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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0 H: V- S! }/ H6 F- s: [# c0 [
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
X n. w& H( ^- q8 h iWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.( ^- q5 K0 F: H3 f
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that4 \4 ~5 N% ?% n: L
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
7 s, A; |0 O4 s, |solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.; I/ S e& S2 T3 ^2 Q7 Z& q6 J4 \
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential: D1 R+ S* y9 a: s
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
9 H3 I$ x6 e1 N* f- cHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
$ ` @0 T( v' C( m9 ~acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and! i9 {1 ]) E$ {5 W9 M8 ~' R
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
) h0 G ~2 t0 s8 b" J) `# G i- kmats and sticking accelerator pedals.. Y# `! k5 {1 f W
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal9 {0 g. D* H& }5 y" U
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp# A$ u0 W5 z% ` a6 q
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be; p% B7 t7 P7 T9 e6 O
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could0 I1 ?( n2 B" E) b, L: _6 e
not stop her runaway Lexus.+ ^+ ?& F1 H6 T! I% B7 H: R
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
4 c9 {/ ]! J9 C+ oTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second s7 z$ P& S0 j
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
" o. R9 r: t* G( v8 CTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
5 o5 n. m3 f5 Y0 \5 @5 _2 c3 i$ pearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said2 f0 C& ~; k4 y, X# s
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has0 B8 _% I. {/ F
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway* P8 f! o4 p! q2 e! [
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's+ W5 J" l. A2 u
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
. X, C5 B- _; ^. HLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
3 v" Q# w& q a* o3 O5 J6 @( selectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
& n$ O7 c7 f9 P- S2 n7 r( q# Pthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
! t( H V. h1 l, h( tmalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he5 `5 k1 Z3 T) g4 \/ R" ]
said.
; K& k2 f1 }3 A/ I# m8 t0 O- EAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
6 Y3 x4 H* _) _8 Khappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe' r4 I" u0 @! }# _ q
about driving our products," Lentz said.
/ U7 v2 r2 e XThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
* F8 N U0 W8 u2 e/ H+ ^0 Nproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
; e+ y. i4 | }: |recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
# a) E% r! S) Y* I8 \million in the United States -- since last fall because of
9 G: C( C3 ^2 m# r# K5 Y9 j, ]unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking+ T. e% _. i$ ~+ L* @: @+ _6 j
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering/ E! s' Z a" i. m d
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
1 a( H6 B: o" Jtheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
$ m$ ^% ] R4 j- j" q/ r5 t! a+ `down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
) T; v8 n( Y, w4 P% {received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
1 `8 ]* E6 R/ m8 n0 tof Toyota vehicles since 2000.& w& b7 u9 o7 L5 x5 M
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
: s$ k9 Q; f Wbrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he2 {) R, S2 A5 r" ?+ _. Y
understood the pain.! g& K5 p+ W3 T) F1 ~0 _8 ~
"I know what those families go through," he said.
7 t: C ]/ |# m0 n! y7 y# lLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
! i/ e; K. C z6 P+ bfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.) y1 e: f2 I; a B1 Y9 Z
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
" r" y& M$ h: D% u! W! q$ mHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put/ b. o' {, U* ^2 H/ ]) v/ O
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it," X5 d& l# c/ z2 r
Lentz replied: "Not totally."
- [3 e( M" b% A+ J, ]& SStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were8 \/ t) t( e7 y3 I8 E
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said$ N4 D W! C$ m+ u" L4 {; S
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas3 w2 X# _& {. c
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its2 ? N1 p; n( O& ?% k+ Q
vehicles already on the road.
0 v1 B4 R" J5 W: Q P# N- {Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify+ {' L7 ^8 v/ Y
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
* }7 ^% q( ?. s9 @' x" eresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and# q8 `* p* j8 _0 Z
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
1 }4 r" D! Q) b6 Akilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
! e: |# T4 L" B"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
. s. F5 u4 |' F7 f, m; m9 m3 ptragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony3 X9 G+ J9 M3 L; y; K+ K6 P
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
9 r6 N5 x9 I/ T" tCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal4 a- Q! v% h1 c* l: V8 @& h# k
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to3 R0 A, R" f' W) d6 V; b N" `# ?
restore the trust of our customers."
& ^( x# p. _/ J z( T" ^+ T9 N! A8 VLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from* k! H; X8 l" _0 [5 i3 p* d. n
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly& B* ^2 Y: e. |6 `
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --: j& } [6 d; W% Y
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
) i, D/ ?) I8 t) P0 Rhitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
$ t( z3 @3 K0 P. N; Cthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
0 |" J& \: u/ b. C; kturn off the engine.: `( p5 w) ~6 a* j' H6 E$ h7 z
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
, b$ E# J; _# U: k" }October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."3 c0 [$ \) }1 T. d J
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
\( `# u; ~) W3 Rsaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond1 y/ k- H' _: n+ {
to her complaints.& `, K6 x7 u; \6 m! g" {6 w7 f2 c
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers# F: E* o, [) [2 r
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
3 {5 U+ F6 U; E% @$ r. Pmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.( d* F' k; U( M9 W; ~9 k. i
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric3 @/ y% p( `8 h
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited: r# }& L& Q0 X7 Y
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut4 e' N" `' C' h1 C+ Z/ [. l
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
: R9 g- J& [( v: O* i. b3 QTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
! ~8 A" d0 a kprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
& g: P2 x- ?# [7 k# Q( Rbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
' ]- Q! B$ w8 lwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer/ X* M6 z2 o. G5 e. X+ n
every question."
$ O c5 v( [) h8 \% p6 sToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
1 z1 P6 D0 G A- S) Yelectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
$ K* X5 @2 P5 h: a4 X, f7 Q! Dfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But& I& B2 z j Q X- r' i
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
3 _/ T( ?* A& ]/ A4 k8 Xnumber of vehicles
3 }: V2 o8 D7 @) A2 ]' \$ c5 \" GTracking down an electrical problem can be far more. o/ ~* k5 N( F" G- S0 ?
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
s3 y) L6 ^1 U+ M8 wmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
$ [, H, G& F) ` p+ U6 v) S/ xsource, and they can come from inside or outside the car., G' u2 b' U ]6 b
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,: ]' X: B6 p6 f5 C
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no9 i$ m5 x. R8 [0 ^
trace at all.
: I6 ~) O0 B: X8 \4 IHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
) ]1 {4 u# t. G0 i6 idatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
' H( e$ \6 z6 p/ U$ {acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the/ n* M# p: h5 U4 V
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
8 O) z. n) [) `" m9 `# D. uRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,! m1 u# x/ Z3 D% h
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and0 `1 Q: m9 G2 m& `0 {6 Z
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the! ?- t8 C: D6 c, W# F7 P9 H
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible: \( V: K1 H* T$ M& R
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only( Q) [6 ?/ a% [$ B/ O# V M8 e6 I
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
% e* @3 c* S" G, `' s" Oby Toyota's lawyers.": D5 D0 E5 Y9 v+ F) [8 t2 K
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of* e+ G" d. e* F: Y
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
# _/ @* {! a) v9 v& O9 gcustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
, _% [5 k( M5 w' p7 g, r6 dsaid.
( O" c0 y( I6 ~/ m+ v) L"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with, @ W# g! o9 y' z2 D
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our. c6 d; r% i, ?8 d
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating! T8 L$ ~0 e; S* A8 W N4 M3 H/ H
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.+ V6 B @3 G2 G/ s2 C" t5 U
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
F t/ _4 X: ?. i3 a) [) Dmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread, `" ~+ Q- l2 ^& _
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
% ]! m0 z: [3 j4 L; I$ Uautomaker, at least in part because of the government's
9 \$ y) i) {! {investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
4 R$ D8 C) J' t$ X2 @! Y$ R7 ]Chrysler.
/ O+ b2 ~1 \4 D$ c7 y. ["That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
; S3 n' C0 n; W* ?* ~! ddollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a* L+ c4 F% n3 V% R9 m
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also% ~7 W, I( v/ }5 X. H; `: p
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete' E0 |9 y2 H5 d. `2 a1 G
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty+ g- [$ [: v: u7 W
tough."
1 k4 w$ [6 F# ^7 ~( d+ n---
8 F! Q+ ?5 E% ?: f) V2 KAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom1 P8 M% a9 |* F0 v
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
6 e. k7 a0 }8 w) othis story.
! ~4 Y4 y, \- p: C& f) \1 _3 H. U0 ?. S
-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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