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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& }) i [! d& j6 M; g3 X I
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
% [" z7 P: i* y, P7 ZWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
' U1 u2 f! L- \; \+ `6 L5 b7 woperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that0 N% r9 n+ q9 g$ U. q; Z; H
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally": H7 {1 v8 Z W0 B6 u, |+ h
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
; _: M$ {& L: y. Q9 @1 }. |"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential: N1 ~+ k5 v! W
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.( Z( N2 i$ `" w5 }9 [* M4 H# n$ ^9 n
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
. a! e/ S) L2 ^# |acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
( y& X7 k9 y) C. b' d8 U& \trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
+ K6 V5 r! f# q* A( m8 S3 A3 gmats and sticking accelerator pedals.
$ @; Q, R d5 {3 m" ?He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal5 X) j( ?. G! m) _
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
2 v3 I$ c8 K3 Ucriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be& t% p, k/ i' p# u5 q
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
# H- |( w* ~) Anot stop her runaway Lexus.
( M) t y1 T# e m4 t7 s: T' f"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,- [5 k+ J2 W# r2 s0 i4 m. i `9 R. I
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second0 ?% d+ \( d1 [: J9 P7 r L
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators." Y; P1 J3 O7 F) U! R6 S3 C G
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues7 X1 f0 x! C; |; ^$ x; q# ^: s
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
9 h6 Q+ d) Q6 C( w g; F3 G"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has" i6 V; _, Q' N, P9 D: L
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
) t5 B4 a6 d$ a) ~through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's$ t8 N3 f/ V; T+ X6 }# S8 k
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
, z+ ~! L' ^+ WLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an9 I1 l* f9 Y. m0 I# q! X8 `
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
* y( Q, c+ d: _; athe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a) t8 H+ `" q4 a N2 E7 d
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
! t1 p: \: S5 l9 j+ U% d3 g4 Qsaid.* C0 n( q; p* X, S9 p) q" E
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
8 v. |: M6 n( q4 n6 P# hhappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe& i* n/ h5 e7 l0 ]5 m& j) u3 v
about driving our products," Lentz said.+ B5 @0 k- I# K1 Y! e5 e
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's. n1 c! e; Y- f b
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
+ j2 [: E( i& ]2 xrecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6/ R7 Y+ [ U# K4 C$ x0 w
million in the United States -- since last fall because of$ `3 E+ K: ~. u- Y# y
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
: _* \1 `9 V2 ]1 k% @' \issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering7 ]; G6 J5 M) T7 h! d- A' p" e3 Y8 l
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of( g# b$ H% k1 a: N' S+ j% L4 `
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
- Q9 A" |/ y: d) Hdown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has' f& R9 j6 E) m' F
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration( e' [- f6 H% _' N1 B# g
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.
6 e% L2 z9 L5 yLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
' o: {* O4 q2 T+ E, |" Gbrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
6 U) j; n( z) n" o9 x7 qunderstood the pain.: \5 Y! t9 d* }
"I know what those families go through," he said.
% h/ K2 D q; F0 c1 V5 ^Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
9 ?/ e- h: k; f1 M+ i1 r lfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.9 ~/ a6 G q9 m, l! J: W
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman6 K, B3 I r! z% c
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
% ]: [: B/ ~% F5 s; f) ~% G# Fin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,& B! z6 F# q: j3 |5 M5 T: M# }7 q
Lentz replied: "Not totally."0 l; @3 K# Z; b# R6 N
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were A$ x# @" L/ B. Q3 j' \/ K
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said. h/ M- n4 n' D+ O4 T
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
9 o% _) l, Z q( Q1 _$ S, [) Tpedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its7 R7 c9 p! {7 X
vehicles already on the road.
% n3 x F$ J! C! R, J* FMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify0 G0 }4 F1 R# {( [9 f, o- X+ R
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
' b {9 D4 C4 Y" r0 X6 P) O+ Kresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
6 r0 `* l1 q) `- Zoffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were4 O' _, M4 l7 S3 Q& Z
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
: E1 O- O& O! t$ A4 t9 ]"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a! s4 _: q: a" d3 l; J
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony# h$ ] c* V( ?9 @2 ]- Z
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight$ W( ], i" g, D$ t0 L& ]
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal, M' b% ?) I! V5 s# X
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
- W8 w# `4 Q, u% S" p5 Nrestore the trust of our customers."
' z8 U9 u- K4 g8 T- f; K$ zLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from& [, E7 i- D! C* H% B) T
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly8 N% U, q" }! g' m. K
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
: t3 i ?; U: Z: Gshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and5 F* x+ l/ a% D
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
0 [+ Q% L8 P0 v0 T: w. ~" t6 cthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and6 Q8 N1 Q) P% T
turn off the engine.$ b( w# y) v3 v# x
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of0 Y2 t. [7 C+ u
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."- F9 S0 m, d- t1 |6 n. W
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she2 t, \: G) N: I) I" [& m
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond0 ?$ l' D# G8 X9 v% E
to her complaints.4 }; A1 i0 V9 B& R2 H' E; o
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
6 e, [+ s, L" ?7 g/ Breturned again and again to the question of whether electronic
7 s, R3 N5 m1 L9 e2 vmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.' R; g6 R$ N5 E8 l% K1 J
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
5 j0 B1 ?# u" Mthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited+ ^# I5 V. r9 n% A
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut6 C0 v5 r0 P6 i
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."! V$ P: i y! `7 d
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in- `7 c( P/ c. S. P5 z: [ R2 u( b
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were, \0 e- g/ U, A& L/ g, t( J
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
# J/ s N# @7 o* uwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
1 W% C: S' C+ M& ?9 w4 D" v$ ievery question."
4 v" K/ v2 Y' {& _$ ]$ `Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
# N. v" ~1 W; Jelectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The4 Y# {6 P* x1 d: }
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
( O( D$ G8 p2 Z8 O9 I& q% bcommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small
9 r' Q& C( J. @ N( dnumber of vehicles) d4 Q- V) @ ]& H# P
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more
; y4 z1 R+ G- f/ z* a- _2 u& gdifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a& z( `6 S2 ?6 G2 g. \5 q' K
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one; [% ^5 ^! d! W3 n; ^" c) g
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.- b2 @' W1 Y+ C( {8 Y
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,5 t! _0 g d5 ]7 L5 n
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
6 `8 @2 |9 q# e) D$ i- P( R, F; Itrace at all.0 X8 C, Q* `6 _2 Y* W
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
, {6 h+ w/ v2 ^" \4 Ndatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden/ c* J: t' |7 c4 P% U: L
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the2 O6 c6 h. P e% m
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
0 X/ D6 z; K8 F1 f& \Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,% k8 K' E& B$ s1 n2 o7 ]: p
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and" H4 z+ M" t O8 B
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the6 Y" O2 S# f7 ]) T
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible9 Q- E% K& L. Z; i/ Y
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
3 X2 D; ~8 R& M% _3 d Tsuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained$ O2 l/ {8 }% q7 O. y) C7 q' x$ O
by Toyota's lawyers."
! A% ?; [( U. z/ ~3 y6 A. ULentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of7 d: r4 q7 Z2 o8 }* G
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our) |( D0 j7 r1 {% b, H( a# o% f
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
+ @2 K7 D9 u2 Z: `' ~said.
, u2 ^) h' h4 |1 I3 B+ F; c"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
9 [ ~! r" w! m/ _a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our% I0 m0 F$ j, v4 z6 o/ q
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
7 j2 r! Q f: C& mofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
$ H& T0 m2 N4 d- A. @Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
+ Q+ Z' q5 I! ]0 B* j1 nmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
9 T/ X9 I2 \0 t1 Hrancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
$ y e ~" x* s: s0 h; ^# iautomaker, at least in part because of the government's
! }: U% }; e) ninvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
1 X5 X1 _; T6 [) K4 W. F. I( JChrysler.8 \+ E c! ]$ y' t4 y+ y* e
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
) [. y% o7 [* Z# Idollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
. @* s0 u; h, g- K7 |3 `( O9 T; HHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
$ _5 d8 i, ]% T" Hserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
, e; e6 q0 ~! m1 x; R8 c9 m% B: lwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty S; m. {( Z3 X4 S! {/ M/ r7 ~
tough."! J8 b4 @- C- H6 {2 G/ w3 F
---; o, \' w+ ~- n0 \ p# F
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom, R) X$ V3 C( B) k
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
1 q3 N/ m8 f/ Q9 q6 T& qthis story.3 I4 e& c0 g1 D7 G$ y, @
+ d; K1 S6 V9 S. X0 A% m-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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