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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+ C( j3 a4 U
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS. a( A$ X0 O7 v M1 i; L! t* P; W* r
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
3 P, o% L M* U0 Ooperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that- @0 l6 i8 [- p2 L5 R& E" S
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"4 A) B) h- u0 Y8 A4 s, a, ? f9 w
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
/ W8 k# _* U' [9 I) B* o"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
' i; B. w: j) l+ \9 ^2 [& Scauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel." `$ _9 n$ g4 A" d8 c. H2 v7 [
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected$ o% ` p+ _) V" V+ O
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and4 n9 h4 ^* ^. [- A
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
, V+ Q2 ~1 p+ Ymats and sticking accelerator pedals.9 @ F7 r9 W7 ^: `8 X% }4 s
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal! S! ?3 \5 t: y. K
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
" f0 P' G" v* I+ B. \# kcriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be( I/ J# N9 W' t7 @
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
q$ u. `! o+ B/ onot stop her runaway Lexus.* X% V2 F: |" z. R0 } d
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
- |+ ~# f6 {9 K% ETenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
& d: |- ~, }% p" U"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.! R1 u. h; F: \) f- G) \) e' K( t- v
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues2 u7 r5 F# L7 g. y. C4 q# q$ ^
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
: D! r$ k) W! Q$ w8 L& B; d"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has9 J/ Y, c8 ~% c
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway" j3 c; w+ ^# g8 G* H
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
' w5 Z5 k$ |+ O- P) u# M. winvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
! \5 E4 H* z/ _4 t4 n xLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
9 K' J, G0 F6 ^) A% S* s6 r+ m5 ielectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
: t$ W! @* _7 j0 f. nthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
Q. }% a7 L7 e! w9 Pmalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
% _4 W: X" A6 W- r6 Gsaid.4 e: A v9 F$ ^* r9 }6 a, Q
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
9 |7 e6 x3 i. `' d u, S* C( Xhappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
4 v2 H% L+ o& }$ Q! C) pabout driving our products," Lentz said.
7 y3 T! x9 I) |, S( P6 wThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's, h* s4 Y" ?) S: c) H
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
0 Z0 v2 Q( Q1 v+ I; p" `5 orecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6- f7 U9 |. D- D# H: d+ E, B. I% G
million in the United States -- since last fall because of
* T# W* P! ?6 Y) Q3 ?! Yunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
, m, {, e# R8 e- ~1 tissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
: V; B" g# C- ^1 V# q7 i/ Cconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of/ A# l. w) W1 }1 }9 H
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
2 T! k' x8 A( [$ L- d- Cdown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
( z: }4 R* q; W: f5 O9 Xreceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
# U5 i5 `; U2 f2 y- y: b6 Q6 Nof Toyota vehicles since 2000.
5 x8 ~% x O) PLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own" j; T* y+ f8 U$ `0 [
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
' i4 ?2 g' w+ Z3 [+ c/ tunderstood the pain.3 Q5 r3 N5 E; G4 [$ n- T. {7 f; R
"I know what those families go through," he said.3 {: o. q: j! E3 ~" J
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's2 H9 A. q% Y( w7 M; U* i
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.5 J+ I* g+ x2 k
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman9 c0 m. Z' i" ?1 j+ b
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put# i( q1 H/ S1 w! a% g
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,. ^. @+ }$ Z1 b8 `% g( }8 ^
Lentz replied: "Not totally."3 K+ F% |/ l% Y) y5 _* x0 \+ E
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were: q: N- z0 c$ p/ z
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said8 A" [- O/ w: \+ ?- e% Q, r( e5 L
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas) [9 Y0 R/ U |5 Z# i: W' m
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its0 M, i9 M9 K V
vehicles already on the road.
1 r% ]8 \( S7 p% m9 A4 gMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
) o" X6 M8 G. ]7 sbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
( f5 R! V* N- e* S* A% N n! vresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and# L9 Q, y- t$ h6 Z, X6 }
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
6 i+ b1 N' O! ]) b5 V( y8 E( _7 gkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
q5 |9 M, A2 J7 g' ["I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
; b* C9 T& n/ S; C8 ]' `5 X5 c) utragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony7 y; T$ E8 T$ `# L
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight. ^7 U& I [& m* E! |5 I
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
1 U* M9 f8 }" p6 Rcommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to3 `! Q6 i; ]) ?0 t
restore the trust of our customers."
" Q5 `1 N, ^! LLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from2 ~( Y$ V: B+ `; N( `5 ^& J6 W" e
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
% i7 `$ Q; Y1 v3 X0 E2 m0 Mzoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --4 p, I I5 Q4 o9 E) S& ^# }2 b
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
/ l y' @, Q1 c/ P) r) Chitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
2 b2 ^7 F) i; |/ x1 O7 }that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and' Y# Z' O5 r0 p
turn off the engine.
. M( m k$ L k3 d/ mFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
/ J X" d2 s- m) _( cOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
1 g) F, i8 a! t- d9 k"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
( t) P! P& h9 D6 [7 v- u, L z% Ksaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond5 g j% n; \. u5 G- `
to her complaints.& D" G. b5 v5 U
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
) l) }, ^1 m: @7 o; {returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
K3 P2 K3 e# Wmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.# C) m0 p6 C8 [0 E! V$ C9 @+ G
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
8 F, }: l- u7 c4 W; x! cthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
+ X3 O" n( B0 F! k1 `"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
+ u1 ] u/ Q$ X) qoff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
q( g% I. T; N' O; rTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
( n* ?1 V$ x3 E- cprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
2 J( |' a. a' a3 c, N x, ~being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
8 g/ N+ C( @1 {6 ~0 H) I7 Zwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
, C* M0 {7 N7 A2 l7 }# Z: |every question."; i8 n; m0 Z" q9 n. `
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
' n, ~: N2 X, l8 A% Uelectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The6 j& o( U$ r8 {
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But: j4 d+ \* @ \' l; I2 [4 o$ f6 A2 W
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
- d1 n) l$ A1 `' w2 snumber of vehicles* f0 o8 q4 x2 e5 B
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more0 H7 \9 y: P8 k! U; {. m1 _8 G
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a2 b( b8 O# `; k' i' p# p" G
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one5 H/ l1 y( p7 H- Y8 {! Z
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.+ q/ b8 }" t1 {- O" e" N2 V
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
, u9 X7 O7 D6 i o5 ?* lwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
9 X9 W! y1 z! o1 s1 p, Rtrace at all.0 O7 X4 i+ d1 h/ t& E6 {. z4 A
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
8 B; m0 M T6 |) P9 J8 O, y4 ?database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden% A* A! t1 F6 p+ x; e$ K- e
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the9 s1 [- w( W; y7 T% n" q
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.( V" j* a! ^( l# a
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
6 ]) _% D3 Y* o7 Q& a% qsaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
8 I. ^6 k: B8 `: C6 `other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the& m4 w: A# [: e, }. b- a" D- R
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
+ R4 z4 K" t" Hcause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
+ \) \; u" V% Z `: Gsuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained; O: d- [0 @; C
by Toyota's lawyers."
7 [2 [- c4 Q2 @) p) X* i* W1 ]Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of0 c1 C% D9 y9 G. j
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our: [9 [& G1 Q0 u' W4 i" y! h5 d
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
; ]; B9 }0 ?4 V' ^) f: z5 [: d5 X; wsaid.3 u1 K7 h" a1 X \) O9 }4 T
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with+ x& p) N q* S' Q# j
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our. B, A) V# C9 b: C" }
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating# h; b+ l0 x* O7 i. _9 r
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.) i5 ?; u2 b0 ^& ?7 k+ t
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
' k( n" E( f& Jmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
( C6 _2 O; G8 [4 u9 Xrancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the7 T5 O5 f r6 x. N& p0 e! w
automaker, at least in part because of the government's
+ k/ s7 S. M' j) Y8 }0 [+ finvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
" A6 C! P2 Q) ZChrysler.( ~) {3 r! b J
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax2 ]; p, r* [: q9 B" g% v( c
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
) N& w. o6 Z( I5 \Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
' b* ?* ~, g0 J% D7 V' {. K3 e2 R' Xserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
% R- K$ }% {" A6 |with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty' @3 H! ^- f) Q; B1 l
tough."% n$ |. @; }6 Y$ R
---
$ e! g# d5 S! F9 m2 Y" |Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom( T: ~ c) I& S$ m* Z. R( f
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to0 t5 Q0 X0 ~7 J& \' c7 [
this story.$ M* q0 M9 {2 ]/ C) \7 t
" `5 Z3 x9 f8 C1 T+ F* X5 B8 T) J! v-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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