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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
2 S$ }( s4 c/ ]$ }) e5 U, ABy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS- R- F, x1 R. s: q2 b% z
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.! |9 N8 A3 O5 \4 u7 f+ d
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
0 M4 d/ l R+ i* u1 }: \+ kthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"6 C' n! M2 B+ s8 }* O% d, a
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
% D, W4 B& C. C# Q1 J( U"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
7 ^0 Y& F* K' ]1 ~causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
" F8 T o' }5 p% u9 \However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
; a# \+ Y+ I. ~ l) `3 ~acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and: l3 }# O/ S8 s& w4 m2 k
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor- |( C1 F; `; M4 N* D
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.
5 e# Z/ @& N9 V+ z% O4 JHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal. |, l2 M7 @5 s8 I. T: K9 @' s
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
" L! g( P7 |* H0 Lcriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be( P5 H) @* Y; q5 s* U- `
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
/ a! c4 \- W. F: E+ z$ Pnot stop her runaway Lexus. |* e! A( `' F% F2 ^! [
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,$ f g7 g7 Y K. K! v- y
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second4 T$ {' P. w$ v4 O0 u3 T' x) u
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
# t5 m2 k* [4 w" J5 lTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues: _. S t+ I0 I' F6 Q: [
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
2 J- Q- {$ \0 D; T% [' C' k"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
4 T; \4 D8 d/ [& `6 Vdone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway0 }% t8 V7 }( P; I8 a8 \( b
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
* u+ W8 S! D+ g) h% Jinvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
/ Y8 ?# R$ o3 }% r: \Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an2 v$ p: Y$ Z! f5 k9 l
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of B$ q( [ }9 ]5 Q
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
' O" ~: [: }+ ~malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he7 l* y7 C0 ~) v1 j, Q2 D
said.' Q, G8 m' j) T9 r
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what' G$ W i. W& e% A( i* {
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
* h: S8 x; r4 |5 Q! |) N J8 Fabout driving our products," Lentz said.
6 R" h) Y5 } r5 L' C$ rThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
6 N8 T+ @. H& d$ N3 y! kproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
4 {* S9 |" N. O8 @+ U, J Grecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
/ m4 ]+ j5 X( w* Gmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of
: s( V6 s+ T2 Kunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
0 \1 S1 S; @4 T H3 H7 U* l- Wissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering9 G8 i( `: w6 Q
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of L3 |$ @. E) v3 `0 `! K) S
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow- k) i1 ^6 S+ {3 X- e1 M
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has9 v* ?: N/ r5 i: W% Y
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
. T% }2 k7 [$ rof Toyota vehicles since 2000." B( }6 g9 a B+ i; }
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
0 I" K7 m5 s- L8 q5 Ibrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
2 u6 K& _; u2 P, Y, k5 M0 j- H5 f! munderstood the pain.
' V, V [) f' R- _1 T& m"I know what those families go through," he said.5 c9 \" s* ~( I) A u0 l% ^+ [
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's3 x& \5 z5 }; C+ ^. W H
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
Z4 J) A/ ?; X; ~+ F9 l6 w& PBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman7 U2 e# R! F: p
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
. @( B9 i% }* S$ H9 q' D; hin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,$ x% m. X3 Q9 }) S
Lentz replied: "Not totally."
& p2 {* \& |3 M5 H# QStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were4 O: F$ t! S. C6 I' j0 n0 A* E7 _
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said0 M" }$ u* _$ i1 K
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
* x2 O4 K7 F$ y9 }* G1 ~( e" E4 ypedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
! Q" n; e) x7 t; Q9 E! d6 `( `vehicles already on the road.' c6 S" }1 @( X, z* Z& F( _
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify, _1 n" v! A" n4 F; x! s7 q
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full8 D, S3 h6 ~, ~& ?+ G' g* X
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
! D: J6 x( C c# _0 ]offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
0 C9 `, @5 A s* q4 }: ikilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
t" {6 R4 @; V"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
- V. d( V) v+ R% Ztragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony4 v# V) F2 ?% f/ @' f: v
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight9 |5 g* U0 U. E. ~- ?! P, ` ~/ N" B
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
' Q: s! N3 N+ @4 `- [commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to, q3 m! p# O' F/ F& q
restore the trust of our customers."
7 g, s" A3 \" {. |+ pLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from0 x5 y2 h3 m$ x) L9 r2 V
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly" a' b6 G! R' L5 q. l- X1 P5 c% _
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
' n: M# w2 H W7 \" nshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
# e, ~1 X6 Z& A8 o- m: s) S$ qhitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
2 x6 o/ ?" X' ~/ u Xthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and Y' F" }6 O1 I1 c3 D" Q' S
turn off the engine.2 Q7 F; O" h( t9 \0 t- T1 Q! A; T5 z
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of" ?' B) w J4 u* Z
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
+ ]$ _7 d6 Z5 F, b"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
0 c# ~- D4 [+ X1 _4 y4 ^" \said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
- r: f7 ^9 B, V N f; rto her complaints.- ]* J) {% y- P) p7 r
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers1 E4 Y* ?. J* W/ Y4 l4 V t% _
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic8 G5 W1 y2 d- O# c% ]
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
~' {5 R4 |/ z4 \1 i4 _. _"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
4 A6 r( m' G# I- I' {- ]throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
6 [& |* \ Q: I4 ~" `# |"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
: F: ~ k% o, o6 a/ v: F* S" doff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
) q' x* a; v" {; P/ C2 _) BTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
1 s# _% d, v( g' I. n8 |# Xprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
1 E6 ]' X- ?% \: U) E Wbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
# T- K' ~7 p9 iwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer2 d2 @: _ q+ v
every question."
/ o+ W. L6 T# k/ b/ i! U8 X( eToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
K0 g" x# x0 x& Pelectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The" |* A" A* r: Q2 @8 w% r
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But9 d8 `4 y2 n; F. a/ K* F
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small% s# ^3 z2 T: @; o7 k G# v& N1 y
number of vehicles4 K) z. K9 n/ S% T
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more
$ Y/ @3 D7 [( ]% odifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a- J: y& z/ A; j t s9 y
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one' r$ V) H0 j, F9 V3 R
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
! ?# r# j$ c; M3 z2 D t6 ~Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
- l- E! @9 N7 f; ]7 C! x, Xwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
3 g3 D6 I# d/ T% k, g+ F, Ptrace at all.
- r: K3 t# n- j! t- g) WHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
4 X z7 W; ~3 Tdatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden- g8 t0 K0 k7 c2 ~9 |# B3 z
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
. v) I1 W W1 j; H2 S6 k! nrecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.$ }$ y* @) V8 O+ Q; C
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
; ~$ m+ @5 ~) R# I( v4 C, s5 J- i2 ?9 f ~said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
, g2 R0 F) R) T) p; o3 O3 Bother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
3 b8 p8 q" T8 I( G( E9 n. e* U5 celectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible7 j- b& \- `- q. m' @
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
! I3 W. g3 z, }" h& Nsuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
3 A& E6 o9 u: b) L" ]+ V/ kby Toyota's lawyers."
4 E: E, ?9 `1 f/ |Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of7 o/ }, b1 U4 [' E( z! ]
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our j: b: W7 N$ R1 N8 z! m
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
$ a p( C8 F' U, ?5 ksaid.' \7 A U# P$ k+ i$ A( T
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with" }. h+ ]& j' B- M0 {) n
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
. g" j6 X }# P! e" b! K6 igood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating' s7 x7 N3 Z- w9 G
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc. \9 c; r' w5 M9 m/ n+ c( { z! l$ L
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
( G1 i( [5 J/ A7 E% D* kmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread5 Z# f4 r! v/ ^
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
* Z% n) K$ k" c! u5 d4 p$ Bautomaker, at least in part because of the government's' r r: s a' j7 k3 Q( F
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and. }9 q4 x* Q. v% ?
Chrysler.# S4 p9 G/ R6 K6 h
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
7 z3 ?6 g X$ |" M4 S, g' Mdollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a8 s8 {" r l+ W4 o: d
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
0 X6 r' k# G! T+ Kserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete8 |7 p/ _' T0 z0 f! _$ \
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
+ m7 ~7 c* \+ Y' T, z$ i. qtough."
" v/ p- {4 \; @6 f. A; B---
5 y8 A0 M& i+ h0 u# s8 iAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom0 y. {5 h( ^% p9 Z
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to& [' y! B* `" O' P# K) X- Z- o
this story.
" r( o* C. w/ r5 O9 M& c5 a/ x( e' W/ {; ^ |* {' F
-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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