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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( w+ N4 i; \8 F% A% I3 sBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS3 `- C! n+ \! v3 P
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
+ n/ r9 a& g7 woperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that2 l/ ]; s9 D A
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"# }% P: U6 @0 q
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
; H8 G; d+ A8 i! I"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential% g. n% a: b I2 V
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.8 |, C7 h) w V1 c! k: P
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected4 ^+ n2 W: T: [: ]) \
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
5 a' p, t3 l7 i$ a: Ptrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
3 E' h' P0 _" }5 W9 N; xmats and sticking accelerator pedals.
8 j* G/ ?9 _ m6 ^+ eHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
$ T" y# n( F$ Z. cand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
. ~3 J% @7 z& M/ d' Q r5 hcriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
' t0 \2 |+ X/ p5 c% Cfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could4 m: \% E+ v( B9 D: U8 n4 Q
not stop her runaway Lexus.
8 j! f/ m9 T- ?0 S8 J/ H"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
6 g7 c$ c5 y5 k$ Y i: J _Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
) v% @3 K" m" G' M2 M: d9 U- P8 ?"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.( G d$ i3 a6 F/ t0 a# y
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues" Q: g' G) V5 A6 S- \) c
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
* ?9 [6 y7 ]1 s4 p"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
3 M. P6 n- @3 m; W: z7 d! Adone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway, o* j0 N( C, n" z& W. [% M
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
- W! |: M) y' H5 l' G" Iinvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."7 [3 ?# g7 i8 v( e
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an7 U( z7 z0 r' r+ X1 X
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of4 e: Y6 g" s) p+ i; |! j
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
9 r6 Q( G" R8 u3 K: P# ]malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he1 I0 t$ ^1 M% ~5 n7 r
said.% g! V4 z4 F" e
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
. s, ]- L/ B' c9 J( thappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
2 ]& }7 ?% C2 a+ W+ Xabout driving our products," Lentz said.2 h, ]& i! A8 ]; O1 u- G
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's$ e9 f: F7 p9 r, }) V
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has7 R8 P- A# X9 U. g
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
3 F" D. b/ M& k2 l) {million in the United States -- since last fall because of7 N8 r; g$ K* ^9 x* ]0 k! w) m
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking4 \; G! d# [# S% Z; q! x8 \' ?
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
3 N6 |8 Q- O# Y# g2 I' Y& `concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of; r. Q& p7 Q! L: \0 ?
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow6 P( G2 ^! s1 H7 X4 E. J' o
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
5 G2 i; O$ q1 `* Q6 greceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
2 ^" }1 V" a5 n# \3 Jof Toyota vehicles since 2000.
. T! a. H- h0 A6 x, u; f- t; fLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
4 h9 }5 x" M4 C+ `brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
% f7 w9 U$ {7 t9 Xunderstood the pain.
- C) Q3 v( H' _"I know what those families go through," he said., T1 U) x0 {9 I y5 W8 r( O1 ]
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's* C& B" H+ D0 y
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.4 y( ?2 J; Y6 |6 k! l! ~3 ]
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman B% x4 a. T) I* ?& |+ h7 C: R- R
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put+ U- E# X7 N! `+ q7 m6 B2 d
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,$ m: ^9 ~% R$ ^, {
Lentz replied: "Not totally."
% m" \9 D# u8 o% LStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
% O$ X% ]" u4 ]"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
( q' J3 o' H5 E/ H; I/ RToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas- M: n+ W7 I7 Z" S Z
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
8 ?* s. |+ I. k9 U2 e; k% k8 rvehicles already on the road.
# R& d7 P- w9 P* V6 N4 XMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify7 K5 f: \8 i5 }' k7 E6 H. M0 k7 A
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full1 T9 c9 Q; Z* c4 X ], @
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and/ F; f( Y+ p1 W r+ E+ Y; n) M
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were7 Z9 v) K3 V R8 `9 z: V3 j
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.2 s& \ u8 `7 c
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
9 a$ H" {0 h+ O% Q& Qtragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony+ L- C0 Y7 n D) S# u% s5 O7 _
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight2 f% q; w) ?5 \' V3 i. k
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
) W+ y% K1 f7 j. l0 _7 X# ?0 Zcommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to1 L+ B+ T. P- A* V
restore the trust of our customers."# S; N$ Y6 }: O- F" S5 b8 ~: `9 b
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
@! \( }: j3 l. DSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly% \4 @# N0 N9 J; D
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
8 j" U R9 x( V! z$ d3 h: Lshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
, `6 t+ t5 ~* m* hhitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
- l2 p( }$ I/ K, }that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and( t; j! u: O/ r3 o8 W: `' s5 `
turn off the engine.8 W5 e4 V2 u2 J* A& Q" a
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of) S# p$ _& R- u8 [- q% I
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
! N N! p1 f! C9 A+ ]"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she( r* }! o C3 Q' S- m9 n$ m
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond7 M5 u: \6 V5 i% I' X
to her complaints.1 m% }9 q( k' x5 _4 p4 Y) I. B6 q
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers0 P( o2 Q; J( s
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic m$ R" G' W8 g8 x
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
/ a1 S$ P3 n/ H- g2 C, G"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric0 K- x6 q, H: @4 }% h
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
1 t9 T1 D! \ }"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut2 z9 o/ X, l4 f# |; [
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."2 R% B! F- T9 \+ D
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in) m1 Z0 }4 F! M; K2 z# S; x& K" m3 J
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were' i+ t. x+ j( q- ^& F1 {" x
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls" `7 Y; w4 i1 r9 W9 ^9 A; K9 y
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer' c8 q3 I" P+ d& B& T4 Q
every question."- [5 J/ D1 p7 U7 q
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether7 _1 q' ~: f* _$ e1 m, o& V
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
; y1 i. v* d' t$ k% Z. Gfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
' [# D1 i3 l t2 y5 Xcommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small
( h( r: j7 F7 g) Jnumber of vehicles
( V; ?! ?) q0 Q$ E% [Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more+ l" q5 ~! [$ q5 O/ {0 U8 u6 F- E* ]
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
' z2 \! s9 Y$ P9 M, B: tmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
9 t: }' e. e4 b! _& ^source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
2 K7 [6 G% s2 |9 uMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
{1 `9 [1 m. C# ?where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no, Z# m$ o$ `& I; f
trace at all.
" v! k" s, y* C5 p% g( U4 t5 wHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
5 C8 D& A% v& A9 s: ldatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
0 r9 o8 H7 A2 a6 a& V+ N8 h7 ?acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
2 G8 S, @! @2 @$ precalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.; m* Q0 X5 m6 A; k. `/ a
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,$ ^7 o. ~' f9 M7 D e6 v7 q
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and1 ?1 q# m! [1 w _& c
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the8 c0 V# r- t; y$ v
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
1 { L( b: {$ u! scause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
% K7 W/ L' Q) j9 Q/ P# o! |3 D1 psuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained+ T7 [: E) I$ s& s; v. {; O
by Toyota's lawyers."
0 M' a8 \4 V* lLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of) L0 ^5 ?' V. C: J+ z" l
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
) D6 R" b n3 A3 I2 pcustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he( }' l: K/ j+ K% s0 @
said.
6 h2 D* o! d, [$ W2 a"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with1 q0 C2 ^% O2 `3 A
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our: c/ y# I! s9 U) g/ }
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating9 J6 z: h" Y% Y" f: A! Y
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
. ? i3 P, k3 G- c! Y4 \6 i1 aSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying( L" e' `6 f0 x. d/ Q# v, H2 n6 u) V
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
( x: {5 U3 \7 K6 {6 t* g; b v; vrancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
+ I( Y6 _* i( G2 C. w: j% Mautomaker, at least in part because of the government's+ E+ A( T: C( ^5 g1 v4 w+ X! N
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and+ V! _9 x( p5 M$ {1 ]
Chrysler.* @" f) l, J5 g( l# |; M4 b& @0 q
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
( f- a; L" {$ v% qdollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
6 F% O( V- |" j7 V' l1 ^" tHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
( _9 J# M0 F, b! Fserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete# b4 {) y Z+ c; q5 J- i h# ?& a( l
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty+ P; F8 F+ J9 }5 V9 D
tough."
0 d- O: d- h& A9 F$ R$ W2 I---1 g- d0 M" \; ]& d# }7 ^7 c2 J' g7 `6 U
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom& I; Y! P& _0 y" C0 l* }0 J
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
; e* n' v6 m; ~! F# S6 dthis story.
' E) ^3 y- y) X& k: f# k2 h+ S4 D# y4 i/ C/ g V
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