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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
4 F# J6 j1 I, |/ S" k1 B* ~' x6 [% {By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
. I5 u$ E3 N) f8 oWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.: Z9 y4 q4 `; I x' e* j9 m
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
* z% S% Z# W( V% h2 Kthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
; r- n" c; Z, F( B! B- Z( asolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.6 }$ C6 k5 O8 V( n' ^% P. W
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential3 @4 l. N$ B6 g0 R$ r
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.* Q v i* e7 K6 u
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected% E0 N+ G( U& l2 j! O& Y
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and8 M' c0 [" c4 O. Z
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
5 ?3 P8 }8 \. o/ [mats and sticking accelerator pedals.9 t2 Z0 b# R2 b0 r& ^
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
+ l; i( S, ^ r3 K% Q; s! f3 k2 rand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp1 H8 [8 {4 D1 U1 Q
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
6 H( o1 m* G. Q }6 q7 Bfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could' m! T! K( F; @; O
not stop her runaway Lexus.7 W6 h! r4 J% Q3 `" p' f0 N
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
; l7 `6 P' N5 lTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
* o% I! K# {6 b+ X% G) x4 m; o0 ~"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.4 q5 X6 D P' _8 [+ O6 A/ ]
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues' Y' _* ]4 g U) w A+ y3 h" C
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
" |% x2 h: _8 X8 A4 R"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
! O8 ]" r6 t2 Y( k9 H$ W% Vdone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway3 S/ O$ O5 T3 r
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's! n0 K' Y' e9 X3 }
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
! n, a3 K( @) Q$ ] uLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
; I2 V) k6 U) O7 i7 K! |7 K) Relectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
7 N! ~! X% W" _: B4 l2 ]the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
9 U' `" Q1 V; i& b: G" @malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
- Y9 e {5 M& e) } rsaid.- T- p. S3 X$ i* }
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what1 Z$ s. X$ |0 N$ e$ s( U! G
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
4 {& z/ H; q, d" Q( c dabout driving our products," Lentz said.
2 v# ^" m" k1 cThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
1 w4 y2 W+ a2 l) ]: ^problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
* L6 B+ X% u6 w; ~, L0 T& s& Zrecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
! e! e4 {& \0 L+ b4 b' h, jmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of
9 E0 Q4 K. H5 N* y$ eunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking4 y: N( ?: A2 `; j4 I
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering( c9 k3 q% T% x
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of# k5 p( s' r3 w; @7 ~0 H
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow* W- }" T/ U' {8 l _
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has8 E' L" R- k3 Z( i9 Q
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
9 ]1 ]) N9 ~& `" a [of Toyota vehicles since 2000.
s3 c( C7 _/ BLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own ^- J8 w( I* R
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
2 H& m5 D# b) i$ I: k4 j" m! Munderstood the pain.
, J X: {0 A% L) s"I know what those families go through," he said.7 ?7 h1 m- z) R' J/ v
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
9 n* i0 F# ` H8 ?: p; zfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
1 r1 D0 n( O& f7 o- ^8 w3 tBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
, r0 k$ |. `/ P W5 d/ }Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put' q. _ t% H1 c9 a3 m- ]$ a
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
) L! S# o N2 q( X7 F7 |9 M7 o0 PLentz replied: "Not totally."# z5 ?$ a) l' }2 x% L
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
5 _1 B0 ~* A: N"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said0 e" w) _7 s7 }9 B8 R, J. }; ]- g) b
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
3 c+ e* i: _5 ? A8 r6 p8 y1 [pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its! s, P! m5 A# u) n6 ]! F
vehicles already on the road.3 W6 A' u2 G) M
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
; r( W! J% s* s( r4 o) e0 |before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full0 T/ J- d9 e8 @- h& Y
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and0 A) _3 ~, A9 c5 |; M* F
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
6 p, x J$ l. e8 x9 H* S. G4 Lkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.! W4 D& g a+ U, I6 t# W' x, z0 c
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
; I6 {0 o8 P' I" H5 }0 Ztragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony2 Q! N; i. m1 R. f- Y
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
8 P' R" z5 F7 H1 [Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
1 g# x' V N9 d9 A# T" V0 |7 Ncommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to" C0 ?3 Z" _+ P6 {3 T# R6 R
restore the trust of our customers."
0 X( o, j' v, E$ }0 h3 yLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
0 f* J& a; I# g/ h2 A/ ySmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly x4 f/ ]9 P9 x, F! p/ G; C
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
, E9 ]( t8 r1 L" `, s- e( j5 Lshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
! `2 B3 l6 R1 d! h' Qhitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough: r3 ?+ k/ T9 P& [: h
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and! Q( _5 A2 r0 v1 I" n4 b& o2 K
turn off the engine.* c, @# w% U' {* R" ?# C
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of4 N7 J) \6 U; X- X; I2 L- N) x
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."; _" Q" _$ B1 [; g" c1 k$ \8 d
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
( U3 w9 m5 N$ |+ p5 d( L zsaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond9 z1 F1 i. [2 R E
to her complaints." s" ^& ^% T/ j& n* o) Q
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
7 M0 o+ ], \7 Zreturned again and again to the question of whether electronic# A& ]! ^: f6 @5 Z7 p
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
' f+ Z" |8 j4 l- U7 j& W# t1 ?; f"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
: X: E' R3 \+ {9 o" cthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited8 H5 ~1 c0 T3 K# q5 O L
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut8 n2 n: J- {* Z3 Q
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
/ o7 @3 n X" nTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in N3 J) p$ b0 V3 X ~; W
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
! h! Y" M& j! v, @3 j$ Pbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
% n. \( p4 t* O9 K; zwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer0 e& `! [8 R4 [. D+ L6 D# i/ e) l
every question."5 p' f. {0 i1 p2 K! {' W/ x: f
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether3 v8 {0 Y% F- g; s2 p
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The' _; `0 i& Q0 S. b% |4 N
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
0 [; G( A; f- J" G; [3 Bcommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small
) B$ s0 f5 J" [* m0 q Lnumber of vehicles
2 j, \: h& I' \ fTracking down an electrical problem can be far more
8 j; o/ v/ F1 v: ^/ D8 Cdifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
+ Y1 @7 b* k# D; \5 s# E3 Dmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
' o3 ^) @9 y* Z) L; Ssource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
2 L' _* I8 P8 iMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,+ l: ~( k N- @- t# a
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
: u- s- T5 R6 C0 Jtrace at all.5 N/ ]& D2 r1 g
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call5 p0 b& Q1 l0 ` V7 X) ]
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
/ Z$ J0 Y7 R& k6 \3 z! x9 f( Wacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
3 e0 ^8 d/ e Srecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
" B; p; c& {8 [5 |) u% P' |Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,& X7 `. N3 X! K0 {( I' Y6 u
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
, m5 v6 {: q9 j# r9 m# s! a0 u/ N) oother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
! J. U, p( d3 y2 i5 Relectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible2 T* i* I! r$ I0 B% s; t
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
# b. `& z( j; ]6 M5 F0 | a; Gsuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained V, a% C9 n$ _. O& @; k, m
by Toyota's lawyers."
! U+ p; ~- W0 JLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of7 V: n' k! _ Y2 A1 U9 V Y
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
4 b. g0 C7 U' L9 ]; ^customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he( e O3 B s0 T" S! X K
said.1 u% h6 z' C N
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
$ ~, ?* J4 B) z; y; M$ U/ Da rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our( E1 w* A" U1 G
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating- M0 }/ [0 N' B
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
5 n* w, d; K4 l- x) GSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
$ _0 L! N" d$ nmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
" P0 T: A* v8 _; `" J4 Z: t+ hrancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the& f$ k6 t, e7 H0 F4 n. w% ~
automaker, at least in part because of the government's
9 r* r. ]4 p4 Q" h6 n5 t: W9 `investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and. ?; L. Z+ I4 @
Chrysler./ d! A8 u: [" b
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax% q: `, b% |6 d
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a1 S5 I% }; _+ ?! s1 o6 P
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
: o4 S2 i% }7 }4 [( B* @5 kserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
5 _+ t! \& E$ E% }with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
' }7 i# I! T* }! rtough."
: n c; p/ _: W2 G' ]+ g! |2 c---
7 l! @/ y8 p' ]. v9 vAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom) r! z" c) n0 k$ T: }5 w- W; b
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
, j- S* @( u }4 {. s% ] @6 pthis story.
$ z" O# _6 M' E# Y; {- G5 b Z2 R) H& b8 [2 }
-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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