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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
a) ^+ W7 ]" Y. CBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
# Y/ A: m6 ~' y/ i. @' `' G5 iWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.: s+ t' O8 @0 j# |9 O) o
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that1 v( ?& E0 B, q) {* \2 i3 b
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
+ c( }5 R0 R- W) x: e+ Osolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.( I) p- w. V' k; v
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
4 b& O: Q6 q) u* _5 [causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
Q6 ^: e0 P& w: g9 XHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected, d, p: G% C. J' c& m% l8 W7 H
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
# C9 P! d }1 V0 f8 Xtrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor( o/ ~: k% h8 }+ O, f! G
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.# ]+ d; ?/ b1 x0 N- k/ I) I( h7 j3 v
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal0 p2 R7 M5 ^( D; k' @4 a
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
4 @( L: I2 Z- Q M9 U7 n/ U* ]criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
! o6 J2 V& k- x7 Tfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
1 l, |6 z& p5 t/ R6 e$ D, Unot stop her runaway Lexus.! F# l* Y7 E6 L9 c: h
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
! N, _. e2 _! I8 Y- K( LTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second. Y2 R5 N* L+ ]+ t7 P5 M$ w% ~' @
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
! y2 d" G, O4 G0 ~* A$ p8 R0 OTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
3 M- Z4 i$ @' @ t5 x4 qearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
+ c* H, j) ^& o) }! B# o2 U0 o5 {"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
: i9 F* {4 `6 w7 S9 r; Sdone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway) R6 _! ?" }: m. H& \4 r) Y
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
3 G5 I/ D8 t( S. K3 Q, W: R; vinvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."0 Q/ V2 y1 w3 V9 s
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an9 s u4 T' {* ]* P/ M" s
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of$ F8 L/ f2 x. W; y
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
. z8 Q6 o0 {$ ^5 o4 \malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
1 D( h4 \( {, F) C0 M+ fsaid.
/ d' s1 c( ~& b+ @% jAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
/ t# {5 \% ~# A8 D* Ahappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
6 a( `8 w1 J6 i3 I3 Vabout driving our products," Lentz said. S u( A0 a, R6 v+ f3 k
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's' u9 N Q* L+ r7 N9 B. d; W* _
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
* u+ O3 p" ^7 Hrecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
& u% a1 {+ N% A" R$ L9 emillion in the United States -- since last fall because of" V: S0 }+ ]6 ]! x* c/ g& S
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking' t' `& |# }3 u9 y
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering o O/ _' C% h- o! |: V1 b' A
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of# ~- X4 K2 ?* Y# f' H
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow+ ^0 f$ V6 F' G7 a4 g
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
F9 l. q! K$ w" v3 I2 vreceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration n2 h3 |2 U9 |7 F* F
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.. _+ h" Y9 x% L2 }$ T8 f3 V
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
0 B+ Q; |: ^: K4 cbrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he8 ?, ]' q5 y7 ?4 l7 ?8 K# n: ~2 C
understood the pain.
. ~% Z+ C. _9 ~. x" m"I know what those families go through," he said.
" M# V" I% b: v; \5 ? oLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
, R3 v: m( F1 ]2 y. yfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
+ b7 V' q d. _8 h) oBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
+ v$ @% ]& m6 H. s$ c' rHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put; n% O1 N3 m- q1 h( ^& n) K' J
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
6 w) l& P- Q* J) o# ^8 HLentz replied: "Not totally." s, d7 T8 S$ X6 z
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were0 g* H B0 O0 v; {0 w% y0 G
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
8 d7 j% ]0 k9 F6 IToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
) b6 }6 t2 H3 q" V: ypedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its9 g0 K+ _$ A% C* y/ X3 ]2 [
vehicles already on the road.. r4 {9 C) | c8 J4 g' q
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
* `2 H: D7 R! S- d: F* Bbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full, Q4 u2 R0 L' M; d! u
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and* x; j2 n. S1 Q2 L
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
5 B- n& L" u* {. |9 D. n6 Xkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.3 t# C) q) D# [. c- k; `5 C
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
* R, Z* l7 t+ U2 p1 Vtragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
9 H* L1 ]' {% zfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
8 v7 \4 Y2 ~( t c9 Z7 M1 a) mCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal! c' m4 l( m2 A2 F |
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to0 `, A) q9 I h+ t3 G) e
restore the trust of our customers."( J8 \1 c o0 l: v6 b+ B+ o
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from+ k }. C& o) z! y0 E( G) E
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly3 h( p9 O1 I5 g4 Y8 z* t `
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
1 y; K, f; m( j4 N; J8 g V9 Lshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and& m$ ?3 s" c9 [& z" W' F3 f8 j
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough6 Z' p7 ]8 \! J
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
. b6 ?9 ?& M8 f: o* m0 ?, r4 F8 X' zturn off the engine.( Z3 p9 N* O+ P/ U; k& k% w7 ^* _
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
# k$ e, z7 n5 {# K9 z: h* w/ ROctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
" a7 V- r h8 R, [ |: F"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she3 `) j4 ~% R' p+ D
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
8 M/ i' z F8 S2 D. T0 Z- Zto her complaints.6 R/ _7 G2 ?3 ]1 i
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
5 o0 R( f) [: ~# Greturned again and again to the question of whether electronic
7 k- U4 G) y! @, kmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
7 k, R9 I7 N! X, B" J: x0 B"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric$ l. C- m6 Z* h8 I D
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
: b4 H. I3 G) U& {, \7 H"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut& t& E% ?1 H e+ I v
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
2 ]- g: k& f; c8 MTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
' Q5 }0 x/ E5 b% Nprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were! g/ {4 s4 g7 {
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
$ Q. _7 }8 b2 u0 a; ^1 Rwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer0 z2 R* d0 k: M7 U Q) O" ]$ p
every question."
" Z8 S! ]; |$ x5 a3 K L% w8 K1 j8 ~2 fToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether9 Q5 S5 Y3 }, o6 N& _7 @7 S8 B
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The5 S- ?+ Z2 P. p7 A1 u+ M* x9 F( [, N: O
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But B2 I) R$ s+ L2 K1 v7 X) R: c
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
& s/ ?0 Q# ?8 Hnumber of vehicles8 E6 v) a9 z) q: @( j5 S$ k! F# `3 J
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more4 K" J1 q' V+ L" r1 i
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a4 J& @# k9 ~" D9 n( @1 A' Y
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one9 ` s! `1 t* y3 J' M
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
% H' h# M2 e6 g nMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
0 a8 V1 n: c6 Wwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
' X% b- }" h$ K0 Mtrace at all.
* R$ p9 z3 R; @House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call, C$ h: B! `; t3 _
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
8 z6 r# v" m) M0 e: p2 [8 iacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the$ |' C# v! C* ^- P* p4 m
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
7 x! T- m' I, q# n3 _) ARep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
, t: A8 d) m Ssaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
( g. x* e0 F- N. Aother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the9 }0 `$ R* ^. s
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible i2 z* \7 D8 E/ n0 w
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
! ~" s* p x) X3 h' C7 ysuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
- `" K7 r5 f# z D2 ]5 K0 sby Toyota's lawyers."1 A) E" ~/ k! ^- L* E- r: D
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of9 a8 l+ r) I# T9 L" I
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our( J5 N* J2 ~0 Z9 V' C
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he# R, v9 t$ M( G/ h; x/ c7 b5 w
said.
: O0 ]$ G4 [( s5 z"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with$ H/ U9 O! D# W/ M
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our3 }5 l! s" s' q; K1 u$ p& h0 v
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating1 b) z: d. c" p
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
2 h4 H3 _9 ~" K/ R: T$ USeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
! {( @1 f6 T! p& [; B' o5 nmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
8 S( {( @6 O& G0 m; G- S$ Wrancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the( r9 U8 t+ g2 C& W
automaker, at least in part because of the government's C5 ^* ?$ `3 j9 k
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and0 M" u- F' G; _8 ^: _
Chrysler./ @; t" X8 e9 X' P2 g% C6 k! v
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax$ F' A( J6 y* z$ N; }6 o
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a* [5 Z- W; g1 I
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also9 }# q$ t$ ~& P# M
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
" h, ]1 S C. a. p0 ^& Nwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty2 D5 b1 Z' M' F; J! F
tough."
$ B, S t- \# R---/ Z5 _, _- i1 V( Q% ^
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
" Y& ?4 [, ~- U" s/ TRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to) ?7 K; K6 O# Q- {' ]
this story.
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* b& X [6 \0 t) A5 Z/ W8 b" O/ I-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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