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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
/ I& g9 i: {5 a& ?By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS; H0 x3 L- }' l5 }% P6 |" v7 D% U
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.. F- P. y7 N- r- M8 Z3 P
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that) P2 m. G+ L( E$ x4 Q, h
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
; E' p' m: y4 P0 Isolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.6 E" {; [$ M+ [8 M: R
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
, Z. t: q* U! {0 Ccauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
1 S# `5 _ M1 @0 q+ M; o6 }6 hHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
: u* y7 i+ I* j5 H$ D! yacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and+ B4 Y+ \! n& H o
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor' v8 |9 w9 }- G
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.5 Q+ u; e& B2 N t! a
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
1 \- ]3 j. u- i+ a0 q5 {& Sand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
( G4 P" }9 ~" l/ D, L" |criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be/ X6 n/ t& z1 K% m
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
+ }" H3 J8 I" }* qnot stop her runaway Lexus.
+ V$ o! q8 m* {7 N8 P"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
4 ?% i/ _" x2 C V& l' G/ ETenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
3 X4 Z8 Q8 W8 a, Y& _ M P1 z9 B"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
7 p1 [7 a4 E9 @Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
: r5 A" k7 f+ r5 `; U2 x0 Xearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
: X* `% C+ v; }( J"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
: j% ~4 Y4 G) ^0 f; n# wdone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway) k! X4 }2 I1 d" P+ V* P( o# s
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
, @8 N5 r1 ]7 `" s- o* Vinvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham." D* {+ N1 D% e9 @$ I
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an) v; Y: F5 {0 M6 M" J L
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of O, f( z Q: x$ N( A1 m
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
; Z: H+ Y& _/ C8 Y. zmalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he, ?. V" t7 S5 `) s4 A8 \$ K
said.
. S L% L0 D# @: A, ?$ d9 zAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what/ t" P7 W9 b+ X. e. Y( h- N
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe$ V) ~" g+ j( a# ]9 _( ~
about driving our products," Lentz said.
/ z3 o# ^: y) K! e6 H0 hThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's$ V; z" l4 F2 E F4 e+ J
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
" s* P$ M% L& Crecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6; k- T3 G" g% E) U* W; `: `) t
million in the United States -- since last fall because of
5 o) Y$ {+ e; n8 P4 `' ?unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
$ H$ F7 J# E+ r8 W5 S" B' M" Zissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
5 e1 G4 Q$ ]. \4 `1 t6 rconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
3 G3 G+ ?( q# q Mtheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow N5 }. a# w' v3 B2 y. U9 g/ g
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
0 i: L2 ~5 E) @1 Qreceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
6 x; m6 U$ v, f, [, Mof Toyota vehicles since 2000.
" B \. \: ]# W% B1 ?Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own6 |$ S, f) I' ~9 t% {8 ~
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
3 H: s! s/ J0 w5 b- nunderstood the pain." l4 m7 D+ ~ c6 S: J
"I know what those families go through," he said.
4 t+ O* p: p+ R8 P% g9 n$ G8 hLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
( G$ o5 q: A. P, ]: z( N7 kfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
3 u ] f% r; ]6 s2 v' M, [; RBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman% }6 C/ J; |, v$ e4 D7 u
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put1 `3 `9 g& G2 ?, H9 p2 m
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
M* ^$ N# b, z; g$ cLentz replied: "Not totally."+ D' J2 c) o% M+ i9 Q h
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were! f; `9 _' Y5 O [
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
3 H0 r4 B0 z) U# R& t6 O2 Q8 TToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas) v/ T0 ^2 P ~4 p w" u% ~5 z% D
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
\4 `) h7 X$ t avehicles already on the road.
6 Z0 u/ `3 W" ~. f/ x o& }8 k8 JMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
! a( C. {' _; |& U/ b7 x# lbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
: E" D* ^; F' K4 X' u# a7 jresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and4 ]3 z: D4 h* V1 Q' c. o
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were8 W+ B* V# q8 q, b8 S- E2 O
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.- x' T6 N. b( C! L
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a1 s7 _8 Z( T# }
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
- H( g7 \3 @: @for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight3 Z% Y4 L8 E) w) I+ ~. A5 N, F% N
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal3 V' d) m+ q5 x5 ^: U4 H
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to+ u- J. s; W2 Q
restore the trust of our customers."
, X& O; S8 o iLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
. R/ J& d% j4 a. P( [Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
6 D, r# L' o! c3 i0 q% a4 @zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
1 J1 M3 X1 `( W- ~shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
% V6 k( E) {. z1 ohitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
. B( J4 L0 K0 d% k& w- Athat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
, x1 H/ | G) ~' f$ q- ~turn off the engine.
& v( m" q! a7 M9 O+ {Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of$ A% ~$ K) N- v3 C/ T, U* m; p4 I
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."0 I) W1 y/ J; f5 z# Z
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
" Z3 d- Q( R( {/ U) esaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
; @2 d6 f n3 B8 \to her complaints.
2 b8 \' L2 U9 L2 J# c3 jIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers9 t i% J8 s# z$ H* L* S" Y
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic }' W9 B9 q- O4 K2 O+ R
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars. q3 n' E9 k, }" V
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
$ d) P0 U3 l kthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited2 A& C+ i: _9 }% B; t
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut0 a3 l: ]+ C. y: X: u8 H2 L
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."3 v4 ?, k) c" o" o/ y' ?8 W7 X
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
- k: z0 A/ O: t! |) ?# e4 y3 Gprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
% Z! J. Z, j7 U3 ? @( fbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls% T* j. L$ T# S6 D2 P6 O2 \! X8 ?
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer4 l- ~8 l4 s" }/ |: t8 t( {
every question."' v4 y. B- W* m, r
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether6 {8 Y, ]0 P* s9 d* O5 n k" {
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The" r' h2 V& `9 U( t' Q/ j
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But& U& d$ |8 q8 T7 r# U# i5 m% w4 p
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
5 h2 [2 F3 j1 |% ]9 w7 Knumber of vehicles1 h7 Y* M1 X; ~7 ~( m
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more) X! P% C: g7 }* @7 @; Q) V* N4 }
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a1 s7 Q2 `9 v E. N. O( A) T8 r
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
3 W) T Y9 F; {source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
6 ^9 d, Z2 E" n) S( @! b8 V! iMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
+ \% S8 ^5 q$ P/ Fwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
6 n/ {* d3 M( w: V: T- B' @3 K) `trace at all.
9 V) W; ?/ _" [1 XHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call) Y9 L. W6 }8 E3 @ X
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden6 G) k* x+ J1 ?# z6 z1 \
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
! b/ O- p% ]- frecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.7 m& {7 X5 y9 {0 Q
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
0 {9 O8 w5 p9 A9 V# ~* i6 a7 }said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and& J U7 M# u# e H, r' _+ [
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the& z4 G1 n1 U6 [* b/ ?; ?. y1 d
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible; ~1 o$ F2 v. a9 `1 C1 ?6 v( O
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only+ T- q) Y9 w3 ?' ?
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained' R+ m! X. d1 i
by Toyota's lawyers."
& M& L/ x$ S. x/ K/ M- x/ `Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
" u$ h& e2 o& S5 m u0 _" W, J& o7 T5 Wproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our4 @) A, a1 d" ?/ C" z) s; f, w
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he- K& Q- s8 i$ h
said.
. `0 T. [2 o/ [9 y% |"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with0 B Y m9 {' `5 K
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our8 d% e' C/ m- B V5 n# @
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
/ S% H6 [3 I4 T0 @2 a+ `officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.0 P+ H/ E9 q, y1 O9 P
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying+ u0 w2 J4 |0 Z2 x
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread, ] d4 u( g3 v W) M& @' G% I3 e
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
& b3 @6 Z% _1 eautomaker, at least in part because of the government's& W9 A, l) ?0 V" G: t- x
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and! R0 w: S/ s9 a( _) t% R
Chrysler.
' ~& P0 g1 _7 b, w"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax! d( t/ b/ {5 e. t* I1 b* o
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a8 W+ r6 A$ g2 Y% f( x$ h
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
+ E0 [+ z3 H# f8 e6 gserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete, G$ C0 U( K( B
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
0 S1 T7 T2 l. f% l) Y `6 ltough."
$ H5 c; S: b3 w2 q F' P4 X& }---7 q+ h% m1 G# R1 U9 p3 _. s
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
- L( z& K9 M8 t& Q/ C1 y# VRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to$ S. J u' n! {0 ?
this story.
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