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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
1 B: [1 T* v) P {3 _By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
5 k8 W `) N' K5 s; o9 MWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
2 K2 D J, C$ M( G. T: p8 Hoperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
, c' q" C9 _" t$ V+ ]7 Ythe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
/ ^$ J5 ]; u- ~4 z; wsolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration./ z D9 |5 g$ X/ R, l* K8 B3 d. X
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential. N- Y2 ]* E; o, p1 A% s, F8 W
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
6 |7 \8 @, Q1 s: t, vHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
4 f1 |* P f- N- O) gacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
" k2 j4 \3 n% t2 |7 d: Ftrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
6 O+ P' {) @, H. F: ?mats and sticking accelerator pedals.0 D4 I9 x) {" ~7 C, n
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
n$ y, o0 a; D. fand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp) E$ j6 d* k7 ^3 J
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
' B3 }; |7 I0 v2 o1 |further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
! O8 U. {. ^# }not stop her runaway Lexus.
+ c5 w1 g% r7 J) D/ l"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,4 g/ F! c3 B# E$ r7 w5 r
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
3 Z W" w- W5 Q+ Q. O: h$ _"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.$ o7 C3 l$ j- Q h' |, z
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues# l# O9 }5 r9 G3 ^3 N0 d
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said; {0 f4 k# k7 W* r
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has; R# P1 U; g( a! Y
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway# d( q- E* O% r3 @ K, r! f
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
2 [) z" }- Q8 q9 [3 u, w0 Finvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
- ^& h s, F9 V& y7 U: [Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
5 [, F: s- w& p: Z9 Xelectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
) I9 [$ ^# Z" a' B: n G" Z# Nthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
. D- M- V# \( m7 F2 m) m4 I omalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he2 o' \2 [4 h: e9 ]" ~' S; w% I
said.
% U0 }" P7 t ]# jAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what0 {2 k0 ^; a+ v# P
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
/ V* N$ H" z# H Z9 b2 o* `' pabout driving our products," Lentz said. Q; q+ O( v( k' Z
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's: F0 s# } C0 a# w
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has2 a; x3 k' X& y, ~$ h5 d% i
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
3 \, O1 L8 }- r, F/ ~million in the United States -- since last fall because of
K: f$ |, e! |+ N8 L+ t/ P# |unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking( Z$ ?, H9 |! C* \' \% e: h% L4 H
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
+ \/ A' a0 j2 p9 e4 tconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
& p1 U: J0 q8 ^5 t# Atheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow$ |0 a& u: f9 a
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has3 `! l, x+ J% j* W9 d) ~( t& ^
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
1 Y$ y l2 |' U% l9 a) Bof Toyota vehicles since 2000.( S5 ]. C+ I) z" P/ F% M6 ]" w4 b
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own2 }/ {' S. F8 S# f. Z
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
6 e# l* [# p- |! ^( c& ]1 }* Uunderstood the pain.
6 i5 Q7 g: f7 f( A k"I know what those families go through," he said.
8 i2 Z# D Y* U9 @ D+ ?; R$ eLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's- z2 L& @2 t$ D, G6 o1 b
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
+ z8 A1 h* i9 eBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman4 H }! @0 r3 [
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put/ \' c/ k" A7 E: Y; z. w# A3 Y
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,0 D' y2 \) A' \- ~
Lentz replied: "Not totally."# I" y! p7 @6 ]! j
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
3 v8 d0 V* G0 _, l( v* J"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said0 q: `4 ^ t3 g+ L0 }+ I
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
9 L! h- y! R4 ?4 b$ E6 [/ Hpedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its8 { l' A1 s5 s, s( _# b: i
vehicles already on the road.' H$ X6 E( C: J& A1 n, y1 e
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify1 B8 P4 \. J+ i7 u9 N8 D' j5 a
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
}3 Y. {. T4 o1 B5 Y( [- O- q5 xresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
8 P8 L" t1 s, l! Toffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
0 W( \9 B2 O& [' O5 Jkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
) [3 u1 n0 `% d, ?; |"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a3 G# s' y; T) H
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
. S0 B2 O7 l, Dfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
3 t m' P7 v5 PCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal4 ?: P& O6 e8 L
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to% @1 b }+ a# ?7 e ]0 G
restore the trust of our customers."
7 ~) c# R" A9 E; Q" WLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from) Q4 X- M8 ], L3 Q, L9 i
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
0 ~# W; M' ]: H2 O* [0 szoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --* Z9 k1 L3 A! j- [4 P: X U: h7 q
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
6 {5 \0 c- N( t0 ehitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough4 J6 W3 Q* u. j: u5 c5 {
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
1 B1 a3 v) E2 ]$ xturn off the engine.
2 r7 ?( w( j6 X& U$ B0 k8 y, q+ GFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
& T# B2 m9 U! G- WOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."/ V: b3 I, o- u4 `% e5 I; H) S# Q
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she, c6 ^. x4 a+ ~
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
+ @5 _ i7 M+ V) W* Uto her complaints.
& I; r: f; E8 O8 BIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
7 T* D- |7 K% o! O9 l4 q, r! w; D* @9 ~returned again and again to the question of whether electronic+ X. F# N; u! V1 H
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
4 k }: |' i3 c& M4 V0 u"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric* K; W" {1 I( A, J ]
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited% A# X' F) p5 s K+ v
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
. s' F+ r; z+ woff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."3 w, q! {% u) a3 W! M* I+ M' Z
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in5 p3 N/ F( N% E P* {
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
3 k N9 ^7 F5 ubeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
. z* r, _; ~/ o+ E% Swere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
6 b; U! _2 N, v- A4 ievery question."
2 J. U/ g: V( e0 yToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether1 c0 q5 `/ n v- y5 c7 ~. p. ~
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The* ~, i6 d3 B# z& e5 P8 P- l
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But6 O1 B9 L$ z( |% d/ q+ g2 `
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small: z" ^* C( J" p& B8 G: }
number of vehicles
: Z; Y' @2 c( }Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more$ i# E+ q; @( A# [, W
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a2 ^: {& i* e' t- R# t5 f
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
% f0 e B, h* E# ?' Q- esource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.( {0 @2 I2 ^ l" N
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,# M, ^8 L" u- H% G- e- b
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
4 m6 n+ X2 K, y5 F2 }trace at all.
4 n3 @" b- O+ n3 N; kHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
, L: G# G( B. f; l$ |% m; R9 tdatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
# E, w/ A) i) x) P) L1 `7 z& [acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
5 W. n9 W7 G9 v7 ^; {9 Yrecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.* G9 a+ j; d) W) v; x; z
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,$ |- q* x3 d9 X/ W" Z m+ Y
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
, k+ L' j5 C4 jother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
5 }9 G4 o' |9 G/ U8 m: x9 H# telectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible0 d' W& M6 D, F: m1 `
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only$ Y0 j: S% H! p+ u
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained$ z( C/ r- P8 N9 T
by Toyota's lawyers."
9 H& |1 {9 p( H, e/ I! o1 WLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
/ G/ @+ Q/ R* P0 F+ s* uproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
6 C! O: L9 m, Y K( S8 o7 D7 u: D6 {customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
4 Z7 a# n6 }1 Y' R; t1 }5 {. O" t) C( msaid.
& S" p1 a) X+ Y5 E8 o$ S8 c# [! S( o- l2 D"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
7 [- Q# @( H* g" u+ ~1 J) v( sa rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
2 f) n& u% j' y4 cgood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating6 w6 k# ^: m) t& a6 o* B
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
# R9 T! M6 i+ o: q" HSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying9 i4 E; d1 X3 S
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
6 q1 ^+ @$ W$ o' x$ U. qrancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the0 b/ a+ W6 C+ E8 j
automaker, at least in part because of the government's8 \! l7 U' o: f) l$ ^2 Q
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
$ `* N% }- M1 C3 H$ F) |2 N/ k. XChrysler.
, C& r9 }+ b3 R- X"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
$ n: W. |6 n! c0 L/ ~* v& edollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
+ V) X. F' s+ t* D: ~Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also$ J5 h/ y% v! E. o
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
' w% r! @! N/ X6 Kwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty& L3 |, ]# l! E& y& l! K
tough."
" b' s$ f8 i6 m! t---
?8 d6 @& l' B7 Q: RAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom% Y$ X) G& M w+ t. R" A( i" u* J
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to4 V1 o4 v: j# t
this story.
9 ]1 m! H4 P9 n$ d: P# c& A6 Q
4 ]) z. t, o$ i# Q# U-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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