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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
) x: A& S8 B: h }0 M" e3 jBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
) ]/ [: N. q' U ~- z5 LWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.& B& h6 U5 M' w# A. _' t9 N n
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
+ ^ Y. M* A9 G0 l# N& tthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"1 d' A# h0 f+ r
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
' [- _7 ]8 q8 K% W! c; b9 V"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential1 h2 q8 ?$ S4 T" w$ v" q- S. p
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
* @6 T+ k; Q+ p' T& ~: D) cHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected: w% U, ]1 i5 M' P6 Y" E
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
3 ~6 g; ^6 l& W% Z9 X/ Q4 j. [8 Otrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor: \+ q8 V% s- I
mats and sticking accelerator pedals., A5 J' m3 w+ Y( g$ f
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
" D. m4 y6 y: Zand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp* R" W8 p" u, g/ ]' I4 }
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be: V* ]3 d" q6 T
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
# T% S2 X7 }% H- Onot stop her runaway Lexus.) B1 B8 L! N. B# K2 Y' G) K7 L
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
. d" ?" Y( o P* R; y& x* y7 FTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
3 Z' D0 K. ]* T2 z4 _1 V"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
/ U- `, l% f( Y7 r- YTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues6 |& I2 O! B+ t/ E. g
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
l9 Y5 C0 b0 }$ g/ M. g* {"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
( Q) i' O$ v Wdone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
7 s: S9 T7 [. X- z) i! \through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
7 E" J6 v# s5 H& K% Kinvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."# n4 _7 ^6 e. }4 X1 r5 D( K
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
9 V( F. s% w* j& N8 ?: ] {7 delectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
4 H# M3 q, k" J2 U, qthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
7 |7 n' O. _7 V# x' Smalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
+ U& U( j1 ]% \+ [% F* f1 ssaid.
: J: q# ?5 R# x8 S* ]As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what/ i) G9 U! p8 ~& v5 I! C
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe1 E( a* c4 B+ Q5 C" w9 ^
about driving our products," Lentz said.
; I4 m6 s' {( t7 o6 `Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
8 E4 t* \( H' y I) `8 tproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
8 R! ^0 l4 c8 Q1 u& o W/ irecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6/ f, g% m5 U2 g5 {& y
million in the United States -- since last fall because of% d9 E0 n4 L4 _; @# @6 A1 }. W
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking: d; M$ x J, f; V" X% }+ f* Y
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering* F2 C4 G7 }& Y. ^( W, J: z$ h
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of n A" Z/ O r( S
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow. z8 F, d ~: i' ^: {
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
# L9 }# S6 a; H: s- b2 B1 Z: K1 zreceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
# p8 N, `5 ]) g/ [+ Kof Toyota vehicles since 2000.
- H8 p% e. p6 ?8 S* BLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own4 m3 m+ }) b7 o9 o
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he. Y, g: O' u: N7 d# D6 L
understood the pain.
9 s- Z( r' k/ T7 \5 s8 M3 e) c* u" t. z"I know what those families go through," he said.* X- a7 T" n7 M$ Z t# `
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
* v3 L Z5 q: Q4 s0 i* t' o. {fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.8 E5 G3 L3 R d) C$ @/ g+ n
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman5 q7 z; ]/ J0 D+ w A1 @5 T
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put# c, J+ X; z( O6 W8 N6 c' x ^9 A
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,$ Y/ ^4 C8 U" j; h) }
Lentz replied: "Not totally."3 }2 j8 d, q5 S: Y7 H
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
- C- F# J6 g" Y6 M% Q! B"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
5 ]& p4 W( Q0 ?8 r0 O& I3 JToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
9 U- t: J, B. z! ]' Xpedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its9 e$ @$ X- G8 ~' M
vehicles already on the road./ d6 x4 V2 {$ U/ x, u6 c5 b
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify) v+ ]# J3 E# {% l
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full# w2 R4 y5 c7 {# S; Y3 S
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and& s; Y. E2 R( Y
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
% j5 N' y* s. x- ]' u' m8 T2 Ykilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
' X& \; F5 T8 `"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
* t( M8 ~% \1 G2 |, G9 ltragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
% \7 |2 i# Q; g- s6 M4 y3 r2 Xfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
7 P s+ b/ j: f4 E# |Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
2 y2 I/ \ Z$ Jcommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to/ Z. ?: {8 Q. F/ x! K
restore the trust of our customers."7 R! e8 S; \3 n% R) Q U
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
8 ?$ T( N H- f* F! TSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly$ s/ h3 H5 [" Y! e$ `9 o; J2 F
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
: F6 }) b5 D* C0 V. U/ kshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
& g$ p$ A$ K# x" E& o" n9 M+ Thitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough9 f4 _1 D8 ?9 j* i' D# q
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and- {9 L7 V- t I% D; N. j% m9 ?$ U5 G
turn off the engine.
5 a3 h# ~/ y- j e4 m2 iFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of0 I7 t& ?1 C4 P: H
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."- v0 X$ ^" V+ B H. _
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
, x5 V; `3 x$ T/ F6 Zsaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond% Y9 k( Y4 H/ q/ i6 O9 V
to her complaints.
, d h ] Q! S' I* n; e* YIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
+ k {1 z& ]+ g; ireturned again and again to the question of whether electronic
8 u5 E5 p7 l& Q9 Lmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.6 |0 g/ l2 B$ f3 M$ I6 |+ V4 L% v/ @
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric' s2 H; K E3 h B: U& ]
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited P- ^: @4 ~: p+ Y7 N3 I
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
4 r2 J; N; F$ j, o( ]8 I' noff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
4 @* ^7 S( H; kTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
$ _5 G( A% m3 [, N7 k sprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
& E5 B. c; l; Y# F1 A e* F5 P ybeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
8 Q" G* D, [2 e9 @8 fwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer& P9 Z9 r8 y, U, i9 B' d q% F9 B
every question."
1 |% T% W5 _, P- bToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
6 V( X, `; r$ jelectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
& f# m4 R! S* J( Afirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
- R. x- @* l9 l' M2 wcommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small
3 M' j( t, V1 _number of vehicles
% @9 y+ Y5 r5 v4 d& |* D* ?Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more
5 o# f6 t9 ], V' Fdifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
; l: M$ i0 H( k6 n0 |mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one6 w+ K( ^) B) P8 K
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.5 C6 {9 G, U6 b" m" c U& ?& Y
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
% E! w2 g+ ~' \6 fwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no ?5 F8 v% K ~8 {$ K
trace at all.
6 D/ V( G# A8 G( f- S. YHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call( v" \& ^$ D3 l/ [8 V
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden/ `% j/ K" |% m v2 o
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the9 J% A: i) x1 _8 r; A
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals., U7 p5 ~- y. h
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,& D$ S5 m- |8 ^; [9 I8 V
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and6 y) P. x: S% i9 j% x
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
1 r$ ~$ d( ]5 t# w' S w. felectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible; G$ U! B% ?. X* O6 v
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
- `: u& H7 O5 ~such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
9 y, I( }& y0 n8 h% K( u# X- ?% Xby Toyota's lawyers."
" m% D. ~. u5 @1 ~Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of2 x3 Y( O/ r3 l* F: O$ b& j; n- V
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
& j3 \/ z6 b2 B$ b6 ?& Pcustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he1 Y6 D" z' L4 d+ _ P+ a
said. F) n$ n; P* o, V
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with O3 n7 f0 x* |, _
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
% L P3 \7 s- V1 I4 jgood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
! ~3 U: K0 P( Uofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.: ]- E0 O8 A! J
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying2 }9 n# i6 M+ W+ [2 m- o) G8 ~, b3 V
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread _: n$ O$ W1 b G3 W9 A! U
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the3 R) K- _6 M2 z; ^
automaker, at least in part because of the government's, k% [/ ~1 K/ j5 D
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and! _8 b' U# `9 K* C( I1 `
Chrysler.$ d( k. l+ s! f
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
9 F0 f9 t0 o% s# ]6 A- ~: B+ ?" xdollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
- p( Y6 ~; N; c7 n4 ?2 jHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
5 k( |% R- ? }5 r. x7 J9 }served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete1 r# W/ [* r3 p8 Y% b% g) E
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty3 M A0 i' ?# h1 o( L! N
tough."1 c/ M% ]$ J' w& u
---
: z5 A. Q' v- E2 M9 |) {# K2 nAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
4 f7 j Q8 Y" C2 }% o! B, bRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
' v4 F" B5 [7 g# U% Vthis story.
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+ P/ q, m5 [8 i" J3 \-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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