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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
, p$ k- S* ^% {& q5 OBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS; o* D) Q) Z2 Y6 |+ {# V7 i
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S., S# E, N2 }( e; l2 p
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that% u" j4 H- m& c
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
) @* r: X4 n: D) wsolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration./ Q0 b- i+ T6 @$ D' J5 d' T9 ? l
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
6 @. M3 a. G* {8 G7 jcauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.' K8 l9 C9 z6 [) e/ t
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
. J: `. A# m3 pacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and5 P' [9 p3 v& {! V1 u: X5 R
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor Q( P+ G/ G+ @. y, `9 V
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.% b4 }7 M! \# O9 H/ [
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal$ C$ q' V0 {& s- d, x2 }0 c+ W% ?
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp9 W$ Z a& m/ ^ e
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
4 B" |; R, P f8 N5 k) c! Rfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
$ U/ s, u4 A/ A" Inot stop her runaway Lexus.
, {9 N* d) O$ Z" K* P"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,- G' S# I. ]# y0 U$ f$ ?# `& ~# `: l
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
5 S0 J, P# l' F# M( E3 o& u"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
% h: L9 W1 i( j2 }* E" Q+ gTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
- K7 S9 }% B# a6 L) P6 z5 ]early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
: }: y- k( A- a1 O) B. x"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
. \% w$ Q9 D9 Wdone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway) m) X2 R% b0 d$ j" y0 D8 c* n
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's( f7 c# f- @8 M9 n& |2 D! c+ B
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."5 h& p# g9 G/ L$ x: ?- v7 Y
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an3 }4 T+ q- ^% P( ~) O L5 ^( l; d
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of: P+ T- Q! O# W; n& g0 Y# B
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
6 @7 L( q, P( b# o" v% N( Nmalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he. T: \% q2 u& b7 p9 o' c
said.1 R7 Q1 C* q- D$ K5 [
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
$ \6 V" y+ U) i! ?happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe7 A* G4 O3 K& }1 p
about driving our products," Lentz said.: b/ }4 o' B( V& ]* W. D" h! E
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
, a% S) D; p' K+ a8 E0 l/ c) L- }" pproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
; b. P5 p" [' }- ^8 Jrecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
, J4 y z2 O: k3 _' j% nmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of
' }/ g9 c& g9 J7 |9 I6 Eunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
}" ~. ^/ l3 v6 \" missues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
& Q3 G; q- }/ fconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
7 V9 y# p$ d* e' V9 `. ntheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
8 v" _. y; m: M- k4 ~# Pdown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
U1 n: ^" P6 k2 s' A, K/ F" Lreceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration6 ~* {! p0 [! f$ h( Q7 a3 _
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.4 S0 U1 X; c7 T) p. C
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
2 s$ p2 ~4 }( Q- gbrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he7 V" m) E3 | x5 u" F
understood the pain.
& Q# S' d m3 ?, u1 V. z8 P' x+ r"I know what those families go through," he said.1 l( w* p. H" ]* y4 {
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's9 q' L& S. N. K1 k
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
* W" V. }: x4 X; j j, W8 d- GBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
3 b6 \. n; _- w8 HHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
6 e) U' w* a2 [ F: i' [in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
9 A& a! E( B, E( |/ `Lentz replied: "Not totally."0 E/ S4 a) e; p" a
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were! E+ P& {: `0 ]! x7 n
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said6 r; N9 s3 y' Y' Y
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas _' ]& A( o/ U% ]
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
3 X0 ?8 o; c/ A0 [; ~5 Rvehicles already on the road./ o) t* x# G: t4 c# b
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify+ p3 O0 q0 \$ P9 }& ~: z; }
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full0 |4 p: c. K8 \5 e# ], Y
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and& _' i' Q* ~9 k& {7 J: \
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
2 [9 K# l9 d6 r9 W9 X- X7 xkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.) }, f! U8 O4 u0 {) ^6 S
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
. }9 I$ V7 N- \1 @) @tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
- M2 h5 m6 ?9 ]. Q) ~for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight4 i, T, y! {4 u+ p2 G* Q" J
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
7 S4 K" d" u# V C5 gcommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to/ V& ]1 ?" R+ j
restore the trust of our customers."
: q; T- [& Q; v5 o" | s+ cLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from1 r* j, Z; \8 T. `: _7 Y6 J3 y
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly3 w& T- k: u$ x" V5 {3 |
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
! P2 s3 }3 L5 Q; b3 Tshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and+ t- m3 G: F" S: @1 I
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
, S A% D% B7 C+ I7 g) o; Cthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
; \, k8 l A1 z/ r6 o5 jturn off the engine.
4 n2 ?3 f! O$ q# _4 w. E0 LFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of) i( G2 Y c- M/ Y) L9 y
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience.". Z* D0 m8 Q# t/ K0 [6 T1 ]8 a. V* a
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she! y" J1 i3 }* ?
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
% U2 S2 R) f2 h7 u: N9 ?to her complaints.
6 P& f+ |+ d! G/ F' p/ H, bIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers2 ]0 z1 P9 R! j& {
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
" M+ @0 b1 q% @- W/ I- v9 B1 cmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.6 ^ Y- W* `8 w& f4 b
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
9 h. K- N# x- I4 Lthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited( `1 F# s" a" ]5 g) ^3 S
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
4 F2 u( X* n& r2 y U3 ~off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."9 o8 d. g- P1 o
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
) D' k0 g0 [' F f% I8 T% Z9 |prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
4 |+ R) V3 A* jbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
- x# S+ q) H; w9 C: _# u- ywere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
* ?% A5 y& D$ q: eevery question.", N) U& o, b4 P+ X( T8 v
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether5 N( c4 D5 e" r. C" y: x$ z4 S
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The* Z5 o2 V! L* A
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
( L/ _8 x8 f4 j* R$ s6 b! E. q Xcommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small0 H4 ?" V% l1 \ X- K, }+ }
number of vehicles
$ L, F" |* J4 tTracking down an electrical problem can be far more5 H% E$ I' A" \& R
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a0 n) l! U3 g8 u: F: T4 C: Z
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
/ n/ j, G& D* b: s# gsource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
, U1 h" L( I& ^7 ]6 l Q# @Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
T* U( K1 b; T/ S6 V3 J4 x) Uwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
8 @2 i* S$ K4 D) _trace at all.
8 C4 L2 a. i( k6 `House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
/ v! W4 o4 k4 [# g! L. Idatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
; L9 L4 p- N8 V) B$ ?" c. Facceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the" H, M+ O2 h! j, T8 N7 F# b) F* B
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.$ m3 J& n7 s( k4 a6 Q( p. `
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,5 O; c( ]; n, `6 v5 B$ N8 h
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
# F$ q' e# A oother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
$ B' [7 O! e1 Celectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
2 p2 `; T0 d9 M2 Q y8 f2 _cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
! C3 n8 h& R0 m$ y' G- Qsuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
/ s7 [- f1 h1 n. [* G- Yby Toyota's lawyers."8 x" J) K5 P# l- C: p( \
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of& I. k7 V0 ?% [0 U9 T! x' ?( t
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
! e- X, W2 }5 l: _5 ?& B) vcustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
u S' W+ I+ H# B) ssaid.. [" }+ A, `+ |7 Q
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
' L; A P1 h3 Z) K) c% m. ^a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
- d% F( o4 D1 ^, Z/ J1 u1 kgood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating! i! x7 H" L! c& F/ V) `$ b( d3 J9 _
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.1 H- q) R. N0 I& t: a$ _* t+ R
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying/ z4 i* M% g+ u' c. n& d
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread. n) `% z" h3 {% ~
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the- r% K# j5 r% H/ k
automaker, at least in part because of the government's
7 q) r: b8 h# n+ C, b3 }investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
2 D2 U& S y9 v, ]$ `4 wChrysler.4 x( w: }9 ^4 q& G9 H: X" J- Q0 `
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
3 E, g A$ H" n6 C. K3 |dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
& q: g1 L8 k3 m0 [# f. g* qHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
/ d& }% {4 g6 y) x4 ~; cserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete/ ^7 i Y7 e. ^! c2 [' D7 X6 J) {) d1 d
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty9 h+ N0 |5 y N9 x
tough."* j+ G6 d% }) D, e' x1 w
---
% ]6 t. |, }: X( `' bAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
9 X3 H/ s, n7 u( x! {Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to3 ] j. @% x5 `! S$ F. ^5 z
this story.+ T: [- ~) H2 @- y X
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-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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