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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
/ m% r' R' v. G. p* x3 DBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS8 Y A) U, P( x/ t7 h2 H9 w
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
" Q" B* d$ \- F7 B3 m# l+ R$ M! Z; Xoperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that- j0 a1 \% j( m8 l z. u
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"1 _, v9 ^! u3 D1 F+ x, r s* z+ k
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.) p$ r. J4 f! J
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
5 q; _# L" N3 m0 B, {causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
+ Q( h6 a0 T0 o; CHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected( U# e3 r% e9 x% W- ^/ D w1 I
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and' _2 D D- x ]. Q) A/ a. H
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
2 P1 y8 K# o7 }6 Vmats and sticking accelerator pedals.
, o3 S9 O; w, ^# @, c Q1 ^He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
( ?) V, t: C( V& D4 N1 {* W/ Rand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp v; `2 e; Z0 [9 W* h. _$ o
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be% t! _$ _0 U5 {/ u1 i
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
9 C6 l5 o& F% R2 qnot stop her runaway Lexus.
2 U$ x5 V' m& M! E3 K2 a"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,! Y. v; Q# T' v0 x9 d) L3 R
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second) _8 g8 i, s/ d; \4 R
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
2 g, z2 n# G6 W6 b$ DTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues( m4 D+ Z0 R G0 ]4 \' M
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said9 m/ w7 ] b: A1 Y& a
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
7 k$ k: [7 C, m% M- [" z& M* z! y! Bdone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway" r2 E3 O6 {; @/ k2 m
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
, V4 M) @: O2 b# c1 j6 I% f+ linvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
/ M$ u5 a0 X% _. oLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an. k5 P3 ~$ g" M2 ^3 \8 x' g0 y
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of) |. v4 n* i. a4 c- a
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
$ x% {5 \1 `% L, h3 Pmalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he* H. x9 t7 u( r* `9 c' i
said.
+ G# F- j7 _4 q4 d K& @( w( EAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
& \4 e" C. p2 r3 ihappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe/ T( c x3 J! S# g( X
about driving our products," Lentz said.
# H; Z' S; Y2 P$ L/ Z7 NThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's1 G4 F; t2 ~8 o1 V) E, o
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
) ^! ~2 S& Q9 `+ @recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6& M" ?$ j: M& k H2 I$ h2 Z1 |
million in the United States -- since last fall because of
. M( v- J6 Y8 r; Runintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
# N; C4 v5 `/ |& gissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
- e8 I* U2 d: g8 i+ `* |concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of3 p0 r* p" t* g3 ?- x8 ]
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
. S6 {- a, x: F6 l: g A( f, Cdown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has0 u& c; H( e& ` R1 @7 R0 A1 i
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
2 n- j! `+ Z1 I+ f. f" Eof Toyota vehicles since 2000.
+ }* t& V" Q, T2 ?$ A" X+ HLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
+ b! j- f' i* m' L% e- gbrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
/ Q' f" J: f3 h6 U/ b+ Cunderstood the pain.
) d& y- p2 F/ g"I know what those families go through," he said.
6 R8 X5 w4 l! wLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's6 x3 Z/ q2 H* ?& t* o
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
) R6 z6 `8 T6 E8 QBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman# c( w0 y6 g( z) m0 N: i5 D9 [
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
) I) z0 Y+ K+ o& C4 x E# gin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,1 t. d9 a B- B# I# i9 |
Lentz replied: "Not totally."
& t" ~. A% C$ \7 ]" ~, n/ ~Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
# R' O, v) V# b/ k; _"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
- I5 u2 B" K- H& WToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas1 T5 d% X1 U. r7 a- t1 H
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
- e9 Y3 W1 X9 ^5 d5 Evehicles already on the road.& w+ |3 E9 w1 W# a" y$ e! t
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
6 |$ m: }1 X; D5 g# ~3 x0 i4 l! Nbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full* ?5 |6 r/ L1 H
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and- ~% {5 U' ]" I$ a& J3 [- ]8 h: b
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
6 y R' }; p% T" pkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
4 ^; s$ C5 S' s3 P0 L) ?# @"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a# C; r/ @" `. E; d
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
% C) G2 R1 @1 s4 V( afor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
( h$ E& p \, ] r9 f* j3 v" @7 WCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal3 r0 b3 B( }* A* S7 f y
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to" X$ q! W# v) y0 G/ P' `/ `
restore the trust of our customers."
5 v4 j7 a5 @8 g4 S& p0 c6 PLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from# ^8 b# _7 M5 X y/ L a) h: W% V
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly, z: _! V9 |5 T5 U0 j5 ~4 c
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
; A1 o7 f! @+ |1 L0 Lshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
! V5 U' o. I5 m" ~hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
$ ^" k6 d0 H$ _3 j7 Q+ kthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and& J$ @9 M3 c4 A1 ^0 U, g
turn off the engine.- H y: Y: V5 T2 R* r' O; w
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
# }: ]. O' |6 h6 r8 |October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
9 g$ i- Z3 p2 p( Y; Z8 [6 A1 b"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
- _0 h7 |" j! i0 ^& nsaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond/ [: l' J2 ^1 N9 |. u: [- w
to her complaints.
2 G! B0 ]0 ?4 @ ]) XIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
0 ^. Z& m4 u+ u; freturned again and again to the question of whether electronic# @* g: Z4 ]' J' h$ m
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
! @& o4 q) e- q6 G"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric/ r/ X' `& \' `: T+ U9 e. {) ]: `" j
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
4 @5 K9 K$ I3 ^4 g) R"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
6 G6 k! O7 `- O$ }+ t0 Uoff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
$ b1 g0 L$ K$ \3 j8 HTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in0 L5 y$ A. M# i) A$ M9 H4 s* |$ `
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were4 s5 F' }, F2 W
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls! H6 L9 Q: q+ f, ], S* c! x
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
. K1 `/ ]* k4 `every question."7 T4 k7 K; Z3 k4 O8 G* h# f
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether+ C) W- ]" E/ P9 U6 }* @/ o
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The- y0 g8 x/ M4 ]+ I9 x# X8 A- b. N
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
3 a& H3 Q4 U. b8 Vcommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small7 S1 Q. Y$ j) A2 b
number of vehicles h/ g7 b/ i# B M) i) f
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more
4 T. \6 J: i7 M: e2 Edifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
( e! h" _7 J& q0 xmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
. C$ T6 ^* K4 `2 Y8 E. osource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
8 P' K7 d$ l3 CMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
- ]0 w$ y7 @: s/ Owhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no" R# _! J% q$ K' h1 z/ l5 b
trace at all.
& F: G& J: y% I1 y9 wHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
4 B$ D- `& t' P6 V# Xdatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
( e. O; S8 H1 K F5 i' J6 Xacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
, P1 r( a% p+ N2 Vrecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.3 B$ P! k9 k- a/ y0 l/ M
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee, q; t! s0 D. H
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
/ ~& \3 c* z2 k: T ^8 vother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the) o J6 V) G4 n3 g6 e7 Y& R- ~
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible9 U$ V' @8 z2 {+ e0 Q
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only, l8 h6 N8 y5 v0 d8 l g" N* X8 X
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained+ h$ S0 ]0 S3 V/ f
by Toyota's lawyers."
" e- x. K; F2 j2 F; fLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
5 p u$ Z ]0 }' ~# E; Nproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our+ d; C' _- {( h0 }0 O
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
- I. A: {* p" vsaid.
! _! h3 ~% f: S% k3 a4 a4 e"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with$ R* y0 m& y {9 Z6 h3 X# @6 I
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our% }$ F# ` c4 J0 m
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating. E- R# J( C) Z) w. y$ ~4 Y8 w
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
: q7 n* A6 o$ S4 Y( P! Y* MSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
; t& j/ |: `7 ^members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread* a J2 i* R2 t m" u- G7 \
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
% f' y" z, T7 {! `; y0 bautomaker, at least in part because of the government's
- o" G% ~+ p9 d5 Linvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
3 H M3 h$ W) [Chrysler.$ W, p7 v' _+ L/ X3 i
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax: @0 S2 X" {( r1 G
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a# q0 i& c2 G8 X( e
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
8 D4 w0 l' W5 V" x8 Pserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete/ X! E" {% ]6 ~( y1 s
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty+ g- Y$ n0 C6 _- x
tough."- _( \" T1 k" _8 z
---+ D3 v. R& D+ l- a
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
- _9 b- T% K4 A. FRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to; L7 H$ w2 `* R5 N( O* n
this story.
8 L% D" o5 d, T8 t" e
2 n9 ~+ u1 I% k+ U-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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