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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
+ u. F6 u8 n! H& [By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS- m$ ]5 v9 j2 I! H. ~) `3 t/ V
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.1 G. |1 ]9 r! c) c0 Y; e- R/ A
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that9 d9 K9 ?1 M; N) z. I
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
% [/ V4 b4 G6 n: y) L$ h& d( {solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration., U8 X+ P9 G! g7 a1 ]' E: L
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
4 s5 r Q, V5 {causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
. D) Z/ y% C+ i* ^8 w* a6 pHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
. S# L- t1 `6 _3 xacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and# R2 W9 C( [6 P6 [) I' v
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
+ E' @. U# z* h- h( K1 x2 ymats and sticking accelerator pedals.) R# ^) X( n r
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal7 @" e" M/ `2 c# D x
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
. A; ^- }$ S' H/ U1 o7 _/ q' t/ Dcriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be' N6 d/ v) P5 V4 e
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could' P& ]9 v4 ~# O* m
not stop her runaway Lexus.6 v; i T$ d2 j; n& U4 t
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
+ k* l2 C/ }/ w* i4 {Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
) z. K$ x: J% d1 x/ t; E; R( a: D"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.8 f8 g; c( Y2 {! b% C
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
! ~4 ~5 o% k s+ T2 [; a5 t* e" e1 ?early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said8 n3 w1 G$ X$ P5 J( j
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has& ]$ H! v) r- b6 ^8 }2 {
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
& m) R6 [9 i% O8 S( Qthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's% ~" u$ y( I u% W3 f
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
) M5 i% d* O) ZLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
' L* K5 f% c( \/ h! z( Helectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
) t: {+ T0 j/ O+ \ `the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a% P3 H+ R _6 P0 B: I. l. x
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he# R3 I* z: ^/ }* u
said." h+ ^( ]4 f- [, O0 ~
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what- L$ f- ~/ q* k! z2 |7 g7 f
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe k& m$ \, ?! V! O* z3 d
about driving our products," Lentz said.. [* t. j! h- r
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
1 b/ ?$ g1 t, Y9 Qproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has: O+ w1 Z7 Y- l2 e) ~- _* g- d
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 65 ^5 a6 l4 T4 ?8 o; Q9 r
million in the United States -- since last fall because of t+ I* C8 O$ D1 n% u
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking4 f0 V* b5 d; K; v
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering& n& H& e6 t. @& _5 g0 w
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
6 r8 d* M4 n- xtheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
4 Z5 w9 M+ [4 {" Q3 Gdown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
7 a$ Y1 [* c4 d5 v* @received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration( o" \; w+ U, G" d' u. t5 S
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.
1 y9 k p$ }( t# d, QLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own. x5 V1 {. p* N3 }2 k+ t6 d5 [7 E
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he' S* e+ Y3 D3 L3 n/ \
understood the pain.+ ^1 A$ B) l; H/ R* P7 J. q- y' a, i
"I know what those families go through," he said.2 p$ b# D" F3 _
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's( I7 i$ Z- x+ C
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
; J& t+ G* l5 K) b- mBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman& R. Z/ n' U+ S; A) q/ M
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put! [7 G) R6 }- F* O! r5 D
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
5 r; I1 L; [' ]7 K6 m, U yLentz replied: "Not totally."3 d2 P1 n4 d: g$ |/ Z
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were/ u7 Q* ^9 @: B# j0 q
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said7 R( H5 C( l! H. l
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas5 v0 A# D- v7 x* `, t5 b
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
5 a* ` x& h. y% z& Y8 S' _2 T. ~vehicles already on the road.0 s5 c5 z+ K- Z* _( |2 {
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify7 }: R( i2 N; U* L
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
F. B7 U- _! f V7 H% d/ Uresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and5 e" b! v1 j( j U0 F1 v5 X1 y
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were+ s! j4 \+ k) K; S
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
# d$ a E- }; N: D$ u' x$ ]4 M"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a3 E7 n$ w5 t1 D5 `% ~: ?
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
$ a8 E) O, ^2 R( Pfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
- C6 ]$ X. M2 c f* ]. ~Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
* {# h( c9 k. l; V' O4 b( wcommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
5 Z" `+ F- N2 Rrestore the trust of our customers."
' u( h: d& ]' Y9 _, R) }* V/ ELawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from( \7 Q* R( c! i. ~" j
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly/ m" q; W9 B$ F0 b y. f
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
6 y. A9 A9 Y7 E$ m0 H' Eshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and5 a- H' I \: p8 r3 R" C
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough3 d4 W7 ?" q6 O
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and( h* S. Z6 e* ]2 h% Z! g$ g: l$ Q
turn off the engine.
, S* } {4 j2 {! D GFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
& `) \: @& ] N5 a4 @5 jOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience.": Y2 Q- u$ O8 j& j- B& C
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
( H' Z V) B2 p, dsaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond; {1 o% ~- a9 E5 d0 j2 }
to her complaints.2 G& H# f e! \; O- S
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers* R: |$ Z+ d. G* J5 J- l6 b
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
6 c% m7 }, S8 Pmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
' M; C- q/ w J& A( ? z6 Z"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric/ U7 p* u9 G; y1 t: D! G1 P/ _6 {
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
" t/ g- g( b5 W# h7 O4 F. B9 U L }"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
" Z" E, S4 _/ Q ?- [4 A: [off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."4 t: j$ r# X5 i. `5 P) P
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
# L( c6 Q. W. P1 ^1 {, Y9 }prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
3 Z7 L( C5 ^2 E* N! b7 Rbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
0 s% k! o! s, D3 ~* M- U7 N9 Wwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
; S- \7 w; o; f! K5 ^- Bevery question."9 h# `) V, P5 f, R3 w2 w8 n
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
6 d$ {! f1 j' p7 T/ l$ y; ]electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
8 |! M( D8 [" z' jfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But1 G, V, ?* F ~5 Y& |* u# P* X
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
) Q& T r K* ?, }% R$ s$ Bnumber of vehicles
( P9 u) B/ q" t9 d; L, YTracking down an electrical problem can be far more
8 q: H6 h8 K" c( ]9 a6 odifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
6 B k! N+ s! [mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one( T6 P! H3 }6 q3 Y# l
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.& i$ v7 G2 J! ` P' A
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
$ \! Y, H7 G" M9 Awhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
# m- i5 B6 Y* Q: S& R; Htrace at all.9 A4 [- q3 _3 f7 J/ j: |
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
7 ^7 N: l. c! q* Pdatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden* v! [( W. s+ @7 a3 W
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the$ Q X' P; d5 u, a1 w# ]
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.7 |" O, }8 f' `! L
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,7 N) l0 v% W; c) V# ?0 y* i/ q
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
* K8 N9 l! h% M, Hother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
( [' m4 n& `7 V- Melectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible4 g& r0 U% k, K6 g8 M
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
% B' S5 P) u# b; fsuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
1 z8 G9 t4 ~5 p9 ]by Toyota's lawyers."
+ e( F7 @6 }" xLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of2 T0 D6 d. \* C. W
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our) i! y: n9 L& x0 H( Y
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he. ]& U# w, j$ J+ p5 E" V# p$ a
said.
$ s7 b) Z, @" e" Y"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with3 f; f1 [) {; V' L; V! Z
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
3 M! l3 g4 C- O, l' t: Cgood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
# B( b; S* f% `$ i( n9 c2 o2 Jofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
3 Y4 t* A; S, I' c% oSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
v. T" g/ N* L3 ]. L3 V. jmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
\, ? b1 X1 C7 K4 N) V# z9 k7 Brancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
% Q# E/ D' y% d4 yautomaker, at least in part because of the government's8 K$ O7 i! M. i! E6 A/ D" V1 I4 B
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
$ e1 ]3 Q% n/ D$ s0 g; Z f2 Q: J& aChrysler.: V9 u1 Z& R0 j2 y( X9 u) A, }
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
5 |' `( m: f) J/ Z. Kdollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a" s4 v, q- R! m: c, |. |
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
1 t* I3 f2 B+ ]* m' c/ m) fserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete) J2 h; |% p1 A4 R# S
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty* v4 m0 |. L' ~. K: U
tough.") X, m3 T$ U$ @* [2 m3 r
---
, P( p4 d2 E# aAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom' K% a% `; B1 y* k1 W/ T: q
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to* n; U' m% @" l( F! z% r0 K
this story.; a# Z* m* A4 G7 B% R0 `/ x! ~
3 k7 c) w' N9 u" ~2 B-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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