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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
/ [. Y4 T8 k: h3 iBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
* E6 y( V$ ]6 x0 p0 UWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.% W" O9 b" l/ i# @+ }1 H
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that$ G' z- G/ [* I1 v( n
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
- f. U d' d9 e1 Gsolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration. P5 d/ S9 I, X0 O
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
9 V# O; w) r3 @$ ~causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
% \8 [, D5 I- R8 v) Z; aHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
) j* N( Q0 A$ a k) U' m" @acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and/ h& D F0 [$ t& A5 {6 v
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor" b. J4 ?4 y& V4 X" f2 x
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.+ l6 M s; [7 J8 I
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal, o8 W8 n& ^! |+ Y- B% G/ t% E
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp! X* r9 M& d- c9 T
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
1 m& j9 A+ I2 M$ X/ M- w1 ^1 a1 W* ]further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
& L, T# Z! A4 N2 u* Q* _1 Snot stop her runaway Lexus.
& G9 v6 V3 I9 p8 ~8 f"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,& Q8 K6 U ]4 c. A: H! F; J0 f
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second8 p0 Y4 r# |5 ~/ R0 F
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.: x8 V+ f& U- x& c/ M
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues( {" x8 p G1 B# w y
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
) d- _4 Y' V* j5 T"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has1 z0 k' ^, F* S" X
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway: l! ^, J) n" e2 x) e
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
+ W! ^9 a8 `* a, Minvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
. z4 H3 G% @7 OLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
. c, y- e, ~* @& E8 B0 [5 Uelectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of# r1 w" A$ Y1 D
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
1 m m; w- w1 q( }malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he$ C2 r& L/ \# G
said.
. ?1 ]( \6 R [ i7 D+ I3 pAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what b' ^3 X9 f/ _! ~# a$ V9 I
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
3 ]0 ?3 ~. Q) i9 r# P/ jabout driving our products," Lentz said.
7 l3 A* v8 ]" e( g% v: n! s- H9 }Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's# l' f$ ~8 o7 m7 x
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has. y5 E/ E- K' F/ X. |5 M
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
1 R e. J- _$ @0 zmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of$ l; D6 }2 }- J, C( O/ }0 S- W
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking9 C# Z# d6 d5 d/ [
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
2 B. `& c' \5 Rconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
/ S0 e% L. N9 A* K3 @0 ltheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
7 L0 C4 I* G- D& z6 E+ gdown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
, j! i$ I* Q7 h$ k( ^received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration" G/ V: @& s7 f. c& q
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.+ h8 { F0 m+ U# i; K9 I( C7 i
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
% l% n0 K, y' Fbrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
4 g* i# ?6 w; c# B. h7 ?( y8 P$ X/ Sunderstood the pain.
, P* z( N( u6 w c3 G"I know what those families go through," he said.* ~1 o& }, j0 F7 c
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's7 B, I+ N! C [
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
- X2 b) }* o" Q* o0 Z" n# vBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
2 U% f, r1 l. c* Q5 Q; n# rHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
0 c: o0 M3 t+ @# `6 q5 kin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
; T! j" J9 @% }# K, L! uLentz replied: "Not totally."
* r8 p3 l+ X8 ZStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
. D. i* N! @: y: r, P/ m4 S"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said* G7 }0 g! V# a. M. A3 K5 U: Y/ @
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
3 r. ~: i% J, ]" V, J6 W Opedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its1 l7 T! O0 C9 p9 r$ C
vehicles already on the road.
: H0 O3 E6 k) k* P O& tMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
2 S" B- R* p+ u1 e8 m% cbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full2 m0 ] Z: G( g3 B2 ^' D3 u
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
- O: b. J7 t9 P8 b; K+ m; y, goffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
; k; i% c/ E5 p6 }* }killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.0 }4 ~& y9 g- v; M' W$ ~
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a$ H4 b. l) c k0 [
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
" `5 w8 ~& F) z8 s. J: i8 G! ~0 |for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
i4 \3 `- o! C8 A3 i- [* ZCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
' D3 K _' Z% x9 k: E4 {commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to1 ]7 B3 e! z) `4 Q7 [1 D7 g0 H
restore the trust of our customers."
" y- Q/ S( k$ oLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from! O/ K5 k: h, z$ Z% S, F
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
. k u! b9 b- w' Vzoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
3 C* b; J( v. p% a) u8 Ushifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and' ]7 A- F* S8 R+ ~ e
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough! Q! t# |- ^$ F' l+ T
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
2 g9 ~6 y% C5 q. R- `5 U2 k& Bturn off the engine.
' s( j/ L: @: U4 c% X8 nFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of% E& Q$ J4 d2 Q8 m) F1 T
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
0 h' G2 Z9 ~" x9 Y0 d"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
) X+ Q" t: Q) {& g bsaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
) ]' D6 F ]5 P6 w4 ]' Rto her complaints.
2 `$ t" l7 {' ?0 TIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
8 W6 N# J. p7 {3 m; |returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
1 m2 I( f7 I$ Pmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.) x" p" W( ~% g, t, E4 m: E# J
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric) C# o8 `- Z* G( Z+ f
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
( Z' d" d% \5 X7 E. U' n' k"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
! H: ~1 P2 z' r( P0 L9 Y9 U+ }2 z& x2 boff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure." c) U5 A; o: {
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in* q$ O9 i4 M0 `+ \
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were2 l6 S7 s+ o: L0 k! `
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls/ Y ^+ N3 a z* x* r
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer$ }8 h' o# ?) p, J5 `8 z/ D
every question."7 f0 h3 Y! Q7 Y, u5 }2 I
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
/ I+ A& P, ?& S6 Jelectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
1 a W3 p- H2 k Jfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But7 d0 x4 Y& Y# [. ?' R6 |
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small3 G* Z9 s' w3 c0 b
number of vehicles
4 [) ?& N- o, n) ~0 r1 {Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more
5 @; J8 J: d9 K) C# v3 Cdifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a# X+ t- J; V4 d ^
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
9 a2 U, R) W; S6 C' bsource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
& o6 {* P0 ?% B) k5 e0 fMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
: e( D* D1 D$ _- U/ M# a, cwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no! G3 A: N5 E/ P+ P! f5 v
trace at all.
* i. ~/ e. @. a$ A, CHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
$ L: [" E* q: O) z2 ]9 l' Pdatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden4 C. C( n3 w+ s
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
5 |* m- _1 H/ ]recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
% O @6 Y2 m$ Z5 x; LRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
9 Q9 @1 y2 O3 L) j. Xsaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and+ k. k5 E* S3 s4 @' M# w
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
0 e+ y6 P. h4 b" d xelectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible7 z4 z; `. a/ l: n* v
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only: g& X M6 b- |6 G
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
E0 }" K8 }9 b2 F6 Mby Toyota's lawyers."
8 X$ x$ x# B- B9 K- Q* KLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of% I: F$ r- H( d( }' M5 [
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
6 f& d z# h+ i* t, scustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he; X& W9 L* g+ i9 y# ^% B* p
said.
9 o6 d' s9 c2 o6 t- N"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with- q5 j" m$ W0 u2 Y: |( o( k- v- b
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
8 U! i; D4 g$ F: b! Cgood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating* v+ |4 T0 o1 l3 E
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.0 k9 m, d- T6 P- g" o& D
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
" `9 q# h2 T5 t; lmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread# O/ f5 q5 D4 J0 T
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
$ W: N v% _5 k# {6 i3 Xautomaker, at least in part because of the government's8 ~7 X& v3 Y4 E* I, c# u
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and: C# P2 C0 p, t
Chrysler.$ R% ~5 }; Z! H& z" x
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
8 c5 f9 t! H2 x0 Tdollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
: P0 \6 ?- r" v$ KHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also- k- d) X. G+ z# z n
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete$ M& Z" r/ R9 p! y8 l' u
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty# g, h5 @& s) V$ B
tough."
, y! B5 O6 W+ l! z---- i; g1 M& `- C; d2 ?/ Y8 F
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom9 u7 d+ t4 s$ p+ N% {
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to+ [, d, N, a0 w5 t: {
this story.% Z/ \( @- V. W* i$ t8 p
3 v4 }/ \; a4 I/ t: \5 W+ Q-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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