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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0 Y' R$ b( x D; O, d, q) t" k
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS; s6 d3 G# s3 p& [0 H. @% j
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.% A4 a, C. `; w* K" G& z% X% U
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
, L& @- f0 C- K" m1 C+ u9 c# Y" Gthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
' j; u1 |6 k7 M7 qsolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
: O. n! N+ z- ]5 g8 C( A"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
. k$ v! f# n, R) [3 Hcauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
# y- z4 Y) l4 ]/ zHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
1 ?( ?. c6 n7 ~5 f( T. [acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
- T& q$ b8 r; ~" M8 Ntrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor6 z' C" S/ @1 S- a$ F1 c3 j, V9 h
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.' t6 Z$ h0 F7 U% U( S) M" y: s& o z
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
8 }, V+ ^" b9 i4 c( R5 xand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp- f. g* _* B$ R* C: V+ s2 o2 R m
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be4 i& e% x0 r( v. G0 H5 Q0 `' h
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could( D" S( O& j6 q/ r; P. Y, _( V6 C
not stop her runaway Lexus.0 \% Q+ j/ d8 d( s, u
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,/ s& f! d7 m8 g
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second/ Q" p1 r& [; d1 P' H1 G6 [& |
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.2 p0 [& _: h9 M2 S1 b* O+ p) [
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues5 l, B) b8 ]& N3 k$ i
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said; U3 p$ b' F0 O% O6 \
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
& e3 y5 \; j( [1 pdone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway1 L$ v, J$ N8 C( }" O9 F& H
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's/ @7 f n1 j; T) D0 ^
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."0 k& V/ a$ ^0 s, c# K1 ]+ \
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an- k3 C* {( o. X, H2 [
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
3 K( I" v( f! G; f4 Q, A+ }7 jthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
/ b7 c) B; Y( i" ?/ Ymalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
4 Q* h+ W. x4 Zsaid.# p& O$ y5 g5 T- s8 o! Y
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what( t8 ?. d( R5 y# }
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
' l5 x; s; H9 m& [about driving our products," Lentz said.
9 j0 w8 Q- l9 ^4 S/ @Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
" ^9 e0 d2 }7 s# N9 u5 x6 Yproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has* h2 P! z$ S; S" |% Z% t
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
2 ]; |$ l7 z% H3 kmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of
( B* y: c8 N* |* W! {8 Aunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking" T* h& E5 a* s, L
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering$ |2 G, }2 e" h5 O9 S7 J
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
4 S/ B: M- |1 a; w+ t# ]+ jtheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
. I, b. V8 g# W, j7 Vdown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has$ V# t9 U. j2 d3 G8 u& [7 n
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration1 [2 \* T0 \! z: F- W9 p! z
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.
* ~2 c! u5 S* x4 I' j1 ]Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
4 o0 W& k) ?3 d! j- s$ i& v" g, [brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
, p9 k/ ]2 @5 b8 e" Zunderstood the pain.
! I! M( u$ i, k3 Y, {% `+ W"I know what those families go through," he said.6 r# R* X7 \1 ~8 y3 N
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
; X N8 A% c9 t/ ^ k4 ufixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
! e6 G; m1 A n+ WBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman% S, F4 ~* z( v6 r# J+ p
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
" \+ T3 l. G1 H* C, Jin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,6 r0 B: S$ _. O
Lentz replied: "Not totally."
% Z7 S |/ s. t L/ R8 BStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were" g# c' y) c7 m; m9 p
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
, z6 z8 v$ {. M7 {4 L7 DToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas2 h$ q1 w! `7 _
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
6 y8 q4 r. v/ F8 N; V1 vvehicles already on the road.4 M- A# t' V! o) E9 F) Y
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify- X; Y+ d0 y- |$ k" f: e5 s. A
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full& N; B0 O( j# J
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and' m* e3 b- l6 i( b
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
! F2 q( a9 g8 r" v: @/ Nkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
9 N. i/ E/ ~( |# }"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
! _9 Y- J* x4 Otragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
N$ z' N- { Q5 O2 s4 p3 O: hfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight' s8 \) L. m# l7 u& P4 a
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
/ t& j7 z) B1 A3 Pcommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
& z5 Y$ p/ @' d; T4 Frestore the trust of our customers."$ W3 B3 H ^" W8 f7 V) _% `
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from2 E9 r% O6 ?: ^/ l3 b5 g
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly5 |$ Q1 C) }) H2 r4 |
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --) d! i4 b6 {7 _$ f
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
3 M6 c: c2 C8 N# }/ chitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
6 W; |2 o' b! k9 R/ p6 H9 ythat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
1 v+ M% _0 X, M+ r; [" m3 N' dturn off the engine.
! D" ~" h) v4 k$ ~: sFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of/ {# Z% x/ g# H+ N1 s
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."6 Z# V9 r5 O. ?7 Z
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
& Q8 |4 c$ x: V0 Ssaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
+ M! ]. X( @- Q; U9 K' a! rto her complaints.
1 L) b: W& |* n0 DIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
6 e% I! ]( [1 I9 ~+ \$ n: Z3 Y; mreturned again and again to the question of whether electronic9 Q- O7 |; G" l* R. h. V
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
! y4 G3 ]1 M* `"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
! a7 T5 U* j5 A( a: B K7 Fthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
) R) O' w: |: w+ r! \"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut/ c) d) U- v! ]8 {8 K
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
6 b# \, |7 ~9 t% ?Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
; Z1 X5 m- h6 b( y% j1 iprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were0 e+ U1 _5 Z" f% l* O' q
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
* c' {% f- X- W4 g2 s2 O3 }were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
& u2 U8 [! Q9 d/ n! ?3 l1 ^& [2 Levery question."7 w/ h" G) W4 _! l1 Y
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether2 u9 b B- R S/ W
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The% G" s# K" h9 b; E% C4 U) k
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
5 V6 }" u4 s2 o8 ]5 Y- l ?# `committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
8 ] X+ @% Z8 ]7 N2 x4 c6 x0 Anumber of vehicles8 N! m# f5 H" ^" q1 F6 b/ E4 c
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more+ l. y" U; ?- {8 K" ]
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
4 p$ K9 v: \: _% G# W% ~$ z' Ymechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
. d* [9 q$ _$ r( C1 ]& J6 bsource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.5 w/ |- S- d5 m( v7 S1 {
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
. q3 t4 c! \* z1 _( w- ]3 b, qwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
. n6 [8 ^ ~3 R Xtrace at all.1 L/ C- g6 F4 O
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
( o+ X2 B, o$ H# Z' X+ Y2 S' B; E% m* A- wdatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
" ]% y& k& G' G. P: H. X+ w' Sacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the' c0 a) ?7 E b4 Y; q9 z
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.1 x; V$ u+ `3 K; a
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,' ?4 Q( E6 q, V2 [3 m% W
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and w6 R# H4 S+ ?7 n$ |
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the; ]6 _! z6 j: z2 N0 w# @5 `" f; j
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
8 P: h6 c$ i, ^( d+ E8 dcause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
7 s) S6 K/ l' H X( Psuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
6 C/ k- N5 E- Y5 z5 Mby Toyota's lawyers."! l9 w% H# {( {( A1 y% ~0 C
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of- F. [( m P. m0 A' ~6 T
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
$ [4 F9 w( u7 w- q( i+ z* g+ u8 Wcustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he9 C5 @& S% P7 `. |, z/ h2 ~
said.
& M5 P6 p* ~) ~"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with* M" _- h9 _0 W
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our7 X) n0 n( \0 `# N, ^5 G
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
& f2 Z+ _# Z: r# E' u) Qofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
5 P8 ]- `' M( U1 ~. PSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying8 _# r& J- n3 `# l: \
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread( ^& {0 F- {' y& @9 I4 b
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
: T8 ^$ L$ J5 A2 S0 ~. S7 L; }automaker, at least in part because of the government's
2 E( ^8 K+ a. s" finvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
% ]$ v( J: g0 i0 p& c/ T7 \Chrysler.
- n% V2 L, x" M4 D( S8 E"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
N: \5 j9 w5 k2 [8 M i' O/ v3 i Pdollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a, i7 Q/ ~1 H" v" v
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
3 ]1 N) I$ x/ G( N5 v7 j, r1 S pserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete5 D4 z2 N0 [; T5 q" C
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty8 @; n. Z' B8 {6 T& q W
tough."1 {$ l5 ~/ C: u4 L
---
7 J( `( Q/ I( I% kAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom( Z+ U6 ~9 V# D/ E2 v: u$ O
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to, K$ a# E( [7 L3 ~% s' O' d% x
this story.3 b& b6 o9 `* |
; f1 P; s2 T/ @3 o3 h0 E( U' v$ \-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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