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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
! W! o9 R/ i6 Q t5 k, Q# L4 ABy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
7 h2 w) e: L# v9 B* c& N) q" qWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
9 w3 D2 K/ j* q' woperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
% p0 m; w7 M8 [- a, Sthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
$ Z) G" M. E5 o1 z, G5 b1 G, ?5 Vsolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
4 Z8 R1 k) |0 ?2 E3 v# n"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
4 k$ k4 }7 N& ?causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
; k- h; |8 N. S, y* @However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected. V6 H8 e! O; A/ ]% z' W
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and, @% o b; ]9 @- x9 C0 L) f, [! t5 v
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor- R+ B" B; y$ e, Q; t$ [
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.
* c) d: C7 T# cHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal i3 L" U0 T$ O2 m# H
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp9 d* o6 i* x7 ?% v! g; a
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
! i# z- b$ A3 L+ X3 F2 M+ [further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could5 e. e- o" p [/ S
not stop her runaway Lexus.$ {/ U( [; \9 S' B$ j% ~2 p
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,: t' G7 L7 i% Q$ U
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
& }! o- m2 m. M- ^: A"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.6 |8 x8 O* z$ v( S6 @
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues5 q( b4 d, |4 x T# V
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said2 a9 t/ C3 F) O) Y9 M3 h
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has) [' _ r" b) I
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway3 R+ }2 V, R y, l" \! h+ T$ N2 P
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
0 H5 U E! @/ x5 ?- L/ Dinvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
5 z- |3 T8 r4 B5 j+ U ?# l: yLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an: s' S6 J+ J4 V
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of% L T* S* L' k) L! @9 }1 f
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
9 e9 u: W8 m, emalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
. G Z& Q8 Z0 l7 Psaid.! t, G, r" ^1 [' N
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
; e# T# X1 }" O& v) p' G$ g8 o9 Lhappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
1 b5 Q) w5 p) H( Tabout driving our products," Lentz said./ {; d7 t3 j3 P. r- J, G+ j
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
4 F+ K2 t9 v' V5 Uproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has3 X# }* V, Y7 ?: O
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
) j! J T8 A; h+ }1 P5 l% r1 nmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of
6 Y/ N6 [: \! f7 M6 Yunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
. C$ D6 H, }6 p1 |7 }% K9 vissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
, d8 p6 G q+ S: oconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of; r- D5 d2 z1 V r
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
u# K' y c! k6 J' O% X1 Bdown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
" Z- D2 k1 V1 q- Q2 W3 K, {received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration2 R5 s& T) w: N* H
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.
( d( R+ R, p, f; ^Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
6 M' f k* F$ u/ l& o& k0 @# ~2 Kbrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he4 d Z- `- C5 k/ L1 c& @
understood the pain.9 W! i; R- {3 `7 w. ? M- ^
"I know what those families go through," he said.
; _5 Z: B0 @8 J+ i" I HLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
/ t. O9 R) f+ }: f9 w1 T3 E: Hfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
8 R' P, Z$ ]# O$ c* |But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman& m, \* I, O9 v m! ~7 I' I
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
* z1 B6 [% X( }8 Din place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
0 r% G) [" Z! r+ O( O& B% f4 dLentz replied: "Not totally."
0 U8 A: o( t& K4 f8 M# O1 ]Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were: p+ S; H4 F9 }4 l e" P
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
( m6 M6 P1 ?/ @$ K, wToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
1 U7 x# j9 n# x+ V) k |; |% hpedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its. K1 z( @6 T/ k4 K- M9 C+ h, J: @
vehicles already on the road.
4 r3 k+ W7 N) x( ]+ F; q9 pMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
- [- M" ]3 M# K2 d+ Hbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
- P9 v0 n/ N- @8 eresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and% v. v+ V8 E% N- ]1 R6 r; i& p
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
8 S) h' M( E+ F3 Ekilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.6 j" b: A/ @0 u1 Y" O
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a2 j, y, G: p( n( u( o8 N; q
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
) a- n$ {# A$ ~' vfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight5 _% Q, P8 P9 {3 f b( m, f \" C
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
3 P, `& z) W0 S4 q. [ j) `# ~6 u; \commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
# E2 U+ T4 c; d) `: ?restore the trust of our customers."
6 x4 W8 w2 {/ m% z6 GLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
8 `/ d; t9 F( v) [! g! D) o, SSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
e2 g2 d1 E5 R! K' V# k! {6 ^zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --9 L! u* c7 L' ^, h! e8 F% {
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
5 m1 U9 N' K2 E0 a2 I) h: T; X( dhitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough7 d% ?$ M; U) p( V1 B' m0 I1 s2 H* s8 u
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
2 Z# H h0 Y6 S9 }) |# H* vturn off the engine.4 `, Z& ^. `: p+ ]
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of3 d. e' X/ T1 N+ F' O$ p N
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."! R% E3 C3 R1 \' G
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
5 ~7 B. F+ c. t: G1 k2 nsaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
& z& x9 j; [, |to her complaints.
" @- a% }/ R& l: qIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
( P: A, l7 V4 Z5 y; qreturned again and again to the question of whether electronic6 q) y8 ^6 m& I3 R2 _1 r3 f
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
: j+ h4 ^7 i1 ^9 y; O"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
% A: |: N3 |9 t0 {throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
2 L4 t: d9 p r"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
& u8 ?" E7 I% o* boff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
: P ^/ ?! L8 O# GTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in/ a1 I" v9 B( s8 l+ l& D$ j0 j
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were9 b N8 K: y) p9 A
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
, }" k% N9 Z. b' S/ O5 owere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer! ]# V0 ^( q) k$ ~8 d
every question."
. c9 _9 I8 G1 J: x3 BToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
: M+ b( L2 `& X% \- W7 Ielectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The( X- c+ q2 d: a/ W* ]0 \2 j
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But8 o- \( i7 l; c9 j" G: o1 a4 `
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
' D7 {6 |: ~ m. U' rnumber of vehicles% I* s- l, f4 Y) A
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more& n- Q, s' @/ r' j) S
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
, g% E8 M8 M% d( v5 nmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
: R1 s- }- P9 s7 bsource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.3 I4 a" y7 w$ B" m/ l: B8 @
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
6 g3 m; I2 R+ Y) v* S) Wwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
7 ]$ | `7 G% _3 e+ w/ H% W) @' Vtrace at all.
2 t) M$ ?1 _" E8 eHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
5 Z. K% `. \2 h; v; I+ {. vdatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden* b# G' p7 S- a* f
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the% |$ r0 {8 D% k; w/ A
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
$ u9 ?7 W: k- |3 G1 |Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,: a" M3 U1 p" B. ]( i& ?/ X7 X
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
- \) F5 p3 U u7 `! L0 Hother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
; g' D8 m) g3 V; B2 ?* Nelectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
+ V, f: S$ N3 Jcause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
/ {$ ~7 H2 h. D( Tsuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
' T- p) `. H( z+ g5 ?# s! xby Toyota's lawyers."
) l0 o. i6 [5 c7 n) Y1 t7 V4 XLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of! Z4 I' x1 \- \
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
' c6 s4 r% O0 ?customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
) O1 E4 s5 m% u; g2 Asaid.6 S' y; f) M3 U9 c
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
( m5 Z2 a' T+ o: P% [; la rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our& u" f1 ^+ a5 K
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
4 j. ^% v4 L; j8 p. Uofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
. M) F6 H$ t! _8 w7 X" h! ~Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying5 J" |8 a2 K; S6 M+ H
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread/ V. u( z: |3 [' F. s. u9 Z
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the% y2 c2 d. ?- @! T6 C; I# I
automaker, at least in part because of the government's
" h- a: \* N) X3 q# Qinvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
" M7 J G M$ p; LChrysler., z! o4 L: D6 M) A3 s
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
4 M4 ^, t6 Y: q9 d1 k& W. W& Pdollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
% O+ q% \+ b& I, I% g: OHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also' O& J. y, t& s9 H
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete8 L+ `) ?) p4 e" i- b5 I* w" `1 N
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty4 [! ?6 D% R. d
tough."# t( v/ B3 r: S: H* f
---
7 F0 E$ s( h4 y, u; p1 QAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
9 X( X9 l" u: l9 H, DRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to6 M( f& S" u0 q9 L* ~4 s8 {+ a2 c
this story.. n% ~9 t0 r* _; Y) W" M" m
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