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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
8 b# n1 W1 d1 W, o1 ~ p# K: ZBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS' [ a! Y* _5 j. \" ?5 t: @
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S." Z) t: T9 u4 B; A1 j7 D
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
! t- t9 d3 Y, X0 \the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"% g% B" L' v6 u2 c
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
& M+ e! j. U7 Q# M0 q) U"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential9 N4 W8 I) z8 E3 g
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.% z+ ?$ O- O. ~: l7 B% X) T/ |
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
: x# X( C e/ j5 R, x, u% Pacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
, F- Z+ G5 t: {; y! Ntrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor* G8 I1 |& y @# ~! x
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.' O4 \* z$ g7 F \5 }0 A
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
' @; T4 r+ ~! }, [2 oand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp4 j2 P9 O" @9 C! R' f: U. W
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
. @# c1 H1 t7 ` U0 Qfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could0 p# U- ?. k# y& u- G' O
not stop her runaway Lexus.& K, n, E! |9 g( {
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,6 Q- d8 b4 \: C5 i
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
( Z+ K# R* f, e4 x"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
; K- A6 x0 T) rTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues& }/ O. B6 n6 V1 v8 F. p) T
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said0 U- n) ]' m4 ]
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
" H! E! [; B8 r% l2 R9 ddone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
( O0 D8 P, e1 G3 ?8 ?- ^through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
* E* u& n3 [1 U+ i% ^( F6 Dinvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
& t+ D) {9 n6 w! oLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an. i" y; R) X7 ^
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of' P$ g p$ C. X9 f, L
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
* ~/ Z% Q0 v! W! R# G; vmalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
/ f- P9 k: B: y' L2 h8 Bsaid.& m* h- g. \2 \& g
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what. R9 v- L6 j$ }
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe& i9 |8 }" Y0 |( t f
about driving our products," Lentz said.7 V: d/ N7 D! O7 T
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
* [& }3 F- W( t5 [7 r# Hproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has. c# y1 R$ u6 b9 F2 p8 Z* u" b
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
7 N1 q2 A# G0 V0 X3 l& amillion in the United States -- since last fall because of; N m, s0 f& H2 J7 H7 K# \
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
) C, w) M/ o# `" qissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
; G# }5 P4 N) K" pconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of6 n" K; r3 b, z* I6 c. m& n
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
% L" V1 I9 g+ M7 Xdown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
, n C, \" G% r- e& `2 l2 L) lreceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
1 h. b2 d2 u3 d" ?# ?5 M1 V! B3 [of Toyota vehicles since 2000.
" A9 k; a, R) J7 D, Z8 ~) LLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own4 W. Y$ J- W+ [) t$ }3 \
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
/ S$ b/ ^# L4 Q7 p* o* z( xunderstood the pain.
t+ J; a; e8 F% ~" i"I know what those families go through," he said.* L0 M7 x; V" f" p. }1 O
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's; x) f4 E9 E/ J: U! g
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.0 q! p. T0 \5 D+ ~; p
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman5 _6 Z& @8 M+ h: _3 a
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put3 S ], _4 V# r2 U8 T$ z
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,9 H. ^; U9 K [) X0 |
Lentz replied: "Not totally."! i/ @9 ]# s* P3 K) G
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were; ^) D& }3 c1 i* ]8 a5 a- p% ^; B
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
2 Z, ]/ P* c) V! ]2 HToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
+ s* h' u8 k1 d; M, m* j! vpedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
$ m# \' B$ R2 h+ wvehicles already on the road.' M4 e6 O4 K* @- F* w
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
9 z$ L- R$ Q, q1 M7 d0 [+ {before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
8 p$ A* h$ S0 N: c, eresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
0 m5 `7 M5 M4 D4 g) \offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were: Y" w& c, [& ` H& o/ i2 c* ^+ U
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.1 b: K; z* K+ Y( d
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
* A. a. D" D( j, w/ [' |tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
& @* v% g% o. D5 ~* f2 Z3 @for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
& l- X( M0 [, ZCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
0 x2 a2 d8 N7 V8 Pcommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to- D' F9 O- ~# I' w
restore the trust of our customers."% p# y: I6 F/ K$ m3 T+ u
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
* w* p* R' p2 u: FSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
# d$ G% y* n6 [* Fzoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --% |- {' Q) B$ _/ n) \: {# \; M% _, ?, f6 |
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
2 a; Y/ e( I0 r9 Yhitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough! n2 e6 _+ V7 k+ m. p7 T& @
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and1 L2 X) L1 P# ?! v
turn off the engine.
6 t* H$ W5 j6 F' TFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of+ C) d5 s6 \# I4 @3 E
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
% U- }+ o; H( A, t: j"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she- }3 ? S. Z$ W0 R8 i
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
. C# H9 v1 r8 jto her complaints.0 Z7 P+ R9 d0 t/ D8 d
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
3 N, G, D$ K- b3 c8 U3 o$ Nreturned again and again to the question of whether electronic
; g2 V* h5 D# G, v" mmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
+ R( g, {% e R; a* i3 d/ h6 T" R"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric' _0 E1 Q! z& w0 V
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
3 i3 k0 {$ l5 J6 {1 V1 I8 b8 |"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut. B# t- P& N; A, O t$ a
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
$ E0 q# e# l8 _Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in t$ y# I. j' ^, X
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
0 L, A( [, E2 lbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls z( x z! E8 f; I% b0 Y3 J, a
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
6 E# w! C2 D I" t7 S& y( N; Aevery question."5 Q( K8 I2 Q" B( v5 i' p1 G9 ~
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
- R! {+ f! U4 O2 Q% V7 E% Gelectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The2 I1 ]$ \) G: k- F
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But- m: @" o' R9 O* k9 h
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
* v& i; g6 o/ k0 knumber of vehicles& e j0 l7 ~0 h3 s* T
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more9 Q" `7 S: G# A* z
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
" _0 b% H: \9 R9 E0 @mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
& w+ f% l: b- @' M, bsource, and they can come from inside or outside the car." X# g- q" Y% P
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,- I4 E# q% V; [# |; U3 d* k
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
+ E c+ s% O' S/ Rtrace at all.
8 C8 d- _5 N8 ~! [' Y) ^' b$ ^House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call: |% N& J0 ~/ u% {/ J; u7 ~% \5 N
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
! {) [) F6 ?- [, ^+ a. a! [acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
! r: G6 a) d- nrecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.& T! M7 f8 h7 u' X: F" M+ k
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
% }" d/ {# u6 s, O: isaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
7 S6 R, G D1 L8 e+ E$ s! Dother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
/ u$ f9 G& R) o, P- H$ f1 J- relectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible) @7 z/ x$ E& U' c
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
) b( {) V5 q' S( ]0 q# g# z. ssuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
5 y5 T0 J$ i9 ]by Toyota's lawyers."
. w+ D0 @) O, a/ O0 x& v @' ]Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
* H7 b. }* A. G% u( n+ q" ?problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our) q$ U t) B, o- P, a/ K; V& e
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
1 R! P0 A: Q9 g; K8 F+ t8 ?6 m! Asaid.
+ e3 }4 R5 p0 i"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with* i, ?+ G; I; V; r$ c( V/ z- B
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our+ U6 P# |: n7 ?
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating3 @. y. x/ Z/ j5 q* z$ m2 }$ \* ^
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
% @2 a8 n- ^: W& t: {" _. o) {Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying+ z* U2 Z7 F) t, S3 [1 m
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
% Y w$ p7 n- X& X" trancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the( m8 f* ?, w' F; S
automaker, at least in part because of the government's
" [3 R0 k3 |! Y$ r) W6 N* dinvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and% k @; s" i/ O- I: F
Chrysler.. _+ f! M# z2 Z& g9 @ D2 _. U
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
' a0 {& [+ M2 p% J' Wdollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a( P( q, l/ y3 a# Q0 Y( x* D0 L" y4 ]
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
: s8 d! c. k: m/ P5 h/ q5 Xserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete1 x* Y+ ]8 E7 O8 ^6 v: K
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
. g# J9 V+ o6 L: c* itough."; N; q9 u5 X0 w5 `3 q* F, }
---
% U: d6 `/ ~# ]7 f* s" T7 b, XAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom+ Q! i o3 L# D3 Y
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
1 a$ S8 G4 o) Z( ^7 A% e) a+ ethis story.
& `3 m f% j% ]0 Z* R! A2 g4 U8 Y( Z8 F$ y. `
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