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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
; e" ~& t2 a& qBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS% i7 h1 B2 Q% c) z0 Q
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
" ]- K& |! g' Y- ?6 P3 Q- n0 E6 loperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
: q# Q d9 X! L+ p9 }; {the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"# }) `& i e0 G7 |0 Q
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
3 R& c( C7 a1 U+ _$ H) w"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
* d R5 F, { N# O" B6 n! Dcauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.8 s, X( r/ L/ ^! C( G8 g; _& \
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
$ @( R8 U, \. facceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
! c7 A$ o. T& K0 R8 a7 d# M) E/ ttrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
, P# w1 i: @/ h$ r5 D: f- Vmats and sticking accelerator pedals.$ F: y% v8 h/ Q9 {
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal6 d4 D9 F! i( T' }2 g" [
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp& O* C' c$ b* Q0 g- q8 ~8 s& |! U
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
1 e& V! b; C j. }' ]further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
+ f8 C0 {+ X+ a: U$ @not stop her runaway Lexus.$ J4 F% z0 p: N5 ~# G
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
5 G! p) ~' c) b2 s" C& v6 tTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
( J$ J+ V! K" [. I"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.2 ^& G9 {' [* t" O) Q0 u$ p+ q6 s' }
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
0 } y/ J7 Q5 q) E+ }/ Jearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
: q. w9 e# L) t' s"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has ~: |$ `' A9 C& C; z+ L
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
. Q9 _! |4 ^( Y) J6 L8 kthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
; c9 J9 E. U6 l0 x6 \3 n* Jinvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
1 ]* s$ S/ o+ k& g8 K9 yLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an. |, N8 h1 l! ~ O- J1 Z
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of7 u6 B& @( L; g5 A+ U
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
' @' t4 A' k& Lmalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he2 z( B0 f# c" O/ V
said.
. p% G: h F* D2 NAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
/ L6 ~) O: p. U* J$ Dhappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe2 N4 O' Q5 Q6 |
about driving our products," Lentz said.
* r- @5 v/ x4 A2 O# Z$ ]. oThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
) X6 s7 S7 K! |/ n+ P2 \3 Mproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
7 P3 [2 o# S* B5 @; x) {recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
/ w4 S# g' T2 B# y1 p3 Z5 Kmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of
; K: y- j* o* i' `unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking% f7 V6 s& p1 ? d1 x( Q5 @, _, ]8 N
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
0 z7 I S% Z5 d( X1 u: Pconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
3 w! Q0 W+ z1 Z2 P& S+ Btheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow: _0 j) H- ]' c. y3 g
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has1 l, k* u/ C0 e$ D# u9 ^4 I% c7 @
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
! n% }+ c/ N3 V& Q3 e w$ G& A8 bof Toyota vehicles since 2000.& `# u1 {5 M. p0 r
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
0 _& O6 M6 f3 p6 Jbrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he: }3 w0 y+ c9 ~9 Z5 L! U5 k
understood the pain.
/ B1 N/ z c: q; m8 ?"I know what those families go through," he said.
! H% g$ \' a- s# U1 G' hLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's* J7 d7 u) X* B3 }1 u+ {
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
2 s: E9 `1 I6 U" i oBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman0 ^+ C0 e, I: ]# k5 M2 e7 `8 x, \" ?4 [ J
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
. N2 q; o; \! x7 u- V' bin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
' i6 V" P# a* {- j% c+ i2 c0 ALentz replied: "Not totally."4 b; l) K2 w! l' I
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
2 J# p0 y6 w6 B; K1 q/ w# }"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said( |4 ?! i# \8 L
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas- u) l j% j: i& j5 V
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its5 [* V! x; T! M8 r
vehicles already on the road.% h j: I. G2 l/ m$ J
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify7 y8 ?- t5 E( X
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
* F% b8 R7 A; C2 X2 Sresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
2 |) P8 Y" e+ ]" k* Yoffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
J# h# e. K zkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
+ ?/ y# e0 J. g+ `2 G$ C1 w) Y, ?) H"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a. [0 w2 g; X S$ _; t3 V: c* U
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
8 \) {& C$ `6 D" D; c3 ^1 Mfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight3 G! w, F$ i% z1 ~5 }$ x
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal% Q5 L* u' `5 k& o; Z% j2 G
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to& z: d* X2 Z1 P' `7 e5 s
restore the trust of our customers."6 a8 M, a) X+ s: S1 ~. o( V
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
0 K0 h/ s) Q* QSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly+ O J/ V g- ]4 Y' u% F( X
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --* S% k& G/ F1 S
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
1 T& ?% j- U6 g, Chitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
; x/ C, }' l& a- _, A' H' Zthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and4 F! p; R: j. Q3 }9 J4 M
turn off the engine.
5 T4 q& v2 h" w! A9 ~" }8 CFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
' G1 D& K. w! E nOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
3 l. R; g- d3 c0 X"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she0 z7 ?: R1 z- D7 j8 s4 v1 ^
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond: p h& C4 V0 W- f
to her complaints.
; y* E0 I& Y" m5 M- gIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers& Q: t+ y j! {+ j3 m4 c
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
- ^3 V* z7 |: H q! ^6 ^0 Z7 ]2 {1 emalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.7 y& s5 o7 t W* X$ I0 d
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric; C9 ?/ h0 M6 I& H% {$ C: {
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited* O$ h/ X9 q! @/ l# b
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut7 A/ `5 v/ P/ r, V# y
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."* m4 _3 C- p; }, K7 T! l
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
1 Q$ ], l" L& l& J+ F0 ~prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
$ K% J8 G: s2 v# ubeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls+ J5 I% ~6 I5 ^( r/ n
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer/ _1 j# Q/ S: k1 J! d1 p9 F
every question.", r! Y+ L0 T* F0 {
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether& N! B }3 p" a+ n7 T+ x
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The/ _ w3 P0 {5 [0 T" { f3 t
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
/ v/ j9 h! Q% u, I; A$ }committee investigators said the testing studied only a small2 u" E. G: F$ Y* e
number of vehicles
0 m# p0 g2 B A% [Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more& R0 f; l! \; ~
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
1 X1 y8 q5 A. d/ i: E/ p4 G; n( fmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
/ {( F( k( Y9 n( S, x4 j/ q' q* ?source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
. E9 _/ r) `; `Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
: X4 ]+ K) y' N; q9 Y; }) vwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
|- L* f0 p" `trace at all.
3 g z* W G5 D1 o/ THouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call( _" ] _+ I" @- k" b6 A: ~
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden& P# V6 A- D/ ]& t8 i
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the* o0 ~1 k: M! R6 M4 K: J) y
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
* E6 @. @* J0 F+ V4 _; KRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
$ q5 z* }8 z/ ~) e4 q, h5 v, { Usaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
" B+ P. {: h- E4 L1 Wother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the; \ W; b L4 y7 u5 h
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible: @4 Q7 l" N1 V
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
# u( v( U% H' Q0 Rsuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
! u! p3 U7 H/ N9 e u3 M7 Cby Toyota's lawyers."8 u6 q( j% v0 G
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
8 M- R- N% \* G; ^problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our- p R4 y$ k% D% }9 |' J
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he/ i3 B5 G2 F1 O
said.8 {6 s i# ^" M9 p
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
$ K* K4 I% \) R8 V; L! {a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our) I0 L+ g; ]) O) J6 S6 T; f9 @. x
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
2 C+ z3 G- l$ b# d. ~officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
: u* _- I. c/ {& S0 B( g. d+ zSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
# ^# f s, [' Jmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread. L$ A( E' @6 T, N4 P
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the: R: Q0 e. J- }7 G+ }' ^! B& p
automaker, at least in part because of the government's6 e5 \; B$ G4 g& @6 S' G5 R2 `
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and3 @$ g! T9 @7 H8 T/ j7 F# |
Chrysler.
: h7 \- R5 t+ d) @* f"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
' d4 u6 }. [; R% Ydollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
" ^, S0 q3 C9 o5 S) \& t0 xHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
1 `9 }: {( `5 i) zserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete9 w# O4 q5 `% U3 @
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty. Y0 M+ Z: k* G* W1 W* Y" j0 J
tough."( p7 J0 f& b/ N: C5 z- K- f& h
---
4 O6 t5 {: X- J% h8 a/ N; NAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
3 w2 R$ M A0 V$ V- {) oRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
. h* [, w, }" `3 c/ E3 Q# ?; \this story.
8 `1 c4 i4 E) v
! y5 N( b( ^" W# l# I-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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