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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 n1 @; S) m7 ?* w! F# L, ABy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
7 d% }' s; q- X% h( r3 sWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.! W2 [9 V5 [$ [3 R* x: `3 C
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
; [- |7 n5 [* F# z/ {3 ?the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"+ ^, ^4 @& v9 y8 ]0 @ P& A! T; b
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
C9 D; e$ Z/ _8 j, B"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
$ O6 F0 p' P* t$ y% Z6 Wcauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
3 h5 c9 |& k" a0 M/ u" nHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected) h/ t& Q( n) t7 [$ |# t# m
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and0 D, c9 w, W4 G: `6 c0 f0 f& h
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
4 g1 K3 P4 B. H" E: _mats and sticking accelerator pedals.+ h) t! `( `5 w0 P+ x$ m) q% R
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal6 f6 E3 e* b' t- j
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp$ {0 J. m8 c4 X! D5 h& G9 d. u
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be6 H8 z0 G! z d' a* F: I: D
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
& a9 ^3 h ?6 Z, h1 inot stop her runaway Lexus.
2 f) c! T' A9 q2 D e"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
9 E! }) }/ s" l4 @9 BTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second* @0 l! h3 c5 @; ^
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
& @$ `: g6 l1 \* Q1 K kTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues# A4 t% }" z$ Q* y5 Q8 j+ _$ t9 ]
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
( b" G' O& ]9 ?/ \"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has- `: t8 h0 f, Z1 E: C
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
4 ] c8 p) a I( g d9 o4 cthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
5 @9 m1 Y& n8 v) q. ]! ]investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham.", N6 X3 L; Q4 q: k1 ^. d; b( y d
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
# ]6 V7 N, L8 r4 Q" Delectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
6 I! U0 J- H5 h$ O3 tthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a$ `" h1 ]4 q; s) u/ E
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
- _: g( u. u9 }7 `9 D1 Tsaid.# B5 C6 g b" L7 ~+ Y6 ]0 ~
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what$ V+ Z ]# R' t& n
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe2 c, [8 m. X( m; {- o7 L
about driving our products," Lentz said.: r7 c4 y. T% N
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
8 s* g; o: Z& }9 Y6 G5 xproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
. H% y, S& @$ V4 Precalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6+ R+ E( a3 K5 r( m' t+ j, f
million in the United States -- since last fall because of9 u! y- {$ _/ n; C2 W* `
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking* v W7 X* @) i* {& Q9 ^& v4 B
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
6 `9 C4 v6 U1 ]; Q9 v0 Kconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of" m5 |3 l |$ Y2 A' s
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
3 Z; U6 O/ O9 o0 v# Y4 |down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has2 t0 [% z4 ]6 ^1 t- M/ _
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
0 ] i5 d+ x) Y- m3 D3 J" @of Toyota vehicles since 2000.: w1 A$ \$ Q9 i( ?1 P) |
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
. W" I, z8 V1 N+ Y' B5 Z, b' }brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
# p$ ^+ F/ r) {9 R8 gunderstood the pain.
0 M( U, w0 }% t0 |- S( X' j( V"I know what those families go through," he said. ^8 U& H% V$ T: E7 F
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
' Q# S/ B5 B$ x+ }" Hfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
; [3 p- p% T6 e/ Y" Z) g( [But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
9 @& X( Y- }) Z4 g$ E& FHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put# @& h$ A, @) @- H; N: x: g
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
( q1 M: v% r; o8 Y: `Lentz replied: "Not totally."
0 m* T w- d, S6 t3 A) o( |$ MStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
9 x8 r) ?1 @! ]7 Z. @"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
4 C9 B+ ~& z8 @# BToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas# w) J! s; \9 V, ~) _1 z5 m
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its0 Z5 f% a: w) @' G, V
vehicles already on the road.) W, z3 O; T4 p" J& v
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify8 R- _7 \) \# W+ i* ?$ l! U1 a! U7 w; v
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full( K6 }& D7 V1 n7 Y
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
) p- H2 \; g! { M7 moffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were1 M' ?4 i, c% }. D# p+ W% {
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.* V- r/ E3 e* d' n) v
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a: ~* k7 n& P6 a& O
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony" D( P3 }0 q6 B4 n7 U6 J+ R0 _+ ^
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight% ], p4 F7 @" g8 S3 N( N0 B M
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal5 \! W' N1 d/ h- l2 E4 _
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
$ ?3 \- N) b) g, u; w) I8 n1 u zrestore the trust of our customers."/ W" A. e& m) n8 Q% |
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
* B O; |. H& s; YSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly" k; m0 N$ A. f" ^9 P
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
3 w: d) _: Z c$ Xshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and0 _ o6 f: E2 ?+ ^8 o2 M4 I$ R4 {
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough+ [9 X& L; T: w9 X6 f
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
/ G& D* A6 x% D+ `" Cturn off the engine.
* R Z3 j* o9 l, e$ ?" J/ qFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of- O- e% [2 Y! t+ H0 T/ T4 [8 m' R. T8 }
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
1 F0 E) J& |# L7 |1 x8 ^"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
# ]8 o' W$ {" }7 H* ]said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
: X4 }: R% Q( n4 R ]. Ato her complaints. V$ h0 U0 I1 j7 w( V8 k
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
: W$ O: C5 h2 @/ A2 P" `returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
7 A# r4 O' a |malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
9 r, u& E$ u& I# v. h H0 T"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
: f' Y9 p' X M3 Uthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited; A2 g3 X2 u2 C3 }9 n
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
6 c' f+ n" b: `- G+ U# Goff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure.") R% P1 M8 F& U& w+ v! C$ _
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in7 h1 y p7 F. Z) R$ T H2 S$ g
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were: y8 Y' m0 w' b( k
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
2 @4 N) l4 Z2 r' J2 [were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer0 D2 h, {3 `8 p c3 X( m1 H
every question."! O9 U7 Z& S8 k' a0 V* q! X
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether+ d4 Y, |# F. P1 P5 U
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
6 G! y2 c9 x. K- c2 lfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
+ O! e3 }0 _* n2 n. d! Qcommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small
2 H6 Z% Y7 P( [+ z5 V9 v' f/ inumber of vehicles, j/ U. w3 l. G0 a* f
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more D0 ~1 d9 ~! v. K
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
3 ^. z6 Y: k8 M G2 Y5 lmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one" m1 U6 Y! y; I
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.5 o* b' E2 e3 ]9 B. g' U, M
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,/ G1 N1 W S# m/ l/ {( D/ h& y
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
$ s( A w' l8 T1 t3 r. D" ^trace at all.! }1 Y& x4 W* M% [' B6 |# p
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
) S* S) b3 ^) ^8 \database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden& ~4 } N5 p/ Q0 O. @6 [
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the- H, S, w: {: V8 \5 ]
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
B6 J8 O$ z: L% g$ a% qRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
, @( B/ R! k) Z# W$ Y$ \said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
o& d# m. p' e2 Zother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the$ R/ y& |/ r' M! d6 N
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
, V, c1 C0 h8 N' scause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only- Y3 H4 ]- Y1 g0 P) N/ a" g" A
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
' I9 W; ? X$ D7 qby Toyota's lawyers."
% c6 y7 s/ ^% d% z0 H6 `7 RLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of4 b% ]: [3 g' u9 \! r! `
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our- A- j! ~9 ^0 v
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he# w1 `/ s1 L! O. w
said.
* O d9 j6 s4 J Z% k" _"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with# v! ~; |- V$ {1 b# w$ M. T- n
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our6 |7 ~4 T9 c: ~5 B
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
/ G/ R; _+ S' V% o8 Z( x* v7 X9 tofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.8 M+ c+ m( Z2 g# b1 P% H
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
% M1 \; V {% Omembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread9 w1 g( M Z& Q% B x5 B
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
1 _/ B. u* T' R& \: e3 Uautomaker, at least in part because of the government's# Y. k# t- |6 s, l g/ j1 e- f0 p
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and! a" ~' K# O! s( k1 L* o% p
Chrysler.
$ m% G5 Y- U" A9 T0 E; Q"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax+ k/ @' E( v2 D* S4 @
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
% b0 P& @8 }, ^7 H QHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also# L, z. t4 b3 `/ m
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
5 R, q" u2 [- k2 |with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty8 L- R& O% D1 T
tough." |& z/ a+ V* i% z( T) j
---
B* K3 A& M& _5 PAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
, k& z( v2 Q( lRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
2 ]/ E- c# o2 e2 D% |& s$ S" U) ythis story.8 |, Y# |; d0 c
8 Y5 p% z* }9 O& c* U-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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