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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
+ m5 \, ^; ~9 P. I) tBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
+ O$ x$ O7 x7 d) `, z$ c% QWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S./ z7 S* B c% b
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
8 m3 O4 k' V( U! G; I$ Wthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"' w" l, q! G' Z3 t9 `& ?
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
) Z! Z3 c) q/ y) a( B$ x"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
6 z/ N2 ~5 g6 ^" i" t. dcauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
" V9 s( }: @( J! eHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected/ J) A1 r6 y- O& k: I
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
0 I" X6 ]5 D2 h. d7 vtrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor; N/ n# ?% H5 C. ^1 q# l- R9 c7 d: Q+ n
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.
% c1 Z& d$ s9 d8 b, o5 p. xHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
5 Q# |$ {% p8 Mand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp7 j8 n2 S. F. _. f6 ~
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
$ K$ r( g8 N: ` U0 C) t" ifurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
8 l: I4 V1 K2 C' E* G4 W. Pnot stop her runaway Lexus.
3 s. Z: Y' D2 k3 w"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,$ w9 }3 V3 ], X+ F
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second/ I8 x0 q! b. A% s, Q
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
4 C1 N% l. m; @5 u& lTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
- |, o5 O8 p( gearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
, x) }7 Q" m0 O3 X T4 g2 Q2 `6 H( t"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
+ {% v' S% t t M6 G' Zdone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway8 A. a! t: G7 o
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
1 W( ?' }( N/ U) _ Tinvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."& L2 W% o0 N* ` ^
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an9 G) W1 l x2 k) I' U. J
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
9 g' `5 O5 `: {# nthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
! K8 x& }% {* E) gmalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he W7 o+ E8 h- L3 n3 c
said.
" d: {1 a- C( JAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what" b" {6 |: A; `- S: D# t
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe4 T, v X/ C" c4 I! n
about driving our products," Lentz said.
& O! Q" W6 w' r+ z* ?7 J) tThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
& t, ^6 d, T; b) {& Jproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has* {: r" O; N i' @6 v- R7 D& k# r3 o# \
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
2 m# K4 O1 F; z4 K: n& @$ Pmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of
& Y/ Y+ R# {* n# C$ eunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
0 O2 u- P. N# o5 n' tissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
' D/ K# F! Q3 Econcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of. c: c# g& x9 J" p7 g( k, u- y
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
4 m& o# ]! w5 c. C: U3 Udown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has8 C+ o5 {: O# I+ B! I; Y
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
3 f$ u2 h4 M/ B" V1 ~of Toyota vehicles since 2000.$ A5 A- R; |# r1 y, Y
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
5 l; Z: D4 K+ {brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
) w0 @* `0 s9 t* \% i3 [understood the pain.2 Q" j2 P7 [2 ? p
"I know what those families go through," he said.
" F; h5 @: D4 _6 o! e. [" B3 pLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's C. o- l5 O4 _8 ?) Z8 ~8 t) l0 N6 R7 Y
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.; Z% }0 A' Z, s3 j, M
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman8 H5 k2 [& h+ t. C2 {1 F9 U4 V
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
, t$ t, J+ U, O% \+ n" l; a. `in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,* w, f( d9 c2 i" P5 ^
Lentz replied: "Not totally."3 N4 K% n. w3 _$ C
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were6 V) s+ Q% p" O0 R) C4 A* t
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
4 @0 T+ x, T% ~: M9 LToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
* Y+ Q# n7 E# Q" o3 o# B upedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its2 R, C+ h* F8 _6 ^/ Q3 v2 ?
vehicles already on the road.; f" U7 k U. \. l* `& {5 B0 H
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify( A! `# @, |9 C4 c5 v/ T# L, Z7 v
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full5 k+ c/ h+ }" r# t) I
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
' E# f& S6 o5 a! @- D2 b* uoffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were/ B- ~9 d b9 w1 T
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
0 d3 ^% h. R0 e S2 C* B, }"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a) [+ K8 v" h3 _& r) \# i
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
: G* O1 N& g6 R! a, Ifor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight9 L/ F, Z4 [, G' V( e: l4 m
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
8 K* q6 M/ v/ f, j& K7 Lcommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to D8 \$ N' T) r) U, j
restore the trust of our customers."
+ h5 l. o8 ~1 d5 |Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from: [" E4 z$ J3 N/ D* K" |9 p8 P) A
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
+ U$ G8 Y- W# q) S4 N. B4 ezoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --+ ~6 f' }! o/ T9 ]; n1 U7 Z5 ]0 o
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and: g3 F. _, y' I# N U( B
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough- y8 ~$ ]# j4 \8 B* G
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and% b9 r' t% l, n# z4 A( Z3 V
turn off the engine.
5 n" ^! N A* ?) L* M. E1 uFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of/ G. y( C& _0 `9 X
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."' v- C N8 }% a# \4 H% O
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
7 X* ?+ F* C# P+ Q0 w/ A( l; ?said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
) P% J; l! [8 z' Y W% H# H; D7 E; bto her complaints.3 i4 \! w- M* P2 F; Y
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
. G% k* L: n% \9 L3 |- V oreturned again and again to the question of whether electronic
4 M" V+ X" Z* u! I, ~malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars." `0 f( i! V8 Q+ G6 j
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
2 r' @! }! B; r) N; s8 z; A# gthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited1 x2 N0 g' V1 v9 B! q4 l t
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut( R8 f7 C1 s# ]) A: A
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure." y" R6 t$ U+ H* p3 W1 T
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in0 H% ~+ @- g% g4 k6 j( @$ b0 ]
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were+ I0 m" |, _! G' W1 P
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
7 P. g5 w" I3 C0 D5 d% r* Twere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer) n, ?/ H% D" K5 y
every question."* [% q) j) U$ ^4 B8 B4 ]0 K9 c9 j
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
& Y; Y/ Q0 l( v6 Delectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The- d& m6 s4 L/ v- O6 B4 O; X9 |' _* g
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
6 F) G5 \' \6 k& P3 W; m/ p9 Zcommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small
5 {7 W- @ c4 y- J: Fnumber of vehicles4 ~/ j. ~6 o- x- J( s1 K! v
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more, D1 D; u6 X$ S) _' u2 R
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
/ v# N5 x; G* n5 {- \% ~; N/ Vmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
( M2 j/ v! d3 M& t" g& ksource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
. T. |. S: X5 A% IMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,$ [( h+ H0 p |1 l |
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
, }# O4 H! z) ]5 K6 w6 o8 r. Ctrace at all.
) K+ C7 K$ x& }House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
* w( Q2 s2 b9 H- b% \5 Vdatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
9 B3 C# K1 l+ u5 T r1 Racceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the. l2 ~! H' g2 ^, l
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.; D0 K$ x: ]$ x
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,: W, {9 S6 n* F" b
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
& c1 q3 T5 o' |3 i" A$ sother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the$ e, I3 j) U* @
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
+ @; j9 `: V/ B% mcause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only' ?' J, v( @; z _5 Y- J+ Z; R
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained% T6 P' R8 M) d$ v0 y0 _5 B1 x8 N0 [
by Toyota's lawyers."$ C: N) G- o @ ]4 q( |" Y
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
( i ?7 f d) y# Tproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our& l7 x A; {- f) v; @# @1 j/ n3 i: U
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
$ M- j5 O( g3 fsaid. S, J( h1 p) O8 s0 ~5 R
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
$ ?& o Y( h2 |9 x) qa rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our# K9 _3 ?5 K* t }! x2 B( i
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
/ F6 L4 E, }6 w6 f* a. ?4 l! n+ vofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.* J0 j8 ]+ Q3 X$ D: A6 x
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying- y; l E7 k. K8 n ^. D0 W
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread' j0 S7 A! \0 c0 N7 r
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
3 t3 [( B O( a# r- Q6 o0 b* Xautomaker, at least in part because of the government's
) r1 I Q p( Oinvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and; f# n# F0 _0 o4 L
Chrysler.3 S+ Z d# N' i
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
7 S: `6 \3 Q9 a3 j% W: j- ?* Hdollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a* S8 X K0 N* G+ l3 l" b
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
1 V* y% W7 u$ K* ^0 _served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete0 W% c4 J; _% a. H
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty6 B2 ?, {! W4 v- {6 y2 M
tough."8 A1 y( ^" ~3 \- \+ v- V: A
---
, m9 E: S5 U* F1 M1 LAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom' ] o: J7 ?$ _# r- s2 j
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to8 G1 M# t3 a0 s0 [& T" o
this story.
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