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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
1 r9 ?5 m- c6 f3 F4 n" k( J: b" f# UBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS; u1 i$ ]5 U3 i) i2 g3 M+ k
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.! ]8 W( H$ K, T0 w& o" \/ C1 t4 S
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that. W7 `' ^1 |4 ?+ F
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"! L4 C; U1 Y+ c( F, b, i
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.8 ~& t1 N' o- c& g- g$ }
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
0 h1 f5 ]% Y* h3 Pcauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
! I& I$ b( v. \- [However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
, @4 N7 \3 P9 @" y \' racceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
8 q$ u/ }* H% u: R+ @% c4 ntrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
) N( O: N4 J# ]mats and sticking accelerator pedals.
1 A' A5 I. E! }He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
" `) d- m1 k* S( D0 N$ ~and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
+ o: ~' r) L* f! Wcriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
; P8 u9 i1 J3 Gfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could& _, Z' H: P4 a2 w
not stop her runaway Lexus.
1 I8 _. x$ d+ U3 n/ q5 I4 _) x1 q"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,. [9 j! g3 c) Z( H' }* ], Y
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
1 x4 ~2 C3 R6 i: c"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
# Y1 r G- S1 U" j( ETexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues# W9 i7 I, u" K% c) }
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said3 U' x# I; @. I K
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has a) U- J. h; c3 Z1 ?* @. s% o
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway. F/ l4 P7 C8 ?, L$ Y! q
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's9 b- J1 D! q1 A% l0 O: ~' F
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."2 ~2 ~" F. l7 R/ R: E; r
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
( }; ?& c3 R1 `+ D/ [0 u' kelectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
: p z% u$ J: a+ f0 k% _the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
4 t! b' U% j1 k5 v3 c$ [6 ^& Kmalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
3 {4 U6 k& n; n+ S- {said.# Y$ T1 N2 N9 A/ V
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what% T6 ~9 I7 K: M. u' s5 i
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe% k5 |& f' U7 S3 w! q/ w Z u
about driving our products," Lentz said.5 E9 g8 ?8 t( v+ ~8 U
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
- W0 t2 |/ [' ~+ u( u6 R3 Vproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has5 A- `$ G2 v) X( @" U; `! N3 z
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
& Y' @3 F0 Q6 U8 Zmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of
! l' Z) } D/ E/ ?6 _8 J5 e$ qunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking& k- _2 X+ J5 J; B
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering! r6 v* `. Q0 ~* R+ }# v
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
$ h+ G- ]* }+ i- [/ S' itheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
8 x! a0 R7 [: L* @) H' Kdown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
9 _3 f0 I" X& g5 F0 }% Zreceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
$ I' h6 Q' [3 \6 h- bof Toyota vehicles since 2000.
+ E4 O/ H0 @& q5 k) R4 o( YLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own4 j5 ^# S$ e9 n. t
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he0 t$ {, M3 E0 S) p8 p$ |
understood the pain.
8 K/ h9 U9 o- `2 B5 k6 O. G"I know what those families go through," he said.+ g3 O8 l7 j( W! ?% T9 {
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's/ W* [9 L. e/ [: {2 \
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
5 P8 p/ s! X8 G! Z6 LBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
2 d* f" n, n4 Y7 V4 A3 [# g# PHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put* I/ b/ L/ Y) P" k3 R" V7 A' U# k
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,: B! D! q# T, O) P1 g
Lentz replied: "Not totally."
7 R3 B8 z9 z( N( w: c, _% V5 p, yStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were* L$ l6 s9 V- m3 \
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
4 ]5 H" v" h) c5 qToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
! A5 }6 ]" {' W4 Ipedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its' V, o y% M4 i5 q& j) E' S$ p
vehicles already on the road.7 Z% C4 p" C# f9 L w' O
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
- A9 J. ]* d& r; [before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full s$ a# x- D, S3 G0 ?% B3 l$ M+ g
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and. ?% k* j& ?. N' c3 _: {! {1 e
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were& F! u, R/ m! A( b$ ?4 d
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.1 S, m' I; J% i) W+ X1 i
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
2 r# I" A A& ~/ c7 }9 ztragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony3 U2 U9 K9 F' X* P% d! m/ B
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight7 K- j3 V0 V9 Y& v
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal, O6 s. K* {5 m9 I r
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
8 a/ o% I5 H7 r: s- Drestore the trust of our customers."* S; b2 E' p; a) W. b! p
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from" F& z5 y! K2 T4 {$ R g4 o
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
' ~! C0 u6 A1 j6 K( |! Dzoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --0 j/ @2 Q1 Z0 O; ?+ A) `5 R% V
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and: _# v9 N6 X3 o9 @8 ~
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
9 l! ]' ^5 ]- ^ d) g a, P0 Rthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and, i! ^; W6 b3 r) c
turn off the engine.
9 L7 v- ]* @( n, z5 t% M4 }% mFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
$ D6 ?, b1 Z2 _% ?October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
8 x+ H9 @: @, `- I( ]"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
+ t0 d. O% c4 N: f! i9 [. A1 K5 ~said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
* ]) _# s" o s* Q: B8 ?, Wto her complaints.' u C6 C3 Z# x* [; p+ s: ]9 V a
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
: _ \6 t, F; Rreturned again and again to the question of whether electronic
h" R% W; E" D1 g: s, G; ?( r4 ]malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
9 t+ c+ F& t% x& l- e"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
" g& D$ V6 N3 {throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
" k o% w. F" k"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut0 k+ b$ M( Q5 d6 w7 ^3 S8 l5 D+ ]: f$ @
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
! s, l4 Z0 P, x! V& O# rTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in }: Y8 r4 V5 D' X: L7 k! v
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were( v0 [: A& w4 {
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
: b, y4 y% ]! X# y, wwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
0 d3 d, T+ ?% X# T+ r7 wevery question."( ?6 f6 b1 L) D- C: h
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
5 J1 `7 R7 x: n9 Y, helectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The& e2 }! w/ l Q* {
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
3 t3 b- P6 Z% N) Qcommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small# W, }5 x0 i3 \* H( d
number of vehicles8 w3 y. d9 M0 C0 P" b
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more
( m; |3 \) ?1 \( i; x" ~$ Odifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a7 W' S l# C+ _# E& d. M& M
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one/ z& o# R3 x5 H/ B+ q P# u
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.8 _( ]6 k0 V ?' g/ p8 Q7 S; n
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
" G/ F8 u8 A' [6 nwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
$ w. J) V# ` }) X3 t/ L0 |trace at all.
5 }, b3 a% }' g4 lHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
- O1 {) L2 g# o% |* Idatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden5 N2 i% o/ ?' {' [
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the6 J$ A) R1 t9 @; a
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
; `, m% b/ B6 rRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,6 |1 p: B1 H" |6 q/ Q1 {: \
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and w+ ^3 s8 J( f6 D, n4 K
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
% [0 x7 j5 C9 @* |' N% melectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible7 j: g6 r" U) X' g
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
) @" j9 v5 q6 w( k0 Nsuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained( t# d5 A: T) @2 |& G
by Toyota's lawyers."
; Q, ]3 u" T3 W3 o$ J6 u( SLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
) {3 `4 A8 l2 p1 G# Sproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
* K: c, b y/ z' M' z7 jcustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
: E( N* _( k# I, d$ \( Jsaid.3 y( i& a$ ~' {6 J% l5 k. Q
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
2 P! ~! _8 M' ~) \6 ma rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our; x$ L: A, S/ z- A0 M& N7 X
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
% I( `0 C; }" @7 i/ d% J2 x: ?officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.% @& U# K( n$ _/ r+ n$ e' E# ^2 g
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying8 y. p; v) n. x" X# x
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread: b( x+ E6 j7 ?1 |# E4 A2 L
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
- [( s. {- M4 A! d! h( h/ F# Zautomaker, at least in part because of the government's
F# u$ \1 Y einvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and8 N2 n! P, D0 h) N
Chrysler.6 D [5 K2 @4 ]8 s" N# ~3 W
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax) D9 F1 {" \$ N% x: ~' q2 \5 }" K& T
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
8 }' @% `) R8 f" @5 e( }Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
$ u7 X8 R* s8 d {) b+ Xserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
6 c. Q0 U' w& l/ wwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty1 ]6 P; a- G% {4 d& j+ Z
tough."
b6 m1 u e) u---+ b8 R' m- k( w+ r
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
5 R* U! _6 O$ ^7 v' z- y" iRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to; B* I% N" r6 ~4 D
this story.
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5 ]( O* [. i% }$ ^1 i-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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