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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
5 ^0 F% p+ V( X. ?2 G7 H1 ]+ p# Y' pBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
+ w$ e1 {5 ~3 O4 Y, ~$ n' DWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
" f% u) C% ^6 n* `! }operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that; @9 Z* x: z- j8 s
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
, I& w; \1 d# `/ Z2 |0 Msolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.0 W& h/ ~* ]* F8 ^" m/ v0 }
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential$ u, }0 \* D2 s( k1 j
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
! k" Y2 }) v' n6 E7 j, f% ^However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected, d! x, G$ f- q) `6 b5 _) S# O& ]& S
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and- U& ?- M! U2 A N. d
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
, N6 t$ }. j# omats and sticking accelerator pedals.
' g4 c! B( P8 G) `# T# M* U% sHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
& G" I3 n9 w" [+ oand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
/ K+ y9 Q+ i, |' y1 kcriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
* b* R" @3 w/ Y: [6 W8 M Xfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
/ [, D8 G+ ^: p" Snot stop her runaway Lexus.
& g: V! z1 S" B; I"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,) l% |1 y( ] b1 G2 J* F
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second. o4 [% S1 b U+ z# t
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators., k. u) b, E; r' o
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
6 O! z5 x7 Y& g/ p5 D: eearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said) y3 w5 F1 n1 I* [' z7 S: ]
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has! W2 z0 c0 T& ^+ I: K6 }9 K* P
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
, f4 u$ \. \ t. _( Athrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
, E+ b- \# H4 Y h, S( ?' finvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."3 ] \3 u, m# v; B" D$ b' ^! T' h
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an) J! V: t5 z3 ]: V& l! R5 p1 k
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of4 }6 z4 s9 p$ q4 w; f0 x
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a0 S: @" c7 d+ Q* S& C) C! ^
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
; e5 r# n% |4 K; nsaid.
' n8 t) y: Y- `3 N0 WAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
% L1 p6 J+ n. mhappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe: ?5 [6 R# B) ]2 y
about driving our products," Lentz said.9 G. ~/ C; |' `0 {* h/ N
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's# v3 q6 S8 D1 `7 n; }! F7 w4 g/ ?( p
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has2 K, U" W9 o# ?; D' k( V
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6" d' v3 Q9 N t$ y9 s# c
million in the United States -- since last fall because of
; w ]& j5 @' vunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking8 O" x2 a! M% J( {6 c
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
" C L% x7 J) X% h4 T: Kconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of3 z$ n4 O' E) U9 i8 K7 C' A0 Y
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
3 y" ]& V0 G- k9 P/ @' V; [# v' Ldown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
6 V* n1 ?/ q& z, q9 c3 Hreceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration' ~4 z# O3 k5 D* }- o) x
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.
6 Y" \, ?4 L) _; W$ DLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own S, E4 `; U0 g- o$ A; S8 G$ F9 A# K
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
1 |+ n7 P7 Y2 m; h" z1 B- V6 D3 h- ?3 junderstood the pain.
m7 i1 i( q; J1 Y1 y% c"I know what those families go through," he said.
6 T4 w$ {% {& w+ @Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
0 ^5 I% d5 j8 M c/ J0 a/ h4 I( gfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
! p1 J1 ^# r0 H+ i- SBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
- Q" f: G3 i9 _3 |2 X; p* s& _Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
* @ V4 Q* x3 M# l" oin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
" V# R, f7 Y I- g& C, l, f6 RLentz replied: "Not totally."
, ^* K2 ^) |6 Y# {- s. C6 hStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were; m9 K" w$ l/ R2 e7 E
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said' U# `% X- X# C+ j( [, H1 g: A6 t f
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
+ N, w3 @5 x$ B; ]/ r- mpedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
' M7 M. ~" q9 R& ?0 mvehicles already on the road.
: M. C2 P3 s/ r8 G! KMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
9 j- y3 ^+ a* E9 W5 d4 i; N) ]1 {1 m lbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full9 z r3 R, `! k7 R4 x
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and' w5 ^: d% s# w
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were9 [: ~: N, n6 f$ T/ r( d9 H
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
0 g+ K# y: S5 Z/ T8 ]"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a/ o1 s8 _8 e0 i
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony2 c( I. B+ m% z' u+ q; G2 e4 h! `5 R
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
+ J0 U1 I0 V+ j% X' a& [Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal6 e2 j. K* A$ m
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
! u. g1 Z; G$ W8 T/ yrestore the trust of our customers."
: \+ o6 k' u; ~1 h4 s' I$ X. xLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from' c* K% F1 Q- y
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly- g% P& J3 k8 }/ c1 M& ?/ k3 ~) M
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
( P' U5 _9 n* u5 cshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and) U+ `0 N% w" y* ]) n
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
# k( r/ z" t1 V/ N; D& C' jthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
) E1 i; D( R& o6 Uturn off the engine.
( m) o1 T7 n Y7 ?: [; a! U1 IFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
' f/ W" a- Q3 I& q9 @- lOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."+ S0 y V2 m: X& U; ?9 L& ~
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
+ Z. j a, W0 P: x1 K [1 Usaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond% l/ h" q% K! p& P& k3 g) M$ A8 c, Q* z
to her complaints.
" b# Z' O1 \& W0 Q# i: w6 \In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers8 N% r% W. y, ~
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
2 n, [' j( T5 c: ^- m4 w6 Vmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.- N* J0 Q* n& M( P8 S4 X
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
+ p. p- [ }. jthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited3 q2 o4 N% W+ y
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut/ u, [- z/ I7 m0 W4 B
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."0 L* v" W8 F% w& Y
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in8 j) Z b) N: N s
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
: p% y" e% I! R( X+ }: Wbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls' b3 T* w6 [5 V! H! h# Y
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
9 ^: |8 w8 y( `3 ^8 Devery question."
" k; ~% }; M) J* [Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
' A' v" U1 E' a) Y9 `+ k2 selectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The% U6 }7 f- C1 D1 P" g% C* G) J
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But s7 S' v/ N% X! c
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small5 B5 ?) r5 c0 E
number of vehicles
$ M$ T8 N: G" P) d4 q. l9 pTracking down an electrical problem can be far more# R) k2 J7 _. g& G. Y7 @2 |' z! _. l
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
! H, R R7 L8 L2 ]* ?+ imechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one2 x9 M" e" j' m
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
, E* g3 t; c) W, ^3 ^0 vMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
' e3 r+ U5 R% @. ]' lwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no6 a4 C! l0 q; H9 k% x! F) {
trace at all.
+ y8 c( e1 A+ Q( g* K7 Q D- h6 `& \9 UHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call k. A- f, ~' W9 J: {
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden3 P7 b6 V7 Y+ c8 W5 N' U
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
; G( p- _& T& _% frecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.! i3 H" \& D: S! B7 b* @
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
! q: @+ Q* Y& d2 m2 Q7 Nsaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
: D# R+ M. ?6 d: i& Hother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
. o4 c, a% F3 ielectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible7 z# m2 i& C i
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only: \ K4 w- @- Y4 g
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
. x6 Q% k0 |; S4 @by Toyota's lawyers."5 F+ ]% {9 r: t) ]8 u; F4 u; f8 P9 `
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of" r$ x& D- f1 k6 a d( |' s
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our. g6 G" ^3 o6 P9 ^& O- h
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he& B5 h- J5 d, {/ s$ V7 W; Z- P4 ]
said.
' _( G- H/ `% v W0 \- l$ K"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with: W# s1 r v4 T& C! ]% Y
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
" i5 l* e( Q. H$ i$ zgood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating% h/ a% E3 T: w
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
8 ~! y5 i8 [5 MSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying& P7 k; D( L5 [" i' u! R
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread# s0 F6 i( Q" q0 M; k9 h
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the8 K( X2 O9 w, I# `2 I: x6 l+ G
automaker, at least in part because of the government's
, o. {; L: v2 J' }2 linvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
- U/ _; D5 f8 r7 l, @ u, AChrysler.
& B4 ~* C2 J0 |9 D6 b, F: p" F"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax- ^: e, h# y# ~! {, ]
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a$ E# M# J+ _- {) I+ N7 g) W
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also1 N L# R6 H6 R7 X4 [& V+ x
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
4 Q, J) i# u" p0 dwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
0 F1 }6 K7 _) Ctough."7 X" [! g8 D' n4 a% ]( M
--- O; [2 z- f, N6 f3 P. t
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
" J) t, Q, ~' o* Y( ERaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
6 w9 T6 n, y% v* A& B# p6 h: e2 Athis story.
5 b/ N! z, I M' Q f& p8 J! D& d, X2 g8 z) w5 ?
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