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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5 V+ q; h, Y/ k* t5 A' h
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
5 s' O1 G! S3 l; XWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
0 t, ^9 Y* d1 j9 c' y4 \) a) W! L) doperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that# W5 W* g" \$ y2 `8 B
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
& t k* w6 u' qsolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.- _; O- F: H* d! k0 v3 k
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential& g! L6 y2 b6 ~1 |
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.7 B+ a1 u- t& Q: @; h7 \
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
5 O& e' \+ A2 M. Q6 w" Jacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
* v& {; c( l* t1 v8 ?! r; ]trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor4 ?1 h4 L2 @6 f: E5 k4 z. D
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.5 W; @- {& k" t+ N+ V A
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
7 a% i1 t: a8 }/ i% hand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
\: v6 ^$ o3 D" Q5 [) o2 l3 Mcriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be4 J8 G5 h, R# v* v
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could# [4 D5 l6 q. {
not stop her runaway Lexus.8 j- k$ w" i+ i3 h
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
3 V1 f$ c( c# t: }Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second0 h' d. A* R1 j' h. N6 ?
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
; l8 x' H5 ~( }* {* m; aTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues1 O3 ~# [& Q D& q
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
" Z8 N" x" q4 P( b, d- S/ A"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has8 i4 b1 @9 G) Q0 v( b
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
6 C# `* a# [1 ?: H- p# zthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's/ J: z% X2 z1 w/ v9 K" {& o
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
7 ?: R& v- f- PLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an5 G& m3 n* I4 M
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
7 A, h g5 K$ Q$ z3 ~! \1 x% Lthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
+ ~6 b0 t f, n8 H$ k% M. y) Zmalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
& w2 `# i' Z* Csaid.' R S7 |$ o* f h5 u' r$ s7 v
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
! w& x d6 q" R- ^( [' khappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe- K& \3 i+ g; L5 T6 @% Q/ e1 z5 ]
about driving our products," Lentz said.5 z x, c* r2 w: J v3 m6 j3 _4 _
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's; E. }, T% L5 E
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
7 r6 v9 f% S: }recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
0 y% _1 [' h5 q* z; E6 e# Q$ Emillion in the United States -- since last fall because of' S2 A. R5 y+ w2 {. D! \
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking0 X6 O4 U( u5 B( w. M4 V) t5 o
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering1 V: O9 C7 j7 t9 O3 z! j2 q' d
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
" c6 ^/ [/ K% z4 ?% |: ytheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
; F$ V1 q. Z5 S3 j) xdown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has, d( R# k j; r3 |9 h1 R
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration4 B, ^4 B H3 I+ V" U7 s
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.
( U/ E/ L8 E4 _# r( t VLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own+ r) A5 V1 H( J7 P
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he/ h' ^' P- p6 X+ B5 g |1 ]
understood the pain.
* c, J* L5 |# g% W0 {" I"I know what those families go through," he said.' p4 e" W6 u! X0 i
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's: E) [1 f: d9 Y F
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems., a! M9 j( o9 ~ X7 i) Q' E
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman2 |1 U/ U. `7 O; |) @4 M) v
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put6 L" I- m- i' j9 s* i9 Z
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,( ~+ R( |4 A, a. z0 f, c
Lentz replied: "Not totally."
6 ~ u9 g' A! `: nStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were; O" l" {. f0 o' b8 J# Q6 H
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said4 n; \: }) z9 o' `
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
+ r3 d n5 V+ ^7 T+ Q. `pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
4 }" B p) Z% ^" S5 nvehicles already on the road.9 R) t2 ^' _2 `) K& H a
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify/ X1 t. V! @5 R; b1 b/ v1 j
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full% f: S: T2 `( o) q; ^ l" ]2 \: I
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and. }- f u) I: H" |
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
, V4 @9 N; e+ ~% m8 \killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.- F6 t5 G9 ~; b' G
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
+ }. \. z" q4 x) E$ C. f0 Ktragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
# ?8 w3 S, Z8 O, `/ Xfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
2 h4 g) T+ Y- ` \3 U' M. ZCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
& f% T+ b1 z2 t% L/ ~commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
" f, ^6 I7 ~+ i3 qrestore the trust of our customers."
9 Q2 j5 }9 m) b- g5 i$ j/ @8 _+ ELawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
+ E7 j' |6 t' }( t: ESmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
; A: R5 _# Y( A N* I- lzoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --/ ^0 g' I; _6 m) \1 S0 J
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
0 h' o) q; n( w. C4 Whitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
4 J+ G% _9 g1 p* F; ~that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and1 P' h: ? M3 C
turn off the engine.( s* f- K; L- K4 Q& v
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
/ D4 Y* z5 h3 j0 |6 uOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."$ L. g+ {0 q3 t) Q& e
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
/ S. W* x4 _* C* Wsaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
5 j8 A, N( c+ ito her complaints.; l7 o' `. U4 t( z+ c
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
' N% K/ a4 k" ^0 K+ sreturned again and again to the question of whether electronic5 I2 g; g/ [7 a4 y
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
- a; Z+ z% ^: Z' P0 C; j"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
% Z0 u6 S5 e1 w8 nthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
* U8 ?& }3 p# @8 q" P"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut. G1 `- L a f4 }4 _6 v
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."0 m, d9 h+ x6 @& x X5 }3 b: H4 J' `5 s
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
8 B9 f; c2 e7 x3 lprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
& t$ W: K: o# x7 W, T7 h+ r) Xbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls( y& a& O/ p0 P8 s" w
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
" O9 n$ i1 M4 c0 c4 vevery question."' g8 b/ q# g' D" T3 ~3 h
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether S, K# Q- f# n" @
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The; l6 S7 [; T% N$ K4 Y, T% G- ]
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
3 g9 b% U8 l8 ^# N0 lcommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small$ l) q0 e1 i8 A5 L' q9 t3 Y9 C# O
number of vehicles M7 ]; z, p) ]! I
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more) D- D% B# K! P7 J0 ^6 r# ]7 W
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
( |% X m/ o7 w, Imechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one2 u% p7 y1 h: ?8 a$ L
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
( T) q# f' f% AMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
, r- N) {6 x) K, y @0 b0 _' pwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
# ?2 G- P- j+ x- O1 H& X. dtrace at all.
! z; B4 v. l* W6 y; GHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call5 Y4 O! x3 N6 `" Z6 r c
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden2 z: n4 N. A# s+ _' `
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
3 Z. O' |" w- frecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.# m. F5 H9 u& d* c) ]+ P* L' n
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
+ c6 `% _# G( Q5 Fsaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and# q1 K1 ?1 l8 f: k* c. ?2 {
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the" R% S/ V9 u* J
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible# C E9 L3 `+ N" k
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only7 O" D9 }; c ?( }; Q% {
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained, h$ I7 y* B4 i8 N
by Toyota's lawyers."& f" G$ p, J$ B& ^
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
8 {4 [' h8 K- Z4 ~. Aproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
; E0 c) h H' a) e( L& n. \customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he q9 x3 ~7 y7 H( d( u$ m5 G% ?; k6 h
said.
4 A+ E/ e2 V0 k3 s& ~/ T) n"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with" _3 N; a3 |- k9 A/ z5 w8 s
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our4 [; ?2 }# n7 p) G5 E6 v
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating$ k/ q/ B4 `" G/ T( F
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
6 j& l( e" p6 u2 x/ jSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying3 l: d' h+ l$ ~" x
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
7 S# x9 o7 w7 x/ ~/ ?6 Rrancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
( }0 q4 f' O Y- }automaker, at least in part because of the government's8 L6 l, X3 G* J! r$ K! B
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
9 b3 Q( @- l1 k) ?6 k! O( DChrysler.0 w6 a3 n6 L: g5 r2 F
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
% s% B- i: Y' k* u# s1 ydollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
, Y7 g f( E3 Z' wHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also8 J y+ f k: O8 n3 P1 R
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete3 M+ `+ F) `0 y9 @6 l# V8 U7 P
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
; o4 T3 S8 g5 wtough."
- C' y5 [7 G1 ]' E( b' v; v6 _---6 ]: U+ r9 S! l* C# a+ K7 t
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
+ o0 {$ N. G$ G" @; ?1 m2 k/ }: n3 nRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
, ?% Y3 f: P) ethis story.
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2 V" t$ N# J @-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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