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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 x1 m* n9 N) Q6 \& S! [6 NBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS; P# L- G. |% W+ \ a1 g6 r# `4 D
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.0 { T' {4 e) l# V- g5 d
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
* W9 B* m1 f3 E1 Athe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
* x/ T$ h/ D+ U& ]solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
( R# n& c' X8 V: l3 y6 ?"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
& ^ k# @- |0 _& [4 m& tcauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.* u, [9 I |2 b- O- Z4 p8 ]
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
; s& V' w' a" c3 _7 J/ gacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
6 K9 z( u, k1 t6 X4 G: _7 g, Jtrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
6 O1 B4 A& Z$ j% Imats and sticking accelerator pedals.
8 m& a/ d1 w! G: ^: iHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal2 [3 i6 h; Y# d }: G4 P' l
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
& B* k3 g8 c4 P; p Q! }, Xcriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be* H) S" i! \" v& `! i/ z! _
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
" `' C3 A" @9 i- ^( @' Vnot stop her runaway Lexus.
6 J; ]% A4 Y8 L"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,5 C) ?$ q6 y- F8 H; l: I, C
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second3 T5 W& S& [3 `+ ~ ?2 e( l8 G
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.. z1 u6 q6 [+ }) S6 W- A" N* @$ C
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues/ Y6 h) X p. Z
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said, n. C$ \' J! z4 W5 K, F9 A: A8 T
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has' M8 w1 W1 |0 T& e+ H( \
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway7 p# U0 a! e* N, S
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's% w( a& n8 p5 Q7 `' Z
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."/ Q: E2 [- R- ?" i& x# U/ h% {0 U
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
5 r7 y; V) g8 }( n/ kelectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
: {. \3 X4 R% _# jthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
" o6 R- c/ A& N( `/ l* `malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
6 e* z& h4 ]; A9 ^; zsaid.* T$ a, u" S) ^, ?6 @+ x
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
/ P3 F3 p+ H4 I' l. ^happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
* d' _( I8 |% c( ^: Aabout driving our products," Lentz said.- _- P4 U) {4 f6 U- g
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
4 ]' [/ A8 [* V( p% Oproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has/ r9 J/ ?+ f5 l( @
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
+ d! ?4 U; h3 L5 h& Gmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of
% e8 E* A4 x r( e4 Eunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking* D9 O. H! i, X/ [% v
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
' C0 | A2 m5 gconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
+ j: K1 M2 F h: etheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
' s' O+ B7 [/ P: _, Edown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
1 F8 {" h& h( e" Greceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
) V9 N: H( G# y1 n1 |2 oof Toyota vehicles since 2000.# _- q/ F$ n! l) u$ [% z; |/ }
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
% r, `2 ]" N- U M# ?0 vbrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he- @: b8 n/ e) r/ w
understood the pain.8 H' W- F' Z. b% I; O
"I know what those families go through," he said.
/ J* `7 o/ P) i3 YLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
* p- s z& q' r' L7 dfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
- ]) s( W6 k$ s# k+ |But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
1 `1 N c9 D: X% R3 G8 q" |/ l' mHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put; r0 e: w" \. t/ k- s, e
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
- ?! N& u9 K, `1 M* O% h5 J. VLentz replied: "Not totally."
- ~5 Z; U: u1 E4 y0 J# G9 cStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
! \- \8 o- ]0 y r- E7 h"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said* K! {. |' \7 S# V4 R+ z
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas' u4 F D8 K+ R! q
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its4 j2 D( Q( y* F; A; `
vehicles already on the road.) k4 P% E# P& |! u
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
g% y" X* @; n3 w7 ?before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full" |/ \/ N2 t% N) U& e. [
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and2 X: @2 l5 J+ h) u, h" O$ @
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were, d& l/ n9 Z6 p, f5 g- Y
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
# j, J, s% o' l6 @6 s2 q2 @"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a* ]5 O" @3 m* Z1 }
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
; a3 q: n9 K' a0 O% Xfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
. c P3 Q8 D6 x h0 Q* E) _% xCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal9 s3 g0 R/ n8 l! V
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
3 c8 X8 F9 |+ z1 F) orestore the trust of our customers."2 G' K8 E1 \! D8 r. D5 L/ T
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
6 ^% l# }& D/ f8 D' `; O" y% }& y1 HSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly2 H0 S% d' T0 B9 ~3 D( G" R
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
1 [, v! V* M0 b, n( T& Hshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and. Y% ?( g3 V u4 ]/ x* D( ]# ^
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
4 ? q/ x0 h4 M9 ]& }that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
8 P0 x- F# q& X( E: \* `turn off the engine.7 ]2 Q6 _ \& C% w3 P/ L0 B# n
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of& J2 _, h; J5 d9 w
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."2 `$ f r1 b+ b! {
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
5 b7 J4 X$ w% ~; Z4 \1 G" @said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
7 U. _: e& a8 t+ O2 \* Fto her complaints.
6 S# A( C. I8 B0 ?6 R% ?! sIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
$ E5 Y/ ^& e+ B! O' Breturned again and again to the question of whether electronic9 n/ {5 w% b) Z Q& z
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.8 s! ^( U; j8 Q: x7 ? U5 s
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric4 S7 b+ ^/ e5 i
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited4 o' }7 Q& d5 P9 C) E& k1 x, M
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut$ g! M% f1 [: v+ h% j5 b
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
1 @5 x, I* @+ E& i& Y/ V; m! x! PTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in/ ]: [% O4 E& @# {) J
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
" e$ p) l- A! b6 `9 cbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
& T% `* Y+ Q* P% w4 Dwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
0 } ?" C: r& m) ?* d! X( b0 ?every question.": w' S: r; ]# ?6 k4 i+ m6 G2 o
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether( j8 l+ u# r) W0 w) e7 [
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
0 _; a( z& V0 f& _/ ?, O, q9 Mfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But7 T) j% W2 M; `- i, Y! Z
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
0 `, u/ u+ Z, l4 Nnumber of vehicles
# o4 Y7 @7 b4 f: B! q" @0 XTracking down an electrical problem can be far more4 K* {9 h: k1 J( g% G
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a% X+ p7 \1 n2 y' T
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one4 Q8 w. p9 V6 M8 a9 H
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car., I2 o( M. a, ~1 O
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
1 R0 j( Z: H4 I) `6 \where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
( l9 U; m8 O6 x- ktrace at all.1 q, j0 n2 m3 N3 w4 H
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call' m- a( m3 f3 _
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden. T2 a2 m$ l* k
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
* [- B/ ]$ E' f. j/ trecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.7 U1 |' d( A/ w2 M/ \9 ?3 n9 h! l
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,5 n: C, I7 x: L. L6 ^* P7 V% t
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
_1 Z U# B- g6 U P2 p; zother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the/ d7 N2 i' u3 r; f
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
7 t$ N: J8 `# ]3 ]* D( A, Tcause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
6 g$ C; J2 ? {; g, W; y8 Xsuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
B/ m1 [& f& z( H$ xby Toyota's lawyers."
5 c0 t- R8 S# p6 D4 _$ WLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of2 q5 u& l: H! b) \9 O( o! G+ @
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
5 ]. ?' T& o) scustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
; {" U1 J1 q* y; y; Isaid.: T7 I% Q- q4 [& F: l$ e! b6 E
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
5 L D. U: F8 {: b) B; ia rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
0 J* r6 l/ n: ~good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating, l% \0 D2 `9 F$ Z
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.0 \; t1 J: O* a. ` x% w
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
' X+ [3 t5 K& z& omembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread! v) J% A6 i( z
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the5 e: e/ J. D* {* T( _
automaker, at least in part because of the government's" s; a7 G& O* k' B0 B
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and) \9 w! X! `$ g) v/ u
Chrysler. c2 x& G! P& Q
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax. i1 p7 r- h3 p2 t3 x
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
2 p+ j2 m0 \4 q. jHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also X# R: e. i# n+ ]1 |9 w
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
1 l9 Q/ }& X9 s" [- i: M' \2 ^with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
7 ?# ^' V* d: ^1 z9 _/ btough."0 P5 a; u1 H! v' B0 L8 P
---! X2 [1 n. C+ ? o
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom; R% [# K6 Q- a- a b; v
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to, s; G2 s X$ q$ c' i' k
this story.: D. Y4 J/ F( x6 \. C
b* i- C$ H$ r3 P1 l! T' g
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