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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
; Z% j0 l! W7 lBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS3 B# p, W8 b. H
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.& _* M. a, c* ~; n
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
: f0 k6 n* M5 Q; P3 I7 h. mthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"8 }" v! X1 e2 G: o6 k( y
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.6 a1 B' D6 r4 F+ i
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential. w5 `- p: q5 k5 o, i
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
9 A0 S1 H8 @( t5 YHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
2 ~" t# O$ _1 a3 Q1 |acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and; q! y% {/ k/ K/ t
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
- @- ^; S/ ?3 B/ K. Vmats and sticking accelerator pedals.
1 S9 n! b% O( t+ H9 p- sHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal5 x$ {; d, e; ^- n' d) B; H- m
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp# Z d' T+ z6 k/ M: K4 z
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be$ S/ ?" P/ b' G5 n1 _
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
3 x! k& e9 V+ |$ a/ N% E% Y; D8 I: Pnot stop her runaway Lexus.% N9 Q: Z7 j8 H: {. B. G0 y
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,; o1 P" _* i3 _8 b
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second% [+ l9 r' H- _2 }# \$ N$ D1 Q e6 c
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
+ Q) Q2 z5 X6 \& PTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
% i8 M* w& E! v- O+ ^/ hearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said* ~+ ?7 j8 F) P
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has6 @+ D6 l- H/ E1 U
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
" I) G% K. y3 Y4 [3 Bthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
- P2 ?/ @; q, l! S, }' E$ V9 Ninvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
1 N' f3 J1 N: ^' T' p {* ?Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an% o. @* q1 p5 r; _' e1 N& R6 Y
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
; ~- w* Z5 A: n/ y( Fthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a. `: O- A( H3 e$ |
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
5 u( o [' U7 }said.. s4 P# c. V+ b7 I) R" z
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
' @6 n) p& c7 ^7 o) y% X% S) Rhappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe, W S" o5 t1 u/ }+ }
about driving our products," Lentz said.
9 I. C$ k$ v0 Y0 R# ^2 Q/ dThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
7 e; m y# \% Uproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
, m4 H- v& ^; _. g9 }recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
' H( ^ r& m# rmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of
( |. I. o2 W) uunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking$ I/ O# z: F7 e7 T) J( _7 {" l
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering! L1 q/ Q" I9 [: I# g3 j( @
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
5 F; j( f7 s* Q7 Ktheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow8 h8 m' J! G+ @' X# W: S' C
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
* [! p! c( p/ C" g) |$ q8 E- Jreceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
) ] }+ X/ R# e O% {of Toyota vehicles since 2000.
) r+ m# V' k2 T7 k! LLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own& `2 M, m6 L1 H$ N$ y- X
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he# h$ j2 p5 M2 I2 Z9 k
understood the pain., ~, {; [; G1 f6 e1 e
"I know what those families go through," he said.
0 N: R, c0 O# f3 {Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
5 P, w+ e" f1 Ifixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.6 r/ m. Q7 Y3 q$ I4 T
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman& d8 L) A$ g4 x" ~# d5 ]
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
8 F. c- o+ N: }+ I7 Xin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
8 `1 I- j( n+ y+ E7 h pLentz replied: "Not totally."
) z$ M* X* {6 {! C# ~* tStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
6 E$ O8 G% |2 l"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
* I/ H/ h. r2 Z2 s+ b3 }/ L1 w& PToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas9 I" j2 y3 Z! A6 X% ^
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
8 \6 u2 E/ `2 m. I5 s0 @vehicles already on the road.
/ M2 b$ h% q' e% R; E$ gMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify; g( ]% [8 t8 Q" s" ]6 e
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full8 A1 H$ a3 s: A' t- W
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and( J5 O8 P0 [3 u% x Z
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were& k( q, A5 W' L6 _- Z I
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
3 o$ I/ K, R& t% {; J5 f- Y, U& G"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
6 p" W6 M9 S9 Ntragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony2 d2 C: I5 i) X6 n
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
% R) ~7 z4 J7 q9 K8 zCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
E9 _7 o9 M* ^commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
6 ]' @& p2 h& f. C3 b) k- a$ g6 rrestore the trust of our customers."; s) e$ H6 X9 D0 Q2 P! e$ O, ~+ d
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from! h( B3 |3 t6 I k
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly6 s" c V" b6 |8 s2 O
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --: ?) q3 w* G( L p
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
" I$ Y9 L1 \. w% l9 V" a. ehitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough0 ~ O. Z a# W- t9 _% b$ J7 L
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
% H, T6 t+ [( H3 i9 V! jturn off the engine.
# A2 C0 k. w6 B; J4 Z6 uFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of. c& V! B4 Z, @, z! C
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
8 m3 m C! D2 a h/ @" d$ @4 f5 F. H"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
+ N8 I$ p% t& k7 hsaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond( P4 g) y8 ]* ~- W- x# P. V& f
to her complaints.0 i# v) `; Y6 {# G4 c+ q
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers n% H/ }# u" F1 J8 Q
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic' m$ A; P: h8 E7 \1 S" P/ P
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
9 I4 S1 i: P, s3 ^1 V' s. r' O"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric, ~5 m* J4 d' ]0 O6 X8 K4 M5 S
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
8 u/ [: E- _+ ?" L"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
5 l9 M) G/ M% }% u) loff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
) l+ }- a: ?& I/ h' l# ETransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
, A7 j; n' O8 ^' \prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were6 E5 c9 s7 a0 s: @/ {
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
- e* j: J" C2 a% Hwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer4 L+ m" j9 H6 I: S* E& ^0 X
every question."2 ?3 R/ `1 @, z! O' z8 u& g
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
1 { K, z2 {% y' @6 _! Z3 ~5 H9 o# |electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The4 z; a5 Z( g9 p) X
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But8 x e# B8 d9 C' V9 B4 s
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small/ U1 E' y9 s9 W5 r8 J
number of vehicles
6 N- |' F8 v5 R4 {+ Q$ t& XTracking down an electrical problem can be far more7 P- u5 \3 u& q; ?. O
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a8 w4 f% d H" U3 J5 `; _
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one8 P/ e' }) e& q L f
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car. l) @" G8 L; _% S& {* @$ w7 i" R
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,3 {: H- W; j( Z3 m) b& c7 g) `
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no2 l) ~" W$ ]+ U
trace at all.! u) }% O) s" F% D# o& [! P
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call9 Y, U/ Y, G- E4 J, W2 O7 p
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden/ I/ I1 `. q! a, f+ U' B2 Q
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the/ f& E+ k3 |) m: f+ ]8 y
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.; o; K. ]: S! a7 h& @& p
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
1 g5 a* U& j& y: s7 r/ Zsaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
5 s% ^/ v5 @6 I# aother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the+ s0 @" t# J- I- r t( V% i
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
: M2 K) G9 {7 `3 tcause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only8 O L; Q% {. B# }3 ~6 Z
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained/ F4 c; G7 ?, v" A9 J
by Toyota's lawyers."& k, N+ H6 v: f$ O! R
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of8 e8 T/ {5 |4 R4 b5 G3 W8 {. Z
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our A9 H; h: v$ r: r' w9 X
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he5 F) r6 h3 J# g* X \( L
said.. Y( M% f( L& q: w) u
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with0 {- v, Y0 S% s9 w
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our8 ?2 H5 a' K6 T" N6 N) m- W
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
4 U' p8 O! z% f. G1 Hofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
- Q7 L: T: A# ]7 m! A2 jSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
3 h u% z0 }7 A. }0 ?members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread8 A6 k1 n- C0 k8 k3 |
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
% z* Q, I1 A8 S7 L7 V' @automaker, at least in part because of the government's
! w$ `; Z5 [3 G- b6 Minvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
. u* j6 V+ s; o* S$ MChrysler.0 ^$ o# N1 Q# w0 ]
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax- h6 m* x* f* X+ K
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a1 r& y8 W/ u- H/ c* [9 S0 G5 o' I2 W" Z
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
* y7 R3 w1 `$ G# B( Bserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete. Z1 J& w; I* K/ U* C$ g2 b, x, x
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
3 E$ C2 v2 r$ Itough."+ U0 C) v) S3 l7 s! G
---
5 c7 n1 ?' R8 ?( s! z/ GAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
5 r6 s; v) v# t- NRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
# l5 R7 V4 C, y j3 N9 Z% A* {this story.
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