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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 k* u( j$ S1 F0 }& q, SBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
* C! o" A+ @& X5 |. G( ~Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.. K3 x9 x k |% W
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that: r1 ~5 W( J0 _5 K9 _
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"8 ^, ?8 H/ ^+ n6 p9 J, I' Q) i
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.! k* V0 G7 r/ k, C; N* j& L, V
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential& f* v1 S4 R' ~, ? Q& T
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
7 E5 r+ j# ]( J' GHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected: O# }( ?% @# e6 I: y
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
( D) W9 W4 e1 l* U* m; utrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
1 h0 T/ N1 J& q& M3 [) pmats and sticking accelerator pedals.
0 K3 c" w& R8 P9 o4 EHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
( q6 m4 @) I1 S6 c9 ^; Z9 i4 iand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp/ H L7 X6 Q/ k/ ~
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
/ |! m/ h; p9 h" X5 {0 @ gfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could. [. G1 n# j; [' q
not stop her runaway Lexus.
! \/ Z7 X/ f( R- ~' ?$ Y"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,7 s' M% w3 I( h& \$ [" A. N
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
1 T0 l9 Z; H7 `9 ?) M"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.( k3 E( p: Q4 y
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues$ _0 X& i1 G) g, x" R% ]
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
! a7 C$ Q% }: u k3 M6 y: V6 f"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has9 ?$ l9 a( D& a8 u& c8 ]- V
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway; a- p9 V5 ~4 U# B, U/ U9 `* u
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
4 _$ R9 ~, k$ Q' y1 z2 Kinvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
5 k, q) d2 Z' W. U4 A9 SLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an' i8 {' p- p2 ]+ |6 v+ J+ S
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of- t! I5 O! o* u4 s' k
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a3 e; l# g2 }. {* s' b
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
2 \$ ^( R& u" i: W, F4 F1 {said.
6 D9 X8 b p! }+ z5 u, r+ CAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
: W2 ^( Q: v, U; @% Ehappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe# G b" b$ G" A( v
about driving our products," Lentz said.. M6 E0 ]; I K' J, f
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's' U& Q. O( @; i# X+ v
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
4 Y$ N& ]- ?! F' D3 erecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6$ |: f+ H' p' m& ]* V
million in the United States -- since last fall because of
, O, T8 w3 w) Munintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
: Y; S5 @! l9 q/ t9 s% v1 W% A4 Rissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering3 X: W' m1 r1 S+ _' {
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
+ n' O) K8 A. T/ Jtheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
, S) m7 `0 f- h8 P# O0 hdown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
$ S9 ^- Z: {, Q4 r, s$ ^0 O: Creceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration$ _2 t p. S4 \4 Z( {. Z
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.0 z5 o" ?+ \, C7 o& G* g8 A5 E
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own9 h+ j1 D6 H; s2 D7 J
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he3 d8 x# B) e! F8 q. F+ f
understood the pain.
" b! [4 x+ ~, F8 R"I know what those families go through," he said.6 j$ G8 a0 |6 r0 o( l' E
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's3 ~4 V8 O& I* s2 k/ j
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
, G: T- K R* L& c3 jBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
# Y% Q5 Y! J+ o& p) C3 sHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put7 ]; Z, s1 }( v- k) V2 X/ ~
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
/ a4 G( y; h% S3 TLentz replied: "Not totally."! R7 X9 c" i. v( @" ?6 y
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were) ?$ S5 E4 _9 f
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said# `$ P4 G. ?, |
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
# |& ]7 v5 {1 hpedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its" ~% O. A I: S
vehicles already on the road.
* m3 u! s0 ]& M: {* ]0 t" B3 jMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
. Z4 s+ ~7 ]) X$ j4 O* ybefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
: s9 E- F/ |! O! G* \responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and) Z% I3 `0 _" y
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were& Y! A$ v$ a% A9 L1 N$ J
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
/ u6 j' T$ e) n. C3 b9 D; r- e2 o0 G"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
! Q1 V( _1 ~- G. v) Jtragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
- N; d8 T$ b3 H6 X* u8 ?# Yfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight4 x' ]5 q$ N$ v4 A4 k: M& A% C
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
- \# O3 C6 v) pcommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to4 n; \7 s- A( I
restore the trust of our customers."
" y' Z+ ^" V3 d3 _5 U$ z- @7 ILawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
6 v9 w0 M- ?. S5 Z7 C. X0 bSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
9 S! Q% e2 ^/ P/ I- wzoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --% n! C! y# h" r0 W
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and& q0 X+ R3 w% x& C2 |* V- x
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
7 }1 k9 C; s. Zthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
, a# x) O/ p3 J! P5 aturn off the engine.6 M$ x) o# l5 S) u# V
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of# S; i1 m8 j% }: H! m! F8 S
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
+ C* i$ C( S; ~3 r"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she' l' v% P: Y5 h, e) t! m
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
r8 H2 ^! }/ E7 B9 f0 i# ]to her complaints.
* v* O! v% F j1 w1 X9 y* HIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers: ?0 m# Z7 j; s6 d
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic0 m J5 R* _+ p" ^
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.5 N* U3 k8 C; z& K; q
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric- n$ x! Q3 I9 b
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
- ?+ l& z8 L) N. e"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
! X5 C0 A. I. G# H; b/ p' ooff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
1 A+ e. [' f8 A7 M6 I) m1 K Y* k) @Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
: k3 Y+ e/ e7 K+ U: i$ h- b" Uprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
- m* {! w% K, }8 H1 m) ^" d# Y- dbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls, \ L/ A. C7 d4 M8 V% r
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
7 F4 T0 e0 n4 Q# N; G, `every question."
+ ?3 T. X) ?; W4 F' r! oToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
& f3 ~2 Z* I' t) h$ helectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The2 Y0 N4 S; @% u6 o( X
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
O$ C( u% U' w1 |8 Q" x0 {- Tcommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small' s9 ?& P0 H8 r4 H8 `4 Z4 T+ f! Q( U
number of vehicles
1 d# |6 Z+ c* n* m' ^/ [Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more
7 g/ J$ R( E+ O% x- X7 |difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
$ ~3 z7 {" Q7 b' Ymechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
5 j, ?# K$ k l9 s- k/ @source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.. M, z) y. J- P8 L
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
# r2 y' b1 \+ j7 ]where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
! V" t1 o9 Z# l' M" O9 @trace at all.
8 Z9 @2 E6 u ~5 [' F" w( q5 WHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call- Y9 j/ K3 N2 X. k
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden2 p/ S, F6 R6 |' h6 ^" w% f
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the: T3 V0 n& I; t; p
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
! N: s6 ^7 x9 j" y' nRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,$ V& x; D* O4 R$ |/ W6 [6 H5 ~ B
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and( y7 W" Y; ~5 u, N
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the1 C# B* n0 B- u2 g' h9 g C! c
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible* Y$ T0 Y7 w, C' I: ~3 V% \+ {
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only" H2 C& p0 P: Q- m8 N5 N! C
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
4 H* M7 ]5 U, O) m# l8 Dby Toyota's lawyers."% k2 k: O/ N5 @/ n8 ]* N% ^$ m/ H# i
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
! y: G) e& b3 D1 a# {4 C0 Rproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our0 K, o. H6 U% Y+ k3 n
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he) m- o: \2 P' T& l, }" u1 q
said.
: t) {5 X. I$ [2 `% Z/ c"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
9 O8 v6 q# `: {5 ma rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
/ Q: m; z; M# z: K8 ~: G( I" ?7 T5 Lgood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
! S: d, J& }+ X+ F4 Y" u9 \officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
, A3 s3 e+ D& wSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
( l6 H! P4 [4 I" D3 ], a$ _2 x3 Hmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread3 e) s/ }" L4 c0 D* c: A
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the' h; v' v _) N# A$ m" a
automaker, at least in part because of the government's" K( D: c ]! \
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and0 [0 l5 ^, x9 l; V2 ^9 Q" a7 d4 M
Chrysler.
: u$ m0 b; X) C, x# b! \"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
' H* l9 {/ ]/ u4 H- bdollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
# s3 y% i8 U5 |( H# V. xHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also; H: C4 u+ v$ R& a2 k E
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
6 G% f+ g. d) nwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
- u& g0 Y* I- I" f( Gtough."
3 g6 r+ [' D5 r% O4 S---
$ B6 j, |) i+ xAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom, {% c% W* `% }( q7 O1 Y
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
& K- ?% c {/ S0 v+ Z o( }this story.
9 c- S z9 u( G/ C% b) M4 I `, a' Y2 ~
-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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