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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1 D0 J8 r3 Z/ a
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS, G6 G0 v* L2 i2 i
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.. H( n4 R; s- Y* s P8 j
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that/ h4 L, \" `/ \- {( h6 y
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
) C0 B Q" e# G4 t* {solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.8 A' X& v! r# `3 {5 Y
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
5 c) x8 G8 J' R( l2 \2 v; Qcauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.0 l. E2 C$ z9 k$ n v! M
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected" j$ L4 s! L: R6 |1 r6 ~
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
+ T+ f8 `& G% ^/ G' T e: S, o Ptrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
3 A1 ^# n3 F0 G* Q* H& Gmats and sticking accelerator pedals.: H) E6 v5 q7 x" S0 q5 `
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
5 t! v/ y* X7 i( E8 X/ \! m' aand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp( Q; O9 X, {+ f7 B5 I0 @) Y V$ f
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
$ }+ ^9 S5 |/ T' X& ?further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could7 P7 X# l. E3 u+ {
not stop her runaway Lexus.: h1 J2 e' g; A; d& l2 w; z- J3 a2 C8 i
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
, G J8 I+ w# U' p& kTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second; h% j1 D6 k! X' z( G3 U( l* A
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.9 G2 |' @7 S2 e/ _' y6 F) o
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
3 E# w4 q& {' x* U+ w4 X* wearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said$ C) Z9 q U) m1 | s1 A: h
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
0 E' ?# b5 v% ~. ]& b1 t) F) A, J* odone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
* p7 d' \% r# @, u7 `through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
' v8 O6 N+ R, k# Qinvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."4 K" q% [0 F+ a0 j
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an& g4 F! ^# S" |* J3 O
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of4 h& Y5 r6 j" ?- `0 v0 i
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a5 S7 C! n# Z4 A+ O* K$ t
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he7 Q8 \3 g9 Z' s1 L1 _
said.
* o+ q* _; z0 s9 V: N u' iAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
0 _8 s, q+ S) [( Vhappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe9 r( p# r2 q& e8 e( e! g# j
about driving our products," Lentz said.
+ e# [! R2 b/ {$ _5 BThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's ~- |: O4 ^7 H( M; Q% |: J
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
! R- c, ?- h5 i9 k! rrecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
3 ]3 p4 \2 `5 x9 D- `, M: Rmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of
) s5 [4 b/ ]! [. d% Junintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking/ \8 e; q& @8 s
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
) M; b2 Z* N' ?- j b, hconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
. K; q4 W# M2 ?their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
) Q1 q' |2 t: N: P2 l& c( Gdown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has: n! G! B5 r# {* s
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
# {, q$ Z% _/ L$ Z% t% R/ @8 i* Dof Toyota vehicles since 2000.
* {( ^3 g# i |% X. R' l4 {# F- LLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
+ B+ R- T! a0 J- n+ o8 S; Bbrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
0 N7 Y; {( N4 D+ U0 [, y* N! Iunderstood the pain.
$ v* o9 M# r7 m* _* V5 z5 ?"I know what those families go through," he said.
; m \- _6 ^. [. g3 n4 r5 I% mLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
( U5 |5 `2 l: B: H) E g5 Efixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.8 q t' X; Y" U. {9 ^2 t! G) \
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman a U) C$ w, |
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put4 L3 Y" D: ]/ Q, C0 S7 Y. o1 f
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
! L, p/ x0 W g# i3 X7 ELentz replied: "Not totally.". R" a! {2 s. K" P4 S+ I3 n; d
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were, F% P% E: M# m" ~ f/ N/ G9 T
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
% |) u2 u5 u3 p1 W9 jToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
g6 X1 x' o# x8 H1 ~pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its6 C4 a0 s! D6 ?# t" A- p
vehicles already on the road.# e9 ^' H6 M1 s1 |$ E+ c
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
. X4 M9 m+ x% X. y8 C2 Ebefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
! X" l( ], j% O# y/ T6 ~+ Dresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and {, S& `" F! ^0 a
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were9 q* M8 h- q0 M! N" B; h
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
& G6 \ ?, W) d) a% r8 Z"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a; M; o8 B8 B. D! r9 q) V
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
/ v. I1 g% |8 v$ Vfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
/ e# `8 K5 q( m: j$ W2 ~Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal% S1 b, w5 j* H
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
3 d$ m; o2 Y1 R5 ^. T% ^2 crestore the trust of our customers."
: M+ t5 o* v) }( ^( k' DLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
" ]8 C' F1 o; D4 HSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly7 @; s. S) J% s! |0 Z
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --2 X# v4 ]0 W, r! E" m/ H
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
* E' |# b& B" z! ]% `hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough( @4 B4 f9 B7 W
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
: k, |/ m8 Y4 R7 H2 {turn off the engine.
$ U% Z( q" C* I" T6 \) t vFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
\) z) M9 }% |) r' M NOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."' w4 s+ q( g+ R+ a8 [
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she" \% u' S0 Q4 d2 E' R
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
4 U. h+ i; a& y5 u; B) mto her complaints.
$ I1 J+ X+ _0 f5 iIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
3 S3 U# k; i) D+ Z. q+ ^ ~) creturned again and again to the question of whether electronic
# d+ a$ i% X' O! Tmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
1 X, t' }) d. n; k( H"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric. q% g, {9 P7 ?. |5 m
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
# {0 s L, X8 v, ~"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut6 n& i5 \2 `/ S+ k9 S' Q# K+ f* b7 X
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
0 L) T5 \+ J1 vTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in! A8 C! Z" Y1 n! l
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
2 {8 g3 z. z% k( C8 g- X* U* {& Wbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls. ~& `3 R& O$ a- F) n1 \4 P$ Z5 p
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer! \" p: ?& p( `3 W
every question."
( @2 P# U N" b5 R, VToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
$ |1 T2 v5 c) f- xelectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
6 G, G( C4 q% P2 ?( y; lfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But6 ]" s& a: ]( K+ P) u" y4 G
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
6 a7 z6 t- _' T+ f9 w5 B6 anumber of vehicles
$ b8 l' }0 X7 k$ f! @* NTracking down an electrical problem can be far more
8 S: B' @1 i$ t" ~' m: odifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
- q9 q: X F+ }! Nmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
' j1 f) W5 X. l- C! gsource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
! t% s0 \7 A1 u. Z0 UMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
- B% f+ j+ A3 e8 Y. c; ~where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
: O( ]) F T, ^* b- W6 @7 `trace at all.
/ d( @' e8 m8 e) _1 i2 SHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call+ d7 ^/ x8 a( ~
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
% i4 s2 u4 A# {# wacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
2 N0 j2 t* g& k8 Qrecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals./ r3 P6 ^: A% n% T4 n+ `2 I
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
) ~. j! T( g0 e. e- ^said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
& j. c2 O% ~+ j& a y9 Q% A/ uother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the0 L" i, J! \1 f' K( z
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
U" } @' b* q+ jcause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only2 l- Z4 F5 B. M
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained- C& |. a) s) Y; Z( z0 w
by Toyota's lawyers."4 c. E% s/ A& S+ {4 X1 E! k9 r
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
9 ~5 b" T/ w% G+ n* |! Sproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our! P* ~- T$ k) A
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he7 L8 E; O3 x/ P- }
said.# J, r1 X6 q/ q' d" }9 {
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with& P+ B* t; W2 u% k! R* L
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
9 y2 g' L, |3 y pgood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating9 y2 Y! c: [! a) W$ q7 q! u
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.4 ]6 B5 D/ }! j5 `3 H; `
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
8 C3 O" d; R, G! G& }& c" ^members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
) P' d# f1 e) A7 X; S& Hrancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the$ S F: b4 t, C' r: f3 K' c
automaker, at least in part because of the government's
2 u! s7 U' {# w8 s$ w! [investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
9 n: W8 C9 P G7 v0 V+ fChrysler.- g& _ g; t' R5 Y' |( B
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
0 [3 @0 P9 j! [0 m" Vdollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a# B# U* k' C% f6 L0 o# x% l
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
4 f9 y) |+ [, }( J2 X- }served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
6 d; w, s: B; P& Iwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty8 V' i- {$ F0 @
tough."( f6 r) y7 W, X+ E8 X$ J0 c
---
. B+ D. t9 {# `$ ?: EAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
8 G# h+ N9 `/ L" `9 p: bRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to0 @3 w& e7 {' v2 f) D
this story.
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