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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
- p a% l5 z1 W& ^* t- V+ UBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
5 p% O# d& L0 R) a: P' d0 _/ r! NWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
" ?$ A" ^* W) b3 Z- [operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that6 O1 F' w' h# M5 J
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
3 c% I1 h, I( ^9 S; Y0 `solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
8 e1 O. M; s. E8 V( b* {9 t"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
! R) O5 R2 d0 V. Zcauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
. z/ Q# I7 i0 W4 T& m" KHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
" @6 |% ?" i7 }; J+ Cacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and8 j: I) f+ ^4 l
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
) ^: @) D: D; |" P2 Y# omats and sticking accelerator pedals.) w- F" m0 m4 D+ M* F
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal& A$ V! B5 M& v7 s% H
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp9 \2 f' Y7 C& p" a
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be3 }9 P1 O0 K) P$ |$ a1 q
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could4 Y9 Q. S& e% F( \4 i% v
not stop her runaway Lexus.% _: d# e9 O( u
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,$ k n+ t' L# C4 }3 N
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
9 S2 ` Z6 _7 n/ q/ P# m"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.6 L8 h1 ]" A; b4 H$ y2 e$ e; M7 S
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
; l9 j2 P0 [8 z4 A% i6 learly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
" a) y3 a% R Y; W6 }7 t1 F"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has4 }, z. J$ ^. @0 z9 d6 C4 {
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway+ A8 r3 {& E3 w
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
- S h# i7 ?4 Y; K1 G7 P& a* s* Oinvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."6 \6 n f# G8 r$ c5 X2 s9 @3 Y
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an' L2 @: H4 [& C; Q. I
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
. o7 }. `8 C% K2 ?/ F5 l2 a7 Ethe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
$ A; q" A7 u' K" l5 R( |malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
+ P( @- d0 _$ Y& Ksaid.! d# h- r j- y$ ]) U/ z- f
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what; c) P% [( o& A L$ s# }1 H
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe! S: W) P2 E! D( }. {# \: g
about driving our products," Lentz said.
$ c5 s/ @: W/ M% j" q- lThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
+ P6 J/ h. t7 z; V" H3 a sproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has# U7 }! v# T7 C+ q
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6& a( }8 {- ?" [5 v) Y9 q3 f
million in the United States -- since last fall because of. _8 `2 h" F1 D% }+ z
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
8 G u/ T* B. E" g( `# W, h; Sissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
2 T" p: H, z* w- Y) A2 o- Bconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
" C! c. [/ E2 D3 f% Ztheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow- H- u, |- i/ R [( B
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has& q R. B, n& B) s5 z# W
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
% W+ k7 x6 Q- V0 Nof Toyota vehicles since 2000.4 Z1 l. s- a1 E& X3 ?, X
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
& D. P8 d, t% r- ibrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
# l( q8 N$ i% B" q; t1 Y' Gunderstood the pain.
7 d, s/ x+ k/ i4 |! r1 u"I know what those families go through," he said.
# S0 d6 N0 w# \* \2 F! g5 B- ZLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's* X4 ]9 ^& s; P- [+ n9 s; R
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
: x1 c W% M$ k; _% B; e8 T s/ aBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
; o/ O/ B# Q: F# ~: [8 XHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
: M0 p5 O) Q* H( Oin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
7 c9 R" F! r$ s! dLentz replied: "Not totally."# t2 u. ~/ p1 P; O1 u
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
+ X! Y$ s9 K0 E. B# o% @"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
# C) P& h4 h8 x0 }/ \% eToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
/ D$ I3 W5 e7 T4 l1 Gpedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
! f8 {( @& V7 ^( @vehicles already on the road.
' H8 E. _( x4 W* o: U$ P. s: pMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify" j S; P, S' M% c6 M& ]5 X4 e2 s9 x
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
( ^- Y' i$ P' |2 |9 ^responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
' N' ]& j& a* y7 boffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were: _, {" l: O. _7 t% r4 h
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.5 A" t) N+ s: h+ V" [* }
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a! J5 ~, ~4 v2 ?, B% b! t0 a, @
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
" I; a! o, N# x" y3 gfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight$ k# e! j+ x0 E( {( @/ T- w9 H
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal8 h) E+ V9 c- t
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
+ w: W7 l8 a" E* Y1 brestore the trust of our customers."
. J" s0 p3 U/ p3 Y5 }2 @% eLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
) j- u1 M2 e! [! E) H- vSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly# y0 U' {% p6 t- Y! q
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
. c; ^! \+ P Fshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
0 ~# Q$ S5 Q8 N/ Q8 O. qhitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough3 C) t9 M* G6 _- d4 j6 N$ h7 ]
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and/ J. }8 E. e) A( X9 M
turn off the engine.
9 |& W/ j* v' ~4 E1 j1 ?2 PFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
4 ~" k4 l- N( D2 KOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
6 m y8 ^9 E! ^, \3 q: H' N"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
5 t0 }! N$ k& M( ]% H/ |1 jsaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond- A2 p" d' k: P( Q' t
to her complaints./ E% O! t _" p! |1 Y
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
8 u! K, r- `4 S- R1 p# ureturned again and again to the question of whether electronic# E. e$ W3 Z) H" m2 J5 n6 s0 `5 \3 O
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
, F. y. f; ^3 P2 g/ O/ N"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
6 [! y' y& j8 R7 ^throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
6 v4 w; P( y6 t. k9 \3 P/ |3 N"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
. f/ \, a+ H* J% o' _3 Zoff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure.". |0 W+ {4 U. D
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
/ K) z3 {! j& C' }1 Cprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were! f2 m. ]8 h4 w# q6 v4 Z
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls. _3 ?& }: J$ ]6 t6 J
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer9 X: g G9 p# h! A+ U
every question."/ S+ G* a9 ^% D9 y7 ]2 S
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
1 {/ v4 o5 T' ]% B' e" g) u% celectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The- h. i. Y- H: H( {
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But9 z7 m1 Z3 c; \( g/ e# D0 Q. o
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
$ U% l/ Q1 J' _! j6 enumber of vehicles
; ]0 F! ?% g8 L7 f# c& ^6 |- bTracking down an electrical problem can be far more$ V' C% }7 g8 J& l- x K2 O
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
& i5 }3 m$ N( y; [: x8 P& E7 x; g7 mmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one' f% b% e4 `* f- \3 _& M
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
' d! @/ f! B. b, D1 s+ [6 R |3 RMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,% G: }5 [4 D: m3 A- ~8 K, x V
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
2 c9 T) K* N* e1 htrace at all.
. Q+ ~3 m$ [( }, Y, Z9 SHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call9 Z2 h7 ~, `, a3 B- I- ]; [
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden" H8 L$ x# j7 U8 [
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the/ D; F K- o0 k! a; u' Y/ y
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.1 C4 X# k" H2 V# @. w
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,5 s0 X/ N; P" d. V+ P
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
1 a7 M! e6 L5 F# X/ t9 hother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the, f9 h% P o' R: q, X; |
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible: y [5 T: p- ?6 s% t4 l
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
. f+ u1 U: @$ a( G8 _6 }such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
- @# x, r2 ~# ~! L. @by Toyota's lawyers.") b; l8 M2 t6 N5 }$ t
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of& E4 ~/ e1 A1 Y) A
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our8 E ~( Q/ l# B4 c- S
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
6 J2 a) F2 n' N( N5 R9 q) Q6 hsaid.* u! W: K, U1 ]8 t9 C, H+ k
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with; g z: S$ M: R& J4 T, ?* @) @- d1 z* F
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our% e8 r+ T2 F$ j$ O; \! }
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
! [ b- T/ T3 n8 y5 q Tofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
9 ~! `: K$ ]& g5 T5 H5 @Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
i0 _ G0 c2 \5 F0 Lmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread! `% }( \% _1 E& S% l. p3 l) y
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
! }# p/ `1 v6 u* y1 H8 R- {automaker, at least in part because of the government's7 W- o0 q7 H8 J8 T) c0 y' V% h
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and% g( j0 i6 _5 f, G( b: q$ ~ |4 Q
Chrysler.& G0 J3 I$ ?7 ` q, F# }: D% e' h
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax$ E% I' ?3 }: l+ y
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
% y8 O# U! R' e3 bHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also" K/ P* `5 v5 F, V$ ^. j' M: c3 T
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete+ F9 B" ^$ d0 M: X6 e! `' C
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty( P _9 g7 L2 T! j
tough."8 f4 B* K$ V H7 T3 W% K; c
---
1 f" z; j' D' m3 H& w9 m* Y* CAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
* a# T1 N) F! N. ]+ \Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to y- [0 ^; U+ \
this story.0 p- J* E5 ?+ Z# {
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