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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
, L$ ?7 b- X6 M% z- o# S& Q% ^5 J$ cBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS( G; G2 _* L+ W7 {1 G. r
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.$ @2 z; B) `- z4 i: u" M9 H
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
% C( W: T0 [- P) l- L+ K" Hthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"5 A+ A( E4 o+ A6 G. i
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.8 K; v# Q) n( h3 E7 A
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
) G M, u" B T& Ucauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
3 V! O& t5 g8 I/ F6 W! h( ?4 BHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
' L: ^) @. K' m5 |+ S7 n: q% d t) pacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
7 R! P) N0 J) U4 l: d( Ztrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
8 z# U6 ]6 v" N4 F$ K- b1 O* C" fmats and sticking accelerator pedals.
) w4 z7 r* d LHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
" v! O% q8 p, Sand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
7 b0 {. n* Z8 i9 @/ Lcriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be8 p5 L! ?1 I5 m: ~' O. v" p5 l
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
X6 @" d9 p% S7 D, w2 W' Dnot stop her runaway Lexus.
9 {! G& l5 o/ Y# W0 N4 M"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,/ z) W* ^& d# G) A7 G
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
, g* S0 _+ Z' j/ k5 r: {"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
# C2 Q/ }; e7 D# j- Z2 j. w2 oTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues7 O' T( ^9 |2 K
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said. G2 R0 Z: |- f1 p
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
6 w, C& v% @8 J3 h* x1 T# zdone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
! n) E" w; C$ Q! v: Athrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's8 a. x9 y6 [* D# a3 O' |
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."$ ?3 P) d& W: C
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an- Y2 t2 G/ G. c5 |7 f( F# u
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
. _2 `. ~ b9 C% S) Q; M0 @the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
2 p1 v0 c5 c; _8 c& y6 P# u" `malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
$ k/ e* C1 v& S8 _3 S# K3 msaid.
% ^* w% g" |2 Y U! p0 mAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what% ~5 k0 d2 \# ~; G5 z1 E, m
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe0 k- V/ J4 v( P
about driving our products," Lentz said.. ~5 W$ K) w9 r7 e! S! `9 |
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's; O W( C! W& X
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has4 \5 h1 d8 _* n# w
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
`: f. ^- @% c: A/ T" Pmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of
7 S8 a, ]& S: b: k7 gunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking+ _& s1 n; c. ~+ f$ P l0 \
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
% l# m' k0 r% A# ]concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of) a6 B% X% k' T& n u8 u8 M
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
6 t, ~. N( D8 y G: @! O4 Ddown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
2 U, U: @! ^. Qreceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration2 }/ N/ Y1 b6 [
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.
* A& r1 `, f5 s* u2 ~. ?Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own I7 E" A9 o( n O
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he" A) w" t# U" ~+ b
understood the pain., d2 a6 c% I, I' L
"I know what those families go through," he said.
& b" l, \1 P0 o# C5 NLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's1 H# n4 b" I5 v& H" e
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
' y1 t! w4 R! \% b! uBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman5 Q/ A" H5 e" o! o# `2 T d7 V
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
* ]4 M0 Q. ^ T/ K7 Uin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,7 ?& Z% O5 w2 H) j. n
Lentz replied: "Not totally."4 P5 p/ B; _4 _0 e4 k7 V7 U# [
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
8 I/ _5 a! Q5 a, s5 x4 ]: H' f"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
4 W) @8 P4 q8 S, S0 G' fToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
* _; y$ |- Z, D+ Q: R5 g2 ~5 h. |9 Hpedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
i L9 `$ n- D7 A) c* S, ovehicles already on the road.
: _4 @, X" J+ w8 ~/ W. [Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
5 K+ Q) e" e6 p/ h% `+ Cbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full4 g( o2 c7 @4 j# c2 \0 }
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
& W: Z& u- }1 z$ ^9 l* ^/ b' aoffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were2 Q) W1 \: Z. P2 R+ E, u4 z# E
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
/ |) C# S A9 A2 |' b' g9 R"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
o' `) k; S5 v; U7 {6 O# ~tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
6 j* ] u* U1 A( s4 G+ tfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
: E& y' S' O- ]7 t0 h6 ^: k% B; UCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
% F9 ~- ^+ u$ M {; i1 p7 acommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to! e5 z3 ?* ~+ X+ X; K0 U5 O
restore the trust of our customers."0 ]5 G. K9 z$ d6 m _
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
9 m3 F0 |; G7 sSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
) t" V; W2 T1 K9 j1 izoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --; m9 e# \, W* T# C: E/ s
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
- L+ g3 p9 ~: U" s& [hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough" Q, V: g6 |* _# s, @
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
# \) k4 g6 {6 e& @7 T- ?! {: lturn off the engine.3 n6 a. t$ j5 e. g0 a
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of8 v' b3 m: w- q$ D1 r2 d
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."; A$ J9 U1 |( B
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she; z; F6 e1 E0 z* \9 R2 l+ h
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
% U3 c2 ~& m+ V' q4 ]to her complaints.
+ D6 H0 h6 `1 C6 l) S* n. f$ f, zIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers+ Y+ J$ F! h3 H0 F- K# _
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic% {0 J$ I* k- }
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.) K- K' [9 {. O* d
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric/ Y. ~2 }6 |$ E; r! w
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
. ]4 r: s/ D6 i8 W3 r0 H- y7 Z"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut& a/ T$ r% F4 O4 G* K& c- y+ O. l
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
- [% Q; g; |9 r4 N' M# v% ZTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
# E( b+ ~# {' z6 a. M/ Tprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were/ ` p" q$ V0 Z) {0 U j
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls, j5 g2 s- `6 j' V
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
5 ]- `* t' s2 ^ uevery question."1 Q- P* a7 H1 Y0 C' P+ d* F" ]
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
: @( o1 Q6 ~+ C1 N1 e2 felectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The. r% d! l. i3 \" m: g
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But0 A, T5 U, _1 X0 t) N
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
% G0 U+ r9 p1 q; E* Nnumber of vehicles" C" P5 p) ]3 ~
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more
! Q# B, j+ V% j2 tdifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
* m0 p: J h% Vmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
/ D5 L& W; e* Xsource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.: G) w! ~5 N! E% M* l7 x5 H- |
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,- h& b* W% Z2 {- j& d
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
4 @; A& H: C( Z, ~5 d, qtrace at all./ l3 D! g1 |/ v2 U! O$ D4 g" b
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call$ D# @: y" H& \2 r$ m
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden3 z- x7 ]' [. x1 P: y
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
! [& w$ d d' b/ |2 Jrecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
) u- y" `+ I. j- CRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
8 l. Q; r; K6 [ B# d- e- N, }( xsaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
& D- k7 {* ^7 A" {( oother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
6 Y6 P6 {( G2 A7 nelectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible! b2 k* c" z$ i; m
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
% Q9 N5 ^) i; y* t1 e msuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained3 m# |* n* h* c' J/ s- P* w' k
by Toyota's lawyers."* M% n& E8 e% B8 \+ G3 F
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
4 m, \- Z8 C" d. E/ w v3 Jproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
9 h# |1 L% ~: b* h5 n3 r! Qcustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he v' M2 r# l! G( q% Z6 w( X' a7 G
said.3 p6 ]; R) |* @1 m. m
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
2 W1 A+ ]/ v; P- s ra rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
3 i9 z$ w y$ x8 }# O( ~good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating/ w8 J% g+ t" D8 t1 m. `
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.; G$ r( v! R m7 ?* T
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
# e% u) g3 D$ ] M1 S9 K5 u9 f* z9 Vmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread6 ~! `, v( f, t1 o
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the3 u* I: k4 o' r% Q Q: p! X
automaker, at least in part because of the government's2 ~9 T5 A, H+ H- }7 Z6 S! d
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
# |" J# t* @; ~* k, LChrysler.
T7 Y( a, n- ^: V5 B# B"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
4 a) ]9 K/ d$ p7 Edollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
* G# b+ F# G" q6 q' r* ]* V# i; vHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also$ c1 ~+ p8 Y% ]
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
2 r8 f8 n$ q* E6 h2 D, Owith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
/ c( x7 [1 e% I* [2 q6 b6 ^ U/ }tough."
8 S9 \0 a# E( s! b2 J$ C% p& `---2 A- U4 Y1 K; b3 u# ~# p, L
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
" ?# p8 ~4 o; c% j) T& zRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
) |1 N; i5 |- Vthis story.- S5 o9 t5 K- h$ r( ^1 h
/ `# k4 O+ F) U8 @. E$ s9 a/ g* ?-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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