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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
$ T+ P; E3 Y0 P2 R# W% l& vBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
$ t1 n+ D/ l5 t2 L* y0 C- B K8 zWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
* [, H4 M0 R. g! Boperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that- n5 u; M( @- `7 ]
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
7 m- a( `3 y* f; W E1 L! _solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
/ P1 G. `+ Q$ k"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential) O3 f! T% M: @" Y: B; H
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.- k# \1 |* k. \0 |4 N* Y
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected4 \6 D+ w( d! `; y# L
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
x! _( Y+ T; @8 h+ U; ctrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor% y2 i" _- a Y, b( Q
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.5 D' `# X- V- B; X
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
! C( N, F+ d7 wand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
( c5 @7 K5 O6 @% D) E' ~criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
; b% l, R; v# b+ h( Vfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could' P* v @/ R2 S1 r
not stop her runaway Lexus./ K+ G& r6 B5 S2 \0 |, X$ F
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
* p3 `) y8 U. \* Y, S0 _; @" xTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
% X1 T8 w, b# _4 {# \0 f- M. W"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
7 c, @2 z) A8 R$ t/ \Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
% `+ O* u( k/ p* H: i5 L# X% Pearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
5 t- S9 o3 i' g"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has* |" P/ g# Z& J2 l$ I7 s9 |* T
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
" ]+ G9 t% ^: p z Othrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
$ s8 B5 \8 ?* p! \% p) Uinvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
4 |- o4 ? Y& f* eLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an8 T& L9 A$ r, F7 S9 M) w: [# w
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of+ p3 H5 h4 Q E& ~7 ]* r
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a, g9 ?; M7 A b# l
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he" N4 X. l6 c6 _3 @/ a
said.
$ R+ E" a$ n) y' t) U7 l! ]& N. O: rAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what0 s* V6 z0 p; m* W; `" P0 @. s
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe, {! b5 w$ [: x! I8 F
about driving our products," Lentz said.$ |+ A2 ?' }+ W* @# [/ u4 l+ a' M
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
9 q/ r5 Z3 b- N" M# f6 vproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
( y! I) |( ^8 Q5 Q6 z5 X6 A* ?9 Krecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
% \& S4 X) a. y8 Z# x( o) n' fmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of
8 a& p3 l: n' runintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
4 a( b9 B' c+ j; n) uissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering. x# d& B X; x3 w# p( N
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of, h+ b( |! d9 j/ ]$ s
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
5 u: S9 J7 r9 ?down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
B# r1 ?- u+ e& {2 areceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
: _0 s- r% L: m6 F) y Sof Toyota vehicles since 2000.: Q6 T; f; |0 w* k/ b; {
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
4 w G9 Z( m' }7 }: z) gbrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
2 |+ x0 r6 f7 P, r6 R/ munderstood the pain.' q! `/ X1 L. x! ~5 |. H& u
"I know what those families go through," he said.7 Q4 o0 x3 }$ T) Y$ x
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
; i3 V( O1 t" F1 V% U- p! E* \9 Tfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems./ m, c3 ?5 s/ |4 q0 ~/ m
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
! U0 ?, D5 U4 r6 m4 R' v/ I) F- |* yHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
. j0 O8 I1 `% W0 J3 P7 z( ` Lin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,* I4 t6 h4 y1 f6 _* L
Lentz replied: "Not totally."& R- W9 X5 Y0 }. {
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were; {2 m4 |- F, G( a, q H( g
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said3 v d0 B8 I9 ~" y, A% M# f, `, }" {
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
& B) n4 V, @; q' s2 T) n$ V1 rpedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its* \3 D1 C# C& K
vehicles already on the road.0 ^" l: r r' U5 @ k, x
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify$ o" I8 ?. E7 ?, Y
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full8 \% d( F+ v; U* y8 T. }) z) ~5 Q
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and( w8 w, F9 w( r( k4 b7 B
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were; ?- I, t, E. b; o7 L$ R. j% f
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems." }, r$ [- K V9 {1 N
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a& V% X4 b; X, G- T: g: P: ]
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
1 M4 [" `0 \& L8 bfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
) P$ D+ K7 L9 \* kCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal) _; b$ D" x% [/ g" L! _
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
* i7 L1 l$ p: Q( Yrestore the trust of our customers.", Q1 i; `+ J! R8 \3 S% w* w
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from- C; j x0 P* p% f3 W" P" ~
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
0 H Q: K$ `2 Z9 }1 ^! U! r; yzoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
- ~- K; ?5 V# L4 Zshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and3 N3 U$ B7 j% O; v
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
/ ?! ~! u# ]+ F; Ythat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and2 w: b- b: a3 i6 ?+ {3 S! i9 i1 r: d
turn off the engine.2 C! m9 ]* W' G' E6 p: D7 I
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
1 h V7 c. m) c# rOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."5 V; D. I. O$ @0 h, d: y
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she5 p. b& |0 L% c: P
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
1 M& p' f4 d- w9 e0 f9 C6 e/ Lto her complaints.
& W$ T7 v4 J4 O ZIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers6 S# U: H: k9 U$ d9 {
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
7 e/ e. Q+ r8 ?2 Hmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.' x6 Q9 q3 @' h, T
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
, i _. Y; x5 y! s# K2 y9 }: t% O# sthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited h/ i" D: k x4 j
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut4 d: m/ ~" z1 u6 p, o+ H4 T6 e9 U6 w
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
; r5 a0 M! R. o; `1 VTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in3 F7 @) I* f s& O( Q* D
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
% C5 U; L6 r" g7 abeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls3 T% W+ `: E- t. [* b4 q
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer/ D0 w; d, h6 i A" N6 }- M
every question."
0 r; A4 N. B h3 M" h7 fToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
& Z# u& \9 F4 R' m2 Delectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
. L; Q' H; X$ j0 y$ p+ J/ y, K4 Nfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But- ~! d7 Y" V; V5 \, p" G0 B
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
4 i! T% V+ ~7 jnumber of vehicles; L- B: O5 A3 n* \4 `
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more% |! {+ N5 ^4 B, Q% n X0 \
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
7 ]: v+ g, X( I* N, j+ Smechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
6 S; Z, O+ U- w+ N* gsource, and they can come from inside or outside the car. H5 ?, U+ @' ~# z8 t6 h/ ?9 a
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,* ^; Q7 f" I' I
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
@9 E! t. i. r% q' a! d; Ktrace at all.4 ^0 O. u: R5 Z+ r
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
6 A# ^- s7 B( B odatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
. m# P9 V0 O+ bacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the7 u* x' ]8 h2 m
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
4 V; V: i# ~+ y& V1 ^5 _2 r8 sRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
$ ~. A1 o( ?' y, P* qsaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
% e8 L# w' t. q. N# iother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
$ r/ N: ?1 r6 S# m8 Pelectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
, Z. ~9 e; f& H" `9 T3 M8 Ycause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only* r: j) t+ J1 _: H# ^2 m! r0 ^
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
! r5 I+ R5 f# B( w$ y6 N9 {# }" Aby Toyota's lawyers."
' f7 h) U6 l6 J4 J# z3 |Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
, k& y$ z4 p/ _" H4 H: V J6 Xproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
% o3 C% X* v5 e9 {% o% k% Gcustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he* T; m7 s' X8 m
said.1 s: S) G6 b8 {* c1 q. L3 \
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
4 X; H5 s2 D2 @' l |a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
8 x9 q9 u$ n2 z0 {5 n& `& J: agood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating P) V* a& h! d- j- d+ U% _
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
' ~6 `/ y* i2 [+ p: jSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
- F. Q3 }3 I5 O: r0 D- E/ p0 Qmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread! G I& B, |: D- ?4 N9 B' a1 E6 i6 C
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the1 ~& P% {1 J( u5 j, j
automaker, at least in part because of the government's
$ j" a/ `, v! J( h! yinvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and- v" Z: e$ f: r" B, E( v. c
Chrysler.
7 f( L" A. _3 P. }0 m"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax9 n% K: S/ u6 u* v7 T
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a# U( x+ Q* z) V( ?2 a$ I4 W
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
, R$ X& H- ?* J% y( s8 z5 V* Aserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
$ ^7 ]+ a/ g/ _9 E% [9 |% Dwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty3 H; z( _" V( M: U* t
tough."% d; s: h6 K& V$ w3 O, n
---- k: c$ S3 M: U3 A' x2 }
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom! Z& A8 F" M8 ?3 a- H& p$ p
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to# D' f' E2 G+ i4 U {5 m& _2 n
this story.: M' I; G+ P9 i# O+ L0 D6 F
1 C+ F" i3 w6 U" |* X K/ a, j' L1 ?
-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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