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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
! }6 L- H! {& n0 `; H* z8 vBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS$ C% I1 z3 C+ m) |7 U" W% c
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.4 x: b3 {7 h, l& R( N1 O' z- o
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that$ [1 F% j7 G6 @ ]% `* S0 N
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
+ w2 e* E6 H3 A2 ^& | ~! dsolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.1 o$ @5 U$ r _7 j& V) `
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
: y. g" \$ m8 R$ lcauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
9 W, ?2 R0 {( e p# BHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected& g2 y6 Q/ _" Z' g' Q/ w
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and" U7 b! X5 z) S
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
5 r' Q" N$ n) s4 R* E2 c1 nmats and sticking accelerator pedals. r: X! K1 q. F/ O: {1 W- ^
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal6 K! q4 q- f) p7 u9 @4 G
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp- @( m& ^# d* a( ?5 j2 |; j; Q
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be6 ~0 A; V0 I) `
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could+ P% X: |3 Y8 S7 f
not stop her runaway Lexus.
* A! q( Q' Y: h- W. H( R"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
) Y$ j" e" D4 L2 |Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
) M0 y8 L6 Q# v& M& Q. f"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
& Z6 Y( [6 G. S8 ^! sTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues* s6 Z0 S1 ]# E4 _. T2 a' n5 j
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
0 N" s$ o2 }1 m1 ]: |"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
+ {! q" { A% B) c, T: mdone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
( f; E! Q% n, o$ d9 Z, qthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's5 g7 T# Z/ h: _4 ` x2 H
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
4 E5 `& f# |, J' {2 H" pLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
' C/ V3 D! l) q* q4 helectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
?7 g4 ~4 y8 g) n8 n" Rthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a: g" |; D& S1 [- ?6 I- j
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
6 j2 E$ I* X& I& B9 f& csaid.
v2 H5 \* Z& p# F. i' IAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
/ D. R) M# e! M7 O: P8 Shappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe6 D8 b0 `1 _+ G3 W* Y. x
about driving our products," Lentz said. ~+ Q6 q* F4 A
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's" y' T0 e: \8 Q: s) d7 [
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has9 w6 ^; U$ S% h1 a7 I* k v
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6; ^( m! ?/ i/ {& f
million in the United States -- since last fall because of# d. } I9 {* n/ p4 G6 W. Q8 W8 ]
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
3 D; ^+ D4 C7 tissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
) h5 Q7 l7 b; V9 _; d! kconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of5 y/ V2 m9 D' m! a$ [
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow# }/ J; L( R5 {3 | G8 L
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
2 e8 U+ {' N6 C* d/ M9 j. i9 lreceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration" e i- K4 K6 `. K
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.. Z- q3 U* D! M" o, {1 g/ X7 `
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own% P9 V( `8 X% Y! r' m% ]$ k
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
' d4 P r/ M n3 [6 @! R5 M$ Xunderstood the pain.' ]& }# N4 q3 Z5 U7 S3 E* j: ]- U* G
"I know what those families go through," he said.2 G( d5 w3 e. d q0 e2 }* l
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
" t5 } D$ j: D7 N. xfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems./ Z( t8 \# F) I" J
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
. y" X5 e* J# Q( UHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put: q( S- d x6 p
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
+ |8 a4 y! O9 R2 N7 }$ JLentz replied: "Not totally."
( t; Y4 s) k; G( q0 nStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
' ~/ d2 ]: o% P. R- N9 k"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said; v/ h8 Y/ h* q% Z
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
0 k/ H( W: Q& x6 n; I# bpedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its! k1 A K9 D( F6 [
vehicles already on the road.8 W: S2 a4 S; i! h/ t; ?2 v4 {
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify' E. _0 T, e+ b
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full7 B0 i5 E& E6 A- a @ p: z
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and* T, q- ?, v) @1 l* J
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were' A; @2 ]2 A& B+ t
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
: k# m/ W0 `8 I" F1 d7 `% R"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
, }* \1 v! j: M* Mtragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony- U* d/ f" S- j9 V" ?: N @: _% F
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight& T6 s& G: S: g/ a7 C
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
9 m) @+ q v: n3 y/ ?- _ tcommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to% V1 k' z" J1 D7 M; X( h
restore the trust of our customers."
7 ^8 q( F$ B! m, x' ?Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
; J- p! ?. t# @$ T: d5 k8 WSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
# ?6 k. o- v5 }$ dzoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
, P" `5 @. s' p# V( Vshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
3 `; ^+ S) l5 D$ D3 _! jhitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
# G i. h2 r, n% {; [0 H! @; Fthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
8 [# B; ?- L: @1 i: Nturn off the engine. n6 m; ]6 O8 B/ K
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
$ }* G6 O0 k1 Y4 E5 P/ r6 ~, HOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
- q2 \4 ^. Y) J* e"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
* O( l) j3 b6 Xsaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond3 l. i3 W m3 ?* `& v
to her complaints./ N5 m# K8 {6 q/ F0 ]1 x3 c1 c
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
3 L9 V' K, N8 ^returned again and again to the question of whether electronic1 g4 ~8 r! g' Z! A# W8 O
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.+ n/ Z' S b+ b v* f
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric/ a/ R$ S/ A% ~8 W* p* r- P
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited; Y3 T7 Q9 _1 Z$ E
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut! a9 f; u; @9 M3 {2 S. w# N
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
- T( a2 o( R3 X+ VTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
" q* l }# n' c/ G2 Bprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
& o4 Q7 ^6 z+ i3 h. _being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
4 \. Q$ h- q0 P" T, Swere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
* ]2 N: d, i) H# ^& B2 @every question."( R2 I2 l U3 X. }: [
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
0 y& B) g! k+ T& x, belectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
; V( J* c; L- P+ F; m7 D0 B+ Wfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
& T) B9 i& @0 O. g: L7 A7 H3 `committee investigators said the testing studied only a small/ h+ S8 _6 P3 p# r. S5 O
number of vehicles
1 `; {) [: P- M/ o7 F, T- xTracking down an electrical problem can be far more
0 v, e+ H3 L% j3 y, u3 kdifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
& c8 ?9 u1 Y/ i' \5 g# ?# I' kmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
5 L2 |! b [5 I" |0 a' T5 Msource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.) b8 Z/ u* _$ z1 w) f! e; A
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,% Q x7 Z6 Y1 t3 R! z, Q& O& S! `9 ^
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
, d1 b9 i3 H$ mtrace at all.7 c- l h% K% |* ?, y
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call' `: B+ [7 q) g, z8 C
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
$ R4 k7 L* c$ s6 P" Tacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
9 u5 h: ^$ [. Q4 I8 rrecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
/ X/ J6 n( U$ K4 e5 M cRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,0 i( _2 S& C0 X9 ?( \; v
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and) e# O) k4 ?" U* V7 M
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the) ^4 Z4 R: C! H& r9 f+ T" N
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
9 _# A1 s; q5 w" S2 P+ Jcause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
2 Y# ^$ v7 U I" `. |( D) rsuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained/ B/ x' r, D' Q$ L/ d( H( P
by Toyota's lawyers."
$ @% C1 z+ D4 S+ T" pLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of; `: Q) a3 f5 Z; D5 O1 y' Z
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our& ?" N+ C3 Y' W! V L
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he7 ]- O; Q7 J8 i
said.
$ P- L0 l Z) c* C"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with1 X) v8 J4 O" T3 p
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our4 u8 ], n ]4 Z* |* u; p* K) N: e
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating/ u4 [+ r7 {' D+ Z
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
2 N* ~* \8 h; U- ?& j) Y* h+ ]1 Y; p; ySeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying2 R4 F7 \6 N. j; B4 N6 ^& i2 p
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread. T9 e; h9 e# a# x: R1 N( K4 B+ ]
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
8 i- q8 e. }, W% cautomaker, at least in part because of the government's* i4 R c. q# A! h7 @
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
; J) m) X% k& c% @) G# h* \* S# m, B$ oChrysler.4 b- ] @' Q! ~' C z9 c( R
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax: _# k/ D$ m- ~2 Q' [
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
$ ]5 ]" h; g7 g4 N. @. jHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also; f' J% q h' U: @0 Y# g; \
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
+ m& O1 s3 M+ g' G2 h% K" Wwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty- q' i9 I) c! c# p9 l0 @
tough."9 U# [. i* m; \3 j
---' B' u8 I8 L' _! ^. x% i: g
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
' d* ^# _' d' k- t: M5 Q: H% k! |Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to6 ~( g7 p; I# y+ H
this story.
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