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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
- ?3 l8 p1 ~+ y1 }By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
6 i0 ]; n+ K% B, |) FWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
( A. m" _5 f4 Doperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
2 B% o$ _0 [6 [! f1 pthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
0 {: P( _( l$ K2 g8 asolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.3 r7 k3 U; ~$ R2 O
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
+ o! }' v7 _& J! H- M5 R$ P6 ccauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.) ]6 t4 O& Z7 [$ G+ e" a
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected. u7 P* K, D8 V) K! P
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
; F" d/ l ^! Ttrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
k2 D3 F. _; X5 _2 x* emats and sticking accelerator pedals., _* n2 @) H! ?
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal$ V+ x3 N. e% B- ^, _1 J/ B ^
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
1 k% n: L% Q7 R) r# ocriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
/ y2 o2 e D7 Ffurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
/ E8 i" ?, E9 n: s" n: wnot stop her runaway Lexus.) \2 l6 M7 f' d# H) e% P$ U
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
* u; D; c6 A" g1 S/ T# RTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second8 {! ?( e' C v& g& d' M
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
. N0 g. R& o1 l7 x9 UTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues7 Z; {' w) k3 ^; q
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
/ P. f: M; |4 @) K7 k# D$ X"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
6 |' C/ b8 C8 g, _/ J) M2 e1 q& `' Gdone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
l" H) Q+ B$ s+ mthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's5 v/ _) J8 X m
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."+ U0 m% w& [% k$ g6 L
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
% M1 i$ M! v* X: j8 M/ \. |, J }electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of0 T/ I; j8 K* t% H% m& T. D; J9 m
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
Y" d( D3 j6 a& J: mmalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he* l: a \1 q+ a) ^7 c0 r! A3 T
said./ L# H# i! \! H; U4 E
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
$ u7 L; W9 U" _$ g4 Ahappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe, R6 Y3 u* W% t: i$ d# Y+ u8 o+ E
about driving our products," Lentz said.. O3 t( u0 [0 q4 b: {9 n
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
& v) D+ a9 w- u! e0 c. R9 }" lproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has' \# z$ e& f* e
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
- e# _9 [. B. Nmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of
! i/ h" O7 x' r% `! ?4 yunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking; p$ S/ @5 [% {. x7 F/ ~) b
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering+ M* e5 S5 G& e, O4 n
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
9 r2 O8 Q2 A; \- ptheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
# a) N' T, A1 N! s4 Ldown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has) y8 L+ y" o( M0 c B
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration+ i$ i! N$ p0 H' F; M% o2 l
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.) c8 N2 m0 A/ D+ e4 L
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
- k8 H0 G" R' M& g. p2 L/ }6 fbrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
1 Y- l5 Y( P0 n& qunderstood the pain.
, T& C9 O1 z7 |1 N, u3 L% T7 f z"I know what those families go through," he said.* u! y; H$ k. l x
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's/ n! n1 t9 x( P0 B3 j
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
4 ]7 B0 B% O/ \0 ~But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
9 s" q. X7 c8 v$ N& |$ GHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
! k* o! Y6 J) P2 H. A7 F; oin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
+ x4 C2 Z3 S" p% U( P9 W; D CLentz replied: "Not totally."
6 t) O4 {- l; Z/ n$ R4 cStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were z, ]' U7 o: s( W. K
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said) A. b& ~' I4 b8 E* V1 I
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas5 p# y% c( D' N+ Q! l3 @; c
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
. ]# O8 W. d) w$ `9 Qvehicles already on the road.5 o- Q9 f! g! L/ X
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
$ N+ a6 d1 M! O) a2 Z% Xbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
# L$ n ^, D; _/ Dresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and+ W" B1 X5 t; E
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were! ^5 k( `9 o1 M1 x) e
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.3 E) Y, H. u& v9 r& q$ S. @0 l3 z
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a# w& K1 n( K# K9 f
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
" R6 U. x. M/ |0 S+ c& M) ofor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
j0 r# Q" I: l2 v" v4 S/ s yCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
% [7 X L: K. f' ]8 _. qcommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to! R7 A. m5 d: _0 i$ S* K
restore the trust of our customers."
- }9 _- p' L) f0 L: JLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from' q' D& A/ [# h& }! ^
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
+ Q9 a0 x' q6 [+ j azoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
5 u9 j3 O! ~; W. h wshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and& \' x; v& K0 P: q$ _' d# W
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
. n$ X9 L# q! U1 \$ a7 B9 [5 n9 Ythat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
c6 ~, v( T: Dturn off the engine.
* m5 X4 y& l' X' v& vFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of! W4 `; u: m: _3 J6 G+ _6 i
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."; m8 A _0 u8 g, c
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she2 |! l- f. t9 ]* E
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
1 T: u% n; O+ d; f8 }to her complaints.* Q' a) h! X! L0 s
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
) |/ i) C$ o# r, f6 B4 Yreturned again and again to the question of whether electronic
1 Z* Q( W1 a0 P9 |3 dmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
2 w5 w) {( q5 T"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
0 d' W$ L$ C' ]1 ?% [4 C3 D/ g5 ethrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited, w6 J# V, ?1 S/ l. X4 x
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut2 R" K; |( u! u" m
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."7 ?0 I! C( J, @( [2 d% w2 W
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
4 f" W7 ] X$ |prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were- {9 M. u1 w) [* O9 c8 E, u" D
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
0 v; A+ K) T2 T1 ]5 ~9 ]were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer: R9 e+ D, w5 c* O; _
every question."3 o' O8 b( Z4 k5 k
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether' C* | f# A7 G7 _& o6 z6 @
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The$ J& h+ n8 @- ^; ^9 p# W8 U4 L
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But8 F: _. p. v* {2 V9 M3 y. t! w
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small, P/ c6 { ]+ C6 i2 L* j) [5 N
number of vehicles: q# Z9 [: A% B( z# V, n
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more
l9 U7 U$ J: Zdifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a2 A1 k$ A) T2 B3 S/ W
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one& ]/ R6 ^" x; q: q. p$ Y7 c
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.* O" z% B- S P9 }. I6 d% T! l3 d* U
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,3 d* {# @, O6 Y. I7 C7 i* N
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
5 c/ B8 C' t/ O2 rtrace at all.
0 g5 u. G& C# i! I3 EHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
& C' |% k( x- `database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden' v4 C4 @% `, ^! B% s4 b
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
1 N O/ v* M2 A$ @( irecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals." \0 U5 E, h* ?% R5 ?7 i$ f5 F
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
; L0 D i( J' x/ P8 csaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and, Q& Q6 G, U' C% E; z( }
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the5 i- R$ `9 h4 z% j, W/ |9 H
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible4 y# Z6 j; D4 A2 r( W" ]5 J/ C
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
( s1 f# w4 E. tsuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained( x1 B% i7 }+ g
by Toyota's lawyers.", C: U# Z; N% B8 b
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
* i: q. \/ c7 P ]* c kproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our( T7 [9 X( K# V/ d
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
: k a$ ?4 R4 J7 V! csaid.
) T" ~3 e; |2 z0 m"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
7 R6 F1 P& c/ \1 va rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our$ H0 ^. ?9 _- u/ k$ ? A
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
, X' I x3 b4 b- r* W5 W5 S* t6 Hofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
: ]1 j; n+ c: GSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
. z- F" J( C- Z2 f/ ^, `4 q& zmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread. }% \3 j# s. s/ l7 z7 l+ [) D
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
+ A1 Q) j+ T. \% M# Z3 P3 \! h# c: K7 cautomaker, at least in part because of the government's' z9 _1 {' I8 [5 j3 g
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
" J; M8 A l5 E+ Y) ?Chrysler.$ m4 M& j, I- u- A! d% K* t# Y
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax/ \7 t! Z* n9 D8 o- p, ^% \. q
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
+ g3 I1 u+ m" L* G+ eHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also; G: _9 V4 d0 X) t
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete/ J; Z" b: }$ v, Z' _) t
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
# L: F. J$ M. j# G, }* K4 F( Ntough."
0 d8 E0 L' O, N- N9 M/ c5 i---/ d: J7 p. t( p6 T
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
5 S. F9 I ^) N: mRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
( b- Z5 Z8 P L: l! hthis story.# A3 N9 d& ^; \ J: Z& N6 B
6 x5 s8 h( F0 [" M, p0 n# y-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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