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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
f; P3 p9 v. YBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
- M5 Q- H5 R( Z3 |Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
- u( j, K5 S: q! m/ ?7 woperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that; {" _# f& V0 _( j$ B
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
8 J4 l6 i# G* ^solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.) F+ S" l# H" Z4 F9 G
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
0 F: C8 t2 {3 |# F6 y$ Z- pcauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel. X( |' y( E; x! I; V' G7 {
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected8 C( U, s+ @6 G; }
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
2 J8 t0 M- ~5 Q. [; u( p! ytrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
: C) R0 t5 n9 K; q1 ymats and sticking accelerator pedals.2 C/ z* \! y0 E" i7 p. U
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal4 K. V" @9 M1 k$ x
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
$ Y! d' N( [( q t }9 ^- Ucriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
$ {! y! c$ n( o2 }6 [9 `. mfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
D" u: V1 K! Q9 n& n/ l3 c/ xnot stop her runaway Lexus.
7 a: l- d7 r {( |( f K"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
4 C) u1 K6 V; h8 tTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
; ]' C; @* [ k"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
9 d5 j$ U5 L* P: eTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues! H7 l. y, F5 d$ C
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
! y8 ?; }1 Q1 a"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has- F& }( j4 q/ Y+ M/ E( L/ b% f: N
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway5 S: |+ I$ r8 e4 r" M7 J( j: v. ]
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
0 e% y% q* C2 U* m! q! A7 l! Uinvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
% J. s0 p. @) U$ M7 iLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
6 B, N' |' y3 H$ K- w& J' felectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of, V o' ~ T1 `$ a7 g% f1 j9 T% l
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a7 j2 e7 x, |+ o
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he2 m/ ]6 F5 L9 k0 u
said.' |+ J7 w, Q6 H+ o) I) H
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
+ ]9 }* @; T( t1 Z7 h* Ohappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe; L# C4 ]# K% ?" m- v
about driving our products," Lentz said./ |; }- O/ [9 o0 x
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
5 D' n, O6 { d: e0 nproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has) X) o1 {6 N, [8 N1 E5 _) C" r. ^' ~
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
# w) K/ a* l6 smillion in the United States -- since last fall because of2 @3 ~# C+ P# l( _6 c* W
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
9 R/ a6 E' i$ w! J, A& y2 u: M* Yissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering0 r3 l( O B( O1 @1 q6 w% N
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
2 ?0 o9 N2 q% k/ B9 P0 atheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
3 P, O) q% p5 @, Odown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has6 l7 o S. H4 b1 s7 b- d5 ~
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration! n0 `- h2 \2 y! d
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.
* ?4 l# `) W# Q8 z% d& Z `Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own: W4 K( c8 h, O1 q! c
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he' z" q4 d1 t' E! h2 M
understood the pain.$ B! E) ^: c! m, _) M
"I know what those families go through," he said.
# [+ D" M. w+ S5 a# A4 b, OLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
' C. Y0 }" v; }fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
8 J+ k/ `( C( @But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman3 b, Z/ Y+ ~, x) O6 s% f$ }7 @
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
( i7 v9 O; f" U9 ^$ U* Kin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,+ n& x5 h! r8 u: n7 R
Lentz replied: "Not totally."
+ i- F2 ~ p2 } `8 Q" Z1 L& tStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were& y$ g5 M4 E2 a8 n
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
' K C! B8 h5 EToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas5 x" {0 D* }; I
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
8 Z8 _6 d8 d: S3 hvehicles already on the road.
8 R; l* R0 L. _( j, s) ?: e" @Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify3 b% V" f0 M$ x G/ W
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
, R6 B1 n0 ]8 rresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and. h8 V7 E5 Z/ m8 M, y I
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were' I# t' j1 p7 n$ X {
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.% K& e; e% A% N9 N' S* r w
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a3 y7 j5 @# Y) N" ~5 K- N
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony/ O: m8 E" _; |
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight8 C$ Q8 I" v3 j# j& e
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
: J8 E/ |# B Ecommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to/ s7 b$ c6 m& v4 V" m' a& r8 c
restore the trust of our customers."1 ~: b- _) Z3 y5 O& s% Y; N
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
2 ?, e9 c( d# X( xSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly: K9 T6 V x- d2 X6 ?) z3 ]
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --+ ^, Z$ G* y: _2 O$ E
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and+ z. D6 V& g, d, x, w6 F
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough3 W! r* |- y, j$ Z
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
1 |: R. |/ \8 J: o, q! o8 kturn off the engine.2 w, |% H4 i9 C- p1 \
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
2 `5 D4 R$ Y2 p; wOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."- N+ r; t( ~5 ]# R$ S
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
2 G1 d9 K7 J3 F$ j& P! k8 o& c1 R# v {8 wsaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
X( u3 J, b5 P7 C- v% ~8 gto her complaints.2 ]8 L$ L- h0 X4 l0 C9 p
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers( q0 c0 N! ~7 ~( _+ f2 d5 P
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic2 P* A4 Z/ R: a( a! h* b3 F
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.) Q5 V. }6 r" u7 `9 q2 q1 ~; l
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric1 ]. X, b' T$ ~% Z
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited" u$ l, T& u4 ~" V8 U; A
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
- D `; K3 z, i9 hoff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
1 o7 B( {9 }7 j" gTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in/ k0 l. C# g- h2 g, _4 B
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
6 C, i& q3 U, j9 G3 ^$ z g4 Bbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
- E: `. N- p7 z% Fwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer. O' r! Z F; D2 q( g( \: Y
every question.") V2 e5 V8 K3 b
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether; |" e1 t8 F% X( L
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
/ T6 y* R5 j" s/ T, t1 D1 Dfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But/ ^: M7 Y1 x8 v' a, }
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small* j3 T! z4 a2 x
number of vehicles
$ D6 g0 V$ A5 |! _. q1 k8 y) @; w' ~Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more
* v" P; S, {- Q G, pdifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
5 S0 ]4 |2 I* n# H+ pmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one$ {; g4 a, V& R `4 _
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.8 [. t- F" x( U9 K; E3 i; ~ X3 f
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage," L9 X- ^" s+ d1 A
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
* l( Z+ v/ s( t& d* [! Htrace at all.
- I8 g% l8 M9 H$ ]House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
# D5 F a% G/ a1 ]' m1 a, zdatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
" L$ s5 u, j4 R7 I# H/ O2 i* nacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
6 L) G9 n6 t, Z/ b7 Wrecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.1 g1 Y( M, w; M; F
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
/ r2 J6 f* t/ R! z# Tsaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and' n' {' G1 P. y9 \; E. o
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the: `6 y& W$ D7 J1 z* K& D1 v
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
4 S- k0 m0 f C7 j" Z0 G& C% ^cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
' `' f5 s1 o fsuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained& D' e6 L: u) O# |9 }
by Toyota's lawyers."
+ p8 k7 P4 K. RLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of# {5 V# a' k+ R) @0 O
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our; F9 }; B% L4 y ?% [5 B0 e5 g
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he! O ^% v" P4 x- L0 d& U' Z
said." w# ~; z/ J# f# g' j9 d- c( P
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with+ x3 H; P' b" ]; h4 B
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
* L4 O& d, W4 |/ {# n( s8 u5 Xgood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
: C4 P( Z; j+ [officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.1 f: Y7 _# j+ b& j' q
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying+ a; `% V$ n0 L U5 q6 Q+ {
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread" Q! ]% ]4 h& ~9 S6 {; m8 \2 m1 s
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the @2 U: T- X! c4 L3 d6 _
automaker, at least in part because of the government's
# I+ O' L7 @$ ]; p- V( Ninvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and2 w8 k: ~4 v( \1 M/ ~6 U
Chrysler.
: F! \; B( o( J$ A2 G5 g"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
5 W$ U/ t- Z9 @( gdollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
; V. U- @3 K; EHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also* Z* r* b9 x2 R3 n2 n$ g: |1 p
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete( k% v# z6 U* K
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
, Q7 H' t+ A0 _( Q) n5 \tough."7 B" _ r. A0 u6 p# K# Q: i
---% ~: U( N" |+ T* v; Y% X1 C
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom: k* U- Q# R! S/ }) s* w* n& M
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to$ z* s% r( b- z, @% D2 n
this story.% y4 Z6 W8 Z8 h
0 i1 i; H& M$ T" O6 o* a, y7 Q- T-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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