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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+ X5 P, p$ ~, {& L1 P% H
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
9 z1 s' G z; M0 @$ y" h- @+ {Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.; h" A' }$ F7 y- l" H- H/ B
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
. S& V/ C. f& C5 sthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"! x# e( F" L0 s1 I& ^( D
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
' ~* ?" Y+ l. s/ z4 J"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential2 h2 h' M( x5 c- D4 f6 v
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.+ t) T# ~6 q) t
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected1 p0 P& c# b& o9 _- U
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
; Q1 x/ b) Q) Q3 t0 d2 {trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
8 C- o2 |# U9 t' |7 Z: g6 Zmats and sticking accelerator pedals.; [* w* K Q4 K- }7 H
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal; q0 P4 d/ X3 l, E. c
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
6 z4 P. P! p: P7 i0 Z/ k& C" gcriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be& ? z/ V7 _4 J, N" s+ W" K
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could2 F. t; S, N: \/ R# E1 C
not stop her runaway Lexus.3 L1 m: F3 @3 K+ d+ A
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,4 r- P. L- r B2 s) G
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second5 q- Z9 }; Y8 X
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
* G. T; r( Y1 q! M. ATexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
) f* U8 D, u8 q6 ]7 h' y& Eearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
9 y, W0 ^- R% d7 R/ {4 [- K"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has$ Q: P- K5 m2 K
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway, A. |7 W! K: X2 Z2 P9 P8 S, ~
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's+ c' N3 t) ~8 s$ @- T/ K2 H) _- m
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."$ \- j& o a4 U9 s: ~. T; P
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
: C/ j1 m# T6 E' Jelectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
5 u% R$ ~1 c5 o' Lthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
# Y3 [. J3 c7 a4 {6 vmalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he# X* M# g" u- v% q
said.5 D: g5 ~" T. j
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what ^2 J. W7 {6 H3 X, f% h9 Q, v
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
: ^- V# z. m) J$ W+ b' C+ Dabout driving our products," Lentz said.
: J+ f2 v R4 V7 hThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
3 c! Y3 B# @) ?+ n6 ]7 y4 M, F9 [problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has( a# y+ P) D0 k' b0 @
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
; k6 Q+ P, |) [- d, Qmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of
' c( E0 I' O1 s! P6 o, Eunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking* n7 B+ l/ Y( H6 @) Y3 T6 F2 H' \
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering9 W+ V& d- k1 S2 Y* Y. Y
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of+ g: f b( E/ F* F
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow u2 t+ s. Z/ F6 i$ P
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
' N; _: M; T2 Y! M/ k$ D6 d/ Preceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration* S% U! X" Z. b
of Toyota vehicles since 2000. p3 Z% B5 v: q5 k: [; H
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own/ f) q @; a1 H
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he }( a+ `1 E* [
understood the pain.' }. A2 X* G- N- J: F( e
"I know what those families go through," he said.
- V; ?8 E" n1 ^4 {) d+ x. GLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's+ R/ [. l) t) x" |- m, v9 H
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.$ L4 U4 K' @. ?/ i. C
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman# ]. A: v" a# V- I5 S
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put' G: Y% X) [4 I
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
, v# m9 Z! y3 n$ [1 c, iLentz replied: "Not totally."- R1 t) b+ O: l' w8 O. z
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
% T# f* w) S$ ^8 A1 `7 }% D"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said/ H9 R1 z7 ~# |# I
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
1 N4 s' b( \5 Ppedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its+ A9 N' B7 h3 M) f
vehicles already on the road.1 c2 @. o; F6 f; Z [1 M% ~% p4 c
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
. m8 J2 z" _1 u' ^- |" ibefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
: y% l+ v1 T9 Dresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
# [' n( \- E" A7 V" eoffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were; r1 y7 c0 Q3 l' q* ?! @
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.: ]$ U& N$ J- p) l. y; T
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
2 ]; V9 i# ~* p4 E3 b* v' Itragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony* q: D5 }/ X9 I m
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight5 m- G O$ n3 J* y
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
% s* O4 |% j8 T- z) r, `6 F/ @: Zcommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
) G8 {( i5 X/ b* N& ^9 X6 lrestore the trust of our customers."
" h- y, ]- O8 c4 K+ x$ vLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from0 v! R( H1 g v& v; ~. M9 S& W
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly" W+ d% ~& _! F: N; j
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
* ]' E4 @9 K9 F1 O3 p' B( Hshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
$ z' f" f( s/ o5 N! Phitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
' Q8 m& ] ` p5 F( ~6 K7 q- X X1 xthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and H% S7 k7 s" M. C) A, }
turn off the engine.
: v6 b. c0 B* ]; YFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
7 @+ h, p/ r5 ~+ JOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
0 L4 q& u9 q- V% X$ x; P"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she& C9 K% V: t2 H
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
. C7 l% Q; r9 l8 \3 u! ^to her complaints.$ j. @: f) a+ o; ?! r; {% W
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
$ X0 @) Z# c( g5 freturned again and again to the question of whether electronic2 T- |9 j0 M, O5 _+ o$ u& K
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
C6 w: Z% p: u"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric+ a0 e+ ?8 Z4 b7 l1 b
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
) I) z% d6 j5 L: H- \% M/ ?; A"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
1 ]+ d2 i [- T9 E2 ~off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."3 j; N, @7 u5 A: f
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
9 Q8 U; b5 R- Dprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
1 M! b0 B' I6 o5 Tbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls+ c. b- Z- Y, E( K
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer5 c( O; D$ \5 u1 X4 Z
every question."
& W/ U* B' t0 g1 vToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
) k- i+ S c# V( g5 r2 l1 yelectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The- A% t$ w$ @* f+ l# |5 t. N
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But$ Q' n/ B1 `( {6 @* M9 j
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small; C$ s+ h, k' k8 R7 A6 n, ]3 l5 ~9 U
number of vehicles
! S, G. l w" }# Y" DTracking down an electrical problem can be far more8 E* s! X- x: U- ~3 w0 q
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a3 a( T7 Q# Z7 r# @/ J
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
1 h3 X6 L3 o" j1 Y( {" i/ Csource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
/ G0 E1 e$ E, |0 r [7 nMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,5 N2 V" J& {5 M5 u6 m; ^- j
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no2 f2 i% N$ ^" O! z: z! s
trace at all.3 _ J& x" b( L+ R4 u2 M/ m
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
3 A% U" g, k$ [- S, Q$ u2 h( Ldatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden8 c* ?2 I* p- R) v- Q
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
7 R; ~4 i6 i }+ z7 z7 C Mrecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
( w& X3 K3 D8 |0 w$ E3 RRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,7 |9 k7 ~9 x* |% v
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
6 O- i: U& e. @' M, _other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
7 P# a b4 o. R/ s4 ~electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible2 q5 `1 ^1 o6 D) K/ i% `
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only ^( O- X6 H. r7 ]2 \
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained# ~+ B6 W M- N( B
by Toyota's lawyers."
& e9 a0 \1 P8 @/ Z; b! RLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
+ w/ V% S* B; B- N6 Eproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
6 r* [, k$ Q* _( `+ ^( kcustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he/ m& c/ X6 w& j0 }- j( t+ d% M
said.
% U; C: n1 S3 _% {, v, u"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
# |) h! r& l9 I! H$ p3 U! Ia rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our& a$ y9 y; L) w8 X
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
* M3 {! i) Y4 p4 fofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
8 w! g u0 X4 l. ZSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying( c! ^6 H$ t8 v( U- V j+ j
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread& w. M/ v) @. X$ c# K8 }3 @; {
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the- \* C/ V: j6 X2 `8 G% f$ u
automaker, at least in part because of the government's
. M+ L4 N) {- B9 R! b' b4 B2 ^investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
0 Q& B; H& ^9 h$ vChrysler.
) u3 }7 Q. N& W3 q! u"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
/ Y) M6 C- _6 B' Odollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
" z& J' U; g* F4 KHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
X' f, L& C0 J. C# e+ T3 T" `8 kserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
; ^0 P) [2 J3 K, b& Hwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
- m# V0 u9 L0 b- h" r3 [% Stough."6 r, R: o0 F" m0 Y
---
3 X% \9 Q% i2 k4 z) g4 S( J1 sAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom; {" b, J0 Z# g3 f k' \
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
% W7 `$ U: M/ Q4 K/ ithis story.6 A0 c3 o2 ^; ]* M
6 e' [% F1 g. A4 c- U- Z7 @' L-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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