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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
( o' y7 t; R( H8 E, B; D4 p" yBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
^7 W, w, V- c7 @1 _! [, G9 |! U9 X0 jWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S." Z. J. }: b0 @
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
- Z, p/ ^1 F' h2 j- bthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
! Q+ O/ z) H& \* @- n# Esolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.( m) w: t. ~, X7 T* e4 | Q
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential( }; _5 i( r. M! O* L' m5 D
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel./ T# b, o! T/ l( d: S2 k( @
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
4 t) D7 W* b6 D" R( ^acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
: @" c! ^# J% k: Y* e- Z! i1 ytrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
1 V& P% {9 @6 U! Xmats and sticking accelerator pedals.
4 K8 f3 @$ @3 A+ H8 R7 c/ ?* C" Q9 VHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
# h% _2 e7 z, L3 S% z3 f+ |and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp' q# {, ]! l- R6 b% X8 z5 s
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
2 o: V+ {# u4 y' Y) L6 O( Kfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could! g$ D' h1 @% r+ M1 K, F9 u, j# P
not stop her runaway Lexus.
$ X% K! S! w( O) W% t"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
' z- _, S" R! z- L' V, ETenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second0 ~9 G1 ]9 l* p6 z) h! y j
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.- b5 T6 B R& G1 s/ u' S
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues$ l `2 y7 f; X# R* w) `
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said- _. i Z. J8 R5 x9 [1 J: m6 k% {( Y
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has) P O* [9 g* h H @
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway4 c: t/ w+ y: X
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's: x- ~: C' t" O; o0 e: R" y
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."/ m7 t3 h) `2 J4 ?0 D
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an, W( \5 Z) M& | @
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of- h# I8 s+ o- f" ^' H3 \
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
$ S4 a5 c% m7 `2 w% u# amalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
! n* p4 o. g: V6 b- T3 `) ^said.. q6 k: T7 F: d& G# H
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what% q3 ^/ g* y4 C9 A' ~! _
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
* B3 {: Y( `2 F9 A E* A: i* S) Gabout driving our products," Lentz said.
* {0 T- G6 y) X( @Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's& `$ `% a7 n. d8 I
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has. G8 K3 X2 ~/ n) ]' B
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6: `' t% }+ ~, Y) h: w, p
million in the United States -- since last fall because of8 D! C2 @7 M, K
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking0 X$ ] q3 @& D' W, N
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
T4 I' r3 D0 E( Qconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
' u6 I( [( S/ } K' Ptheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
& z% B5 Y* p2 Y" D2 Jdown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
+ m- N* ~4 M" greceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
: Q6 u! ^+ l' D0 cof Toyota vehicles since 2000.
" u6 N' W' y5 n9 C' yLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own5 q4 T( g' {7 K4 }
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he5 x5 \% [2 Z% a6 t+ {1 H: J
understood the pain.
* O+ [( v. R/ U8 u9 l"I know what those families go through," he said.
% Q c2 C {5 m* G* wLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's" \* ]" E/ u+ m+ H
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
2 _* o+ Y2 v& g* a2 X0 TBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
3 s4 J1 a5 K+ n$ a6 NHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put9 u4 ?! T) m; j6 s/ c5 C2 Q* c; H
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,; a- C1 t0 v* I
Lentz replied: "Not totally."
, p7 q) z5 O, F; EStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
+ M7 e: P" M9 n u( F: U9 _1 Y7 n8 U"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said+ ^% V$ T0 Y( l P+ s% M& H: c
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas. Q6 S3 M7 N3 G5 y# Y+ C& T+ x
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
/ f: i, b8 Q8 _$ w: R3 Q1 f' u" b$ mvehicles already on the road.
) b/ P! d T* S) o* BMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify: x6 D6 D; m' Q
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
- B" _9 C+ j9 rresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and) V6 l6 k1 h& G( ^3 h0 G
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were; p& L% S# Z& i
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
. ]8 Y& |" x* L"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a4 l9 m& E3 _ h8 l) R! g8 d7 @
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony3 K3 J6 F& c1 q5 G; |# L. z
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
& Q7 g0 d& `0 F0 W+ B1 rCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal6 l+ _! U2 G" T( L
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
+ j6 X1 d( \+ A9 C0 F: h7 G e4 X# Crestore the trust of our customers."
1 a, E E! }9 WLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from/ M! q6 x$ H4 E% h4 A7 q
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly Y$ @6 ^+ d4 K+ ?# S' q
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --1 f& P; R' M: g8 G
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
( n6 K% X; L) C) E0 l0 hhitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough' R8 y/ w; v# U7 [: t7 q; N
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
& A) a4 d: \0 Mturn off the engine.; n4 z( L$ i8 f# @" y1 R
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
: ] A7 E4 x# S+ l. Q8 G7 bOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience.": p( P; Z/ O7 f! ]4 q# h+ @# b
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
+ Q, I) S! L% L, ^9 v0 isaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
" S, ]9 n/ G0 w1 z. n' f: tto her complaints.
$ W5 O) |2 r; b- cIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
0 f2 P5 o# _8 W; k4 Breturned again and again to the question of whether electronic
' F5 I8 e0 V# I8 {* gmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars. E3 C+ }; P q% x( J5 g" g
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric! |: v3 s Q7 k( F
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited2 y0 t8 L* [. ?+ c C7 e0 f
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
! Y) J9 \' ]+ D8 F# joff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."+ H! |6 g. b& l3 H
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
5 _7 o$ z3 P ?$ H1 z! Wprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
: o( I+ N1 ?/ i, nbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls1 U( N! l* [) I- N' V2 k0 j
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
' ?8 ^. B$ H( Levery question."' }. k3 O, ?0 H/ [7 j
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
6 `, o# y. D5 Kelectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The* Y6 f% y! D! J" p
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But, V+ ?% j& L" Y3 ?5 ?- b/ S+ i
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
0 ]/ B: V( H6 Knumber of vehicles+ L$ G! h# j# I
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more
" r1 U5 r3 x. Sdifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
T/ l& F+ m! l% Q$ X2 Omechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one( O0 n( e# g k& e
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car./ M, a3 p' p4 S/ k& C
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
% p2 ?6 p7 t/ a: w& b) Z$ Gwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no( f( }; g& ^) q S2 j% }( E
trace at all.0 e/ v; s$ h6 O+ B
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
$ J8 w' O0 ^4 ?database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden3 O: t4 r$ F4 L7 ]
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the. E/ B: Z1 B& H- \
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.. T9 s3 } d* o' e
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,: x+ `, C" Y9 \9 s
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
! ~" u8 M, M- C% F/ K( p0 @other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
0 z8 Z( M' T" j3 g Delectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
* u4 j. M/ B$ @1 pcause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only& E4 L& b: J& E+ V
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained5 Y3 Z2 V. {* h9 K) r
by Toyota's lawyers."
1 c/ N+ _4 s, m8 c8 vLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
( N8 g9 ?$ i# X. z' b4 X" c! Hproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
/ v+ \! H2 q; O0 _1 O. F% pcustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
) r$ m8 G* V5 ^" H" dsaid.7 z2 q4 |) S7 O a
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
. g! c! l# ~2 r' R9 ?0 R1 D; |a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
/ {; F r' K/ B2 j$ U) dgood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
% P' |( J. d7 K1 F+ o7 nofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
/ @ N, j5 `+ ]Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying2 H8 P: l' D: n4 G% k, A2 O
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread* Q& O- `( z7 m1 Z3 ]# B
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
* R0 k3 x0 F: m+ c- W& t) j rautomaker, at least in part because of the government's+ _, }% t- L/ h# ^+ U9 P2 n
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and8 ?$ \2 }) L* f6 l0 g7 D
Chrysler.- d( J8 \6 u4 i& w) D V
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
5 @$ v4 o! r: i1 @) g' F0 e: E1 Gdollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a+ T) H. W3 a# r' Y
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also- l0 [; {) }# L4 Q+ [" {" E
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete2 y( b6 ]! h9 s1 K5 j3 X% G4 a
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty; r2 i' W! K, w% |2 a
tough."
# p3 V- L9 l. l7 f3 p' O. {; J---
% r! y/ K9 N, ^+ j1 IAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
6 [9 j0 k/ E# S/ T; _( }# XRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
' F/ a6 i; u% b6 _9 \2 G/ S6 Bthis story.: o$ k5 i4 \7 `3 r5 L# [- ]7 I
4 f3 Q" n8 _2 h# p8 L9 A! [, \
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