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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
" ^. h8 m( W1 p/ vBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
% e) t0 x9 z$ x; XWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
$ }; B: u8 u. S0 {1 ]6 koperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
9 q7 g. F( z# {) c( |the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally": }3 }" c2 l! j0 C. N# n3 w* u
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
' ^0 T# K$ d6 t! }, P, D"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
+ {6 f. {1 J! ~3 K* v% `causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel." H j3 o* S9 d( j
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
0 l1 w' {+ L0 n# d ?acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
# L. q; h( Z* }8 S3 w( B5 W) ?trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
; o4 w+ f* ]" c. `# B- y2 w3 {mats and sticking accelerator pedals.- y! J7 y2 |- F. L) c2 L* X
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
: m$ P+ p! o# P5 a, ~# Zand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
3 ]% h( Z: W; scriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be3 Q$ h' b3 L$ C7 a( v
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
, T4 t* _. u! }: V6 X% A* y9 Qnot stop her runaway Lexus.6 A5 [0 | H# ^* O+ n
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
& G h/ j+ m' ]% ^: x7 D2 p- K- r/ v yTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second3 Q) c/ b/ H0 J6 H* g
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
9 P% S; {7 j$ J0 V+ i9 O$ p5 YTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues) v! H( O1 V3 j% N0 w/ t! E
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
. j% J/ P2 y! u3 L- R"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has3 E$ X( ~3 Q) u* s" o
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway( h% F* f" ~1 Q- w5 @
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
+ f; |# t# k4 N; z( y8 d. pinvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
& i; w; V9 s; A$ d* K; rLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
1 u& W* `7 B. R5 {" M4 l* Melectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
' R) B3 K) o* Q' i N M% P, cthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
& `: e0 O" m0 ~0 ]! bmalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
0 c9 b" x C, f' ]3 Gsaid.
4 C/ k- c: n' E$ Q* e9 O0 k0 HAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
! {4 P, _; O1 Z4 c& x: q/ n" I/ Shappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
! g5 S$ R+ W5 w3 K) {9 xabout driving our products," Lentz said.3 P1 d" z- [ ~+ p
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's1 T& X3 q+ S- d
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
' |( A+ C+ B7 x& H7 Z/ t! @recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
+ p" H! `' K: L9 o% }: xmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of
2 s$ e4 c& g; ~+ \9 v& \unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking3 \5 N* I& x, X+ ~. T
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering* c* U5 h! C' M b% K# A
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
2 P, _2 ^- i* I2 R" Xtheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
: e8 S& X, c2 Q1 k# Rdown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
4 a1 a) _; q5 i% R: a3 p+ \received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration+ p& d8 B4 {$ E9 ?9 ]+ |
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.- R" x+ d! h( u) ~ K
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
g$ f# ]7 Z, obrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he: H) r. c' }8 W/ s5 y& v" G* s$ I
understood the pain.0 p* [# D- d& \0 W
"I know what those families go through," he said.
' y- a+ k- F. W) o( W+ z8 m! b# {4 LLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's) @5 [9 F% v5 F9 ^. f
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
- x& z) Y& k# M; lBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
5 U" x' w* v5 Z4 R( c- kHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put1 d o/ k/ ^' f \# c
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
+ k0 r3 R0 A2 F7 G) W4 xLentz replied: "Not totally."6 r7 v" |6 f9 R3 s7 i: r" e
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were' {- h0 [; k# E
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said+ w2 @- g/ W5 F8 z. U9 k+ h1 p% I
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas1 S5 b) I, |2 ]2 t
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
o* m0 d2 s) W) F; z7 Bvehicles already on the road.
2 g" `9 I0 ?9 \( W% h9 CMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify& e! L5 K# G) d) [1 m# i
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
5 }+ b/ w! ?4 p0 [* m2 u$ K' R- S9 gresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and' r6 V' e" P' y; E$ z
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were l# A$ z' x$ ~8 d4 {1 v
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
: O: l5 }4 y, E1 z- Z"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a* I0 `7 R$ N& P# V: R- k
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
2 e( \$ e' k3 h# N |8 mfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight; I7 H" v, B# o
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal) x. j7 ]1 T5 y$ q
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
% }: X5 ?! b! srestore the trust of our customers.", _) K3 m0 q# e& V! R% I. ?5 }/ y
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
- [, ]0 a* c' S7 J$ t1 h! `8 R+ ^Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly6 a' i( g; b& J9 S+ m: ]) {4 S
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
5 j" c. f! B: |$ ushifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
8 m" A$ j; h0 ]7 F' `- S% U/ Thitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough; [* x* k+ D5 q, _/ s' ?
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and, I3 h! @1 c, [9 |) a% Q7 f6 ^! ^+ y
turn off the engine.
! ]( V9 V9 s5 Q3 O9 p+ ?Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
' G7 J$ |3 z0 Y7 O( }7 cOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
1 F6 ?: \' x3 E2 m3 Q"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
' e* H# m7 @+ I, h* q/ S( I$ `said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond: K4 {" t( n* e1 Y, W+ Y# S
to her complaints./ s; P; P* ~$ v
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
' ]2 ~" I( a: e& {2 breturned again and again to the question of whether electronic
& ^, \" z& V% y) nmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.4 W$ ?4 Y+ F6 `% W) ]$ S7 D( Q
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
I, R' p* s* E( |+ ]throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
7 ]: b4 ?+ T9 }% j# c+ B0 v3 c"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
7 x: J4 j o. O* E/ l- \8 ?off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
! y. s& J! t/ u" TTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in4 r1 R2 G9 f4 ~. u/ l
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were( e. q+ g8 }% K: {
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls; o0 T5 x$ E0 @
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
* y$ @- Q! o1 f D) u1 Hevery question."3 D G' L) v! y' F4 |
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
. Z5 {) M' L4 j% w+ welectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
4 l8 H; D3 y$ U6 t* m7 l7 d2 ?7 Efirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But1 }9 y7 c- A: F2 w' ^8 A9 c$ N
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small$ Y8 ^: P1 Z+ l$ H6 [$ C
number of vehicles
" k t6 c9 f9 X! o* CTracking down an electrical problem can be far more
1 l& L; b5 s2 Y* C! b" Zdifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
, h. F; l8 H! X7 dmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
0 F# u6 i7 P0 Q9 Asource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.8 ^* M. y8 w, `3 _
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,& a6 H0 Q( V; k
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no6 W \2 D3 r( G' @* e' n
trace at all./ ~, f$ v x& Q( y& T8 L
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call0 Q) {+ v( V+ }6 U# ]
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
# b8 z' _* m, f1 W/ aacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the" D4 B" E, H& p% p
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.6 w. R3 V- c- ~* ^. {; P7 i B
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
- i! T [0 q4 n8 Gsaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
2 O( T4 `% x! ^& Z1 [other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
& H( U! ^/ E9 _. x7 C0 xelectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
6 w. N$ k* p0 _; E K6 T1 Tcause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
/ h4 k0 T& {# o4 S4 nsuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained7 q& x/ F( |- ~
by Toyota's lawyers."
& ?2 t1 s/ g( U( m" mLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of! s' {" Y$ A. m u' }$ L
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our0 v P c+ {8 N0 x( v
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
+ {3 @" u2 f3 _2 h2 n' k: i1 Nsaid.
1 x# v! V0 F! v3 P7 I/ r0 ?+ f# O* x"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with: r: b( j! x `( w
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our8 W) @5 J( s" [7 d3 A
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
8 s; b1 D4 K/ Cofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
6 t) [ L- M0 x4 ASeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
, Z/ S9 u7 ?# |* mmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
3 k: A# t2 j, T( C3 |+ |rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
3 w8 \7 x9 r; t# p# ^ `automaker, at least in part because of the government's
1 ?. H: a, h; l: jinvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and, ^# w4 ~9 W# C. k
Chrysler.
# U* p$ S4 O1 ]' M* a9 J! H"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax& u% _- \3 U" e, B( z
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a# J& D7 [4 z3 J% r6 F6 d) i
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
3 x" I4 Y1 s2 |- V9 ?2 r1 aserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
. s7 ^3 l3 [, Z; T' Mwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
1 k' g5 [/ U$ |! dtough."8 | n2 S j- {8 n' l1 H
---
7 z' {# \8 x; G) D8 p1 gAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom! U) F- F' {8 L( {2 x" \+ i
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
7 t4 p5 q% r7 W1 A! p+ g' [# A. `this story.+ u7 `- [# {$ M- K
0 m$ u4 {4 E6 l. l2 R* T& l, n-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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