; @+ U: y0 [) r' l
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
+ S) x) @; ?2 m. d( T7 Qelectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The% V5 g, h+ t& ^
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
8 Y5 ~ T e' x# Acommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small
! A. d9 j* r# {+ ]- {0 Mnumber of vehicles* L. G4 C" I, @( a* ~0 c
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more8 ?3 `! m* `. B; O
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a* x" D7 I$ ]7 s' c- f
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
2 U" [( ]3 I: j& asource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.$ `* W8 }; ~* ]
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,% r$ @# q3 F9 Z: n$ E. C
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no. y+ S1 f1 i3 I) L. {
trace at all.
+ z$ E+ D4 a+ o9 C8 ]; M" i' kHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
0 b* T! }4 i6 c: Zdatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
; j2 [2 U/ R2 ]2 c) `9 I/ racceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the# P; u$ q5 B* C+ `; ?
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.6 r' A, Q" E8 M+ h
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
5 B0 r1 _3 \! m: ?; D2 G, Asaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
?1 Q' _5 S T tother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the3 b. j( i9 i, W& W7 k( U9 ~/ E; k
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible0 F8 X8 }: @, T2 Z7 R- k- R: W
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only7 K8 ?0 i4 U* H* B- v8 A
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
& O1 j) I. w( b4 Dby Toyota's lawyers."
5 k3 _+ G3 D' \Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
7 H- @% v7 A, c2 V( _8 i3 nproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our: o9 ^! k4 R6 y% s" \
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
: j$ G" F7 O" ?6 M& r! F+ K' xsaid.2 P7 p. l4 k, w/ V2 N, K
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with- e6 r W9 F5 a. J8 i, z
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
, x' H3 u) a$ ~/ H( Y2 kgood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating0 ]. I! O& z& p( U9 v; j3 ~
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
: K$ z. f: l5 s& D& u* E2 E- E8 rSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
3 }1 _9 V# q- T* a: f. s* _( S1 Tmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
) I' y6 H- Y# b" j2 M/ N0 `( o1 trancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the( \: D9 E) [; z! h' `( G9 R1 ]
automaker, at least in part because of the government's) A6 \7 `2 p" w w% @/ q2 v
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and7 k6 n( q$ E K7 | m% N9 g
Chrysler.( u1 `# S: q. D, s+ R
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax- ?& S2 m. d. ]( e w
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a, u! D x! K' T
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also: P$ d( D) V" n. w# I a
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
7 \- u! n2 w1 V8 J! i, M, Iwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty2 O. R0 H. d, c7 {) |- Y- n! t
tough."9 {, ]& g& ~! u: ]( S' W: {
---
, X# ]7 J) E' H$ F/ ?Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom, r N: ^5 p3 ]" ]( ?1 S+ _4 l
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to5 i& g2 @. ^0 y7 I, T
this story.
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' x4 `: N! b5 [-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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