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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" J* O6 C' P$ s) m6 G# d
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
( C' P3 T) [: j$ n5 N, _8 e3 bWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.& W3 E) i9 u" V3 G& P
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that( C1 ^$ x8 M O( W: t
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
. L/ C) h" R; i0 }1 Wsolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.' l& B" c3 Q6 k) [, M% w3 S2 y+ o4 A
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
1 c0 g+ c& F# P8 d- n( X. [causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.3 J# a! ]9 d5 v1 l& u
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected6 Y1 X0 z) z% K
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
3 {2 w7 X( @6 P! o: T8 Mtrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor5 N7 T0 c# q: F# Q% M
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.
6 C. _5 m( ^! {9 w. q- _( vHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal& J+ E" E4 }( t2 M% ^
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
! Y$ ~! c% X) S+ M4 H- ecriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be0 j4 E: z/ x1 A" r7 [% C' V
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
% N) [3 y7 g: S! u( hnot stop her runaway Lexus.* g( ^& U% C+ A; P z2 V
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,* p$ f6 w$ s5 M+ N/ E; a
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
2 ?7 u# u- |- G5 i8 f# C( L! R"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators./ w p5 l8 [6 }& N8 h- P
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
" I: b7 h1 ]4 a5 S2 A! vearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said( e1 P2 N. H# _ m. G( V
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has; N5 _+ ~) m% m4 ?$ w# A P$ g
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
" }( ^2 p- ?8 G4 H, ?* bthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
% ~$ x$ \- N7 B" }" Kinvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
$ s* b" M/ a# {+ Y7 d9 FLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
; w2 J# R4 M7 _9 q) c4 a7 Qelectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of2 g% d" X1 V6 L# T" o _5 R
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
, i2 f( T- c% a" u) Pmalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he7 _1 ^% a( f/ K' k; }
said.
- R! s0 H# q" |0 [9 m5 k vAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
1 D. X0 Z" B& Y! B9 M- n9 O; Qhappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
& n, y% f% p' O" ]) r( ]about driving our products," Lentz said.: X. G$ R0 t8 U' R7 N& ]* @
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
, j" m4 \" ^7 e9 d5 {6 `problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has8 e' h6 r" @) A; O
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
% B# }% L/ }+ ]" }million in the United States -- since last fall because of8 u1 v- G) U7 g" {
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
6 G/ G4 I- o. R3 j# W# i! W" \' Cissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
# Q) \0 O" q- Y, v A- Aconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
* h) b# Y& p7 ]( E2 htheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
" |! ]* T9 N H! {& sdown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has, f: M8 e# \5 V6 J" ~
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
$ K9 n9 J) U- v8 hof Toyota vehicles since 2000.& F) e9 k" w9 a* X0 F7 e) z
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own# @5 A1 M2 x% {, C) n H
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he2 h7 P' s9 P$ \, _8 c1 ?
understood the pain.# A2 ^6 Z# i) n. f4 _" ]$ W$ k
"I know what those families go through," he said.. H) w8 N" T+ p4 n3 ?
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
/ G7 Q9 l( I9 N d, W7 jfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.* W/ z; M* v( \ M8 t4 O) p% A) Z
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
: {# l2 w m) A$ I FHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put2 u3 h4 N5 Y Z- z
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,6 @& ?; X7 T1 o
Lentz replied: "Not totally."
' y# t; ~: J2 C0 ~6 P! }( @$ RStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
3 `. p% `# b; o5 X2 G2 z"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
/ K8 @" G% j8 f S5 CToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
. v5 B/ _$ E k% x8 B& ~pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its0 H( ~0 }# d" w* O
vehicles already on the road.
6 ]/ n: K$ s9 z- CMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
) p. q9 i5 i5 z; G; Rbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
- v( B, J8 Z8 c( H7 K5 {, H% _responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and H2 G: k' x ~2 s/ R& W4 r
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were/ k U; [ P7 e
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
2 ~& V6 E4 f: L# w+ C. p$ G3 n"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
8 q% D6 ]) M5 s- H+ g* s' [$ V% J& ^1 [tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
3 @0 v' a- Y7 k+ w3 m" N) Mfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
5 S5 E8 U/ `" E- m* G$ j iCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal: G( T; B# k) E8 z/ ]( _8 T: w
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to: e1 H+ c X! H5 M( b
restore the trust of our customers."
3 C0 ^5 s4 s9 W# `Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from/ i8 m0 g# e( }5 |( v
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly8 w% v4 K8 o. t6 Z
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --! \4 D5 v# k2 |( b6 s& ~5 ^- l
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and6 N! N% b1 J7 w) V1 ~
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough6 T. f: O5 F. D' [& E2 V3 o. f
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
+ E3 v8 u: J1 A& A; Xturn off the engine., I/ _4 g! N" Q" S, D' G
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of! l$ b4 _2 { B9 [& D: K
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."/ r$ i* j* \/ a# x
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she7 V' B% h, l0 \$ Q0 ?% H5 E
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond# i6 L, s" T, y5 ]( M" {& V
to her complaints.2 Z5 z, M8 O/ r6 e9 G, V
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers) |$ g) ^* o2 D J, D) A7 V, Y) I: x* C
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic+ b' H+ H. v: c6 V- ~: i
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
6 m% n( {) a5 }"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric3 O* s8 s, G% S
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
6 {9 o) N; b6 p* T"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut$ D7 y0 B* N, T' T
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure.", r3 e& P6 k8 Z1 T
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
4 D. H" C% ]5 U' Kprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
+ S% G! ~# X0 g6 U! x/ Tbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
. T3 U$ L! g; z5 Iwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer9 P$ y' g" o8 h* m" e' e% N
every question."" W5 ^; R: P% Y+ c1 I; d9 s2 M
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether ?# P3 W. G- L
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
2 A# E0 D- S4 o8 `6 mfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But- L. W7 v/ Z1 `/ G
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
: Q* Q9 @7 k5 _3 ?: e1 ^2 Rnumber of vehicles
e6 e) _3 D6 aTracking down an electrical problem can be far more& H( [" p6 ^- P- O$ t/ K
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a/ i" X6 r5 E- [1 D1 ]5 ]
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
, A5 C4 x' h" c* }source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.: }7 ]8 N) l* w. Q% _. u7 }' t' t
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
4 }) P: m9 a1 y' M; l2 }) y' ]+ Iwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no3 A: }1 {# p% ]3 }% K! V, z) N
trace at all.0 E: R$ R$ Z* x8 K5 Q7 p- w; J
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
) J5 ^( ^7 R/ |. B4 p: ndatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden8 Z- b2 O$ Q( l3 l* |
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the+ E& m2 n/ y8 P1 |1 y
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.3 l' O7 y4 B0 C' ?
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,% R' M( O; q* E; x' N2 Q
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and; o3 y' w7 k1 F! z
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
4 a* F1 N1 C4 yelectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible" k# A) s& C- ^
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
' P% l( x* I9 \9 Vsuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained0 ]% P* w) o, n# N# b, q
by Toyota's lawyers."
2 w, R, s8 ~5 T% r# VLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
" _* g, i" h- `problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
: o/ a4 ?0 O. Ecustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
" V. a% i, I2 E3 M- m" t: N+ A- R& `said.
8 f6 r _0 } M6 O z"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
: [. m; D; g) O) qa rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our9 f* H& j r# ]# k
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating! e: Z" I! `! o' u
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
, H8 L( U; x( HSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
* f W5 h' [) bmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
) Y* h* R* z5 ]% T7 e! p0 Prancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
! h% q J# [ E6 C- W' O% S kautomaker, at least in part because of the government's/ E+ M6 \! `) z
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and/ |" e4 A8 P p
Chrysler.
/ g. U) J' R' Z$ d' o$ X) V"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax( \( K# \, i% w* p/ |0 u
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
. N4 o$ t7 l: t) B5 j9 N8 tHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
3 Q; C5 L5 J5 w* B: Q$ p( jserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete ?, R X, }, l" F& c9 U
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
- t; M% z2 t. _4 Ctough."
! r4 |$ `2 K( t1 }' F' p3 j, M6 }---
/ K1 d% f- }/ @( D( I$ }Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
2 B1 s7 |2 ~& e& ]; SRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
# w" G9 y' y# X0 Q' xthis story.6 f4 d3 i. `" A& _9 ]0 W
( `) V. _0 S+ x: }
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