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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; @1 l, H! C5 L8 mBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
/ p8 G4 U& a/ n( ~ N) oWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
, p( w1 T/ H3 `, Hoperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that3 B0 \, A+ t/ U% s9 h
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"5 Y7 ^( e* z9 k. i5 C2 }$ N" M
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.- h; H0 s2 B* k1 P) ]% a3 Q
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential# K' y6 I. p: ?. Q0 |* z6 R& R9 I
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
0 j! g$ A8 `, ~" S- t1 j; c) aHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
- U: _( l) F T8 S( s+ o Qacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and+ z+ r2 R- x( }
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor4 r, b' p/ p2 |" `0 }
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.
9 y* k$ W9 j e6 Y; E. u$ @5 UHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
% W- E( Q" l# ~: P9 _and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
h( a5 J. ` E9 X5 D, i' S0 z+ [criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
0 q+ h# h; I( [% v, G' Ifurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could8 D# H8 f0 p6 @. g7 i. n, \
not stop her runaway Lexus.
1 V5 H( t9 y+ c"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
. P9 F1 `2 N7 N# KTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
6 N1 K! l9 D! {* \. d, C"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.8 K: S$ V( }2 J: z5 s$ x0 G
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
, r0 A8 V" N8 D+ p* ?5 k6 Eearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
% P& F, s" Y q4 ?"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has. [5 z* J+ _3 M2 i O" {) H
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
8 }; Q: t- G" E! [" ]through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's7 O/ T# N% E2 ]# j
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
8 O8 |; ~+ G+ ~Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
- N* f9 j1 X* h( p' x+ t5 H- Aelectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of2 t5 i. B1 a- ^# M
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a& `" W8 H1 O* ]8 F
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
0 o h# |4 {" L1 s6 N" Esaid.) O6 t0 }4 E6 Y
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what" Q6 W. D. C4 @) r8 H- z
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe& U4 m, l O' a, u% v6 [ W& ~3 u
about driving our products," Lentz said.
4 L0 _" k5 n" f4 iThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
7 c4 s: R9 U! F. X% k1 Q( pproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
# F, A% N8 P8 wrecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 60 G+ h* l3 Q. I* l2 y
million in the United States -- since last fall because of7 b8 y- ~) g! J
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
: J4 _! x# Q7 L4 X6 Eissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering% V& _% c: K. b# b. \1 N
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of I# f s G7 L8 }0 Z
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow0 G- X. z* v; d4 o/ A
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
R7 x8 \! L) _3 U$ S# Zreceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration4 I3 b" ~/ Q3 A! s& H
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.2 _( U5 {- m) B. j8 x: G
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own# t+ R8 S; k5 | |7 i5 \
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
6 I, ?, z) H& Funderstood the pain.$ Y9 k V p* o, X: [( @
"I know what those families go through," he said.6 M4 J* U! K1 k4 }
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
# E0 J1 f1 W- S0 ]+ f. Yfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.$ }7 M3 o! n$ ]
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman1 o9 n6 h" c" u$ E7 g+ e
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
. }! N" t0 I9 sin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,7 h" ?' G' D4 S! g* e4 _* ~0 F, G
Lentz replied: "Not totally.", v; n* N& l& u% H! ~( h+ o
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were( \" c U. s8 v: n
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
8 C; v) v1 I2 l+ k2 DToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
- h5 y0 a; P6 bpedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its! l: S8 j9 H2 a. I5 M
vehicles already on the road.& |/ i! G: G( s+ M' l% x8 w* }
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify. F4 }5 \ e$ s4 f7 ? B
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
1 T; [3 b4 p4 O, `% vresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and# R2 |1 t. ]- t* L
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were+ r. x* P* ~# |5 \7 m) k% Z
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
# J1 g. K) m: q+ q6 M/ @- B"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
, A5 p Q( z. p) ]( vtragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony. ]" v, {- Q5 M( V( K
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight Z% \# ]2 V% x/ W/ G+ @& R
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
3 f9 q& f+ H( K/ A; c( U2 r# ncommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to1 w, L T6 Z2 S% Q
restore the trust of our customers."- `; r Y! z. ?
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from* D$ }- b! W! k0 L7 w2 Z1 u
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly, J, a' S5 S) n" ]' K7 N
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --$ y2 u) k4 }/ m
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
( a- f: }3 N: P9 l- R9 m v" Whitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough% S; r# }; V% D. ?8 |
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and' l' u! y4 H* P, t# b
turn off the engine./ E7 w' Y' ~7 h! ^
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of3 `% n: w2 ?) L- t+ F
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
. z4 O* Y+ N$ n% Z( P& n"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
$ @% ^9 N: C, @: z. Hsaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond, T1 F6 n1 D( ]# N# i+ J& a
to her complaints.2 M% k' k$ q9 m& D1 U
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers- ?: C; _1 |3 F# ^
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
3 h7 Z5 z4 r+ a& T/ S3 ]malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
! y* n+ z3 O, u"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
) ~& v2 {0 g& _! M: q7 uthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
6 P# n9 g. ^% `& U3 y5 e"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut) b6 Q V" h9 A {5 E4 A
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure.": h. ^% D/ J# k& E9 I4 r, O
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
9 J' b1 D3 A J# B& A# c5 Qprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
" V; }( h) U5 V1 g) Fbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls2 H: }0 A, r/ j0 e. X1 y
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
1 ^3 C: l1 N( O+ x4 Aevery question."
3 Y9 x4 J* M" K. G4 q7 zToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
3 o2 Z e. h/ K! N1 Y- velectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
; V* D Z5 i6 K; Q6 ^1 |0 g6 }firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
% u6 j. C# i4 zcommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small
( e+ g4 m4 ^. Q( |" nnumber of vehicles- ` C( ~7 W6 s, h6 V. ^
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more
. u5 h. ~$ J- i9 Zdifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a# X) u. |" }" g6 n1 H
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one9 l% U; j, I* d, j
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.5 T6 D7 S0 }, C2 ^* x6 E: T# [
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
3 ~; f/ ]& w3 T5 s+ z6 u( m8 s M* y6 o wwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no# n' B, }2 o% A7 X: `
trace at all.9 l- [$ V6 \/ K/ O! b- d, T' k
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
4 j( B" b2 N* D( t c; adatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden* L! N# v4 l2 B- M* ~6 O
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the: ~$ ]- R; u6 H; t( I9 ]1 S
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals., T+ a& r X6 Z
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
( m* U& a* l r; c. `8 osaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
- Q) O# V- ]0 E! T' b* aother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the' l. X- s5 [1 R: d* \: m
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
' e+ ?+ @7 A# t$ tcause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
8 `* y: l: ~2 H9 f. l' r8 c' Bsuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained# X; ^( f2 y: c0 ^
by Toyota's lawyers."
: r/ J6 z& ^) N- `2 j9 C' a3 QLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
9 |+ T2 V9 w' j4 Q- r1 Wproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our. n# ?5 \; K; K
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he Q9 U/ \ \, c
said.1 P* H) K( h2 y! D- E3 ~9 J& T/ X
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
( O: T5 E @ Y5 a" G7 Ga rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
2 n7 _+ a* q+ y: T Ogood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating% p9 ^+ \2 d9 H' C m& G! k# ?
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc." R" {+ i J% i3 L7 d
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
5 s: C+ K( X. G( _members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread- C9 j% |# l5 C( I" ?( ~7 \
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
: `# K) D0 p: x& ^8 lautomaker, at least in part because of the government's# B, F9 o; Q$ h t6 I- `. Z
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and' K+ M1 k2 s. J
Chrysler.
L2 y A G3 ~/ n C"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
9 p9 s2 t" F3 A: V) z! h$ jdollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a# ~! V# x# `+ ~; x; v( y! p
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
' r8 L* a* ]/ Y; ~) w. B' V3 Fserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
3 D ]& R3 ], C+ {- Zwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
z# r" ^2 x& S p. Q2 rtough."
! _9 v9 C* j8 y8 j) u0 g---
9 R$ J2 d$ D8 |5 H9 C, A& y7 TAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
- x/ q* e2 v' B( z; d5 n! Y. H4 ARaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to" l7 i. v1 ]0 `/ d4 x1 r
this story.
8 P2 B" S. H& x" V; ~0 u* s9 x3 p1 B
-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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