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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 M3 U( D' i! I4 G2 IBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS) b% M# p$ V0 z5 a
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S. `2 `6 t9 c- w8 y
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that( u, H8 B' L3 E' x' H
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"+ ~ p# x9 j) \5 K
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
& g, W& u( C* ]2 D& H J"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential; ~" x: f$ Z: B% S
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
1 }. x. m7 Q$ C5 ?% y8 a+ E! f, Y; SHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
4 u( _; C8 V% X2 tacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
+ U, ~8 G; ^. ^- ~3 R$ gtrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
* r% `6 {9 _' |% x% Y4 tmats and sticking accelerator pedals.
1 `. K$ j) |. E4 f7 ~# H4 O2 b- KHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal! O2 m, ~, n# Z2 E3 ]
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp D, k/ Q1 _, }! G2 k7 K
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
. Z4 q1 u, T* b; ^& bfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could; p5 C3 Z7 I t+ w# f; A
not stop her runaway Lexus.
7 j- G- e+ b' r1 V9 @. E% j6 W"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
$ r7 a* z3 X k3 VTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second# ~3 i0 R' L( C) c2 }; z
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
6 c# Q$ R/ |% n' j \1 iTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
8 f/ h6 p0 [7 |! E: l2 Oearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
( ?) H4 _" K& y6 d; _/ }: e! P"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
- k7 F7 B, Q/ n2 W Z% b3 L& f( e% v1 Gdone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
: n" h; o' Y$ F0 J5 I; V/ o) [3 xthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's- h6 Z! E8 {5 C2 t0 |3 E! k
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
* Z8 u& c/ k# e V, b: r7 oLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an X+ [' z/ {5 L) m3 ?2 m1 a
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of5 H4 `5 r, L1 M7 }; f
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a: J+ n8 c! I! ]- B
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he7 e3 n. w( o. x/ p9 W" W/ W
said.$ A d! Q9 v' p+ D7 k# {
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
. C+ M1 P$ N2 j5 yhappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe) O' k: |0 B: s6 _' e! O
about driving our products," Lentz said.
) F: W; Y! `) |4 v# |Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's0 e& L: L+ ~- R R7 ~% i" e& d/ X
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
5 S0 m) u k, |5 u6 \recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6& y, m0 `+ I0 j1 V. ~+ ~8 R* c4 j
million in the United States -- since last fall because of" u& x- ?7 e$ @$ J
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
' u. V: B( [3 L0 g2 cissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering& ?8 l' n7 \" C% y, A$ J( B5 |
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of+ n5 V+ }) Z: G! T& g
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
- N _ V( `; i* ydown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has8 I2 r7 G9 D# M3 M( g. G5 u
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration7 A7 K. b7 M- Y0 I: X3 b2 j
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.+ q0 |0 w7 M$ p$ D2 v2 u+ m
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
* {1 I9 S9 G. [% p" x) abrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he( T$ t+ j2 p T. I! ]
understood the pain.
+ A a7 o9 m Q; G7 k* q0 _# A2 j& u"I know what those families go through," he said.
7 e; {3 }! B [; P5 _) S4 q/ T1 dLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
6 V ^8 S+ O- N& ~9 ~fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
: a7 U# h9 i, |+ x/ [: VBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman6 f" w4 n7 p/ |3 e0 R0 G
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
! B2 K# u% Q. vin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,: E0 ^( v/ ?" p3 t3 V! n* E5 g
Lentz replied: "Not totally."8 M0 ^8 s! v# ]$ ?$ z
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were: E8 K, l: R7 O9 i0 r
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
6 H4 |# z; L$ n8 r3 yToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas/ F9 [* b' W3 [1 m7 I
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its3 H9 } y5 _0 i0 p! G3 V
vehicles already on the road.6 C* I6 }" g$ n2 F
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
: N% c- v1 p* b: Nbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full A8 p& Y/ F6 P8 a9 z' p7 o
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
) c( l, u9 {& v/ M2 K7 ooffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
0 F x; Z" _ a7 H9 Pkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
6 |8 g1 o& \$ g"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a9 O+ P; X2 J3 {8 O
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
' w% M) {; \& V& e2 Afor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
! T% ^$ u& Z% }; c. q. X4 gCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
4 ?* ^' @6 Y# `5 Mcommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
7 c! f Q8 r2 H2 T0 s1 U: Orestore the trust of our customers."
" U [9 g+ M5 J& C, `9 xLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
2 ` S* D) J; A% k: D( nSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly$ n7 t5 p5 l/ [% s G0 P( m) ^
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
/ A* L6 t9 Y6 D$ zshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and! i* d6 \9 Y( i& Y% ~
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough/ a* ^. T/ E3 P( L
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and' Y1 o$ X8 r! d) A6 b& ~3 V' \4 u- V
turn off the engine.' G3 \7 w6 c! s) }7 C! M3 p% J
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
! s6 W; t1 w0 n) e) M# u8 COctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
* Z2 [+ D" X; H$ ?. U1 I"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she% Y0 W3 b% K5 _
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond1 s6 X! U. S6 A8 k
to her complaints.
& V/ C% i# B) B8 }In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
! W/ s, H" }5 @+ I' ureturned again and again to the question of whether electronic: u$ }/ }" I/ B8 C0 N4 E
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
8 }3 L; X( s5 z* i% v" ]' j"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric, o9 Q0 u1 k8 i; a: b5 g
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
$ ~# L8 _- e" t. f! r& n( z"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut6 I) r$ j# F! e
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
5 s) i* [# u4 T. R. y# D/ w1 z, K8 u: }# {Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in& z% j3 T; H7 Z8 y
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were6 G s5 T+ r" H- ]" K! t3 V
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
' q j+ t( x1 b! awere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
& i0 K* Q* z2 V j1 e A+ ievery question.": M/ \* `; y8 T3 b% [
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether8 ?6 \2 ]) l! s1 s
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
* L( a# Z& V2 A+ b6 z! Z9 U" bfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But& u7 P1 G6 v$ q8 s" x6 a
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
0 E5 {! A: k3 M" inumber of vehicles5 G+ g5 W! p7 G4 ?' N
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more; f! g ~% U$ x0 l
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a% f3 t) [4 p2 L8 X9 E4 ~7 O5 e
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
/ O" J4 ?5 \7 Y [0 ssource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
, m6 u+ R. h6 [* qMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
+ {3 V5 J. s) M6 s vwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no& p& Y! L# y8 ~; V# l3 S
trace at all.. d/ u5 v/ b# U3 ^+ A9 l
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
& t2 L; a- m# K i7 E1 |0 K; F, Qdatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
! J, x- ~0 w$ K- H" o' ~" i% oacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
& R. Y, \1 P! {! K2 ]8 C* Orecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.# P7 _0 M% h# x
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,* X$ ~0 o& w; @ L% R; x, a& z- |
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and/ Z7 Z* r3 [, i2 a5 n. N$ B$ @& m) s
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the; H% r! m( e7 I2 _5 Q" x+ ^
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
' p) E0 c. O& u6 _' n3 x+ ncause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
) X$ E$ J# d" U' `' {such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
8 k$ S! p& S3 W# O0 q+ v g, `9 ?by Toyota's lawyers."
$ J7 G9 [3 b4 a" t* m" k' BLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
; [+ l9 L, V9 t0 R1 P3 xproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
, \, Q0 _% W& B( Acustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
7 q* u1 m: x/ p! Y; F7 h$ Psaid.
( J" ]( c* q2 i3 @"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
9 h( \# a& ~9 aa rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
1 t$ _! h, X4 ^8 E( cgood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
& q# J! [3 E# rofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.8 ~" M, Q% h0 `; D
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
$ t5 I7 C$ I; X7 umembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
; q0 y) O' }: s9 j4 Q3 E2 X; mrancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
J" a E) J, R% Pautomaker, at least in part because of the government's
9 T1 q1 B1 ] ]% \# kinvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and) U: {% E' W9 p9 v2 m3 a9 E: q
Chrysler.
; M# z3 m& ^: W5 g8 y2 Z"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
' E6 M) [0 k: e% x- z! ndollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
4 u6 }: L$ G: W# a, F5 cHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also. s1 [( j2 S3 q4 y/ \' V G
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
, h- s% o5 y* x7 w/ Qwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
+ C% O3 W4 g4 j4 ytough."
" f ~' Z* C9 ^2 a---1 d7 x4 B( o2 v5 b+ s1 I
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom) H- |. G+ Q. V# V! u3 S
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to+ ?* D, ?# k4 r
this story.! Z# H) E G+ z0 U7 K$ A5 w& Y( s
& }) e. Y. Z5 F. K' g7 b-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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