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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 Y! }8 o2 q$ T2 K. J" A3 {8 SBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS2 X. k9 u4 S O" ]' |6 v. e* V
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
4 m) n3 ]* S$ w" `( ?% ioperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that/ u8 I8 Z. D. j' v; n7 L0 N
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally": |* L, W1 v7 I% ^
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
# Y1 }- ~1 [' A4 x"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential, C$ v, b T2 c6 _, C0 a0 M2 R
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.8 f! ?9 q1 b R! p( }2 o/ _
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
: d" P* s A1 q6 t+ racceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
7 T# m5 u6 r1 ^ P# a2 wtrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor8 c1 D' M' e2 N" p! J* v$ ^
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.
9 W% P5 y6 J- s7 G. H" i& H: |" CHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
0 D8 B, M* M! M O4 T2 pand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp- q6 H# W: h% @, N* |8 n
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
- G$ b% Z+ I& Z4 h& Lfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
4 n) F+ ?" d- z4 }2 Anot stop her runaway Lexus.5 h- ^# R# S& t( H9 t) n3 W* f
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville," c0 a5 Y0 X! \% Y. w% i. Q6 v- F
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second; ^' R) U4 b, Q) p, R, A( K& e4 k
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.. O# r8 E" S3 e* h0 H
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
. f" [- c; [' |' v, Mearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said+ @2 q" I- K. J. o1 E6 c
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has% |2 e2 X; K+ t% o: P
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway6 K/ @, a2 F4 K. z, f& ?5 x+ [
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's; G* I* c9 G4 u
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
9 U. o: q" l9 i9 H) T+ N4 cLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an5 p6 c V$ H+ x) T! F9 H+ { f3 d3 s
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
; \- U3 j# Y. p4 ~1 Xthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a% c$ Y$ @ N3 j' G7 G9 ~
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
# \" m3 P0 N2 \' l0 _" i! C$ vsaid.5 H5 d& Q g& {' q2 i& U
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what( j$ P' Q! q: V/ T* c$ x( b. q C t
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe$ I/ P. ~& Y7 r# G& l' H
about driving our products," Lentz said.
& P0 `) D y6 o6 J6 G& x" gThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's; d$ n) u+ |& C
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
m7 [8 p" J/ s( \ Z1 F0 orecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
9 T( ~8 ^* t5 g/ Bmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of
( D+ m# l3 ~1 |. Qunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking& ?" I3 o3 g& ^6 W! ^
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
2 c1 H0 Y# v) K4 F4 H+ Zconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of i$ \" b* l) L4 P/ R. `( k
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
, \$ @' {: {; P, i& bdown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
7 L0 x, h: S I$ sreceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration0 S+ J& L" W. s `2 K) v
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.: ^ d* \5 @9 k9 J5 B* [, H! E
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
. f9 e& B6 ~3 e) X# H" y5 U; g3 ` {brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
- l% i! |1 \5 m2 x9 Eunderstood the pain.
# A7 a$ V; l+ a"I know what those families go through," he said.
- B3 N) o5 \$ V$ H; fLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
* h! R+ o0 s9 T8 f g+ u' Hfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems., z: Q/ G9 h3 d8 q
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
+ H% ^9 h4 I {. UHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
/ O' X6 G' C# @: K% min place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
0 _/ I- P5 N, K0 @/ \& B& B yLentz replied: "Not totally.", U) k& R* P. @
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were( N, F% _# _% e+ {/ g1 l% v1 w; g
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
3 Y% |, U- T/ t+ `) P& KToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas P( i; Q' R/ n# d
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its/ a6 V1 M8 s1 J8 y/ ?
vehicles already on the road.; S# ], ^& c- F0 A
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
. u* g" |$ I3 j" Hbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
& I: I/ ]' a0 Q! l( w5 R7 Fresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and5 y3 j" `8 H# ^1 M
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
) O6 @: n, \6 X5 q$ kkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.5 G% w3 q6 S8 J5 D
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
$ _3 ~: m' p2 j4 ?' Vtragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony1 N% `, E9 g- E5 M0 u$ T7 p
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight+ z5 u) {! E: N5 u6 J2 _, ~
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
, w4 l3 e7 Y M$ `: B% Gcommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
( o3 v3 s1 u- m3 `: F, v# p+ ^restore the trust of our customers."$ W8 J# ]/ ?# G3 w! k
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from. q3 w2 V- d7 T
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
3 h2 T' z# ^& K. c/ S3 x6 C9 hzoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --0 X! k+ y7 g, H+ \2 C; G
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and. u6 ?5 \( ^+ K% g3 F
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough) W. ^6 ^+ M7 s. C: D- {
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
& N4 a- R8 i+ O2 [turn off the engine.
6 n) [! V& x- n8 R5 m& a' CFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of3 i7 z. s- m0 r/ ~/ q
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
4 B* c& W* |( o, ^- P"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
5 F% r+ `. W8 `' N1 \' ^said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond2 K9 a( X1 {( t4 f$ ^- u: q7 m
to her complaints.
$ ]0 c1 H T' l& r6 X d( g5 d' EIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
" q& @+ K* e9 m3 [5 |# Y* areturned again and again to the question of whether electronic
1 m4 z9 v$ I% i2 xmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.% f* _: r7 Q# o* c$ q" E/ h9 N
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
5 N7 F. @3 ~! E( h* T; ^' W& g4 zthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
7 d9 z& r3 U" u1 X1 z"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut. a: E' M- L0 `9 Z( [" V% i
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
- x2 h/ m4 i* b( A8 a4 m7 ITransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
# C! F, H9 H8 f8 Q# @, `2 Vprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were: A& d) Q2 X2 M; W# s+ K
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
1 P9 O7 l$ U6 d3 a3 xwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer0 g7 L6 \+ m& S% V; v
every question."
( x% h+ i1 J1 pToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether% F& Y p8 c, L5 X! o
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The1 @" f9 w) k/ t+ E" ~
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
: Q* y: `- i" Ncommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small
9 y" v! }7 W' A0 t# Inumber of vehicles2 L4 S2 R- s& O& Y! X9 R8 M3 x
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more( t* B' g. u" n F L/ r# X" m$ [
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a' k9 E% l% h5 a8 }# l/ p* W
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one( W! s( |( G3 d
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.0 ?6 Z# M; }! k" F6 C
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,( [ d- O% C; A* ~; U; w* S
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
' D/ ~+ H+ N$ btrace at all.
; n9 R/ {9 }% X: }/ I9 }8 PHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call! Y1 L! ] [! z4 e. o& N
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden) J4 T0 T6 I# r( X4 D0 |4 Y8 L
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
' A* W L" ~# S& x/ _4 Lrecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.( @; T9 r" @+ V( r
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
3 [$ t; E/ i% x, d' A6 m+ usaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and7 O/ G7 ]% y1 l _
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the/ ?* F' ^4 `- @" q2 w7 ?
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible, r. f% @: y1 I8 c! }
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only, k, B9 v1 v8 c- H) J& Z! @) `
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
! Z: i2 [( Q, \7 \, V' Aby Toyota's lawyers."# J( _ O+ C/ y* i
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of; s: ?3 i- @. s- ^
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
: M, k- W& C7 }) B. p# i, q rcustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
: R; V+ ]9 {/ `, x; S" K tsaid.6 s; w( p O( `" t9 C/ |9 c
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with# r* z; C5 Z$ m- ^( Z
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our% ?* s, c: P/ W8 z; _1 i, i! Q
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating/ w2 [- I; r; G3 @9 [6 F4 g
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
. s3 |' j" o v" KSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying1 D3 S; A7 r2 A! f5 r+ D9 \6 [- U
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
. o/ [' V7 T- g* ~% w! Grancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
8 C6 w c0 E$ t3 gautomaker, at least in part because of the government's. t; g: S% ~) w5 v
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and+ Q/ u% _' C" Z: Y
Chrysler.
* o" X$ o3 c& N- x"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax! S2 w5 q% l9 ?* K, h
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
7 [- B# J1 n0 iHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
7 R6 {$ p* C6 X+ v& r3 t rserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete6 f6 }) b7 d% y
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
. N) J. O; d! _' Z" otough."1 v) l8 n# j* R5 b' v
---6 D* H. \- r% Y5 a+ S8 c' W
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
' W- F* Q# z8 E. M# LRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to& ^ V3 J3 j9 N1 D' a: p! c' m
this story.2 i+ ^9 a1 ?1 u Q: a8 F, L! E
' f0 w; G! x: w7 z7 w& v, K4 j-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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