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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
) g0 X* F; S1 g( fBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS E8 x% _5 p- E6 Q
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.- F0 R! T F9 g% m8 p* O
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
1 q g# E7 e$ M& N' L7 Ythe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
# D; f8 I& E& u6 O7 Msolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
; k1 }( [& Y1 H1 V6 X4 h"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
/ W7 g7 g1 }8 Pcauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.' E- M0 j& \4 N/ n q8 {) J, L
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
) b( F2 {& P' K4 dacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and- I+ L- ~$ `* O, V% k) Z
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor% f: e* N% e0 z( n4 N! z
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.
: u' v k' y( d9 [7 I" AHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
/ O' r; |- i1 S" wand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
3 [* Z2 N2 t1 x/ w/ xcriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
4 t% ^( p4 w( qfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could4 _9 _. x/ ^) S0 p& L
not stop her runaway Lexus.1 X4 V) R2 F4 K: @% S O. }
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
; }0 l" O8 m7 P5 \) \; B0 g, {Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second @* n, n2 \7 T1 o2 q7 E0 s. t2 n1 I! a
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.6 C5 h) h3 M4 x0 v8 q: c* m
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues' z2 f8 w+ i6 ?) x" P
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
9 b# O6 N/ o: t6 ~' M"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
6 ^( e+ O2 ~5 t+ ^, t, Jdone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
) U0 V6 W5 u: G/ Y, I6 \" j* s7 I9 `through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's) x. d* s) ~5 H( D" x. N
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
# z4 L! S* r) {" ILentz said the company had not completely ruled out an. b3 ]: m) b8 v9 L0 g V
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
& b' j. X8 O5 ?* Ithe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a! L0 p- W$ \8 h/ S3 O
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he; n, G. }% r. l8 B" S8 U
said.
9 q. J. v2 ?, l# DAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
; k/ I/ f" b3 ]happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe* z7 {8 r4 |, {& |' ^: L/ Z; E+ x
about driving our products," Lentz said.
" J& j+ P6 N" b+ ]& C5 iThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
) ^+ n( ~* k$ W2 p. V- eproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has; m9 W/ o. |$ C/ B/ e& g \
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 65 A; p5 u9 r: p: H
million in the United States -- since last fall because of
: X& i! n. t+ }4 o9 [/ vunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking( W3 v, R/ a2 j) A& q$ u
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
4 B& p+ ~% e7 k9 y o8 ?, oconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
: K H; u: f5 g0 l4 o0 Xtheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
+ u* D% K9 _6 rdown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has6 V# ^4 R+ @4 P
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration. l* c7 Y0 W- C a$ Y7 o
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.( ~7 @5 y4 w5 g' t0 Q# n& l
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own: l" R* g" I; t, V
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he4 W4 u7 f6 y) z0 t+ Z0 H& w+ M# @
understood the pain.
7 Z( s0 Z' V: w"I know what those families go through," he said.: |# ?; V; \/ t: s* ~# f; O
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's' N. Z' t. s$ N6 h8 D* U
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
7 D! K+ \7 ?% E1 ^2 d6 G1 [( ABut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman) y& {& ~9 }- q/ `# L
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put- j' u6 {4 \5 e, G5 q) S1 r
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
( c9 ^5 B# Y4 r) H; FLentz replied: "Not totally."
# {( E& k3 K' J/ M" M' ^9 W# r4 gStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were4 U" T! Z J( H7 Z" C
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said6 b3 R* n8 j5 L8 @1 t4 n
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
& v- {- a# h2 qpedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its) H) |' {4 m& X$ }* r8 O
vehicles already on the road.5 z" P z# }5 n/ ~( v+ @' k( U: S
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
- |6 F$ B4 u4 ~before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full* ^, {5 {) K4 k
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
# E4 K6 m3 }& p" foffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were) h6 F0 B3 P6 Z3 K8 y$ ]3 w4 Z
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
, ^2 w g2 A$ H: E5 t& o; S"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
9 ^* i& q2 S" l0 T& Y4 l& otragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony0 I( O2 V1 e" A) u4 {7 l: ]
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
@7 d( } S+ V& TCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal7 y/ o6 k% G' g& y4 v: _# {
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
3 x- E( b4 ~: ~3 arestore the trust of our customers."
5 u- U0 w) A& }0 \) O) mLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
* ^( r( i1 Q4 VSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly8 n# j7 D6 n! A+ D- _2 z5 J+ _
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
, y9 }% r. Q) w' b- N# Wshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
6 H) e' Y% C! Whitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough6 Q6 m6 C J# l
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and% D2 V# a1 B3 J
turn off the engine.
( V% M7 e6 F# u8 j A; JFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
4 i3 f6 h& Z6 b5 r5 e) U8 LOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
3 D* Q0 d, A. K, j' R7 T"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
]5 }% O. w. Q: M5 qsaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond: ?- c' l6 n! a) W
to her complaints.
, E" I4 t- s8 G% R( L: y) V, WIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers' T1 z; c k- n5 q8 [
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic* S$ `5 S! d* P- b
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
! l1 S- a0 X' \0 _"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric; u7 Y$ u0 ?0 S; N* f4 v/ C$ \- M# {
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited9 ?" H; T7 @: L' T9 B' Z
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut: ^. k" @- H5 y4 U
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure.", N- W2 K! H' i* D6 ?, B+ F* p) u( t0 K
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
. {2 N* E* k% p& |: L% nprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were0 k5 d; p6 U4 v, J
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls- c# E0 k- ]* n) o! z+ K% n
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer" [$ X/ w# e; _- _3 i) }6 g2 X
every question."
7 \' ~# U$ r! r$ ~* m7 \Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether$ l; Q( A8 o! M! I- y. f) C
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The1 L- p+ ~+ D: L9 @2 _) r2 v1 g
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
' @' h4 h) f# F" }' Q$ kcommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small
' [7 K! i; \' e4 C" w2 Fnumber of vehicles
3 z" Q3 a& w) Y6 TTracking down an electrical problem can be far more
' ]9 }3 J$ P4 X( L; g1 ddifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
2 L2 t6 ?" S# j: e9 l, ^: }: Rmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one7 D1 R' M7 f- W$ h1 R3 _( P
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
) N- w# [' ]+ [6 X% YMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
* f' s% Z( `0 K5 f, J0 m* Uwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no3 G4 c1 n7 _+ b7 J, Y, G6 T
trace at all.
4 m- Y: s) m1 oHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
7 S0 i# x+ u9 V ~) T2 C6 }4 cdatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
2 t6 g% Y* \) W* l9 k% cacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
. }( Q+ n7 }. R+ u6 Frecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.' N5 t+ k) E: A2 L6 g
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
. n; B8 G4 Q- c8 W" Hsaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and- w# d' x" r1 _) i0 [ _
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the! Y* N- P" v9 @$ d9 _, @/ @" p
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible4 w& l! M& |7 z' H
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only* x' o% g0 ^/ D7 k6 G/ {( s' v
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
3 j3 G* r6 X5 I- s# \9 `by Toyota's lawyers."
8 t4 {0 m3 \. y6 x+ U4 P- H! zLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of* T' h2 v3 q2 L, n0 `4 p1 u
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
; J$ `6 U& {4 }6 Kcustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he0 C8 Q) q2 V4 @# Q1 ~# ~
said.
1 M! a7 d, {- r* V: ["Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with" M2 _7 G: f5 Z, h0 L$ I
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
~5 p U: i- S4 J- G$ X* W7 rgood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
. u: g B& f) c; Cofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.0 ]& Y/ P3 ]. k- f
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
3 {! o7 ~! [+ |# B+ hmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
( D) W% t6 y5 `8 v0 [0 c" grancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
4 u( h# B' @4 J0 G& x6 U+ j1 q2 q2 S- Mautomaker, at least in part because of the government's1 d$ l* y- u$ U; t# O4 W
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and& K/ W2 f0 K, `8 }9 p. S
Chrysler.- A- J/ L! C8 V2 K0 K! k
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax$ H- \0 D8 s9 e) }6 G
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a5 F$ _( n0 i9 ~- f
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
; Y$ E) r5 |8 t ^9 M* a3 s2 J' userved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete9 \4 Y9 H1 m+ @
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty& ^8 s6 O. R2 s4 N S
tough."
2 ?+ }+ Q3 G2 h: v( C! t4 M" L---
9 k3 h4 K* }8 d! A% z% xAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
6 d8 x6 G/ H4 [5 J7 n8 zRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
6 c1 i3 ]4 F3 m0 `4 U1 `this story.
1 n. L# D" _# T; [$ f" w) Z8 q, Q. a5 E- s- m
-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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