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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$ P' ]. P+ r0 v- ~+ JBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS( B0 ~0 ~7 D1 g4 q" r* c, m; E" c: \) o% B
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.8 r8 C: E4 U9 |9 m' e0 U
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
0 Y( [. g# F, [/ x7 ?the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
3 k7 K W7 a+ o' P4 ~0 \solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.8 T; @! V+ q% M) L: ?9 s; M
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
" ~3 C8 b' ^5 Rcauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
. ]& [; E. W, m6 P6 tHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
- X" R% O: q. j# z v6 aacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
- E5 @. A1 x9 V* Htrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor; ]3 A: G6 V7 X& o' \4 p* `
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.
% e! ?% o! P$ BHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
# J0 B; [( w7 C2 n3 T! o# y( A# nand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp/ ^: D) H& X t
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
1 J- u( b- N$ _+ Ifurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could4 A' e: p9 d- ^, ], `
not stop her runaway Lexus.1 L: `; F* X+ c9 a# ]
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
! G) W/ E: W% S+ ?5 h9 n dTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second9 |; s* I4 w( `
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.1 t4 C* K w% `, D, A! b
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues2 B; F6 q* B. Y- [2 l4 z
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
5 u1 B$ g# Q* m"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
; E: @: L6 f0 ^done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
7 ~$ A$ Z. _# t1 ?through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
. y- Z s# b% Z: O( n0 Jinvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."+ O" [' ^0 G; m: c5 `
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an3 R* l5 @7 L& i- s+ z4 g1 C
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
$ s L# s( U/ S8 ~! Z8 J7 Pthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a* Y$ s# {; X( j7 y$ } V
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he) f/ R0 v4 S& J- H% S
said./ L$ b0 { z1 s# U
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what/ u6 V; u* L5 B Y
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe: r. q0 N. V' {; X: F
about driving our products," Lentz said.% a# \0 C L6 e
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's+ K- S% t) j1 E
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
9 p# o7 u4 |+ t) C0 M' crecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6, }& H. E$ ?( B) D1 N3 }. m
million in the United States -- since last fall because of
7 m* l" f( b/ P6 p2 ^- Y/ Qunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
, C% o5 [0 q4 r' c, U, {issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
% B2 J/ N. M& N) Oconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of/ e2 G2 h0 }0 z" L
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
3 h% @4 F6 S" p: o Y( }" ^down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
; I. S0 [, [1 C- Y" V: ureceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
% V7 U/ a6 \( r; q/ Eof Toyota vehicles since 2000.
& p" T7 ]2 c* q1 f' @- \, CLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
7 _/ m S6 C" A. v* N0 Q! Cbrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
; |% C! d& i7 _0 L+ ~$ ounderstood the pain.
, P& \% Y* `' _/ X, w7 W. q" e"I know what those families go through," he said.- z! k1 B. A8 E/ y3 r+ L
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's: `6 k" X& d6 M0 e2 q: E
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.) \) B# O" k Z
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
9 E. R# ~, M+ V& p: K1 t) D+ O" YHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put+ y3 x- [1 B- S F/ i% I6 t
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,9 a( r# l. v" Q
Lentz replied: "Not totally."
3 l& `! X1 @; d8 O5 f% KStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
+ W( R% o- ?4 w. _1 h"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said7 ~# }! r( Z2 j1 s
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
3 g5 ]( D, o6 z2 A8 Ipedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
) s: Z4 R7 ]1 R+ Z" u% r$ Hvehicles already on the road.3 o9 _7 p- N" w" ]: b s% B
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify8 l1 u d4 ^. k6 _! [0 t
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
2 f/ d9 V4 M% ` D# o4 H$ Q" oresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and- F. b# W0 x' k- D. a
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were. t" ?! k, B" i( |, q0 b n' A
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
2 h0 s8 {2 T a' b% |- H" m2 T0 X/ i"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a) Q- ]$ p+ \, n' q, c1 l; K
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
0 M+ Z7 _# j3 R- e7 S; |- r/ Qfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
$ Z' j" d* [# j& `$ X/ sCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
- `1 P$ S9 V# N+ J0 ]( Xcommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
, Y7 u a( o% @1 v8 Grestore the trust of our customers."
* Z3 f; F9 o8 J/ m/ M5 FLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from7 n6 s, }$ d$ \' X
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly9 p0 Y9 U2 S/ [) q2 p' g5 x* @
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
8 y8 S/ s2 A5 N. ]6 v6 Kshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and" ^0 B" j4 G8 [" p+ A6 M
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough' O3 M% h [6 H; l: S- Q
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and% F) }6 t" O6 N1 y5 x$ E5 c6 R+ O
turn off the engine.; u( J5 [$ ]* `4 N' P6 H. x D. G
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
/ W& W1 p t, Y7 c3 i0 o, `October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
% j# W! L/ L* A- M"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
& Q# \4 g5 Z" x5 |7 p. nsaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond1 ]- S" y' E6 X) _ a8 O% j
to her complaints.9 W& b6 X: E1 D4 S& K
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers2 D* V1 _7 {! T/ y4 q" K# }
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
- E* f0 o3 Q2 v5 R/ R5 f7 w2 y# dmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
^6 E: Q3 \* U9 [; N"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
; M+ m% `: {5 T8 u! {5 t1 A+ Bthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited$ p" h( Z% ~$ x. V" a% O$ Q
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut' w, R5 h; |; l, C
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
2 @% \4 b2 l) J) {8 O7 ^! p8 ]" nTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in$ Q' @: o" c- h/ S1 B& z3 r
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were" i* j) q2 L# A+ [& i9 r/ D3 \
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
% t$ ^ F$ q0 N( c7 pwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer8 B0 L* `- K. i4 c$ ]/ o
every question."
- ]/ B3 N l" r0 V; d" ?Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
: }3 E4 _5 k: ~/ `% Zelectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
# A( A6 H2 Q4 cfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
# R! L1 n/ [ E# Acommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small( S! h7 l; A g; @* a
number of vehicles
) I q0 ]' ]! Z% k& b3 v( d u& E7 S1 bTracking down an electrical problem can be far more
. V* D- [5 T# U; ?" Qdifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a$ S) @4 n- z) F U
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one" t/ S* J) T0 g5 i+ z' F# A! u' d
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
9 L3 T$ {, q1 b3 T0 EMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
! j5 z; s! h2 f( bwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
7 }; o. h5 l2 _1 y1 Z6 Ztrace at all.
, N, Y. Z' u. ] J Z5 fHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call6 W' R3 i- y# b+ i
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
6 l: m( ^3 U0 Kacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the1 J6 | X% k/ B, u
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
' L! D' U, t6 |5 ]8 ?6 k1 fRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
7 v7 H5 c1 V( b9 T) _( ]# Psaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
) R; R0 Y5 E% {# R9 I; Lother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the3 u: X2 H/ Z. Q4 v+ |0 ~
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible' c% t) `5 w i/ {. ]
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
8 W/ r7 P3 ~' f* ]) X* Jsuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
# }* X8 H5 z+ D4 t' dby Toyota's lawyers."
! h3 v- J: M. [; S% t" M _- D7 oLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
0 Z% a4 w. f+ i8 s3 Pproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
* P& D3 i4 l7 S. O* Z/ Tcustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
9 |3 b5 h, w0 q4 m' f1 N6 K4 Qsaid.
1 _( p/ L z0 n2 [( W0 S"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with4 {+ U% w# g& m0 g) F1 Z5 t
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
8 Y7 B2 Q8 g. u/ T* Kgood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
0 K3 z6 J0 O2 Zofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.( p* z$ w0 i- z) H' {, H
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
% I& d" C$ J* b0 K8 I" [' d! dmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread9 D, h1 a; s, W
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the5 e: a% E# I2 q7 S5 W
automaker, at least in part because of the government's
/ L* | _# @% s) J* q! r, rinvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
! L' X: j' l4 U& G, R$ RChrysler.
) m N3 ]* o" p' P"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
% W& X, {% s/ s1 Gdollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a) H. X0 J5 k# T' F
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also& K5 E! L4 J' Q9 ?$ L
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete# c* F1 V0 l% G t* O: C Y% G+ r
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
( Y/ @; ]+ h1 W: y- m4 etough."5 G+ B) ~7 u0 ?
---7 ?, {: O' V9 N- v
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom' L; L1 i# N' ]$ H- f$ n: K1 H) }2 N
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to: F- p" J- d; D( n3 h: _( g
this story.1 ]+ A; R/ M! e. G
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-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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