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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
/ p# q& N( p8 n4 v0 V$ A/ IBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
5 W3 }1 R- K! \$ p2 `) W4 AWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S., a6 v& x; Y5 e0 | @; c' f5 O/ k) d5 [
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
: G6 l4 Z$ L+ Q$ V7 @3 o% Fthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"& }; x# ]- U( V' ?3 r1 H
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.) B% [- v8 }9 R6 e; ?& h
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential6 w% K# ]$ l4 C3 ?* e7 ^
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.7 K" G: \/ J Z0 n/ |1 s/ H
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected$ m0 ~( _5 a: \- ^) R
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
5 H& S& @+ p5 E% Q) otrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
+ X. _; t4 l) h* J" xmats and sticking accelerator pedals.. K+ w0 P8 Q- C
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
; q4 B \) u, T2 Uand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
, M% A0 X3 ?6 k* d% e' ]; S( Z( Q* K0 ]criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
_6 X6 m, r$ n& `* ?- T" ffurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
/ D; r5 R8 C8 K3 ^/ x7 {! v6 K7 qnot stop her runaway Lexus.3 k& H" _0 q# C3 `4 ]$ ?
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,, \3 [+ ^' q/ K2 l/ V
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second+ \7 r) v# r) f! p+ E" A
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
2 U; B6 o0 S. `( U" l T. uTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues+ _$ ]2 n. i/ n4 B" y W
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
, C4 p' L& i X- G+ ~"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
5 a2 |' R8 |) pdone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
7 X" f4 Z) D; Cthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
2 X- | I% u* p' Y% v9 V2 U) Finvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."; a L# v* ]. Z) U
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
% h7 a$ _( u8 k$ felectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
1 C6 T& d; C& {- Z/ |the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
* t% i: y7 X2 k' s$ m r; Rmalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he' n: f+ J9 v7 u8 p0 T
said.$ z8 h* G1 }/ s8 l8 B- X
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
/ |: u# _7 o% Dhappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
9 L9 a: P, C) r$ b" x( Zabout driving our products," Lentz said.
' a4 t: G6 H" ~( \% @+ sThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's* A1 S' p9 ~* R& g
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has8 |+ Y `; f) R1 z
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
9 z4 U) c/ I) @million in the United States -- since last fall because of
5 c7 G0 x- h7 s' Eunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking: g ^2 U3 h% A z) p
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering1 |) A( D( Q7 a5 O8 {1 F: B
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of9 F1 `( d9 K1 g1 B5 g
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow( p7 O g" m+ v; D, G$ O
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
8 Y! _3 f8 ~% V5 Jreceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
* t" g8 p# b8 T6 N; Mof Toyota vehicles since 2000.- \) G) w; G7 O0 |
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
: _# P. S4 ?+ J7 ]1 Hbrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he( w4 d" M" [4 m9 N/ d% ]" O
understood the pain.
' n9 W# b% d* c4 D$ C5 I"I know what those families go through," he said.
0 p j6 m( T" k2 T& R$ HLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
2 w( t, ?# \3 d/ I" C/ D% _; m8 Ffixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
+ ~: W I9 I1 eBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman \- Y1 S( Q7 R9 }8 M
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
" M) _+ E; t. Y' S# Q( J9 {6 ?in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it, I6 g. E' ]! U5 v
Lentz replied: "Not totally."8 @0 w. C! Y' D
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were) l2 \8 D( e! N& W! u
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
. P8 b s. d+ u' iToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
# S& y4 Z' A% j7 g& G" ?pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its+ \3 s0 k9 P1 N" @
vehicles already on the road.& v6 V$ B* L0 ~2 z# B* j
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify3 `/ d4 ~ F: g9 P
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
0 _; t/ Z7 L" O) Fresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
# G* A) ~/ O8 @0 o/ F- t- a5 A7 ioffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
: ^2 v' W4 Z' F+ }3 N$ W3 C- Q8 @killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
c( s6 K0 b6 B"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a6 P) [% |* T1 W+ F1 ?7 q
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony5 H1 h! |6 H. F: z
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight" J9 M9 K/ B+ X V- ~# I
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
$ E3 T5 ]2 D6 V4 D, icommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to# s- Z" ?! e% d- F+ u) w
restore the trust of our customers."
9 I9 K. @+ t6 L6 f o ~Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
- t& h5 t/ v* E, m# R6 |Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly% S2 w& y0 k, \8 Y' A1 X
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
$ c3 a# E% k' `( j7 M% Pshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and( l5 z* q; c' @( Y
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough1 V! H$ R, `# Q! u- n
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
[5 p0 @9 f5 o* @# x* s* C; g, C- }turn off the engine.
7 r; r& I) D9 ?3 iFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
, W L: t/ N1 e; u y" \October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
' J s( w! x0 ^! l7 j& ~! ]"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she6 g' Q% u4 }* S( r$ P
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond) t x: g% {8 {. c7 b! U' x$ u/ }
to her complaints.! h6 Y2 h, z+ x% G7 h) \5 n
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers3 A! ^3 B$ ~( Q0 G
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
( g, i( \) G# Kmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
8 n/ m3 i( m# k5 n"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric2 [" t, U. n; G7 k+ d" V
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited; s. E2 x; ^2 s
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
8 N5 z5 b& k% L# _- L" S. s a8 {off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
4 e9 y6 O9 D" |: o8 OTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
! s$ O5 L9 L. b! I1 f9 o [) }prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
% L5 t6 X( a+ G3 Mbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls* s; c6 n c# r: M2 \ |" {. U8 @/ D
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer$ O6 P+ u* s! D$ \
every question."
# e3 s3 b3 O0 \; H2 f8 tToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether9 g1 m1 R/ m6 P; B* l# Y& Y: g
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
" g" @6 F b3 {. b, }) ~firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
" Y! L+ _, u) scommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small% ]6 r2 j* [ Q8 S9 K
number of vehicles
3 I- q* p, v3 E& L0 \Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more. i( J& I9 n* C* t' C2 t
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a# c+ Q q# e$ L, t0 D5 l6 l8 o
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one1 n2 J! O+ ~: d$ t$ P
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.- B8 _/ V8 B" K* b& A
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
) J2 }; \3 u o) W) o4 ^where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
8 N V7 O9 \ t, U8 n1 \trace at all.0 Z5 [1 m! h5 W! o3 H3 A3 o
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call4 `" w( @1 n( c: J$ W# j
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden" B4 T% \% G K3 n8 e
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the) P4 p$ `! ^9 A" l; k; z# p4 l0 v* y r
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
: ]: E8 i5 i; O" S( \& kRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,/ \" p6 [. K$ Q, q/ m8 F, Y
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
9 L3 w+ j: s" U# r8 d5 R5 Lother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the( }3 K6 d5 k+ ~ n% M6 ]; R
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
$ E4 w3 @6 ]4 v! Ocause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only' r S$ e" j8 @
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained; \$ v; k8 e) i6 L
by Toyota's lawyers."9 C7 V& E" x! X% }
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
- K5 K$ R1 `$ u1 n4 K* ^ Rproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our5 ?( Q5 ? w {9 ]- z
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he6 Z8 \2 @2 Q( m% \# E% ^) n
said. u0 ^, J1 @5 E9 p6 {
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with3 b4 V! O+ z M, _* v8 {3 |. k: O
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our. j- M" H; A% ~, q$ d
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating, n( `) S' y8 f; {
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.% j! A. ?) ^) s2 p$ `* @! A' k. C
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
& O2 C9 ~5 K% e4 a/ E; g. `members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread" F h8 v9 v! {# s l8 Q
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the: E1 q' f0 \1 D+ h! r
automaker, at least in part because of the government's: z) `( w$ q; V- Z( t
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and9 w3 n/ D9 c7 \: W) a |" \ z
Chrysler.
% s) ]: e+ ]' f. h- |+ u* a0 f. u"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
, q- u' s, B6 F+ U0 p' S7 Pdollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a/ e' v7 E. J" X, z
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
8 `- n" `. F* }* Vserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete' S4 D9 w' o. f! X* Q
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
" U0 k* ] P. A Ttough."
- y9 P9 e; g) h" Y- ~---& Y- G8 K8 d6 W4 j
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom# N3 h8 `5 |3 @/ \+ |1 d1 b
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
q0 @) J8 P/ b1 D: o) K( k0 F& Hthis story.
! n- D) O6 z8 d' B" O. E! K" h) q( |4 }
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