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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2 n+ f) ` L, k
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
8 k" u( O9 `- AWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S./ ?' o* N% \9 Q$ d8 t( }
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
1 I6 N& U: y1 [9 ]7 ^the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"# T0 m5 E* P. d: K
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.8 J& m- ]% `$ s; l8 `, o5 o
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential# f0 o G6 _: o* W
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
9 h9 o4 A( G: ]# b2 AHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected: [4 D& Y8 C5 P% G @
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and0 Y. T7 m9 A; b; c5 ]
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor2 R5 C8 i/ x) k, N
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.
" A$ C" j7 ^. w( O6 OHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal5 X) G5 ]" U7 q. ~1 [- M
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp- \2 ?- ]. x. z! n! y
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be& I( Z+ {( G3 m" X) m5 j
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
( ?# m4 h) i+ g3 X6 @- }9 c9 Unot stop her runaway Lexus.
# M3 p8 C( i* S, D3 t) _3 W"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
% h3 K) w T9 h/ I( M4 i2 bTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second d5 a# g- J, V1 Q4 _! y2 Y O
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
0 \) I- W7 K2 V6 U+ T& a/ `" I/ HTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues) x: M* j' w1 y8 B+ J( q5 i( E
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
# W. L2 O$ k5 |8 ^7 }"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
! Z2 w+ V; S! o( n6 ddone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway3 x# e& M1 K: D; G N8 P- V
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's" I" G5 T& n0 \
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."+ y2 L' r2 E1 G0 C
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an; w- R8 z# [: Y" G
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
`6 ^2 V% J+ U4 q( b3 }9 uthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
' c, Z O$ Z6 j& h0 Umalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he; l; j2 u+ E: n# x. ~4 K. f" [9 i
said.
/ s0 L4 u% o& e7 fAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what5 l; a0 U, B( U7 l' K
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe( {. {' S( Y) o
about driving our products," Lentz said.4 W/ a2 |6 _( v0 d% y9 c' E$ t
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
! N! x1 U, j8 s8 ?' r0 n" iproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
- H+ `' m- Z7 \3 Q3 J2 ^3 h! B. |8 ?; Yrecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 61 N5 e, @, x) l0 F: g9 z1 ~- y
million in the United States -- since last fall because of5 z) w5 N7 }% d8 s- ~' q) G
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
% Z$ t5 m$ f B; Z# {issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
/ t( {$ X* |$ k; ~4 h) |7 mconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
' f) F2 _' \3 N% D9 }their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow9 a# w2 t+ ~( v& v0 K8 u6 C
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
' w# \- Q7 X5 O0 Rreceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
6 t* ^+ U7 Y# s- @5 eof Toyota vehicles since 2000.3 f* r7 A. Q9 c$ y( _ H, J0 w
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
9 _5 F& B+ f! m, k5 pbrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he2 x7 W" V( P, D i+ F( B
understood the pain.9 v, s8 X9 M& F# [" h
"I know what those families go through," he said.' g3 N+ A- d/ a& |% m. {3 f
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
2 Q# C( p& s5 c/ ffixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.7 I. u+ A. ~- Z0 O9 E
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman% g2 S# }+ x( f8 F* L9 _
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put: {* o( g: N6 d
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,- M; I2 t- n% {* E7 o8 O/ `
Lentz replied: "Not totally."' R- E+ ?+ @1 r; h
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were% u' g3 ?& y: K& c; l5 t
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said3 o- f5 r2 K! i/ L
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
; x* {# O( ?' W( D. I1 [- Bpedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
7 O1 f& ?4 L1 | A( Lvehicles already on the road., t I; u" ^+ r% H) g( ]
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify, }! R- R2 |. u7 l
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full- I& C* R+ q- r
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
) j4 Z# T% e3 `* p1 M# E/ Poffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
% g; N5 t+ g$ ekilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.+ B, R# X: s$ f% j- }& ~0 G
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a* c3 K/ j& k8 a7 `) u% o
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
& g" W8 g/ Z+ {1 S6 h1 s$ Ufor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
" X/ h$ b# k* E2 Q" |Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal& _3 ?" \8 R; I! f2 s5 S
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
/ m0 i. o% A+ F( |6 u( Y! J* O2 G/ hrestore the trust of our customers."" `) ~- ^! X1 s8 L
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from6 L. Y3 t0 M1 z, b$ N+ b6 c
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly/ w u; m- x. A- C$ N4 k& |
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --' ^) ]: z! ^0 M
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
) Q' g% e0 R7 t8 h* P6 ~2 r. G- }hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
, D( j) t- j6 Z& _9 E+ dthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and8 S, [6 v0 J; e, W9 `
turn off the engine.+ |" f" v' s5 z
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of) n8 C/ ^: z( X3 B7 @0 `6 D: E
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."8 D' n. ~) l4 W6 M
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she6 ~5 U' O3 P" m
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond2 ?: z3 G4 h! E: j& q4 o
to her complaints.( |9 a7 `5 v: m! @
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
$ M# Z" v; L% L/ ~0 _returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
( a1 R8 V- r0 d4 k, W8 wmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
$ |' I- N8 T8 ?# e& q"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
9 P5 O; M* F2 ?9 H W; gthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
" y4 m! S6 [ s8 [% W"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
; {% W Q# {4 ~( g2 `. ]off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
M: g( K3 f+ o, U4 n9 \2 o/ DTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in2 x; Y- H( m" p2 J, J
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
( I5 M" e& B* O1 H5 ebeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
; j9 l* d* G- |4 }' Zwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer/ n; `2 N; Y4 W$ A- H* m8 {
every question."' J7 X; V: O3 F4 A4 y! ^3 b+ K
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether: h# |* V7 {1 G+ C8 K' e; ^
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The& t' z* ^ c# U* j& ?- h
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But. z4 B0 y% k3 `" X
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small2 t* o% U) t2 p1 q' z @+ L) L) }
number of vehicles# a& T( e, Y1 ? E- |1 Q# _5 O) x
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more! V$ r- ?# R, W# [# J% `' P0 B
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a ]3 [! C$ X/ ^4 H; _( c
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
8 R5 a1 @) }0 H5 g+ ksource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
: u6 H q/ y- P# K/ R4 [% z# SMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
% e' z8 u% g# gwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no$ n) x# N) g6 D5 V$ M: Q
trace at all.
7 _ M# C9 P& t, s8 \( xHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
3 S3 |' V5 h1 @6 R8 Mdatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden$ G: L# j0 P! H0 y" G
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the" y& [! G! O+ i0 ^% ^
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals." V9 a7 z4 c- H3 d, ]% `
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
& \1 ]1 ~5 T$ p& J4 ?; Z& j: _said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
+ V2 s2 M/ p k# Mother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
# \' a& F7 p9 q0 {- F' aelectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
4 @2 Q8 A4 a* D* {& y# kcause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only2 [! u0 ?6 i) k) y
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
! D+ H6 L' I) Gby Toyota's lawyers.", x0 d# n6 b- E; P6 m0 B6 {
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
5 t) b) W3 }* r0 \- t2 `4 y$ dproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
' P' W0 l% v0 Q& a0 D$ H$ ?customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
. l& V* X$ c2 Y* U. Csaid.
~4 K# T2 u3 z$ {6 W/ |"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with- k8 O- [ r: D7 X* U
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
) w, m q* ]3 i4 ?: |; lgood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
( A% B3 b; j, K* V% u; oofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
9 ~ Z% y+ }4 a6 s3 u& r, |Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying% w$ I. G+ d/ P. O x
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
3 w$ Z6 B( S$ y, m% K# p% e% Arancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
+ B( S+ e4 i% _# W( L3 h) Zautomaker, at least in part because of the government's
6 }1 O1 E: Q9 O2 D/ Q+ G9 f% X4 ?investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
8 h5 R h! Y* [0 w) H2 h' X$ h8 MChrysler.1 j% q; m& R* w' [& j/ J. q5 I
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
/ H$ }9 ~7 k+ R, v) h1 Ldollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a/ _" ?8 p% _' x
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also, t7 o, R+ J# Y7 N0 D9 z, }/ O
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete. n; n- P l J9 O
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty" V+ X% m8 R3 r6 T6 W9 {( v
tough."
) h( R* g; W m$ P) p1 A---. i+ k; B2 e- b
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom5 k: f! [; g$ c" s
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to# z8 q. o3 G3 R |* ]* N/ Q
this story.
9 U" V2 l2 e7 q6 _0 I# S$ g7 a
5 X) I- N$ Z$ \( h3 V0 e+ ?, ?-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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