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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
+ h* I3 O" Y7 f2 ^' g) ?9 U* GBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS/ K+ W7 O3 X* x& E* P4 G- @
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
* \/ J, K0 ]0 M) e qoperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
9 j u2 c& v4 G' `$ ^the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
& e! `# ]% C( n7 _solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.- t* z, @0 j; ~5 Z# R
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
P6 E: G3 \9 Z& y6 y, G6 wcauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
" y. ]9 M3 F3 I( BHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected1 m/ N- `4 E! o$ e0 P. {& p
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and1 g( N8 |- l" T! G+ ^2 D
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
2 U- c& ]# z1 G5 Z- o( k% bmats and sticking accelerator pedals.4 A: j1 n( i" E6 ~
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal, X& |5 l% u* ]" u2 Z
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp. |$ \3 C% ]% P/ k& n9 K
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be7 u8 f( A" }3 W9 F6 w, K8 C. J
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
( U. c$ r% ~# ^. o# Knot stop her runaway Lexus.- e5 s+ X" l1 U
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,3 v0 P5 N, U& G1 j* k* l9 u
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second& m1 L" I( x. Q( D. L
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
6 U" e. `3 E, N/ G; e4 r D. |1 N' WTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
* o; D: s) O) a. fearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said0 @6 U1 H" ~5 V
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
) ?4 L( f9 l5 `. B$ r2 W+ ndone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway- d7 ^* ?! c& N# L
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
, }! K9 _$ j" ^# `, Y- rinvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."# `( l$ C+ t! T5 s' A4 N
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an( P4 `4 h1 R6 `4 X1 l$ j# S
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
$ z* b9 h3 B* R7 u' hthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
( u1 B, ?5 F8 ~! @; _! Fmalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
, w4 s5 _0 L! D, ?: H) C3 V8 d, esaid.
4 t Z5 n+ i$ _As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
1 U- X" U( Y- r" Xhappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe- B, u' e- Z4 w4 S
about driving our products," Lentz said.! s7 j3 g8 E" x5 N6 m: ?
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's" F( X- n8 f$ V. r
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
( }1 Z+ r' Z" ^- x* ?, e/ p2 Drecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6; v& f. Z* K* p4 A3 v
million in the United States -- since last fall because of+ }* X! d: Q* s- q4 s8 h
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
0 }+ U2 E: _/ e3 Wissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering! g7 g, @; r# ]7 W
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
& t& S) ^& ]' h# ]) s) rtheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
6 Y$ P) `1 e/ I9 T! L9 I; ^4 Ldown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has# }; U. m- W+ _
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration" B( h: F, D9 B5 ~
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.
2 p- M. R7 D# l0 q5 CLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own6 d; \! ]1 X6 k6 d8 J4 L& W
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
6 P' |' j: {* U2 F$ q5 gunderstood the pain.
! l2 c6 R9 k7 N6 i( X: J"I know what those families go through," he said.: Y# [8 [4 i) x7 Z' O
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's' W8 @, u/ R2 Z' U- W
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems." U) y; P3 }5 Y2 S
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
' d! @1 i; j: fHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
$ B4 J1 ^0 s' k/ n. L0 \in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
3 K: z$ ]# D- P' a' L8 XLentz replied: "Not totally."
1 O4 E. l7 f5 H6 I R5 t6 M, t- AStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were7 }# ]6 J- G6 c5 Z5 w
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said" @ d% T$ b% h& \, s( }4 P! M
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas9 h5 M4 d* n, f$ H- i( P L
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its H3 `; d; C T
vehicles already on the road.
5 Z. b* E0 Y2 ?Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify/ j5 A4 t) q7 D: @
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full0 d; Q* l' X% w9 N. i
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and# U& d/ ~( z$ f, w% I% n, ~
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were6 ~6 u' s7 g" g, P
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
" y# _* K. a. U9 E8 X" X, y"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
( H0 ?/ n9 t, S7 b9 Y7 ^tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony7 e& P+ b1 R0 s9 d& k4 N( K' e9 D- V
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
, U) i. C# ~3 z$ sCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal+ J" y9 y$ }4 b6 L% s1 i N2 R
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to+ r3 q, p: s" Y; M; t& T8 H
restore the trust of our customers."& A; N% m7 G5 c) l3 O. _& V2 k' A
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
) k1 R; n& ]3 OSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
9 z! e" ]9 Z+ O; r# wzoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
# [1 q- @: v* u, u$ l' kshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and, b$ G" Y# v l
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough- Z+ a4 s. }. @5 d
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
6 F8 v3 K1 D+ H- E) q3 `3 ^' a% sturn off the engine.
# E, G4 C8 a, ~7 k2 CFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of/ J4 t( D; z/ \( _- Y% B: P; ^ E
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."4 t: U5 \# _$ K) f4 G: ?$ b- U
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she Q, _3 ~+ ?; D8 A2 p1 h8 M
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond! S- ~3 @& u9 A% I! Y1 l; a0 s
to her complaints.
7 m/ l- L0 Y- ^ M7 Q( JIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
+ E* N+ i7 z) y7 ^! g/ B2 D5 \returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
, K% H- T+ e3 p0 j- rmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.4 _6 b- i& R8 ^( _: K
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
7 s7 @* z1 E5 _! A* a0 m1 Tthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited4 O D) O) S0 s8 Y
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
1 @8 j# Q' }4 `# aoff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."7 Y+ j" W# E+ A( k! X4 `
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in, Q+ a9 d7 U W. Z2 A; x/ ?. s( r- J7 u- S
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were* i: w( W* I e( m2 |
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
5 [$ w7 T" t; B9 C& T. Uwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer* d+ g7 z, c, I1 E4 V) L
every question.") n- C% {# s+ H7 q
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether' g. a5 ]6 ?5 J
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The. q2 _6 v1 A4 ^- M$ O
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But0 n* d9 N o7 r) ]* g/ N
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small7 \7 a7 C& r! G: w( J, d. f1 B
number of vehicles* r: K0 K7 G2 D2 i( X
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more R |6 }) w/ k% k N" a% y
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
. H1 _2 k) ]/ S: {0 w/ tmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one: \' W: w% |4 R0 i: e: J K. x% N
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.0 c- C* s& F+ u5 h# H' b
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
1 R4 _: |% A: L6 \: Q8 uwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no# z$ g4 Q B' ~: H. q6 s' g
trace at all.
4 E' g- E- l, Q! dHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
" H% L5 E6 L; g9 r2 o0 Pdatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
. v8 E, _! B8 l& h# Tacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the$ ]" g( `! L) G6 O( H' n
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
% q: h& e; W0 Y4 {" Q: j& NRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
/ N0 j9 [" o# I2 K+ k, \2 w1 ssaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
" C3 m# x/ X& k0 d8 hother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the, G# O, u' N% o0 c7 ^8 q
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
" E& |4 y. a- {- r0 ~cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only! g7 p2 I) B; X
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
$ e/ T! x# {# s6 n0 Cby Toyota's lawyers."
% Q& d: n2 y z$ O0 q# C+ i, QLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of7 ~) \0 }8 [! V9 o W4 }6 i0 K
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
6 r8 l2 m* T N$ Q9 ecustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
5 L p, k/ B* C( v( Psaid.
6 Q. A! k9 J' H7 y"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with0 r& W7 @ b: b6 G
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
8 i; P2 u# L1 w# s- y: X/ ~& @good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
; @% h; C/ H$ y! Dofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
$ {6 g# g, e8 ~. e$ B) o$ L2 ySeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
" a5 n- Q: n6 ?0 ?9 S% fmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread6 Q2 x9 [0 p' y3 }
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the* T$ F( c5 u9 ]9 N
automaker, at least in part because of the government's A# w6 e( A+ W- k
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and8 t- n1 \* o) }* S% H2 A3 z
Chrysler.
; ]( W4 ]- v# K5 ^' d& j"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax8 c" E6 g0 F6 E. {4 k) x
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a2 y# w* t8 S$ m/ A; e
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
5 |. u: F# ~9 l2 u! W0 e. e# Eserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete h$ B9 L2 s5 [2 w5 x N( g+ @2 y+ B
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
, @( ^& t S* B5 `9 p, F. [- Z3 z& {tough."
- {9 Z% [3 w) t' k3 ^ e" m( K, {# O---
0 s5 d- @) ?0 M4 l, x) e; c4 RAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
+ U# E, y- b# gRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to* F4 S4 k2 Z2 \+ Q% ]0 K( p- F1 d
this story.
3 Q5 ?# g1 F$ f* F) {1 B j" t; E# G
-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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