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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
! y. h/ t8 Y9 y) T& n5 t3 ^: @By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS. a2 k2 U; \1 v& O2 ~0 T# J
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.4 H% v2 o% ]5 |; I5 T2 j' H
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
' L2 C" |) e, dthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"$ d; J5 y' a. M1 L8 f% {, F% Z
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
. j: C( S1 R# t# [7 S"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
' s# C1 s/ k" x% e. G$ f- kcauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.2 \' h b3 \4 K4 Y" A$ y- S
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
4 n7 d( N' m4 U( Q Jacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
- W& Y1 i; P6 M. _trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
' R8 z. o' n' c) c& n% Imats and sticking accelerator pedals.( F; y' _( L+ }% Y* O4 Q! [/ U
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal6 r0 Q/ G3 w0 {! p/ r i+ S
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
% }' ]8 \% n" B/ K( Ecriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
( v- _& J; W1 j+ W. Hfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could4 U, f" y; R/ Z0 ^ a
not stop her runaway Lexus.1 ]8 i6 r; J. A7 V
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,5 R6 m2 F. h. A7 N
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
2 j7 f' R' R5 A5 w0 V ]7 _* t"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
, w9 M# \# L+ P" r; G- ~Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues. c0 z6 v# t, q7 c; u6 V
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said7 Y* e) o2 M, ^: Y
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
/ O J3 N: {. j6 odone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
! t& k8 v: N. E$ Z% e' T; athrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's4 o# L- L( H" q
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham.") k$ t( i9 l4 _
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
! @2 ]; o* L+ n. i, |electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
8 E) x6 I$ p6 n8 C3 E4 Sthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
$ U9 u: T! r5 e. smalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
) _/ o7 g$ N0 i2 zsaid.+ e3 ~9 h# o* s1 _( R3 w
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what) v: ]. n [9 F t) i+ n3 E
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
1 a5 X4 H; i- v5 Z* Mabout driving our products," Lentz said.
3 b' E0 N7 Y/ H/ c4 a4 ^# KThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
" E& J: P" `- `( ~7 Gproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
$ R0 I4 t0 t7 y) ]recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6. A3 k" F! j5 m0 J& F L, _
million in the United States -- since last fall because of" b/ K y7 u" ^* S
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking3 r0 r Z1 S6 ~2 M6 [
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering# l+ H' `( V' T7 |5 n% P5 U
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of( |3 J8 g: `7 @" q, {8 ?. ]
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
2 b7 s2 ^$ d8 c- L% Y+ X# Edown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has- V4 U( k P" n& F5 P1 s
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
; R; [" G7 I; i7 P2 Q4 O: h( M$ [of Toyota vehicles since 2000./ H4 J) f+ J: u9 K% E% e0 g1 g; K
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own$ r* E5 R! Q2 M5 d/ @3 w7 T
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he, c3 n) n% c: L" c4 t9 x
understood the pain.
: x7 Q. c2 q# {% u7 w+ l$ s"I know what those families go through," he said.3 \; [8 }7 W0 R, |. W
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
& J% m% Q+ Y9 l8 x* Afixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.; T8 v( D" N, A4 c7 {
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman6 N* }# |; K% m; v" w
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put4 G$ N0 s* T, A& l- a3 E8 \
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,. r5 S& q2 p3 D. ^
Lentz replied: "Not totally."
/ u' B( T+ i# M" x6 H+ mStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
3 L/ h& @1 d, y) w3 z2 C"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said+ S8 E; [* a1 g& v5 M
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas4 E3 K# t8 d7 d( p& t- a% _
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
5 E% j. d" `; T) Zvehicles already on the road.
, {& S0 O: [5 q( t( zMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify9 C" M5 W$ q# [. J5 U
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full6 `, `( f3 |! h
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
! i5 T' n6 L: a4 Xoffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were1 n1 c! K4 Q1 n6 d$ ?# I9 v
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
# }: B. m3 V1 P8 H4 ]"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
; h( @9 [8 ~5 l! y6 V/ I+ e! stragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
, [' `1 V2 o* rfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
0 Z/ y j% _+ l2 FCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
- m0 n, ~# `+ u1 Bcommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
$ F7 w; I$ O* _$ j: G z Srestore the trust of our customers."
) l2 a; V1 _$ Z' kLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from2 w- x& n) w* W$ G( I$ o
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly2 i2 Z g, s$ W
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --6 g' M, {2 k6 B8 k5 }! R
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and7 I, V/ I2 ]) Q' z% w
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough" K; G" C+ ~! f3 O
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and5 I9 A4 [# P& o2 A% S
turn off the engine.! N0 r6 M9 `( J6 K$ v
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
/ ], O5 _4 R9 ^2 K lOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."2 a- H& n. v6 D* `4 o0 B" @
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she% ?9 H9 ?' q! e- u0 R5 _% i
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
: `. E* S/ b% H4 Q; @8 eto her complaints. \( h9 |( b; @* d% O( T
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers; G3 b( A: i( p& n& Y$ P" ]6 e, S9 d) \
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic1 M6 Z8 o# }/ H6 }, L" W0 t m
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
! N4 p$ v! S p$ J4 o"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric* c; k" r. E. R+ ~& }2 R
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited( X& X3 Y. \( X( |( O* l
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut% K- y' p: i6 x2 D- h
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
4 a. K( ^; `- A ?! W( rTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
( E9 s4 P3 Y- r: g6 ~prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were. E3 r+ z0 g+ p% k5 g
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls6 D* \) B4 Y8 ?0 `& m
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
V9 C: z3 L# m" T, Kevery question.") n3 o5 S2 }# A, M
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
! o* ^" C* V- J: V0 `' belectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
9 i& C3 i" M$ D: ~7 [; sfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But, K9 n2 w- c' o2 N4 t' O$ D& N
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small4 k$ h2 s' Q3 }$ }- o! F
number of vehicles5 _) C6 j0 }" d! ?7 a5 C R
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more% ^! v+ n1 K8 W5 \8 ]8 c
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
' n8 U; L+ V5 imechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
6 p8 V& m/ n, w! J/ Ksource, and they can come from inside or outside the car. }- q0 z$ X' b: I
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,; @( ^; w t* T9 i* T% u5 h# `5 D* t
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
2 w( G1 X. P! P5 z3 P+ Ptrace at all.
3 X& E) C/ b7 e1 OHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call1 r4 _% {8 {1 R
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden) p3 R' T; `# s' z2 F7 c; |% b: l
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
9 ^7 m* F R. z& q4 v krecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
: j+ W5 i# [5 t% q7 Y9 I ZRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
# e7 e+ r {' f; s6 s8 bsaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and! z# F% M* [8 D# E
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the- k6 T; j. w# x) a# o* l
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
9 y: j4 T, l% N! [+ Bcause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only6 `3 R/ Y- v5 X4 ^* d- F) s: |
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
, C9 M1 H3 }0 h+ eby Toyota's lawyers."0 Y0 P/ `5 {. w: v D- l
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of' o" }. y+ X2 @
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our- ^; J! c+ E+ S1 V; y. a( ?3 L
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he1 o# V& K g( ?' T" r0 I: K+ @. V
said./ o6 Q" H; W2 Q* H9 y) e* W8 J
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
/ }6 G6 n/ [2 q/ N1 ya rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our& W2 ?( c: c3 k+ x
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
+ @; r2 U; J( Rofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.4 P2 D+ g1 S' B# n e7 o
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
! h2 r- I( Y% ?9 f% f% a$ \& A+ nmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread* U, F {( X8 W& f, W3 j( c$ i
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
3 p8 X! W8 Y& [' y# }& F! Aautomaker, at least in part because of the government's) z/ p$ F2 I0 A0 o4 x6 S) t
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
* G/ ]4 [6 @) t* o1 j9 {Chrysler.+ u" }: h9 D$ q4 f; q5 h: \! w
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax5 m# g; d' H. x& L9 z4 Z
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a+ g& @1 Z+ m- C& e9 I/ S6 C8 v# i
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also& D/ Y7 s8 r2 f6 K
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete( p1 x. E8 z# B n# v8 W
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty7 }& u# F5 f' i3 ~3 _
tough."
, C {7 y# g* o$ b/ e+ R--- |# l I' W8 }) }9 F/ `
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom8 f4 x3 L1 N9 U8 S8 q0 t) r
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
: X' o6 S: c3 w) ~this story.
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+ m1 `, K/ `3 j4 F3 w2 M/ C( {9 x-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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