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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
1 P2 W5 G' H9 u9 jBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
( _. n4 P+ U6 S; c+ E1 z& m" |- k) rWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.' e( X0 n3 G k, R% r% ^7 Q Q- e7 Q
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that& @) a. N5 r+ k' Q ^
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
7 t G1 w, A4 N+ [9 W2 l+ gsolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.) \1 K- s0 C, ^& n. I: ~1 w2 ^5 R
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential: B2 w1 z- ]- X- s' t
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.; j {& ~) \% ~0 s* a: L
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected) A7 V x% ?, w; A. q' m
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and! h: L+ Z: O# [
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
* e9 o8 g5 U/ Vmats and sticking accelerator pedals.$ ~4 [ {( p. E9 A, n; O
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal3 d4 ^* ~- L* d G, h, q
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
6 S7 b7 p7 z# Gcriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be! j* h- k% w8 s. k
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could+ `- Q/ t4 m) e7 ]
not stop her runaway Lexus.
" Z y( B. R* ^6 O' a Q4 d"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,+ {5 ]8 ?- t' D Z- I" @( g: F
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second0 F0 P- A: c' {4 u# _7 w
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
1 Z. V, ]' V3 K6 P; Y5 kTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues4 T3 X) ?% }& ~6 Y1 T! R# y
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
/ u: N! F3 C! K"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has2 {$ X" ?: |+ I. f, i/ S
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway9 C9 [' Y! Q- x) D+ r
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's8 _5 m2 e, v- C8 w# K- h, q
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."% Z( _1 c$ h& \
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
: S( p) A2 e! jelectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of8 O8 Z+ j( }1 ^
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a! k$ Q; P& ?# ~) N$ I" a* ^) n
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
5 y" @3 Q" x% q8 m Qsaid.
1 w: F+ H& |" K5 y; P, L' M' Y3 CAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
8 G- \& a! l# ^; }* x: }happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe8 a0 Q6 T. a+ Z6 s: p
about driving our products," Lentz said.
( t5 `+ ~! m4 O; CThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
' g, a" O2 g$ x& kproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
% i) @3 S$ H3 drecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6! L$ x, D9 C2 b
million in the United States -- since last fall because of* J! {3 N& u% H7 ~% W
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
) w7 A( ~8 m0 d; @' D2 |/ ~5 D* Aissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
9 Z& E" m# ^5 |( F+ {concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
) f7 S3 U( A3 l" r- b3 Stheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow( w/ d+ j# F: _$ @6 p$ t9 Y) J) J
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
/ t% Z* z$ ]* T0 j# i Ereceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
/ s) u6 j2 M% P* Yof Toyota vehicles since 2000.
( O# {3 v" h2 y7 [7 JLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own" G; L& _" r% a% z R, C
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
2 R9 P: `' m8 b; eunderstood the pain." z" F/ D7 {9 A' w
"I know what those families go through," he said.( a9 ?; X _; N2 v0 c
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
& S& `# L: U+ r. Z/ [, \8 s* ofixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.9 s) ]3 u/ d n5 I5 L
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman1 k; l- }: g A/ K8 P9 ]7 n
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
8 l6 ]3 X6 [; U _; r# a nin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
3 W0 g! d$ A$ |9 I% f d) @Lentz replied: "Not totally."
8 G9 \2 d( o. k$ X8 BStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were7 h" Q8 z, P" t
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said! y% G; A2 N( O5 z! ~+ j
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas% B+ X- Y9 Q3 { E z- @
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its$ O- g% k r5 t1 f3 ]' ~
vehicles already on the road.
% w, o/ Y3 R( X9 p; x9 pMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify$ z4 w3 L/ a( U. c% k1 i7 c5 d
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
9 y8 Y2 X' ~" Mresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
2 L7 p* C! U% O) V+ c& ^( [7 soffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
( s- u7 k4 ^2 Dkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.- u! m) l( s. k0 w) y
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
+ M) l* m5 X- `3 L" a) Itragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
; ^, F5 O6 _2 y, L- G: ufor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight: h7 p# R1 V* D$ C
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
" m- a& u& ]" M" n* ncommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
, y7 D. d( G" o& w# _+ L( grestore the trust of our customers."
: h$ F. X3 k$ d: L8 O fLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from! [8 W* L- t* K( |+ I4 Y! K
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
3 m+ i& \ p1 z6 v& ]; ^2 D% Zzoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --( h) ^$ o: s& i" @$ K* e
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
. A- y( I7 a7 mhitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough! @( j" r: f( ^ J1 i7 ^4 y0 F
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and7 P: l$ M4 X- a w7 |
turn off the engine.$ L4 G( q" q8 z4 K8 [/ @ B: X) G
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
! s9 u: _+ n$ Q/ s( WOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
3 Q, n0 u. N: U# e: B" N. h' W6 ?"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
6 ^3 o' X* V* T$ _- ?) F9 B$ rsaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
8 ]# E" `% q6 G: d* E8 Oto her complaints.
) C3 f+ R' Z7 T8 g4 |3 @8 hIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
# \4 u% ^, i, breturned again and again to the question of whether electronic
8 v1 I& G+ o# Y3 [- p- Tmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.2 ]$ O; K9 L( R( Y) _5 C
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric7 ^# A3 b5 u; {' r& z
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
+ y6 |. V- z4 \! V8 L0 k& q* x"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut9 X2 i2 y+ C0 F* H8 T6 g
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
7 n e2 M) X% A) `9 P+ BTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
' K6 |6 _2 f+ O- n! M2 s3 a" rprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were4 y. m/ B1 A! _5 e
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
% u# a; B; g# U6 q$ z$ Cwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
% S2 }* F. Y$ w. u: H2 Cevery question."2 u+ \; O+ B1 S; S0 x6 q. v2 d
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
; B6 B; K' l* d, Y7 Y6 |electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
- f: C# [; ~+ k0 ~7 m, V$ v+ _firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But3 m8 H# u- O* M$ q$ h6 u2 X
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
# G0 h7 K1 u8 p& b+ S" }% Snumber of vehicles, G6 T* z6 X7 q9 ^( }& @
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more
; _0 j. `; s6 k: k) ddifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a; E# Y+ R0 _6 W$ D1 n4 O' i
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
^. C9 O: ^/ F8 {) s: n; c5 F# bsource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
$ }) e0 n" l; d2 |6 F3 z, E. T0 V6 |( kMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
1 n4 b0 n k2 ^ O- xwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no o) @. d. G) [- p( ]$ Y
trace at all., f. ]9 z! y, S8 M# e8 M5 W, r4 c+ O6 G
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
+ Z) ~6 r3 U, M3 B) E/ Sdatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden! p3 u) k2 d' H
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
$ }' y& x0 c& |recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
7 }9 S) ^4 f4 [; }& [5 a9 mRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
7 h" p M. e' d& r( gsaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and; `* P$ ^5 v3 R: Q: l! B/ S
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the a0 U& X+ D7 f2 [
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible# t8 I# d- p; S* D6 y5 w
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
/ ]1 B9 q3 D G) E8 Asuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
8 b) @$ f; ]* Wby Toyota's lawyers."* I7 Z0 c" `" A# h" L/ V* B
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of' ^( ~2 T7 {9 F5 M: m+ u
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our4 ^% L; v# V9 a) M6 z: S6 B- r& q
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
$ q6 i- L5 {$ Z& i% Dsaid.8 d0 J4 \& \5 f" U8 Q/ E
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
4 a4 x# V( y7 k" za rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our1 D; a B1 z3 B0 ?7 y
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
: v8 p( [" H- P$ g% M, ]officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
5 S" c. c6 K+ r) A2 J/ ]5 ySeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
7 l, H M( K1 U( S% o) Qmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread6 \: }" ]% v& O3 B( z% r
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
' W6 m$ _! _8 I7 `automaker, at least in part because of the government's
" Y9 U8 ]* z V, ]) H7 n8 _investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and6 t9 _" f0 F! I
Chrysler.
) c1 r( |9 ~' k, t" D"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax% @0 g c) X2 ^1 p: t$ N
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a. v. r' g. r; L8 N
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also; v0 X4 [- c0 o R" k1 _
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete& v; ?+ y; }$ _
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty3 M" W! h9 }8 F2 t/ x$ Q" C: Y
tough."
" ^4 P3 M/ @: u4 V5 X/ @9 r7 J+ r---( `5 d C. y) P
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom' B: q* B: r. i/ @" Y
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to. y. e$ i% |1 ]$ L$ H9 t9 Q
this story.
7 i) M- o$ I- l9 ]
6 }+ b, t0 p8 v-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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