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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
+ k" v# ^- N0 eBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS) d, d8 r( {, a
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
0 M7 l H; s8 J, c5 Y. J8 M4 coperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
& |( m1 u6 N) e" o0 e7 H' {9 V& sthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally", G7 ~: e# J6 b. F
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration., U9 m' G" C; Y9 I+ f+ v
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential6 D$ S8 d7 `+ R P
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
& D" S# d- a* Z# q1 w9 CHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected& C: }% \' y& q- M! F1 H. C0 a$ d) J
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
0 T; [! B. B. T3 n/ V4 w. btrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
$ |# f( C! J. u& E" ?mats and sticking accelerator pedals.
% ^, u3 ~) ]3 A+ L, f( zHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
" n. ]0 d& }! K, H; c' J# K4 wand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp9 n t f( _3 B
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be; H+ g3 G" I! i( T! }* s l6 ]
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could2 K8 w9 J0 z- \$ w) V$ p
not stop her runaway Lexus.
5 k/ G4 C7 ]+ d"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,( V7 ^+ @. [# A, i. @9 r
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
1 t, [5 }9 z2 T3 D3 Z t"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
; s3 ?* a1 g+ ?- C: [Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
7 `3 O$ y3 Q1 E8 e O4 yearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
: b; j; |$ s% X! i"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
4 [, L$ k/ b \done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway; l& V# E0 H* R* C6 k D# w, {
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
8 [$ |$ v7 Y7 a! i, P2 q9 O. R& F+ linvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
: ]9 r* k9 q) ^0 V( DLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an, A6 l$ |, l3 v5 m9 ~6 o
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of. ~8 B" V- i" b, u5 u
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
1 _- Q& p! h V3 i( K* c* amalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
4 F! H4 C4 h1 b2 Tsaid.
+ V0 ~( [! Z# c8 M1 {2 ]As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
9 w$ ^* m3 a0 n2 ]happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe# W4 j5 G, j" K+ }# W7 h
about driving our products," Lentz said.
$ H, {7 e* q. B) s: q3 U% Q! c. w% uThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's. ~/ q% G; u& @/ ~' D
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has4 ?6 D( j! m! F2 n
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
3 I- X% z* o& a8 Kmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of0 i5 A F( w/ C' g% C1 ]
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
! \/ L: {$ N w0 X% v$ Xissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
* ^* ?. ?! M! [concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of- v; H( y: O8 N2 M% }8 b
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow+ J7 m6 s; {' l
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has; E. d F1 x5 g' U8 F8 @& U" i' q
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
6 D7 t9 Z7 o G! z- h aof Toyota vehicles since 2000.
$ a7 x# q# H+ k' _Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own4 A/ a7 I" d" }, L
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he4 e9 V% W2 p' v/ D) z5 t( @7 `
understood the pain.
7 i" @& W. q: [. Y4 G% ]( F' f"I know what those families go through," he said.3 Q6 j& L: \' v1 j! {
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's1 S9 }! U+ } i$ c' a& a8 o$ R" ?
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.+ q# M" W0 \0 O2 N" i& g+ c
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman7 z- C+ k$ a' \8 Q
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
4 E3 K2 W, p, g3 ]& g$ ~3 jin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
1 l! E5 `. }! \# r* q0 P a/ ULentz replied: "Not totally."
/ b! d8 ^7 Y! H7 pStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were! [ l$ ^: r, r
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
5 r2 L2 j6 p' G( L$ y+ OToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
" F/ _# o6 x0 ypedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
7 V* |' H, o N6 lvehicles already on the road./ ~- D# Q/ F2 s$ X! W
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
8 K9 _( J- ]! x2 D- y+ H3 Cbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
4 }* N; ?% J3 w, U# a" sresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and) H& O8 W5 V! U3 S) k/ C: S: n" X
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were7 a) u8 a$ Y9 p& W s/ n4 n" L7 j
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
4 O8 f0 l8 B V. @/ T; Q"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a6 V( i+ k4 _. r' ^. y
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
6 |7 x0 r# l9 F) M) `# yfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight9 n( \) R% M" Y
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
$ a! p. ~. \9 A% z* v; W4 icommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to6 A2 s: W, D8 n. p
restore the trust of our customers."! C* y, g. t. U7 K6 p; ?4 h, d2 X' I7 v
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from: d; n9 z5 U7 ~$ Y* _
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly @ k" O# v3 r2 H% O( M
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --- d9 ]/ y o! k& W7 n% i8 ~
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
" ]2 `. l7 N9 L5 yhitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
& s( {3 R/ X* G, B1 R- i3 Y, Ethat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and8 W. z. K0 \+ W0 h/ ] K, [
turn off the engine.
. x3 i! n6 E/ G- H8 Z) e) A; @4 VFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
r$ h; [+ H& z, w6 t6 k# bOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
1 J$ G/ Z( l% j# O"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
9 J, Z( t* x- Q9 G: bsaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
$ C8 o' N. y" K6 P. H% ]to her complaints.7 ?. s4 ^, g6 z3 g2 }
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
& x% ?! I3 o! u6 ~: _returned again and again to the question of whether electronic1 h0 G+ G8 O1 H5 i5 b
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.' o6 z. m4 o$ s# T) k% z& d
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric% M% O! [' s# P) j
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
0 H2 L2 \; u' k1 d+ G$ e( N0 Z"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut9 s0 ~! t- w$ D4 L, M
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
0 K+ s! b* T2 m9 n3 E" ZTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in* z; O, Z- }8 y* p. l7 h! @
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
3 l- q6 ?$ \' G( R/ Q0 Jbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
" [" C8 y( }# C9 i& twere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer E7 p. x9 c, A
every question."
7 Q" N' @. p) a( _$ wToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether3 D0 X0 W. O/ }* a3 i! d# ], T
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The7 m, t3 K7 q& Z. R
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
& b$ o. m7 b7 x4 P: S" Hcommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small
# X. \7 v, {2 b$ S3 F$ z) Hnumber of vehicles5 w/ o* p% ^. H4 o
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more
+ K. `& L5 p9 v: Ydifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a4 _2 g+ X# ~: ~. }& |
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
: r7 B+ `5 w ^source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
5 k$ t0 O# C# m) K% ?Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,' M. S% g; t! k4 E( p
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no! p% a8 f- I {9 }' s# R6 O
trace at all.# r/ n+ N7 E7 \0 E. L0 Q6 f" o
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
3 m, d1 s8 Y/ M4 Ndatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden- A- m6 F/ Q8 Q* K' Y0 }2 ?
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the4 w y* N) E% M9 O4 K5 t) T
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.' v# `: a" P) S1 s5 O3 w' E2 E
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,9 Z; n# P% A$ S. M( Q* b
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
/ u# C- V9 C, C) w7 n Z$ ] Vother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
h; V V: s( [6 Delectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible( K% x; ]; @# g
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only. N" ?/ Q+ g+ I
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
3 M( @8 v5 y7 n9 `3 D& n# Zby Toyota's lawyers."
/ T% }. ^, W4 ~0 c$ D6 | s! ^' [Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of3 | R) e2 r. M0 j+ T( k
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our$ c* E% s: U1 F7 p
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
$ H; H' U- H# t, D! Usaid.# A' U b) z4 Q
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
4 R4 U' X) f6 e, ga rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our. m% }% ]+ y8 s! l
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
7 a2 a2 F4 D4 Y h( Bofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.: }. L, Q2 w; n
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
" C1 P) B* B- ]# E; pmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread' q. L6 ]1 m( H8 D, ?. a! W8 @# S. r
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the2 i/ d C. F+ {% [. a; l
automaker, at least in part because of the government's2 C- Y4 d. o8 W% [
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and2 ^7 [+ N! _2 B7 E$ D
Chrysler.
" R' C( J3 J' W+ E: I4 T"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax4 t8 f0 I$ R5 W# @( G- t
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a1 V9 {1 o7 e' g. S$ \( X0 S
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
, ]: `% Q6 R7 M& Lserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete- A0 `- O. n0 O5 n, U& x2 ^6 D
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
6 H$ D. H7 ?3 {tough."
& s6 \# C$ X1 u- `' N7 I8 p( |---/ O* b: k" ?# m5 ~
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom7 Z8 u5 i# j( Y7 ^ G- y4 q. q9 ?% Q
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
@7 e5 a% T- ^9 w ithis story.9 n! T' q% z- M3 H
7 \- B% V V8 P" W-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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