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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
) b7 U& D$ m# @/ j0 l; f2 JBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
& Y5 Z+ _( q+ e! E! u$ e+ ~% EWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.5 Q3 X1 l- Z1 q( K, h. T3 D
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
, F3 _% H- I6 L0 r# Q- gthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
1 M! j+ e+ z3 F. @+ msolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.; P; n9 B2 h3 O# V9 K% l/ l8 c W
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential/ y' b% P9 P$ [0 N2 c
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel." o% g5 Q9 W) ]/ J. J
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
4 w% E' a9 M0 Xacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and# U4 b! A, o+ [) ^/ y
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
+ F6 J' R( X: p4 O* J. Amats and sticking accelerator pedals.
, P# f& N+ k; V" zHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal% C+ [6 p6 m' G" G4 w
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp) T$ s6 f" z4 v
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be* G" L" s2 O3 a& Y; B
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
, P8 k& b2 Z `! |5 enot stop her runaway Lexus.+ q# n; g& _) m7 F: {
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,1 Q3 `3 [5 r9 b7 s
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second, v3 O0 J" A$ @% [
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.2 T) {& s. g$ Y- n: f
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues C0 E6 B# T' i' I& i: K9 X) y
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
( E- n) ~; ^: Y( R$ E"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has' r2 d2 ~ L5 U }
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway" }6 m: |+ c% ^5 X/ }9 t) v( g
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's3 D7 _: g% t4 p5 G% O: J
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."/ w$ W- ?2 a+ R6 H' C' C4 h
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an/ d+ x- I# ~2 g7 ]$ I- S
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
- J& Y' s4 F& T& zthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a+ S$ q/ r; G# z3 k' V% c+ Y( T
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
* v! Z1 o% j1 f, h* ksaid.# K4 {+ G; b; j" H7 _) e8 O' I
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
& [9 e4 f5 I; q# Z! Uhappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
$ {9 ^ `1 d C; o# I2 x. A. mabout driving our products," Lentz said.3 v4 z2 Y. F8 C z K
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's( i! Y& L; C) ~8 X9 H/ ]
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
# d, ]2 T7 \% ~/ crecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 61 K- f/ w7 C, x* \3 k
million in the United States -- since last fall because of
/ [+ `) V& G5 w8 d$ Funintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking0 p3 w. P2 ]( O. m. I. L
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering/ f. x+ ]& }5 J3 f, b
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of# j* d! ?# K" d: F1 z
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
$ c, h9 K, \! i' f: |4 bdown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
8 K* h7 u/ M9 d: a% Mreceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration5 R( c" c; L8 b* V6 r
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.
. b; W& d. P! ^4 y& pLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own: k% _ o9 d0 G; s$ m
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
) F! l" C; a1 z; G+ d" iunderstood the pain.
1 P1 {( Q5 |& g( I"I know what those families go through," he said.3 N) n1 Y8 e3 B, k, r! e
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's/ t! [3 `% [; j& u
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
" N0 b* @, ]) `7 x) ?1 l1 |But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
3 Z& [! v7 @" R& `8 F* nHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
/ S8 p6 P) J: H* O, N% Hin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,2 O" z; p4 ?9 t' |) Z, G
Lentz replied: "Not totally."" a1 g, L) Z+ e3 ]6 }$ |
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were& ]% N/ L! P/ {" B" ~: M
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
+ A: V6 ]0 o; T% b8 mToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
2 ~8 S: n1 E/ Y A# `pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its1 ^% s! H- G0 C) R' q3 j
vehicles already on the road.% y) I. x( J5 q
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify. B" ~% p I. ]
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full r$ e5 v2 n5 s2 [5 X" b" H
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
3 _3 C. s" b! A8 [offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were n8 W9 g. z1 B7 w
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
9 r5 p( h& g U/ c x2 D/ ~2 v4 t"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a5 i# M. j" Q# }- a7 [
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
9 m- {1 K; q( O4 f! ~- l! a. bfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
/ `7 d3 Q# L9 x$ _- f- @- aCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal$ |0 s3 I# A9 C( u) h: h
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
9 C: m) i/ D+ k% Q; J0 s+ D9 b) Krestore the trust of our customers.", u3 ~; o; o$ i. ]. }! n1 R) D
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from& I' I3 c3 K0 K: _/ H
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly. o( C5 Q( K( @4 ~: |3 ^
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
, S; K* O* a- t- t% o2 S1 g6 bshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
( B4 s7 S [0 D1 L, J6 {1 Hhitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
9 S q b6 c8 L& U/ B4 R* |that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and0 D4 }( P. t' x" C0 V' w9 X
turn off the engine.) {, i2 s) `3 R7 X& j4 a5 ?
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of5 l# j, @/ a3 z: E
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
9 u# ]4 e6 F6 P' Z2 d"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she( a: k9 v+ ]0 |# p) {$ r$ o
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond1 a0 n ~* ~) V. v3 F5 e
to her complaints.
2 M# e X" {' i" _! eIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers- d6 X' g% b, K9 q, N4 H3 `
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic& O4 ]8 a3 ?( |; N
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
M9 ~6 F! h2 ~7 j# m0 J7 I0 O"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric- L& a, R; C; H2 ^8 m) l
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
, T) ^3 S o/ f( F, C# ?"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
2 D) j' @; g7 N! aoff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
O' z3 ]# n2 A' P3 JTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in1 E9 l* I2 A7 M7 M
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were( N7 X$ C# G( Z' b; j6 U
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
+ X( d, t# D/ P* Hwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer: Q6 ?9 p( p% d0 d
every question."2 b+ r0 S, `* b: y, O
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
2 _, A- u0 S/ P5 A% Melectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
+ c3 V9 y* s, L2 f* }& zfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But6 T5 i3 v$ y! P7 B U* k
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
, s) e( I( t% |& q) v0 B8 W. J6 ~number of vehicles
6 J; z; ]3 E7 E/ c" L: UTracking down an electrical problem can be far more( }8 ?" |# B! h$ g6 @% w
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
1 U, r" H; D; y- V; L+ [$ |mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
; |1 J- d+ E* d1 f4 D% u7 \source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.+ q9 i& G9 {! C. a- {8 z
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,/ g7 H% A6 f$ ^6 m
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
' u6 X5 o6 Q0 j& ]trace at all.4 s2 ?5 B7 Z [' M( A+ F: b. `
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
1 B3 Q4 n" I3 O; Z& `* adatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
7 p/ J1 r! x3 A) e4 n/ z$ Dacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
7 x7 l2 u0 ], Irecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
9 B8 l) b$ Y2 xRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
9 P3 A9 `8 k6 dsaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and3 @$ ~5 @4 f' i% ~# v% L$ b3 I
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the1 C$ p- D- |3 C& ]5 b
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
& b8 i5 g& ^4 x6 T9 c0 {cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
) v2 Y! l7 |; N- E2 wsuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
( @# }( w0 w& J( xby Toyota's lawyers."
4 ^3 I# y3 d0 C& t6 A7 |Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
3 j6 \* J6 L# Y7 K d' a$ b5 ]0 {! pproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our O0 b6 \2 D) u. q6 ?& W% `' b
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he# @2 J9 a5 _7 M- J3 Q
said.
# c) f$ |& H. w; W"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
. m$ H4 M1 Q5 T- O5 {a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our! g$ P& h, B/ p/ Q- V4 K, D
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating; \+ N& H& y6 D8 z V$ f& B
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
* G: g6 }; H4 x8 xSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
. K6 M$ W8 X& L8 X1 O) u/ |; Xmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread- [0 k8 W: _/ f& E" j( f
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
# R; c- a$ d& q8 |3 n* [) {* n0 Dautomaker, at least in part because of the government's. e! E! A& E1 N6 H
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and: k7 y0 |% ^0 a7 e$ q
Chrysler.
- V9 @1 W- w* _1 T+ I3 T( q$ K"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
! S4 A& L9 b2 \+ T: I/ `dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a* I0 |. j" ?( z
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also4 F: ^5 u1 { U( S* d x4 G
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
7 u w0 b$ W0 | {with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
1 u" Y( P/ K2 g: w* `tough."
H E( M/ L& t4 ~. B---0 F) S) t( ?: a5 A. J# H# \0 F
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom' U: c! C/ Y; N: F+ l) r; T
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to' w" }. z9 f; Y) N7 G
this story.
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