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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
$ p6 x4 E& I+ x, N& m6 G, SBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS1 T7 ~& z. u! p! r3 c
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
. i( K, I g P6 ]. V) M: Loperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that( c7 L9 w& Y( c' X$ }# I
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"( `" k; ]1 V- _' D# t2 z% H
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
4 s5 s' b- |# J8 H5 `"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
5 g1 U$ b9 d9 W' U/ Q( Acauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
$ A$ R& n$ Y) m3 K; BHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected1 S2 K" [ |3 i
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and2 z) S9 Q! A' V8 m( R5 {4 [
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor8 p" [1 H/ o: U; ?) S! e* B$ r
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.
/ }' X1 n4 R2 k0 h) KHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
* B m8 o# v# K+ U( `: Aand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
! F7 b: e6 G$ E& x. Q' p2 ^6 o: acriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
4 G& W. b3 f+ Y( a9 ^5 Nfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could% t$ @% I+ ^6 u$ Y/ ]
not stop her runaway Lexus.
: B9 o" l2 Z1 n$ v9 t* f"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,# Q5 [6 B4 c5 H- d. s) ^. T
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second- t4 G7 X' U/ L. b
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.$ B) v5 O/ h& c+ c
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues6 f2 M7 B& l+ x& d: i8 ]" r: r4 k2 O
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
/ ~1 @3 B& \6 Y0 M# j5 q2 D"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has" s1 q% j+ f! u' k( B- }% c# v' j4 Y0 ?
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
4 t# N6 I$ P3 K- {! Y( |through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's2 F, V- V0 ~5 d
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
9 e# ]6 P; e x% H: @Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
) k5 w5 k2 K# q- S1 M5 W5 u# velectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of+ A8 \) ~4 j/ x2 y$ k- o+ w9 N& ~. e
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
- c% N9 D* u6 ^/ @; [, Bmalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
6 h' f0 q7 K+ _ J3 Csaid.9 w3 M; u; J& z/ z
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
6 U( ^$ p+ R5 Dhappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
) [9 z( n* `, R5 M1 Eabout driving our products," Lentz said.; @: |. _$ g+ Y4 p: f) Q
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's; r0 p" N2 q- U8 k: \' f0 {
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has8 o( R; @, j l9 m; U8 i
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 62 b* O9 S) _( ]7 l9 x% O8 t
million in the United States -- since last fall because of
7 W$ @( ?7 ^6 Q% P9 P3 Lunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
u' C$ d) N% f# F2 j5 s) cissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering) Z& q& u- L( b4 k& O# t$ o5 k
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
! z: q% L# A7 a" V( }their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow# B& ]9 l3 b7 e+ J9 j% x' ?% V6 ?
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
/ C/ r3 a/ J3 C+ T0 a ?) f6 n. jreceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration. Y& n$ l! U% C$ h- H
of Toyota vehicles since 2000. ?$ n" K8 ^3 s! @
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own; v; T" J2 i- A. P- T6 X+ l* G: q+ @
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he7 w& L9 X8 t2 B3 K( p
understood the pain.
6 d7 q# T3 z. O J; A"I know what those families go through," he said.4 J |2 Y+ U: q2 @% H: S t$ `
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's+ i( |+ X' E3 N- M7 ]
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.; Q- d: _. {8 r+ @
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
# [; ^$ i% y4 }& O5 ZHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put, A- ?) e# o1 |5 G; l
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
4 x, S7 E- W2 Z, s) h& qLentz replied: "Not totally.": [( X6 m; J7 X" o% b
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
( q7 o* L: Y& o- t0 ?% K"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said( O I& v; h7 h" p! g b5 H
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
0 t& j( v3 \3 L5 Epedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
/ E' `, l6 g: c Rvehicles already on the road.
0 L- w. k. X5 l8 r2 NMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
5 D; q7 v0 ?- m2 e1 hbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
: i$ o4 N7 J/ uresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and3 v8 h# r* ^) W6 K& f# Z% x7 A' v: k
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
) w" J* e3 b8 U% F Ikilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems. z# x% @/ K* [7 b& b7 |
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a: B, S0 x. T- V, Y$ O& c& I
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
5 `( N4 G( M" |( \8 ]. Kfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
+ Y4 _) g% W* @/ Y! b/ HCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
+ p; R4 g. s1 G% s/ L3 acommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
% _, f7 m) W7 X5 Hrestore the trust of our customers."
8 a0 h; y9 x1 xLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from. k3 W3 d2 ?, w" p5 o& q# s
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
/ T, G+ F% C" o! Q5 [1 C Lzoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
0 U" z0 a n: T* M" D* Ashifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and* x0 D7 a) b2 h- P# }8 s5 T
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
" T* y# X# w" Q& athat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and. ^1 Y% ^) A! H0 a4 a* G- j4 |
turn off the engine.
$ A* |9 h- V) h2 O7 LFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
7 c0 e+ F1 o0 V8 x5 F" lOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."7 c# p6 A. n% P! l& V
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she& w! P1 `1 b7 M+ @' @4 I
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond8 m; N9 |% G* m) M) N. W# C; l
to her complaints.. Y/ E7 C" f# R- {6 _
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers. z7 M& `- E+ B+ H
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
! a; R n& t5 ^* m$ I% Jmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
# R- T; @ }4 N"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric0 l7 P( w9 B% x% R5 R' g5 B
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited7 j/ X* k7 U. ]# ]* w
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut" j7 M; ~0 [& D r7 s" h; s
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
; N( `: q2 L: c; z! x2 P* STransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
, B5 J, j/ c5 \4 p" yprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
7 B4 ] O9 I; K" o3 y* ]being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls( G( m' I. _0 R/ N! g0 K! I! l1 Q) u
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer, N2 F, g" p9 V7 @
every question.": ]6 G0 E' v, N1 {
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether+ ^7 M7 Y, D/ N) N, c
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The+ m' j6 Y% \" @" l1 b1 G }
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But0 T" B/ f$ O& \! a$ e
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
0 o. o* ^& T7 k- c" }number of vehicles
" ? g/ ^5 Q9 rTracking down an electrical problem can be far more
* Q* U- A; d( [) ~8 @) tdifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
! k# ^" `0 v% m: m; D Omechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one" e0 R5 w& E8 F9 `
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
6 r6 j% A( }( j: `& R2 z' j5 KMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage, _# {: c" I% S |0 Q8 H1 R( N" w8 e% ^
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
4 _ ]- p+ Q" P* k5 J$ ?9 ^trace at all.' I" b2 M+ |( r/ b1 o
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
$ @7 D. D4 L8 _5 S* edatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden' w- n8 G+ T5 O3 X7 l2 p/ b
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
& ]. r, v3 b; i+ I1 Vrecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.* K7 @) U A$ V5 p& i9 j
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
; `' u( j6 q. N2 L; Psaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
% m9 X! _; ~6 f: O5 }; \other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the E6 D* U; z- l0 @
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible& `4 \# @( f9 o6 f+ K% Q
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only) s# \; Z/ h) X9 h, `4 a6 \3 c+ P
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
8 {5 D& V% v8 b* e! pby Toyota's lawyers."/ `0 k1 c- Y* I$ P
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
7 B6 n/ g- O: m6 E* C- Z+ \7 R: D5 Cproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our- g& {8 x" c4 ] D) t
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he3 M1 m$ m- p7 u( P# r+ _- }, g- H
said.
, ]( W6 ]+ i/ P2 }7 O0 S0 ~"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with8 `2 o3 B* {7 U7 `
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
) P2 r# ?' t1 R# a7 u7 p1 E5 E- X1 z. \3 agood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating; c5 `- E8 @5 {0 I
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
' N. ?: R* _$ m% V, g6 \3 GSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
0 a( D4 {( Z' ]" `3 umembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
9 P* g2 ^7 m$ K3 U% j8 s1 ?+ Krancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the. A1 f8 J$ w- d- @1 L6 z* Q; ~
automaker, at least in part because of the government's
; I, ^9 I' |: dinvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and6 U1 @. ^- {% c
Chrysler.
* R+ J) N9 ^: b @7 k"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
- ^8 j P9 U+ x$ F$ tdollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
7 d, D( S5 b& B7 L) A8 l, IHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
# H+ n0 c6 S: z( C2 j0 Q+ mserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
. t+ }. d9 c& Q4 q. @' q1 Mwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty5 ^( ^5 ^2 `4 E+ E- Q( O
tough."! @. N% b& n7 M8 i$ x; I4 K5 }% I
---; f6 b( H4 M+ }: s" r
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom$ g& t& R9 D' D- n; N
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to: E, L# R5 X! _) l; _4 H+ f
this story.4 n$ |# ^! o8 m# b
( }4 R. m9 T6 |$ ?) K. F- O5 t
-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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