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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8 a; x7 j. A/ Z9 [2 r# S7 |; y
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS9 `8 p" k) t8 w1 ?, F
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
$ t+ H2 G2 ^5 @operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that: @% ~/ ~1 k; z7 X$ ~- R9 P9 Z
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
0 D7 Y* l" b3 y% R( L! Osolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration./ E+ o; f" Z3 q* H' t1 L
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
" F' ?" J1 ~: x2 U5 m% g$ Ncauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
; u6 Q# V1 _7 j) m7 }% I! OHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected/ e2 I O* [8 I3 r# j8 ^
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and) O/ t0 i' @2 y P; s
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor, t: U6 U5 f7 u1 E
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.
) k0 H; y2 d7 T# s$ ZHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
1 P6 V% n3 H, T% J" y3 Q$ }/ C; _1 v' Band fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp( }5 @, Q6 w+ H5 b( f
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be& {; U) s' R) v# {% C# E0 j) X
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
! J5 ?1 U8 Q, p, ?not stop her runaway Lexus.- I; a% S' o4 Q. T- s
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,# L7 r0 h- I' x$ |- c5 L
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second( I, a; J1 j* `+ c1 S7 ?! }
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
! L0 u- }. S1 s. j( o& X/ q- e+ D+ tTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues1 t \/ W9 Q2 f* |! B% \
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said5 ^; `2 y3 z7 l& u
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
" U! m7 s4 x/ Z# sdone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
2 {, Y; {- A( D" M/ i) x2 x" Z. _through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
: J2 _& M1 q- m) ]+ Vinvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham.") m a& K9 x' C% a6 ] m% s
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an& v1 m8 J i/ M. E# v
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of2 D+ u7 o1 T6 {& r3 s) W7 q D
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
3 a" Q2 V* V( C; T6 Smalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
! d; \7 S& n7 @+ _4 \said.- c M7 X% Z Y/ w
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
) Z! U6 ~- g+ I9 d' b4 g( q+ e9 Y9 [happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
. M+ Y& Q* J) d* i. q8 babout driving our products," Lentz said.# K- O- f* G$ x+ H% W0 H. t5 G
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's: k5 b9 O% t, \; V+ Q. {
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has7 G: I, N6 q! P9 U# ]1 {1 l; a
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6) N" o' j8 n; v! i
million in the United States -- since last fall because of" B# [* I# d x- w- ?
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
- L% J2 X! X$ d; U+ q6 h& [' `issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering' ] ^8 j. x1 k k$ N5 {
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of9 s2 v) L* h/ t5 M
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow4 |. f0 J& K% y1 C
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has) P6 A/ Y5 X; X
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration$ t$ }, |6 W `6 {6 o# f4 C( U
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.% S( W) M. t- x
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
z: r( z; e* L5 [brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he: ]6 S( H* Z+ @, F* D" a$ ]4 k
understood the pain.& {% C) l/ \9 R D% ]; Z
"I know what those families go through," he said.+ K% A& r' N3 w
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's+ E C8 I7 v' R1 B+ A d' Y
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
" q# s2 G6 c( v: D w$ D! _But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman: Z3 k+ g: v$ S' R4 \
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put3 d; i# _0 V$ E# V
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
7 I$ o. P' C* {: P1 x/ v4 R9 v# f* B+ RLentz replied: "Not totally."
6 C# m% y0 U1 F- ~+ FStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were$ G& k' V) N4 B8 A3 k
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said4 c! B0 t: b" N- f V. R
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
' |, Q, T4 [: ]4 w1 O2 P$ opedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
" V H/ `' N6 H, Uvehicles already on the road.
: U" W8 O) F! RMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
) d) w C, U+ l8 t* J% N! {before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
: ?( J( Y( ^1 r+ Lresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
$ w# q6 v) [" _( a2 qoffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
& f6 l% O, {0 ?+ `2 h" E& {killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.& ]% Y5 v0 |! V) E& k
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
6 _8 G7 k# |+ X. s Wtragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony9 i) z2 a( j7 }
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
( l( q$ K/ W2 E) q. pCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal5 P0 k( h3 T( N# A7 o
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to# n+ d; t6 e( T1 U6 \" q. r5 |
restore the trust of our customers."
9 o/ Q! Y3 @3 Y- E1 mLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from; n/ `- r- M( N. Q" z
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
: G( C) V/ U4 f3 r" a) ?zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
$ y4 G, k" @& Qshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and: C! [% p2 f' M [
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough. Y H2 U5 n1 A8 S
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
" F0 @- d) z9 C* H7 k" Kturn off the engine./ o% I& |1 G. W. @5 H6 K* m
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of6 v" {% B' u* ]! J
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
6 W, `# ^) a$ m6 | W8 R4 M"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she y! T; Q+ L' M/ p$ A8 w( t
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
8 B; U K* D: {; ^! ]% C) v- h- I9 Oto her complaints.! ?- B; f6 L! H' o0 i# j# i
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
8 Y( b+ b/ q8 g$ f# T, ~returned again and again to the question of whether electronic/ G2 _2 b- T$ ^# a3 M; U( E9 G
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.- D( L: w$ ?1 B( \- \7 ^9 l4 K
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
$ ^' H2 K; V% C+ J3 l* w3 `* `throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited" R( h; \3 J. v2 A; m
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
5 Z9 c( x N" Roff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."8 g! U) u% s& l! t
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
/ L( n/ t1 N* V7 ^prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were6 V; r0 V* {' z" U
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls! @' c* D, u; B
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
3 K, m; J8 B' M7 ^+ M% } Aevery question."8 N F: y9 h8 y( E
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether* y9 r: d4 w: W" E3 [4 {
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The! F1 o- Y* g `: L4 u
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
3 q$ J0 L/ p' E; Ecommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small
0 T/ _" z& q2 l, ^: Q. Xnumber of vehicles, s+ P% U* D$ |7 m4 y. S2 |) `
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more. q8 C- N+ b% X- R) n p
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
7 R" I' P- e0 N2 V% fmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
4 D8 j4 _7 ~- V a# C' E5 q3 bsource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.9 ~! [' `) e }% m6 X. V: y
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
# q" C9 ?3 b' U/ i Jwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no Y* y N) Y, F7 O3 q
trace at all.
- N2 c$ q$ _& \House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call7 S! x6 k: B7 Z/ j
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
! Z4 l) g" ]8 Iacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the6 A6 u2 @. o8 }) s% g: [
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.$ S* b. j) F0 s
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,7 X' ]3 S, K1 O- `3 K" i
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
T- F& l1 [$ v7 }+ O1 I; i9 o5 @other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the9 P5 g% l' @9 f. G$ R' i* ]
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
O; t- d c; @- mcause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
8 C$ x/ i$ N, @6 X4 {such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
, X; E7 b& J8 ^) W9 b4 nby Toyota's lawyers."
( M F, d# w) ALentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
% L8 C( O/ x- L4 U% pproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
3 `- ]$ u" e. V5 u& zcustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he5 U) J+ |9 x, v2 ~
said.
1 \8 ^6 o$ z. j3 I"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
2 o6 M+ O3 c/ T! a+ p: E+ za rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our9 S* D/ F. V' ~- G( X3 E5 e
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating3 d) _! N0 R3 Z8 G
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
$ O" q8 R. L: w( E2 S9 {Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying4 K% }9 |5 R1 {4 \& r1 ]* a
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread( i0 i' d2 t& B( O
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the* u/ T O$ {- q
automaker, at least in part because of the government's! J9 I+ D/ ~0 o' J( @% x- n
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
: r y% F3 e+ t- x/ l0 jChrysler.( ?6 r0 H) e4 b8 g( n
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
: `0 C4 _+ b1 H4 v! n2 s$ ldollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a- l* Q' z. x Z9 i4 z/ @6 \2 t
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also0 w1 e( U% B" {/ ^+ {
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete* X3 _& _# O. \ K
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty- P3 {/ P: ]# |6 P9 J( R, \
tough."
3 ^# q. y+ D: r4 i- u8 }---8 t& g7 D% ~/ c7 ?) p& ~9 l
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
5 r% a. u {* QRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
/ b# b( I" B6 S9 Fthis story.- h( d }( R2 V" g# o8 `( T9 J
5 w$ M6 ?$ c, [0 A0 a8 y$ c
-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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