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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
; A5 d. Q! l) x1 l' J$ aBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS& x$ C% v, M5 T2 n* K0 `
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
7 O( d- J/ }8 W1 P4 ~0 T M, Doperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
7 Q# c. W8 b' V9 l9 o/ `the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
. w3 W! ]$ p" p8 T9 H- X; x8 xsolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.3 |- j1 ?4 C' r6 T: J+ u- `
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
( j4 s. |2 l3 U5 ^' O* `" qcauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.; D+ \+ z2 b( y' O: k6 V. @+ t
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected% `: c, Z/ X7 Q$ v1 [& `/ e% T) {6 J
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and. X9 I, _. t) _3 r! Q
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor; z7 T( _6 j- F7 O8 K
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.0 o9 M6 p1 Z- V* j
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
% W2 z. c9 U1 \ rand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
0 W1 h3 o& p: N. F4 J& Acriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
) c! F. c" g3 ]6 [- O* `further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
! k) ^& H4 V. unot stop her runaway Lexus.# [' Q& T4 ~7 K
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
- i/ m+ X$ _5 Q" g5 {7 mTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
6 i# H8 @6 i. v+ T8 b% G9 m1 e3 Z3 z"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.2 T+ j% ]/ k* P. F
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
3 r7 Y. k6 q# J3 mearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
8 E! T4 J- H* d; _2 g"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
4 u. c6 Y8 x. Z, q0 Wdone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway6 Z. u7 p. A3 ]' `1 G4 Y
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
5 e9 g# y. i2 A: @0 \9 z" Zinvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham.": U3 X/ W$ ]* X m5 A
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
8 \$ e" n$ g5 g M$ l7 Melectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of' f. Y- _- e" c" j, L
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
, l; p, e" E X% B9 ]malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he* n. @( c9 E5 D+ Z* J1 V
said.
9 h' h2 v! K) h$ DAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
* G K3 C% |5 f7 phappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe3 t `# `+ G( A, `' i2 i4 G
about driving our products," Lentz said.
( v1 D3 W5 N* O9 zThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's( d r2 `% U2 H _' P
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
0 L* W, {9 {" Jrecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6$ E K& U& C' T
million in the United States -- since last fall because of
) m6 s, B4 {% j8 a/ sunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
/ }6 h$ S* s- @issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
* Q# P6 o- q7 B8 R1 E6 iconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
" p9 g! n1 \) Btheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow9 Q5 b' a( @" `
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has7 a3 P8 P b2 W: Z2 i7 A
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
( d. s8 T& z: e- bof Toyota vehicles since 2000.
) a% ~( s/ V" d( Y$ l% QLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
1 G* b2 ]' r! p+ A0 i y5 rbrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
; s$ k& [6 {- V0 g* Punderstood the pain.
7 m) m2 E; I R' r9 v1 @"I know what those families go through," he said.3 Q: k$ ~$ Q, a( y8 C" k# x
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's2 \& i9 ~% ]1 k/ r) d/ m
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
0 ^4 `$ W6 c2 O" iBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
. W4 { J2 r$ {5 w! yHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
4 B0 ]2 u7 M0 g6 k! m% T# b8 nin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,- j. c# f' q( R! }5 e
Lentz replied: "Not totally."
3 q0 U* Z% P2 ?2 s9 W) B2 ?Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were4 E: q+ p2 U5 H* W$ h3 O
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
) g0 F8 |$ O" A' c- e3 iToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas1 ^0 X: j# A2 }- V3 Y
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its7 a( k# E# H$ F( D! a
vehicles already on the road.
" q* b( \( ~9 ~* c" d# iMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify8 s# B8 k* w4 \+ ~, E! X
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full; u, J1 t* H0 b8 q
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
! d/ L& L$ d$ i, K4 Y) [- p/ uoffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were/ g/ s5 b3 x, I( c# {( U- l! @
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.* i7 B! O! L4 C! Z$ ^
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a$ ^3 G0 J6 n0 j: a p
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
8 ~/ ~% Z: `( L$ c% cfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight7 x& v( O' H0 j2 p1 A5 j
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal/ M6 N, L( w; t E
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to0 v9 f3 E6 B3 M5 a6 k% S
restore the trust of our customers."
% e. d6 J n5 F' n# G" VLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from( o& H/ X% H; H6 S9 p2 r! R, y
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
& s# _& k# P8 ?3 P6 E3 |: d# d9 q# dzoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --: X; ?& }8 x+ W
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and* }. i8 I. F9 E# p" }( |0 |, H' v
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough, Q+ Y% m( J6 B% z* l+ U" N- e5 k
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
4 V% y2 @7 A" x R- D$ Q" wturn off the engine.
9 m6 d$ a, Y+ a% j/ I5 BFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
5 ^+ w: T* {* X7 f) x+ YOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."3 z1 v# i. {! v4 z/ f
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
0 @, d) `' Y6 r) [/ zsaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond g) f J: a, _! @4 C
to her complaints.
5 G9 s' H: g, r0 T% Z3 ~3 RIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
& ~' ~( i, [4 i" \returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
! F' n( b9 |- z/ P7 m- A& j2 u, Emalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars., P1 ^% n# a. @2 ~- k% E
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
8 W/ d: o4 r8 l8 ~$ A2 Y4 Ithrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited& h0 |# z( Z1 X1 ?1 G' f2 U
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
! s# H% {. M$ H/ x, _9 M! e; a8 woff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."2 `, e! r2 G1 T, c4 ]
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in7 G3 B9 s& r* Q2 x1 q, M* O0 C
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
- f3 @8 n* S1 u- obeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
5 K1 Q) @( `1 K" W, cwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer1 ?/ p& g) x a" j5 S0 j. d
every question."
% ^3 E9 ~4 r+ A3 yToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
) H* X0 k' b+ w9 [, uelectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The ]. R8 e `2 h# {, W4 W$ B
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
& J/ s, F* t8 ^: ncommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small
1 |: o2 h7 A. D% d1 S# F4 `5 v# C1 Rnumber of vehicles
, ?; O* V6 j5 P- rTracking down an electrical problem can be far more
5 M: d# ^1 M- Q; f$ Rdifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
" W, r! \0 a2 ?( I; ]5 J$ T; J- \mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
" S' X3 [- n: L5 P: x: t! f) |source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
/ h6 O3 j9 L% K4 I$ [. ^Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,8 l8 z& C/ M8 W" y1 i- x4 ?# o: u
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
8 |3 z; l# r2 Q4 Z! P! ptrace at all.
4 w/ a0 Y1 s9 K- x+ {House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call) t7 u+ \, e6 C. @: g& H5 _
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden- \0 C3 j1 B k1 i* d! u' Q3 M+ K
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the8 `& Z% [$ W7 |: @" j- z
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
3 @' I' i( E: W: @! i- E5 T6 ?$ DRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
3 @/ S. R7 a! _4 e4 Dsaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
7 g( T: `& K- hother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
8 S3 F3 y1 S$ }( ^& s7 Q0 delectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible& f& I. m" q( d
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only. {* C$ z0 j$ ~/ w
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained3 x. K& |7 U6 a, M5 L& w+ j
by Toyota's lawyers."% [" U) U( k9 x+ G; |+ C# f
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
% i; C; j# R* x% A. q" ^; {problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
5 j/ J9 {2 D. B9 `+ acustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he% j- A7 G- ~3 ~2 a9 }
said.7 N6 C3 J% H, @0 c ?4 n9 g
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
6 p+ S- _, _" e; G/ t' |! N g$ Ha rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
" k: m4 h1 h7 k' hgood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating f$ O& y8 R; x, N# g
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
$ o; r' w4 n1 _" Y; A: x+ VSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying9 H* ]- t% |9 T* g3 H/ T' n+ m- V
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread$ j2 _& x; _/ l; h* d4 T7 J1 P/ E' z
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
; V3 Y- S( W- `- M% F: A4 uautomaker, at least in part because of the government's
- o/ {5 y1 F& Y3 Q: e( G+ Ainvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
) a# @, s1 d' W. {5 V/ G2 W: c1 I UChrysler.0 ?! i8 z0 _1 G- a$ x" c1 M
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax! [$ e- P: y2 G) g% T3 l
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
) Z% `# E; D+ [! QHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
, _1 T7 S. x5 H, h2 eserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete- b0 l5 U! u5 i$ m1 d0 _8 |. ]; b. D
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty# `) g; E, o, ^/ [" J! r
tough."" N1 H! W3 l. ]2 t6 b
---" P. x. E+ F% r3 O1 C( r6 k: l
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
8 r% I- `4 Y, k8 o9 @Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
m& G$ r" d# k2 Q$ o3 `4 gthis story.
2 U0 D" h! v5 n" R% M% y4 e6 q* D0 v& O& p, X( n! U
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