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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# a9 _. h- ~0 M3 f4 b
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS* b5 X9 W. R! j" X4 m& T$ a3 O
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.- v" m4 G1 N! C3 `4 a
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that8 @+ Q5 }: v4 c6 w K6 I9 z) t
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"! _% O" }$ C$ N$ Q5 y
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
6 l+ a% N& Z0 q( g0 Z& Y"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential& L" s6 I& W/ Y, k
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
& J, g" R, ?0 @# I- HHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
. E) W- n3 ?2 d a6 f W5 gacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
0 ^- ]% s, q# ]" Qtrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
2 u3 e4 J, F7 H, X+ s5 lmats and sticking accelerator pedals.
( D5 r& d" Q9 i$ ]! M0 z2 l8 Y, bHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
) T2 |4 `2 c+ Y. j s" E7 Yand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp3 s& ]/ S# D5 B
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
6 U/ B" W1 k' d, |8 Zfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
6 T5 ~# @/ R3 fnot stop her runaway Lexus.
; Y" w8 Z/ x' i }. V4 c y; M: Q- ["Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
% |" v, `; R8 DTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second" A5 C! w; I4 D9 @) Z
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.. }+ [0 I& l* M; m$ ]0 r& R
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
6 w) w: A- k% w: f' jearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
0 g3 l2 ~) Y4 D" G8 @( T5 k"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has+ O+ m, Z: u Z- f' i
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
/ \& `$ u9 T% Y8 T/ J- @through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's6 {0 q( m! d/ {' Y
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."5 y! }! W: Q4 O! u
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
; ?0 \0 I* n: V; m+ Qelectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
: K/ Q& @& W/ J _& @* }# _the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
4 F& u6 ]3 [/ @* Ymalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
9 K* p( U0 k7 W. q- |! Xsaid.
8 H6 C8 F' P# l3 T* a" z* PAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what' N8 ^& m7 M& f/ G
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
+ `9 }* Y! ?2 C4 t6 [/ B8 l6 a" jabout driving our products," Lentz said.4 Z# F! T0 w8 f2 v. z
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
7 a" U% t7 s: I! u+ _+ Cproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
9 U7 G/ |9 P. y8 B1 crecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 60 a, Z$ a% |% _8 c3 F/ r
million in the United States -- since last fall because of2 b) V T+ k( @, S
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking0 s' B& \" x G+ F1 f
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering5 b* C5 s* Y' x- l4 ^
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
6 ~4 f+ [/ K, N4 u, A7 m* ^; itheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
! Z2 m8 I3 A! ^& odown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
/ }7 }! G; ?/ E$ R& n9 U# t& Vreceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration5 D0 [8 ]/ O; ^
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.0 Q+ U% }& E9 g m/ Q2 o4 x
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
% J W9 B- f0 k2 f. U) Xbrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
" a1 z! {5 H/ x7 r% N) @understood the pain.
' `- [- D% Y u0 L+ d"I know what those families go through," he said.9 W A8 [5 V- M" X
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's% G7 Z) Y5 R) L8 w1 v
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
9 A- t& R2 S8 j9 p6 G9 Q! QBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
8 q9 z5 G( d- {2 Q" W: B- f. ?Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
2 h4 F' I9 {# {( f% E6 qin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
5 Y4 a* a- g3 J9 x3 N, ?4 kLentz replied: "Not totally."! G' l: ]; @$ V0 [* d
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were' p; E+ b3 K7 g/ W7 K" U$ v' C
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said% H& ^4 {( r9 R% \$ M5 O
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas. w& ^+ m( t$ j" y- ]
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its8 P& {6 h5 A% G. \
vehicles already on the road.
8 ?5 q( L2 b' Y- a, m# B; nMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
. Q3 |& r; L' _, e ibefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full; |; d* a l" M, I/ e4 q% R7 U
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
3 V5 J: q9 q' {" R, P/ c7 aoffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were( R# W- v$ F' I2 G& J
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.( I6 N- f6 U6 t" f( y; ^4 q
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
+ |2 F2 X0 h0 a- E" c$ K, `tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
8 B B* U# y8 p3 e; c+ `: c# h5 tfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight( q8 C/ Y/ [% K! O) z
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
6 S1 r- U B; m4 @* Dcommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
+ T- L: t; y3 E' ~7 _6 Z/ ^# crestore the trust of our customers."6 t7 f/ X0 T+ f5 Z2 C
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
& ^3 z L6 t+ _6 u$ G. C% OSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly4 t8 j, G0 g9 J5 Z: D) w5 V
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
/ S0 U' d; O8 jshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
4 B% P+ z6 I7 @9 ihitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough9 P6 a# W3 ^8 _, j# v, j
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
+ P7 H3 s V# @. d! B' rturn off the engine.
; ^3 r9 k8 E) w7 aFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of, V& B/ D$ r3 a: T, ?& O
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
~/ x( q. \& X$ w. D"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she, S0 j& g9 e. x- R. ?
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond* B; I' ?, f0 j$ }) o9 f9 \
to her complaints.: u4 J7 C3 J3 Z3 {
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
$ e: Q$ S1 h @9 K6 r* [( u9 Jreturned again and again to the question of whether electronic, u g6 L4 ]5 ~, ~1 ~ e; x2 B9 {
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.' q- Q7 s+ u1 S
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric0 b& K" t, f( N4 W f% y9 E2 x
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited; K: W& F4 E, O6 y7 Q
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut9 ^# b6 ?5 M6 p
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
% u9 f: V0 e" O0 Y; [; |6 hTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
; f2 ]4 P) z1 ]' d# Nprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
0 ]! p/ n+ H- C6 T1 K. Z/ b- Vbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls- o; f- B1 h0 f% g% ?" T1 C
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer1 N4 B" h8 h8 v* y" Z: h! H- ]; _
every question."/ D! V3 N% Q, f! v: {
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
( }* a5 ^( u1 d) ^! @- Melectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
/ K4 M# p4 I, D4 h! Jfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
5 v0 ?+ e8 ~* l; w0 F# |& Scommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small$ \0 S$ v5 f Q4 ~
number of vehicles, X( r1 D6 v% e% k3 o9 X, i, J
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more
# G; f# G& z6 A: _; c/ Z0 {* q. ddifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
# k- l% O+ J% _% P5 X P0 rmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
0 p& H' G' M, asource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.' |0 z1 t0 Y+ l. i- [
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,) F5 L: U5 l9 [9 V2 P2 z
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
9 p" x# m5 ~7 Qtrace at all.
$ z2 m9 i- j4 h( ]House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call6 z* I' E/ {0 ~6 Y1 A$ ?
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden9 }; V/ [' s7 ?3 K9 ^! O6 K
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the" g0 }" {+ { r8 W) H
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.2 i2 J5 Y8 H/ x6 p. c8 @
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,, l4 x* V- O1 M
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and D: S' P- i1 _5 Y1 w
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
0 y$ H& R; @9 Velectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
B7 o, b) z' U" ^cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
4 j% d* f# o; H: Msuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained4 ~# R6 H7 b. ^
by Toyota's lawyers."# m* t& F$ e7 H1 ?/ V
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
. Z+ M, ^5 H7 E8 b$ uproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
" O+ \+ v: w+ R! E8 Scustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he' \: g2 k3 q* Q2 _5 E
said.$ a9 F3 L/ ~3 _" ~1 T" `
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with. `$ l3 \% m8 a# P( f: a1 L: {
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our* ~7 |8 G; ~* e! @8 L" H# K
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
& B& x5 J. i3 D+ d0 |officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
) u p! w+ I+ L5 [& X3 _Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying: }, _5 K' g% K4 s# E( W
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
2 x9 ]+ L/ n+ D7 g" Irancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
, R$ V4 c8 o. J& oautomaker, at least in part because of the government's
S: a; K' Q! D) l M1 xinvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
! m6 t0 K* o# G4 mChrysler.( ?& ^( z" q* f+ }
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax1 j" e+ V5 r4 t8 w" u9 _. P8 I. O: a
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a6 c- X9 A' x c+ v& w
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
& V) @+ R5 U+ g) e* dserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
, K4 q( M+ i: A3 F9 Fwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
" w+ ?, y# U7 x$ v) C; }tough.". g/ Z6 k% I2 X( {, x, m5 }7 |
---
# N v% h6 o) f; j/ C& ?Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
( I' Q' t8 d4 i" f& RRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
9 \7 p! g0 }. s+ D. M" ], Bthis story.
2 x! G7 V% f# d* z2 x- l! F; o. G+ L0 \3 B0 u- B: z# T% N
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