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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
, M6 n6 }& E! aBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS8 _4 a5 a4 q E$ Z
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.+ ?* X. e( U/ [" X6 Y" J+ Z9 P( P
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that7 t4 P- ]; H$ a
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
8 P7 J* ?2 O [' lsolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
+ V1 V0 U, S/ O; |; d" j5 X"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
# E( I$ q/ F. p. ^6 a K, v! R( xcauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
' p \- Q$ t+ t3 K0 g0 X$ h! hHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected, ]$ J; E' @" O" X4 ^% N0 U
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
! ]$ U1 f% A$ etrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
x$ C1 N% f# E" mmats and sticking accelerator pedals.
, l7 |7 |# u- G, U" {& b( Y8 L2 P9 z( NHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
# |! m3 p2 l' U/ @# G7 sand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
, W& ~( W \' ~, ^# lcriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be; ]/ h) i' h0 ?+ i
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could: s5 I7 d8 \1 w5 r
not stop her runaway Lexus.6 q3 y# w- _: V' P! ?8 I1 w/ ^
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
2 ~; Z* [) X$ G$ xTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second) v# G0 [! i' z2 w
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
# Z& ~% E+ |* h7 fTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
4 O$ r o: d D. O' ?- Iearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
- y% }1 }5 M' M" I- @ a6 {* Y. z+ D"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
! z$ V' T7 |# w' M4 u }& ?done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
8 `7 D4 z/ e" ^7 A* }" \3 \1 Jthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
3 p0 {7 _% s! _- F5 b$ H3 X" c7 k% Finvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
: b3 C- X |- x+ p. J/ a% g" B% JLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an) H0 K7 ?$ l' O' J: b
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of: V: |0 L+ E+ |4 b1 n+ J' z8 }
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
0 h9 S5 S! J. hmalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he( D; L f# ~" B
said.
( x8 p4 H$ J& P1 e( b) eAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what) X2 Z3 |0 }( o0 H* P2 n* B
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
) E- s% `5 m3 {: s' H1 c" R6 vabout driving our products," Lentz said.
* o) J, ~ Z+ t: }. G/ dThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's' |3 Y# w M2 Y+ u
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has0 J+ d' `5 _3 O: V& v
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
3 d3 @1 B8 K0 z& e5 n: I, a7 C: O/ Umillion in the United States -- since last fall because of
0 h" i& F8 o- ~# P3 [2 xunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking# V9 \/ a) B/ E; c
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
# N# N0 C7 f/ _! o* Lconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of5 k7 Z4 s; g8 l2 _5 f1 ~' i2 {4 ^
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow. f2 Z; ?$ u3 B
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has9 S5 |7 b4 X: E* ~5 l
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
$ a! n1 l3 `* k% A" Y6 Yof Toyota vehicles since 2000.
+ y( m( y! d6 nLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own9 j" z- \7 l) R, t. ?
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he' R0 I& S1 p+ v! k% u( p
understood the pain.( z7 ?" {$ u$ D/ f6 w
"I know what those families go through," he said.; E& N. H0 Y( W* x6 u
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
! ?+ U& O9 t/ n* }5 K8 B* v; p0 f6 dfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
# o+ l1 Y' e% mBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman, v$ `1 W' T: x+ Y
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
! n2 c' E+ n1 W" y4 \" u9 Tin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,' n6 y K l5 D% r# R! J: V* Z
Lentz replied: "Not totally."
0 A" q9 U7 s0 e$ K) UStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
( _- t$ h& r G# l5 ?"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said& X: Z* E0 K f) u7 I
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas; O7 s: _; N! K
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
6 _- N4 E; K3 Kvehicles already on the road.9 J- u$ a+ |2 r
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify8 k/ J2 K Z% P P% d
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full4 _1 I8 Y7 o( k
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
% @ E/ s5 E7 B5 @0 l+ V" M8 I7 |offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were+ g. ^/ S- W `' S+ [5 ~
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.& w2 I, t, W U
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a. I+ Q- N6 e' q/ z3 E9 a& H2 c
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
1 d; u- L% L: {3 `' [. }for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
+ U; E. z* S2 U" t3 A9 yCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal; q' {8 d* @% i6 `
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to. R6 A4 ~; q, E! v" x& Q9 ?/ y
restore the trust of our customers."+ _& C1 l/ \/ N
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
/ Z$ S: A0 n& l6 d) oSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly% F4 I( E. }! N
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
. K% p) \7 K, o, B* E- S' ushifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
4 {) Z" f1 _5 N& ~) \9 khitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough/ W- C r% P, u7 [5 x* @/ e$ F
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and6 B# t, D$ e/ r
turn off the engine.
2 `7 V0 Q, i4 q0 ?1 LFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of7 A V1 l5 `; O
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."# g$ E# ^, I$ c; Q, `- K2 x# |
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
% ?+ y" m8 |: Ksaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
9 u. j: U" F% o0 r! d0 g4 S1 Z. {5 xto her complaints./ [( i7 t& a/ |9 p
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
/ k5 c; }# ^* h* r& b) R& [0 wreturned again and again to the question of whether electronic* w* a/ _. B$ H7 i
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
! S& ~3 j) Z2 \7 o"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric4 X/ H2 W; ^: F! |
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited9 f; f4 L$ d/ d! B4 G, ^, G9 I& X
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut5 ]( g2 A1 X) J3 O9 B4 t$ p
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
7 Q: Q3 ]; i, K2 d3 k2 yTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in+ [* f9 Y0 t, `' W4 L1 q+ o
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were: Q/ k( ?+ M% k( o' y. K: ?
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
1 s% E& Q: n4 m8 N& F! \2 Pwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
" N; d' f o& [ W) W2 Pevery question."
8 X: t5 _( A8 F( Q" OToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
" B0 ^8 i7 V0 O# I; Z1 L9 ?3 Jelectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The$ S1 R; z; z6 ^ J. s2 w4 {( Y
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But% O% y. F" M: c
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
6 W Y9 j3 R- j( \number of vehicles2 \- P) s3 }% S$ ]* I- q& z' H* q
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more
a" e5 e4 N7 N/ p4 jdifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a; q# C2 W8 b$ u9 i0 X
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one# s+ T3 N1 ~4 f0 j
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.9 z$ Y) R3 }/ n7 S0 @
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
. `- F# f- y0 @& f& `where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
0 S, ]( r0 N/ Z9 ftrace at all.
; i: E7 @# h2 f1 Z4 [- iHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call& Y( ~9 K5 V" k3 ?$ Y) X% K
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden+ A+ [6 |0 v) N- U
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the6 ~$ H* b0 _6 o# ?! u' d
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
7 E, v6 f/ ~1 }: ]Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
& v8 }8 O! l# j! H) Ysaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
5 z( A# M8 t0 S+ U& Qother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
. i0 ^3 `: u0 I! ]( }7 S) Yelectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
! c! H F7 Z, T" }8 v* @8 wcause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only( d1 R7 c- N5 u, m. }; w
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained; E: u7 }; x; D; e/ k' l& h U
by Toyota's lawyers."
% [( V& p x0 W, qLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of2 r7 y% N1 W6 X' D& o
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our. N( p: J3 e s I" ?/ Z: d, m
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he1 Y9 T+ C" [: U$ P( ^. \- t
said.
1 u2 X1 S" e' N* h2 G"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
2 z+ r; r ^# q- v# K) M5 ka rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our% L/ Y% @! m0 f2 a' `
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating: f. {1 r/ `6 k. l
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.0 {8 S+ Y0 G: K( G9 M! Y/ K
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
8 A' C0 k1 h7 ~8 ^members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
& R8 L6 C' y. C' T/ }6 j- A0 Xrancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
$ W! w, x8 `' pautomaker, at least in part because of the government's
9 a2 \& Y* H4 `% Xinvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
+ N6 I* r0 p9 L, WChrysler.& k! \+ T( X+ @6 B
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax$ z& ]( b' x+ s! [. L! g
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
0 B6 Z% r2 u! t' |7 S R. SHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also& `6 l# J/ g' B3 o
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
1 J5 o$ V+ a$ R6 Kwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty. H' l0 c8 E$ V# r; m7 t
tough."
; K7 y( f4 ~% Z: u/ A--- V R& d4 R: ?+ R! b* Q
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom" `5 ~" f) r' h' T. ~) @* u
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to+ a, w0 C1 K; o+ \2 @! f8 a: d# f5 V+ x
this story.
7 r/ {8 ~' G( K2 C: q3 _8 k5 p; P
, c: L/ C9 v g& t-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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