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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' d1 m$ g: o# G) J/ ^! s+ M4 Y
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS+ A+ A$ l7 t& s6 M; U
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
# `7 f8 \ _/ g. e" Boperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that. _! L* S* E% }& m; _4 ~0 c. T; k
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"1 u# e9 @0 |1 U" H/ I
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
! Y6 [/ J, [: j/ |"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
6 x4 M6 ]! V0 M" pcauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
% l$ s. N9 \9 r* b$ X1 kHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected0 R1 {2 m3 c, A7 n
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and3 }$ L3 d2 _; z2 q( L4 R) e
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor/ w( R1 s7 [* v" u1 B9 s1 V
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.. {9 h$ D$ g" o- s% o$ Z& u
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
$ x9 \ M) _2 D# u, Jand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
9 K9 P% \; ?" V, v1 gcriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
4 r' j- q. p9 \6 nfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could/ V7 _/ \5 L9 E5 x' ]
not stop her runaway Lexus.) i( H/ [% E2 A0 Z$ Z
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
1 Q& r' p+ u8 t1 Y6 b6 g4 HTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second6 n/ v2 M5 F4 ]' w& S& i
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
5 @9 K1 T7 H1 n0 ^! u4 YTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
# Z. N6 p- H# Z; r% D! }0 C& ?early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said/ ~4 i& }: _( P
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
% L' e0 ~3 U$ Y6 x; r0 ?5 y2 adone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway7 \" |: i5 W% K0 r* Z
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
0 a1 u( X' ?5 W$ \3 W- hinvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
6 @/ T- O/ P% g. MLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
1 u8 K* S) Z0 e+ I7 Jelectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of9 s2 j: S, F4 N4 a, g5 n
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
% `4 V) v6 D" qmalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
+ ?! y7 R: c8 Z# d$ w/ Msaid.; s$ S! W% y' R( U
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
; V1 V( j% G u4 thappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
) W$ ~3 I8 Y+ ]4 y8 W' o0 s+ w$ Tabout driving our products," Lentz said.' [0 e, b, S( U0 |6 H( y
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
' `9 X# s2 k/ r& u; I& bproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
4 D. V- }0 }2 ?: ?* ^0 orecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
; ]! x# O- A( T* @' omillion in the United States -- since last fall because of
! `8 V: [7 C. J8 l: j8 z4 bunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
0 L3 d2 n& x* B+ o$ w4 Z0 Vissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering( P9 a* K; ~ }2 z7 S4 B# g! M
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of7 q: P5 M# M/ {+ m- C
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
( Y& s t% H! ~" |down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has5 {; x7 N% E% M& a
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
9 H8 z7 Y$ s( x4 Z. zof Toyota vehicles since 2000./ _+ o9 @6 i! n
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
4 k6 h5 @* Z6 Y4 C) I8 Rbrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
4 G( y& F/ @: n& p# f) U `8 Junderstood the pain.
3 p, |* Z+ A6 k- ^, K j+ K"I know what those families go through," he said.
8 n/ f* B% R) A9 OLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's% X7 s& o- [5 P
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
4 @' @* k6 y$ h6 t7 s: {But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
7 x* i; D3 @" bHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
0 }3 g' i" a6 }4 }2 n win place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,5 T. }6 D0 Q- i* c, a$ x$ I
Lentz replied: "Not totally."- {. ~* v/ B6 N! T+ f
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were. x- P: o. d# }# h& ^0 m) h- E
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
1 w' D! r+ H6 n. ?2 w; u" AToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
* O% X# N+ J5 Gpedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its( c' A- R5 h4 a# b9 z
vehicles already on the road.# [& ?8 Z4 J5 y8 B& @
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
5 A' ^, f% q1 `8 Y4 d1 Qbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
7 m+ D, a+ F6 [( w; h0 Wresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
! } {# @7 F4 h5 P1 c- loffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
5 s: E. M1 T8 V d) x- zkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
& w- Y* d, ^1 ]"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
( k5 s' d* ^, b* ?* t- ]/ N% Wtragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony8 Q0 \. c/ s1 v1 I A4 t; y! d
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
: E, s' u; O4 o; f& Y, g" I. CCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
! B3 b1 b. ~8 z2 T3 ucommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
/ H3 s. h; m9 X ~restore the trust of our customers."' `- c+ n; G) c. S5 j, Y0 k; K
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
& r7 l; V& x, U# X$ |# O9 @0 ]' tSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
' B7 }5 j0 [ z* x- Wzoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
+ ~, j9 f0 E4 q6 P' Lshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and$ @% y Q. C7 Y* `0 _4 e
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough1 d$ F5 a, w8 I( k* w
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
- k' [ f) s7 x% Wturn off the engine.; G& g7 w d, a& f% x" V! v+ T7 R
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
- D2 C: G* I6 ] M L% n% {October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."9 y. t3 C4 l4 U2 U: f/ V4 J! L0 o- f
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
( o- |( z$ H/ T( b0 |7 L% @# ]3 xsaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond2 T( x) O* L& D
to her complaints.
6 z# V7 L2 o# D, g8 P. @In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers$ M5 }5 ^2 b1 g1 C+ g6 v
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic. z8 Q+ E. c# G3 |# o
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
1 ? ? H7 u. h+ L* E5 w) G"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric+ h( u' O; J& V* |, `
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
' n7 c! O! S5 H6 a9 m# N2 k$ D"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
& w" R- H7 j. l p' _off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."8 ^, Y/ b6 `! `- A1 j% M
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
, t- c. i* V+ L5 Eprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were( c8 y) F. K7 \0 K% D2 G1 V% u
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls; C# c |7 ~6 l+ v' E O
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
2 U6 g6 P; t' {7 P! T9 m( tevery question."
* Q& ?; N0 Y% I" h$ X3 ZToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
+ v% e& k( z: @- L3 \1 f6 gelectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
0 N! r0 f1 c6 ^6 B: U |/ h8 yfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
% |/ N; R% q& y C+ c/ }committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
/ |) [ X) }& ~. ~# e7 znumber of vehicles
1 j3 L) B. U y" B" B% b+ ?Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more# p0 T" }$ l' a. I+ ?1 S
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a6 }- k: K# v1 ?! |1 w
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
5 P3 p- C! D5 Hsource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
% E2 f$ R; }( L# _! AMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
. ?$ h. H4 B) d Ywhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
% b4 ~3 }0 _ \- `5 w* f8 Rtrace at all.
- y3 j8 W7 U% r% t2 V4 q/ rHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call; k" A9 r+ s/ I, U) n3 I/ A+ C
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden$ c5 B* O' H# C% z$ Q* d
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the3 w2 M3 ~$ I" s% `+ \" {
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.6 {3 [+ `, T% C# S2 j. V( R2 V
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
; Q% z8 i2 @ \said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and" V, ?9 I4 P1 E8 N8 d
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the4 }$ V2 o: Y, X/ |5 {
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible n6 i0 u3 g( M: Y2 I
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only( b0 \3 M3 k1 w r& m
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
. u0 }+ m; ~) l; y' Bby Toyota's lawyers."4 w* [8 i$ E3 {2 ? J2 z7 q
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
: `- g! C4 L, k; G# kproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
* o0 S0 Z: z% z$ R' L7 ` Xcustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he& B6 Z) a6 i k/ C5 Y
said.: s! V2 _9 w* _" v3 k
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
+ p. t. h; U! |3 P9 _: ^a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
h4 [& ?/ ~0 K- \. J( Wgood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
5 K# d+ {! x: s1 bofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.& W! l, R& r6 C7 A. S) o/ z
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying# I! ?0 J: d# `% f# C# q: N; j
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
; b. v9 p' E% d' f- Vrancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the4 F4 ?) G3 E( K. O* c
automaker, at least in part because of the government's+ ]2 F$ y2 ` N" C, v
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
- x5 V/ E6 T# hChrysler.% C3 N# `. T9 g. z5 ~* Z9 C
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax# k: l+ d7 b% H- n
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a2 w ^3 q% ^; v z% z8 a5 C
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
. I! x* y0 X3 ]* g" E( Tserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete$ C) k* G6 I1 Y* |1 u- {5 ~3 V
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
+ d- H, Z4 q* O/ {5 utough."
7 d Z6 l6 |8 a4 E: p) c---* j9 W0 O/ r$ ?' o4 N; A* t8 S; t* J
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
& V$ V7 F* X7 K cRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to$ _/ g& I5 t- X W) |
this story.
+ X" `- b4 M5 i7 I$ A! {6 G2 P6 O8 i2 v: ~2 J
-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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