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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 `" N& l7 C! v8 ]! V z
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
6 w* |& J+ C- V% ]& S) LWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.& K7 x, d1 O8 U# \' M! v0 ~5 F
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
! r4 |9 Z ^% }- Fthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally". N( L# y/ d* B% j- w$ X; e1 u
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.1 ]( D4 v" e; ^$ V( \3 M8 A% _
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential9 z; e w q6 ?6 f8 S
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel., d) r4 r) O6 _; h% A
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
! d9 T8 k+ d. b2 aacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
: u5 q8 l# {. O4 Y9 u, o Ctrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
1 @5 k( |: Y7 M3 emats and sticking accelerator pedals.9 c) P b+ u% m5 S, ~' J9 e' L: O
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
; t3 \& K9 N0 i9 w/ p ?; iand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
6 z9 D, ?0 m' P, u- {2 fcriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be- y4 c# ?! t6 f: ]1 ~. f" ?
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could- _0 M( k g) o& H4 t: Y
not stop her runaway Lexus.
) L& k/ t D( o5 b2 s5 {"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
1 D F* P9 W' s s1 ?Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second3 n( n7 J2 O" z, U" X" J# I
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
1 m, Y! I* _$ M8 u- T; fTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues [: {# Q% o# v8 S6 u
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said/ t! ^9 g9 N9 B+ P8 a" w9 c5 D0 }
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has8 `" C4 U+ g$ S" `; I P) K' {- k
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
* C+ t8 h5 X9 g1 i0 pthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's1 C. h6 P2 Y; D a
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
7 m, N" ^" f) T: F- y) Z2 }: TLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an( O( G5 }+ V- O8 @, `
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
* u- u9 }+ h1 K- }the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
/ r/ f4 J9 J: r; i9 Nmalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
+ V& m! |( Q; P6 ]* J4 usaid.5 [4 Y& z' J3 D z W1 B
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what1 o/ D! [ b6 L5 `1 U
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe+ v. p h3 u2 i. ?, }, H
about driving our products," Lentz said.
4 }6 R! m/ B. b2 P/ P iThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's. p# \! y! f5 F$ y$ ~
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has c1 m; S l6 P
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6$ \ F" z6 |# d9 n
million in the United States -- since last fall because of
: Z F9 B o5 _* j" ]unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
4 Y9 L! ^3 k* B5 c' fissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering* W& S! G! |) E7 [
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of, k$ O0 o+ s3 {( M3 e1 p. H
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
; O2 R1 i+ I3 X- Ydown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
/ X! f. l; |* G, u$ hreceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration2 G8 M0 y$ ]6 y" }) _7 X
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.
# A) k* y% n! Z; E( Q% jLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own$ x& r Q8 y) W' y: Z$ Q
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
& c2 m1 T. z3 N% uunderstood the pain.6 b" Y! G) B: i, h3 p3 Q2 A
"I know what those families go through," he said.( G3 J1 g% u: l/ f$ e8 q" z
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
7 D: |4 [5 V( ]4 x$ i$ ^" D, _fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
+ K, X Y- [, hBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman" M7 M% _2 _1 E! W5 _. N3 s
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put" v: r& W& t |* d& c8 S
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,1 s2 h5 b; h1 ?7 G1 Z
Lentz replied: "Not totally."" h" Q$ v1 G; z0 \/ P
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
* b H+ }4 T# }9 @, m"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said/ C% f- i2 e( V6 Q. c
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas/ A$ K" ]$ N$ o; W; [5 M
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its9 B5 B6 J, ?# S: E; p0 x
vehicles already on the road.
$ F" O) E+ E/ S8 }; _& hMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify' ^2 V4 f2 y0 ?4 ~( A
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
! i- F0 d/ b0 Bresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and% P- a: n* k8 {3 h. a; P
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were% a+ h2 c7 Q* R% D1 R( t. m4 b
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems./ Z, S+ H$ |$ B- z
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
; Z8 a. z% k$ X3 R7 ptragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
% \- g* d0 E& H/ ~9 z" i$ kfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight1 i' @9 l" }. b" H2 O
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal t' c9 s1 {+ t6 T$ x; e
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
: b* b, ~. J# _6 A1 {. brestore the trust of our customers."
3 g4 v. y: N5 U7 q* N9 R$ h/ M3 jLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
, L# i: O9 x s+ G- tSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
$ q7 X- \/ s L: v; ]zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
" E0 v7 S: X9 T1 ~" wshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and7 I& }0 r7 P7 s) B
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough, @ F9 l" N8 l8 t& x6 K/ x% q
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
6 N' c& {' v# J# d* ~turn off the engine.* @5 V# L8 s- K$ M
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of' R+ o4 l4 e1 d4 a6 M5 L
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."- Z7 P. \* w) F/ J
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she( v" }- g+ K* ]; S, L ^- [& x
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
) F4 W# m7 x2 ?+ ]" _( ito her complaints., h( s) S% |* X8 `" Z6 M( {
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers0 B/ }4 f" Q( W+ L* H
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
* @; z" C. x+ |# Amalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.4 a# I' c0 H% D( N/ ~2 H
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
0 a7 _2 ?& |8 u) I* v& n7 uthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited6 V- x/ H8 A; u
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut/ y% U% P3 E5 q( b/ n
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
1 w+ [1 [4 |, w7 p3 mTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
1 ]9 J: g9 d3 ]! q! W- C# e: b8 vprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
6 U2 b; C) C+ ? x$ g* Abeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls: v" x+ s2 K: o- \8 K' o- I1 u3 z' m
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer2 h0 ~5 q. e" c1 F
every question."% T6 ?% m* _- x6 @( [) o4 t: z0 X
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
$ w+ {$ I% m4 D( T( belectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The1 u8 ]; G- M1 I( q$ Q& F
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But9 @) S; G2 F+ H x) b4 D- r
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small- ]7 f' P' D" f: Z8 N2 Y
number of vehicles
" {- K0 }5 d* V! ITracking down an electrical problem can be far more2 m( R. B5 c O/ c
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
- Y9 u) i8 P9 a2 d) }mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one, m1 P2 t& E1 N/ T. D' y, w4 x+ l8 i" v
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
: o( J* s: d: H, J% v0 t3 YMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,7 f5 |, R6 d5 I5 m+ |
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
" D5 l* o+ B- J7 f0 G" ]; ~trace at all.
, b4 O7 n) o8 f- a7 {# W" ^House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
$ ~9 @0 ]! g6 t- F2 H( C% ^database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
/ E2 F- G, ]; j- f8 u; k1 Pacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the t5 ]6 _7 Z' u2 l0 D4 C" }
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals., H3 n4 P, `& W
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,2 X) D. G3 s/ q* u6 G; ^/ x
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
s# Z5 d& N2 P1 H; vother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
5 c: W/ y# d2 Q3 e* melectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
/ @8 H+ p9 w# J8 c2 i( Fcause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
. V) J* `$ G; M- D6 f7 g2 [such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained( S/ ~/ n" C9 s
by Toyota's lawyers."
9 q" m7 _* D9 Q' a! ~0 Z" f; iLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
6 F# ]: f, i$ R4 P2 M4 M6 E& B. \problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
# Y8 z* u) b3 x+ c/ }customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
9 m% P" ^6 c6 Fsaid.
m7 Z! l7 J/ t"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
# @7 z C% n) L# C6 Wa rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our; `+ K- u. Z! V- X, _
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
0 M3 r3 w2 P: B$ p6 ~officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
* G. D; |5 X9 o5 W$ XSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying( G9 p6 u" ?0 K
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread0 y" L3 F! X! I( ]: Y9 ]8 t5 J
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the6 e( b0 @# I5 `
automaker, at least in part because of the government's
% s* g* Y" l, G+ ~* _9 uinvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
$ Y# a& o* ? ^Chrysler.
& {$ m9 z- A. D% i" o4 P! V"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax! P2 U1 O( J# j& H- p% ~ g
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a+ q# ?3 `! C: g" g1 Z- u: [7 t6 E
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
- k7 h' k, y; d! d/ k+ X" t' I. n1 sserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete* g+ t& m v6 O! S, E
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty- b7 S7 [$ ~$ {$ A- e' M# l
tough."( k- q& n+ F/ Y- P
---
0 v z3 o/ R1 r# kAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom! A4 o' i7 J& |; Q: f9 c
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to) v# e$ J5 J. Y$ y2 p7 t
this story.
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