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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6 I2 E: j% {' ]9 H$ t# Z1 F' G9 y$ Y
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS. _5 O5 x' w n: ~6 C# u
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S., w7 p# d$ s- m
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that! G6 r6 V7 ]/ ?
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"+ }6 f' P; y- X+ ] O' c1 Z, [+ E
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
9 h/ H3 q Y! R2 `8 l1 d"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential( R% \5 S5 k2 i
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
0 q* z9 F+ J2 B( aHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected( [" b5 _0 L$ ]5 a+ |9 r/ x$ O
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and1 s' S- ^5 u/ z1 E9 h# F! `9 [
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
+ y, \$ q/ s0 [" L. z, b) {mats and sticking accelerator pedals.$ A. p _& J7 t0 Z/ U* c# H
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal2 n8 T, M4 a! B0 j; i- \0 S* ]5 f' [
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp% ~, \$ }1 O0 `8 @% J. W9 q" J4 Y- h
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be$ w6 u& z2 Q5 h! J2 ^( F
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could0 o1 a/ P/ Z5 ^, o
not stop her runaway Lexus." f! |$ a- B7 w0 O$ N: w% \
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
% D& h+ c: N) x# b& T& B: MTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
) ?: |# u3 F# f2 V' k: j7 @$ K"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators./ n" C J g, Y3 A
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues6 x- g/ ?* E. M# F- J3 _% ^
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said, D4 P& g5 t* w
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has9 w4 k# y! v0 M
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
- n4 w% o/ |& Y, p; rthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
% _& L. a8 B7 o2 E/ Rinvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
, J1 d- R* Z( x1 bLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
! |5 _; A( m, I3 C& relectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
! T, `# @! f2 k6 E) E1 v% gthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a3 b: X! P, F5 P, M
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
% t4 H! R$ L( L3 O% a6 {2 L# `said.
+ z/ }% L4 A" R. \+ b3 N* S8 p$ j: AAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
: i3 F ]& V3 B! X5 s& ?! ohappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
1 T2 ?5 b4 a7 n" }* aabout driving our products," Lentz said.
6 \- T% A2 y, x: ] c* fThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's/ [' T d; m( O
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has) S0 a6 E# ` p
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6: x" G# r) v6 U
million in the United States -- since last fall because of
) K; C6 N. r2 Q1 ^- ~, Qunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking! D2 j+ a7 r$ I3 a1 u, K) h
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering" M c+ x0 e% a7 ?$ g# f
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
* u2 i4 @+ Y: q; {( wtheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow7 ^& b* Q1 R& L+ ~, A$ x. v& K5 l9 q4 T
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
( d4 f# W; w/ G) j3 @2 J( lreceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
" |2 `/ x: [1 c* \2 {6 H U& ]of Toyota vehicles since 2000.
1 z7 i$ T7 [/ r" Q- iLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
$ N/ E' c# d: \brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he8 z" {7 b" @7 |: l$ p; k0 D
understood the pain.
# V; M/ _: o$ U+ w- z# J2 p1 b* S3 f"I know what those families go through," he said.
3 U5 p X' V, V6 k% S0 C! pLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
1 k+ W. B+ l. G: w# Q1 ]/ hfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
# x h; `- V" Q. ABut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
3 F, h1 y( i4 f/ P4 ^Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put, Z- p% V6 ~6 Y1 }! x
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,& X6 I5 V4 z3 J
Lentz replied: "Not totally."
+ E" d8 _; Z. C8 W# N" x8 Q$ w- D( v: uStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were! _" O& Z3 a# {$ k; R$ O4 @0 K1 d! `
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
! ^5 ?3 i& W( e! h# R" E/ _+ N; U. f4 gToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
( ~1 C" R% K, apedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
; H8 T! m. o- C- qvehicles already on the road.' ^ z O( P0 k* m7 S
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
- R- A# `* O9 xbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
1 X* P) B+ N; C4 x9 H$ ?responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
J* o8 X0 I, u( A3 U, woffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
6 U& p& u* X9 M2 K. A* F- a2 o6 W4 I. ekilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
; I0 f) o1 b+ i- O' Y: a9 ?+ [1 B"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a# s n! E0 ~+ |! \- v1 N& i v
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony8 v2 y1 N2 K% Y+ B' b- ]" y- d7 b
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight, j& ~6 _/ s/ W9 A
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
, o/ [; q7 |+ ~) S% S# X4 h- s0 [commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
$ A+ Y( f4 p/ i( u9 Yrestore the trust of our customers.". C+ C; l" F( B0 ~, x8 ]
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
' }. B# k K5 P4 p! R1 r! y5 ~Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
. }+ W# S) [/ C+ C" i0 _zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --2 r! v/ z2 {( E3 m) D1 Z
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
! B+ y" ^' c' k- _$ U1 G" D# Ohitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough3 @2 k4 C: d+ N$ r$ Z
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
* w( C4 s, n8 i' M5 l/ Xturn off the engine.
* T; ?9 E: X9 yFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of8 v. D2 u% w* g; X4 N& \
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
* a+ J) D5 I) b0 f" k"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she4 c1 x: J; k: N( g: i$ x
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond( ^7 Y, Y/ J: N- `- i- g
to her complaints./ I |3 D5 N) U p% o) t1 y
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
2 _: i4 a ~" z7 K' Wreturned again and again to the question of whether electronic
$ X2 H0 T+ _9 [- n, Dmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
4 U! f l! y9 D4 M: _9 Z"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
, r) ]- g. u- B, z8 Q) S! Ethrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
g& o* V; L' Q"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut: r% }7 |, Z" ^# T4 n* J
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."1 o% O9 G' E5 ]; U
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in) w( R& _. {& {, ~# X4 H) y0 ?
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
" [$ y* v/ b9 z bbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
- m$ T0 W; N/ w7 k* hwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer/ n: J+ X% m) G2 h d: h4 W
every question."
" z6 v6 } o$ ]% QToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
/ t( L; E; E! r1 {electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The; s3 \3 d/ E- M
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But1 H' M2 N- K" J. I: @( e8 N4 t
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small4 {: ]7 X3 j* P
number of vehicles" l: [' ^5 r9 J1 J
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more! X& s7 Z' m* G _) r& r, `
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
! s, h& K, h5 |: Omechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
$ ?* g) N$ g/ bsource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
. p y: h; t; r5 DMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,2 O) V6 E8 |- X
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
" {: b9 B+ I% Etrace at all.
2 f, X! Y3 W8 m4 N1 o3 r! s" YHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
! ^5 M' L+ j6 z$ ~- F0 Wdatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
7 s6 D/ R+ S& v: R$ n/ y) f yacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
0 T" k3 e$ E) d! qrecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.5 B" k. D1 u4 q# A
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
a" I6 \- f) b8 ]$ B. Dsaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
, d. T6 p! `8 Fother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the- q: o" g1 y' b- ~) J, P
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
& E0 s. Y. c% w7 u% [- scause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only$ M8 u h6 V6 Z
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
0 W1 ^' b& S1 d! J" @by Toyota's lawyers."3 Z/ N3 V4 W" v4 X
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
! ]1 L% L& g3 eproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
% A x/ J, i. ncustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
. P" Y0 O2 N$ @1 dsaid.
* o6 j$ a9 J# q3 }9 s) v& R"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with, H) S( y3 T! [; f% ]
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our# w8 l4 i, v/ \( y0 a; t5 `
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating) p! [& i& _' e% O/ G, f/ F
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
7 D; ^3 s4 y7 C7 z- M2 Z. S4 P# ISeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
1 E* V C$ ^$ Imembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread9 _* J; |% I2 N2 o) X& r# t, m. Y& m
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the. |& {0 C! a5 p# U3 f
automaker, at least in part because of the government's5 [7 }9 ~# R, Z
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
# ^. s+ L7 A9 l, j* z, O7 OChrysler.% d3 m2 ]$ D3 }' {7 G
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
& B6 y, I/ e D* ~2 J* O% vdollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
0 E& `4 h4 H) J9 b) IHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also' ~6 j h4 L. n. S1 ~& |
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
+ O) h, e8 ^! O" I' m. w* j" o( ewith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty' ?6 y* ^' j: W$ o8 Z: R/ R
tough."
; e1 x, e2 {7 H---" M* n( o# {7 s! d; E
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
# O6 e5 N1 l; G: D" ]Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to3 e' _, o) p9 T3 ^
this story.
5 ?, O) c3 s- A( ^! b! o0 I# a: [* Q, ^
-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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