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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
/ k3 N# D& r% {8 s; X' Y8 uBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
, ?# d5 I9 _1 D( V) H% f5 n+ zWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
9 x) W. z/ k7 p8 x" \& V' x( h3 O- Woperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that1 d: c( l4 ~9 o4 e3 H" a$ K5 \0 k& S
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"* j$ Y$ j5 ^6 j9 ?) m, j
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
7 u5 y6 |9 S$ _6 w"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential9 j2 q3 t3 G& m) U
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.: U6 [3 @7 @ e, \# e7 K$ Z4 p5 J
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected, R B6 L3 }. ~: w% i
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
! W# W( M% k; e, r, Ltrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor! A/ U0 _% ~8 U
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.
. Y5 S+ y4 [& b# W7 l' h+ G BHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal, k' {# p6 _( g3 y$ w
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
$ U3 F% G/ R; j- @# ^2 ccriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be. ~9 _1 F2 ^; t3 ?' C, v: I
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
0 h8 ^4 ^% x: H0 |& lnot stop her runaway Lexus.) a* }5 R+ h I4 a' t6 ?) b
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,! n6 v. k" K# W3 Z' W
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second5 C' U3 @- `- p# L
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
3 q1 l5 d7 w; n+ O$ }3 |7 bTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues$ z0 s1 ?5 s* C) B
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
. h! U% J3 H4 \. K"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has0 @& J' v# @! R+ D( _, @) |
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
+ H. _( l, T0 J* @1 F6 S2 a$ Z- ?through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
% ^+ `. ^) K7 [3 d. D$ r0 y, u6 `investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
) P# P) _9 N7 P% j& m# E6 I! v$ ]# @; MLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
- d3 a% v0 l3 R# ]electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of( g# u1 V1 m1 J& J
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
. [% d; l3 m! V. Cmalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
/ Q8 x3 j! e. ~# r( c! Nsaid.
! O- `: L" N# F2 z1 AAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what9 r9 z4 x# D) u5 ~' S
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
+ R4 Z. h. r/ g8 q$ F8 Z- {about driving our products," Lentz said.- {1 V$ W6 _* V I
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
) e' ?9 }! V; x6 S/ c$ uproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
! Z, b: ]+ e5 B3 ^2 A$ _recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
# h8 `( `5 ^" ?( e) Cmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of
- s8 O s Y6 W. L# hunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
& b! {8 @: _- r9 ^7 Rissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering$ ]+ t, d3 \$ d- C! |5 }6 o
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of3 \# x: `) |$ Z7 Q( v' R" _: P
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow0 }4 K' }% s3 L
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has7 `1 P6 [7 M9 Z+ g2 C) I7 R
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
5 E9 ~$ ], t* t3 Zof Toyota vehicles since 2000.
" x. W7 K7 L9 l( t* oLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own( \+ _" F! O+ d+ C' V) c+ X& a$ e
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he- }' h( \# c) V+ n/ k
understood the pain. q/ Z* D6 i' W9 Y6 ~
"I know what those families go through," he said.( y& q/ R; L& N2 \
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's. w2 [' m4 U# m2 B' o2 p
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.: H7 b; X; a# y6 r: _
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
. k+ g; a0 \" ]) uHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put3 K( @: o3 j& w. t: k. S- v! p- f
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,# U L$ b, U1 _# I. H k- x7 P
Lentz replied: "Not totally."( L/ w3 X( f8 g! |, `/ k
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were* w/ U5 r" C7 v: ^8 x
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said4 {+ u, _2 ~1 ]3 T3 G
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
F) \1 E6 r i( m0 |3 w. i* Cpedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its5 ?+ K7 i5 v; o
vehicles already on the road." a( Z/ m4 q V- O6 C0 U2 c: z
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
9 t A; w+ @2 G cbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full. J+ F6 m% M; T" T* Q5 |1 R. J9 g4 m
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
( l y7 B2 x P' I& p+ m$ Doffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were; x3 P" t0 [0 g) c S* j
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
5 r& `; F$ o$ k) O: K+ x8 a"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a& P6 H) l6 o7 M* k% F
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
6 L7 S7 b2 D+ ?* p5 s# `! Y1 nfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight3 ?# Y9 n- x; N9 ?4 _- j5 k/ e
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal0 t$ x g9 q4 D- h
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to7 ?4 E- i5 N) ^6 }2 E; u" ^& r7 O
restore the trust of our customers."/ F& O% r, K' ^6 l( I3 v# N% P
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from) o/ e. l" o$ R# C$ O
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
# [% I2 R) ]; t& E: a' nzoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
: |* I! }9 M/ q- m& gshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and4 e8 G2 I9 e4 S4 {- }4 ^
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
: ^6 x3 n) P; g; i! l. cthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
" T; J3 h8 ~( j( K+ m& gturn off the engine.
# a8 W; e8 E" d8 TFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of# ~& Y8 m# k: `
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
" j. [, C4 \$ e6 {0 B"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she( G* N$ Z* v9 e) O5 f- R1 S9 z( N8 H0 c
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond4 K$ ~/ p3 }4 j, a
to her complaints.
0 o( f8 b4 P; ]' E2 DIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers+ `( o) w# }* Z* ^ j5 u. S
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
$ o6 |3 G( @* @" [2 vmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
- W& @. G- l0 p7 q; A* j"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
7 K+ S3 _9 I, K% c* Ithrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited" a, P% k' v5 [6 ^+ }+ I0 N
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut/ x9 K8 z0 e$ I8 J7 _/ _: }
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."5 ]' D! Q5 g; m
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in; g$ Z! m1 d- L! P1 x( D6 k- c
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were3 t# `8 U, B7 E) b
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
5 Y6 n9 F5 L: J% o& @were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer6 V6 x- A6 T, H* T& q; \
every question."
3 d3 |( K8 n# S7 t" XToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
# \2 y+ u. C! felectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
! p0 z8 t8 G' q6 N4 `3 q4 A, Bfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
( V u, n4 k M/ {committee investigators said the testing studied only a small2 t' V# x& U; K
number of vehicles
6 U% [! `* }% VTracking down an electrical problem can be far more
$ m6 u/ h: P3 ^# L4 tdifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
/ w$ I1 t0 H8 t" ?7 q p: zmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one/ S1 l! Q/ {0 C. X! {% R9 P0 v
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.; n Y. u4 c7 j$ b1 P4 L; I3 C$ y/ K
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,8 ]$ R$ U$ v% O% {. v
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no$ K Q, k! V4 Z$ W. L# h
trace at all.0 P$ O- H. B/ T4 t9 D2 d5 X
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call5 _ p; y) u0 Q9 K. d% g
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
8 ^; p8 u. X& ^5 r) I3 D2 Eacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
N8 k7 ?4 M1 g* Crecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.) y& z8 @. o p* Z
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
, h5 H0 \# w% F* u0 U0 C+ dsaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
' A: P4 p% ~5 x0 u- Rother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the* r1 v2 q2 E: w: T
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible3 U3 T# Z2 `% s
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
& ]% ?/ v% X$ R$ y5 Rsuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained, i- a$ `9 W9 L o6 q
by Toyota's lawyers."
7 h5 e: a0 J$ O/ d* H3 c8 LLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of h% f; ~& E. A" j3 c2 I. ~1 R
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our- K7 u0 h( v5 { D6 C3 @
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he0 ~, T* O/ [2 j- n K9 @! H
said.
+ ^9 M' @6 ?' R7 S2 q# O8 T"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
6 }0 z+ j& S7 H! @! u. ~, H9 Ca rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
" B/ Q" p3 z6 o' G" l6 @good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
- y' C. D. ]1 S8 C; Y* v9 J+ Cofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
( R2 n) |3 E. D3 S7 pSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying7 O* T! w6 K4 [' p
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
9 R3 G. i; `; |+ ?$ [/ Hrancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
* V0 U) G: X3 d( |# s zautomaker, at least in part because of the government's8 Z5 v" H- T3 N4 C
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and! u. ^" s0 ^5 @- |7 ~2 B
Chrysler.
3 D% c8 n; F! w2 S4 `" q# |"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
B n8 n8 _# s) M- qdollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a3 \ j* Q- ?6 h9 ^) U2 b
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
$ b6 I3 c! j" Q+ t9 ^served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete0 b: a- O' C$ l4 x: J- o
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty0 x g3 z3 d. |6 \$ o% ?) g/ [6 g
tough."( o. P& u9 B7 Z. x$ k9 W
---
) O) P" W* B* e9 R- Z; RAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom: X6 r$ p1 K3 X# u0 @
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
9 W9 }& v4 Y# J/ ], ^this story.8 k# G# W0 L0 w2 W; b* ]
0 N6 B7 j9 R" t9 c4 D3 G F-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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