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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( n; b! |0 d) J
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS) W6 _) X" t( f7 ^: {% j
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.- c- W2 ?7 b0 j3 C1 X
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
# ]( M, E2 x% u% v, g, }6 E5 O7 ^the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"9 M- F$ m+ Q: v3 j
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
& z+ C& m9 g) Y0 l"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
9 b+ e2 h. F4 j0 J4 x/ ], Ocauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.5 Z! l9 m" O8 B& y5 }
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
) Z5 z9 M% k" c+ E( t# D% aacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and' C' f' t* U6 ~; r g& w' A! J) y
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor: p' k& Z; t/ y6 Y9 }
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.( ]2 l3 @! r% u! N6 H
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
. p% Q2 u; R3 Y: o* e$ i, }2 oand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp I8 t5 y; `- G2 e9 B' |
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be. z( W8 ^. v+ c e: {
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could( s- f3 x# u; l/ o
not stop her runaway Lexus.
# g% |9 F& c, f"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,3 |/ b: w1 q6 o0 P7 I, [
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
: T9 e' x% N0 e"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.8 \7 N6 m, h" g7 S" \5 Q
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
1 V: k. X4 |, V# `" O9 iearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said, G& o9 m+ X: Z% N! e
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
) J0 G: Q# V* R* `( v8 n; Gdone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway: e5 W) O* L- H" m
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's( @5 Q7 N* {- J" I2 ^" s6 ?
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
) N* B. E/ A' W6 N/ GLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
! d. F% d" M4 Z% n, U( ^6 uelectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of! K' d3 {1 R9 H$ j2 m- d
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a8 e# Q. O$ g8 h* Y# j- q o
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
5 I; D. n- L% @$ N5 P1 X2 N5 U- Zsaid.+ X+ L: B2 U' }' W: M
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what8 }8 A9 g0 P; Z6 Y' X; B
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe* c3 W" ~& j4 G u: j
about driving our products," Lentz said.
1 t4 S, G; `! Q( R: ^' q3 h% dThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's8 s, Z Z- H3 c I& U0 |
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
. o" X1 W8 ?! c/ Srecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6# k* A1 d! s- e' L/ l+ d5 X7 e
million in the United States -- since last fall because of+ M; W: y* Y; h; d) m/ J
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking# n p8 C+ L- |8 X* g, p- k8 q$ _
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering. @& j7 y& ~/ C* H
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of$ N' q7 G7 @, u5 E' t/ X
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
8 G* [% g' L+ c) ~+ a5 Ldown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
8 z0 B% l* P- [1 J7 w# greceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration7 o, }/ ]/ \, e1 {, W5 U' U0 i
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.; V8 u0 H0 t) O; Q
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own. x: w: l8 R! u, l; p) B2 r& `
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
: ^6 p6 |/ R7 k1 K; r! L; uunderstood the pain.
5 O1 r4 |3 G( D. C"I know what those families go through," he said.0 ~( M/ r, ^# B8 ?8 J0 |
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
; d: B T3 Q; Y0 [( Ffixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.* r. l( C' B4 f/ v& r
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman- x1 Z) ~/ P4 w- p3 Y; N5 y
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
/ T+ W# ^' ]0 P' L7 Uin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,: T8 o$ }7 d. x9 d4 Y
Lentz replied: "Not totally."
% C' m7 i* w% r9 [9 BStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
* K2 Z0 E X0 A% w# z* `! \" g"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said& L9 }& E- |( u6 R- L2 g5 T5 g
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
7 j$ O( C" P/ F1 Y7 \2 c, I: |8 s+ ppedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its3 r6 t, T8 c' K- O/ d) y) r
vehicles already on the road.
G, i. M# m/ s9 m+ X3 QMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify2 s2 ]" W6 v. T& q0 B# C
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full1 @+ `) ?( \3 R& L) D
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
2 |0 v7 w& G. S# r2 Z: v: U: ^offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
" K6 P& U9 z- F5 J! skilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems." d) h0 \0 j# A: v2 _
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a) @$ V" E. r, v* M% Z/ z
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
$ D! d/ B, U+ I Tfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
: }3 B5 `! Z- {Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
7 S( t& e1 W8 bcommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to% f/ C3 a: p2 `% O" V) v
restore the trust of our customers."9 }' }! S- `: {4 w
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
& a7 y+ v' z8 ISmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly0 j; u% A7 P! c$ r7 M
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --- Z* w/ `5 k5 f" a& l
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
% p$ A% ~! E2 S( t+ V5 I# X0 n5 {hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
# T% z: |' A7 q2 D' g- ]that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and2 ~( G+ |- u7 b0 I: D
turn off the engine.
& r: {) o8 I" e2 F4 p3 B0 A' M/ TFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
0 L- U2 V1 b8 |5 COctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."/ V- [, B" d5 b) ?0 L) v8 B; H0 w# I
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
* U D4 v! a, T6 [5 m) X1 x+ Wsaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
3 h# k% g- Y/ p) ]7 L2 i E. j2 u4 hto her complaints.( d# T+ }3 c1 |5 w
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
$ z* d+ y% V1 vreturned again and again to the question of whether electronic
( p$ `, A1 O% x& U$ Y, L7 ]malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.+ q$ ^3 ]4 N4 F- f. K, q
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
6 l7 f2 P+ N) E4 ]8 h2 `$ Jthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
' b t. R1 d" d"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
3 \/ r! c. l) w [) P; n7 \# U7 I0 Hoff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
9 t( P8 K4 | _: {) ZTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in% F# I9 A, C5 s
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
4 b9 Q% |5 U2 T+ mbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
C$ S, p* o6 |1 k' ^were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
. M' R3 u! y* m4 t4 xevery question."
. n( e/ I% k0 U! NToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether5 P* K6 a8 |: Y8 j4 `' R
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
) u$ D% D& j6 T$ H& O! ~firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But5 r" H" C q# q+ b3 F2 z
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
% Q6 Z- p) R8 S7 C: |& snumber of vehicles
O( K8 x0 G$ S3 N. A5 [2 @Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more: y( J! v* |- L& g1 ?
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
; D1 H% H6 C( W9 ]5 h# [, z# omechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one7 |- i% O# Q& o, b8 o4 |
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car., Y- p N- M, T8 H" l6 F$ @
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
+ V# [# y% q0 _# iwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no% V5 h; n7 l& `* o' X
trace at all.
; v( L2 n# q3 _House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
/ Y4 O1 f4 q9 L2 v Ydatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden4 Q1 N$ \! `! J+ d3 q3 r/ r" I( n
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the+ t; [4 x& q' O! Y' g" u) P
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.1 v' p6 `) k! W! Q$ T6 Z
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,( i6 T8 ^4 V3 r
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and* [" }2 W0 @/ i L) }
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the; y& H3 c8 q& T! F6 |
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
/ K! ]6 A/ A0 h6 k2 i" f- ocause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only; r6 T) ` y. b% q* s' F
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained! e2 W( ^9 s% H
by Toyota's lawyers."
( Q6 C" L% u/ J+ t0 }1 [, KLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of2 l z$ [6 i' Y
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our# j* F, {+ m/ a `* ?
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he% Z/ G/ z3 p2 j$ J! \! r ~0 B
said.
& u# I N a8 [/ C$ o"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
7 T0 s" `' j% N- g. r/ }a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our- N, ~: [3 @) H3 n1 i. v& b; |
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
. t/ J; k# A+ ?: k- Y5 d" f7 kofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
1 W4 P1 U, V! \, T$ E* gSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
: e+ l, k& e) z. M9 K z6 x+ i+ k6 mmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
u( T+ K$ G, }" i9 srancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
2 t: F1 S3 ~. Lautomaker, at least in part because of the government's
! [# Y' o$ e6 r% D# Rinvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and% c% s, v- e, w. x2 l4 [, J6 [
Chrysler." b5 ^) Q$ b9 G% Q
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax; ~9 H0 ?; b% m2 V/ D% O1 n
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
0 m1 j9 w( u7 QHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also0 p6 \5 P( F% ^; w s9 T2 n2 V
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete. T; A5 F; c0 ]5 M7 I% f8 _
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
& w" o1 ^! {7 @! X$ L' Dtough.". J$ H, D+ x, j
---
) z$ k" x9 m' I8 A6 yAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom, a8 L/ l9 \ ~; w
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to3 |4 T. J% E9 k' i: k* m
this story.: X: Z4 Y# I3 A" j' Y4 U9 ^
1 l7 A) N" b' Z1 S-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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