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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
; ]$ ~# _/ X7 t& e0 EBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
5 W5 Y2 a+ }) r: PWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.( l$ t, h% t% h% Q9 k8 k# g
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that: Y7 h2 q) L+ Z j* B9 |; I
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally", Z- x! K( `9 d2 m
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
& f/ Z5 a0 x/ D4 J* g"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential. v0 H' E- J8 q) ^2 y) k1 d
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
! Z6 t- a% `: O- F5 ]However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
& B8 ~6 f3 Z' W: b6 aacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
0 `4 l: p9 ?& itrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor. V; e' J* {& M) q8 h
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.' G# t3 Q. {2 X% i# M1 {0 u( X# e! r; Z
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal. X/ I9 M( e; \. X: h- y- ?
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
- M" K: a9 b% c- Zcriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be% X/ n9 u. r: c$ E& j" n' _& H
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
4 m/ {9 @+ E3 _, j* Znot stop her runaway Lexus.
9 q& I" T" x# U9 B! I4 _: ]! D8 C8 t"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,' W' [5 F0 S' m7 @; t: j) B
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
. F2 ?! z1 ^9 O! C& H, ]"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
0 U" a3 R, u; f8 s0 b8 JTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
i8 w. b0 P T4 l5 _* y' j" F7 [1 Jearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said# C! f5 ?% g, \7 Z
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has' n b: O- K5 R4 j: P* w6 J# e
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway. O+ Q$ T& e$ L. c
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's1 |: p& v' H% W# a9 P
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
, O$ [9 r7 b/ @. h# l: o: O) }Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an$ B8 U0 z/ k- K* V7 F
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of2 L- Z' |2 ~) E, @. d
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a M0 J+ u H5 }9 n
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
; a. n7 h. r& }) X9 G1 |said.
q; K" ]) V! d; x/ E' B3 CAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what1 L+ M& n3 y( a' s$ T% A5 g6 ^- E
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe' X1 M* E4 e* F4 S. U- B: g% O F& k
about driving our products," Lentz said.7 f+ y, n6 @8 n3 q3 |3 {
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's k+ b! r) {" G# ^! ?8 e5 p& [7 R( B
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has9 W- { ~% k$ l) F" S8 Z7 X
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
% F. Q' q W1 ]% ]) lmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of" M# C9 i+ v d5 m" J" P Z
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
# G G( G, l& j2 z1 i3 ?issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering1 z1 ? [) n' g4 r. x. t
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of5 O$ H( v. `% w v4 A6 }. T
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow% X0 @9 j5 l2 d$ t; r# o
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
1 h+ j1 a* w" t( R& Ireceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration( ]9 r; P7 T/ { r: p, e+ M
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.6 j$ W1 l7 c0 N
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own$ F! J7 {0 X; Z4 Y: N
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he: a0 U, v! h/ w1 m5 \/ ?
understood the pain.
5 K7 R* I# ?! S/ U"I know what those families go through," he said.- Y: C* `; ~1 }
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's; C4 [' V) h' l0 @7 I4 I
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.7 o* | L7 s2 u( j) g# s
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
/ C+ n- Y* o" k4 M! s0 @* LHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
# Q( B; _9 i8 _/ V9 Tin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,$ ^1 G( o# z! B2 ~0 |
Lentz replied: "Not totally."
, ^8 S% d' W5 _+ Q2 ^$ zStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were3 o2 m8 v4 P# c8 L
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
' }4 K. c$ k9 U u E3 w- ]Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas/ ~ [" H; L8 ]. X
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its* v9 m$ k- z3 A: O1 H! e
vehicles already on the road.9 G0 D. |1 t# l& s! H
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify \, K' [7 l' \7 C' t. E
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full2 c- z/ @' d# e% b0 H8 m. B/ G
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and9 @. Q8 `) Y8 c' W. ]# M0 U
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were+ W9 C. l- J: s; w( g( r
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.$ x1 H. C; s. ]- T }
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a# D$ `3 c! k8 A( o' R+ W( [6 N/ m: _
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony2 P; H) `* e) l( ~$ J- |
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
! u! K }& C# XCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
' |2 k! h e3 [2 L. O0 dcommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
$ w$ k9 Y8 h% Vrestore the trust of our customers."5 T0 Y1 Y7 Z% u! g
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from5 L0 v8 V7 S8 j C' |( h) h
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
# p1 r" k" `3 g! j3 L2 G3 z9 Vzoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
4 }( Z1 K+ ?( T* I5 R' }shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
; t" U; ]5 o( rhitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough1 F- \6 M4 W7 `# d5 g- D
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
, q0 `/ a9 ~2 }0 e) xturn off the engine.
. M" N5 [" k7 u: YFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of6 z: [; R% R- B9 L! }
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."; C8 i' h* T+ I+ e7 k7 |$ s
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she) W$ D% r' Q) X4 n
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond, ?& y7 T: [1 G4 ]7 p! }/ W
to her complaints.
% N0 i! G; v( X" j4 n! }- cIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers6 U$ q, k, T0 j* C3 h, I9 v: H
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
+ g4 u6 W' k+ X, ~/ `' ~% @8 mmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
' {. e- C: Q/ }5 x) j6 _"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
3 m, k5 T# V( F. fthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited4 e4 r& \% E1 z/ @& `. Y. L. s, f
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
7 _: p+ w- U3 z5 \, f' a6 H3 |off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
8 z) `9 H. Y1 Z5 |; LTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
5 e- D0 {( Z0 {" O3 D+ }) bprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were; \% h4 f# f+ a) }# e3 N( n
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
% \/ O% M# _, b! swere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer6 q* B# Q# [ I
every question."$ _4 h+ w% @6 Q* d, r, ~2 e
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
, ]& g% ^ }: r$ s: Qelectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The$ m l* \2 D/ u
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But3 Q' J. ]0 u& F! `) g5 N( V5 a& G
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small( M3 C6 X5 y3 o7 l% L- S/ @
number of vehicles6 c) w: W# f8 z5 O2 U2 k
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more1 W, b6 F( d# }
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
/ d# c; t' {. t/ rmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one* m7 X5 L, {7 P* y5 `9 E" T( R
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
/ W6 d3 T* u% U( C2 Q& JMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
# J$ V1 [0 L" G9 cwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
" {0 _% I: l$ d3 h% O# ~ qtrace at all.5 Q! y, \& ^8 L/ i( G) {
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call3 v# a: e% W5 U/ j0 {
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
: S: |, I3 p( O3 r% \4 macceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
6 I5 _4 a/ {& Z+ n3 I$ drecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals./ t u. i; }' U1 q$ K' n2 N! R
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,9 I% G, o: r# j& ]
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
/ n+ u2 P$ F! Vother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the9 x7 u2 M9 v3 v
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible/ m' Q$ ~, H% l
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only+ q1 R4 d4 u( H- @0 `/ y: E# o, [ d
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
8 e) `1 e2 a0 `1 A, Z( j. ]' g7 z" oby Toyota's lawyers."( |4 C/ T6 ]6 d4 B& Z7 f/ _
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
1 y, W+ m- N, ~problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
1 V& @/ b5 e5 f" n# fcustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
1 J5 h3 Q: v6 e: z, n' @said.
' f, m5 B0 J. ?/ G; B2 Q"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with$ I+ C# R% D. O# W/ i" R
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our4 I# ]: e' _1 s% o. a e2 I$ X V
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
5 T+ L/ s' V$ ^# h6 s: e' p$ Xofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
- O ~: ~# D* P3 a zSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying% z" j5 c: K+ y9 a: S
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
1 h6 \; w- p$ D! g/ Trancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the5 D' s- U! V, P! R0 C; M# m
automaker, at least in part because of the government's
$ \8 t1 }" G) ]8 ?investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
j* x, |0 p! ~" B* M1 PChrysler.
7 u# c; b4 {# ~6 R, ~"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax" t+ h n" C$ q1 T4 ` C1 c( N
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a! E! i- {" |# ~% N
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
. f! U% x& M3 M$ _# l) L' Mserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
+ R7 U- {+ |- ]8 r6 V1 Ywith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
( S6 Q2 U6 S' M3 s& h% R qtough."
! I- l3 S( B: C$ _2 |---$ w# [8 g8 |* T6 U
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
' U) m6 I/ ~/ v' z% tRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
1 e: O) g3 ~5 Lthis story.: D1 O" a' K# j0 a. |2 i
! w. {" F. G' V% T% J/ W-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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