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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
' r: w; P8 u8 ^7 EBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS, w. _. y6 p- T/ g9 E! s' k
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.3 V# N3 b3 n9 a
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
4 `7 f2 \* R0 R, `the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"; k2 a& F; \' `) f$ C
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.3 q9 f; E2 N; a- t
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential, K+ f; F8 e4 m9 _7 `
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.1 W2 E! O8 ?! s
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
?! j5 k I! V5 u( Xacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and; J; y0 l3 r1 W. j, Z; z- l. o
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor: H8 x7 W8 T* V) O5 g- O7 s
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.
* S( q8 {3 E4 Q; Q0 Y L9 O& sHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal6 ?5 c5 F, C) H: K$ q
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
8 w3 ~0 Y' T0 F2 o/ c# \9 p3 D6 \criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be2 ^" }& A) r# m8 J8 o4 E
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could9 [+ n1 F, B7 D
not stop her runaway Lexus.
; w8 [- c( Z! i1 U4 U2 Q" i2 y, a- u"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
( E: I% X4 v9 N+ c2 RTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second2 C0 V- N7 o: k% X
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
/ W7 U. g3 ?, I2 ZTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues' n7 k8 k2 f! s1 s7 H$ X
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
6 T* Y2 w1 V/ L* K4 R% F"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
, q$ A: ?5 S+ m2 u; K( I8 xdone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway6 D8 D% C' o v1 c0 m0 Y& e9 ?
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
. ^, f. t' m( j$ Ginvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
; _! ?* R! X* y5 d2 i) D$ t+ Q- tLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an" X6 {, p$ E$ `0 W5 a& v. b
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of# ^0 g' t w& [3 O; s) j* A- j) O
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
: e2 p* L- X1 R' ymalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
' r5 \# z1 d% Ksaid.0 ~5 ?- H/ T) P0 _2 l1 E4 O
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what# j& M: z0 [8 \! e3 L5 j! U. B
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe( D6 q+ x1 t% ^$ ?2 f5 D0 x
about driving our products," Lentz said.# L! C: I$ v) e3 D) R. o, G
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's0 m, `6 u1 N: Z4 b
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has. \ H1 c4 `2 U) B
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6# C6 U5 \7 ^/ _4 M
million in the United States -- since last fall because of* c0 v$ `7 v9 z& A
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
1 O1 i( e O+ Z6 vissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering. n! s; [ ]+ Y2 n% @ K' M
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
' K7 Q6 i1 A* K9 ntheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow2 R6 L" e! @7 h1 U
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has3 n& n, v8 \4 U1 B
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
9 m. V1 E$ y' e3 L) z; dof Toyota vehicles since 2000.+ N# M! d# Y0 E, \9 J5 j6 k- Q
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
% s: S% q8 I9 X5 rbrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he/ m* r( C+ k% j. Z4 b1 c
understood the pain.
$ k7 s5 H! E+ b$ P4 o/ q# n"I know what those families go through," he said.
- Z$ z* _0 v$ A. p- A' ]. r" XLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's6 I2 x9 A2 P- U7 M% q1 S& A1 r
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.# I# e& B* M+ I; ~ a' |$ b2 Q
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
% {7 x+ M; b* rHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put l- a- |/ f3 j& B8 X8 v
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
' l: m+ H' T5 g5 S4 @7 X' rLentz replied: "Not totally."0 `, r2 }/ D- d( S' J6 A6 Q5 D
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were- i9 h! C5 S; V K, H; h
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
) I) K4 J" s. N! y: RToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
1 Z) o* j* M4 Z1 g& dpedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
( s: C% r, `7 o$ b$ U7 z3 W( }6 Dvehicles already on the road.9 V; o' |, s& L% O1 n
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
2 E, v- B3 o( G V2 G( Rbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
1 A$ i6 b0 v% k4 G: M+ Gresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and b& k0 s+ a8 N" F+ c8 }
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were; B: N+ }% [0 T/ K j* H
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.4 z1 u* q' p+ f) |' D, e, a
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
2 j9 E5 \ Y. y3 D/ etragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
. i# ]& h7 O6 L' @* o, Jfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
, B) G% W; `9 mCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal0 x9 g: ]1 I; k5 I5 L0 j0 x
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to; O6 Z) K# Y8 W8 w' T# [9 q" ?5 b
restore the trust of our customers."; r/ ^2 n8 h; M
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
5 Y/ v- c! O3 a8 n _Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
8 y; n1 p0 v* Izoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
- }& O! {- }( h5 O. Q6 N, p% l2 Yshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and2 m" Z# F) M! y! X2 U o) |
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
4 ~# |7 ]5 y3 L" ethat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
" z) k: X2 b' a! {# f9 aturn off the engine.) J& p7 n- r/ _" ^
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
y# h) }: V$ m( h6 |8 z) B1 }October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
8 \) E+ Y2 t# K& [) W4 ~1 J"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
+ P/ B0 x- ^/ o9 L* ?$ ~said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
( C5 R% ?# [5 }: Eto her complaints.* c- y: O; W; h: l5 h" c+ j
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
3 d. ^1 H1 Y2 Q# Ereturned again and again to the question of whether electronic
0 c" Z+ ]6 E, [1 p0 Bmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
5 u3 B6 I, p" ~, H. B' f"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric) i' F3 Q) r- H/ S5 `
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
( }) _2 i" n/ m" Q"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut2 i* V+ U, U3 p; V
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
7 T/ j3 x" G6 e. V2 g0 Q0 lTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in8 S: a1 T. T+ G; B9 x
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
, ^ g+ p( W" ~# ]8 ybeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls6 j* ]% ]- N" y6 F
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
: v& v. Q8 _% F9 H6 Fevery question."
( W9 y& i6 J. d$ Q' ?/ ]Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether% c/ b% f6 J8 s0 e
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The; q, B I& Y- C! w" H
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But- n1 Y' v: a6 P2 R
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
3 ^6 w4 k4 P! ~( o+ h6 [number of vehicles$ ~4 f% s# y# a; T
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more
$ S& \: I* j& u/ i; u8 A; {' zdifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
) y5 i% E: l& wmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one2 E3 E% v% m- c6 J. w& l
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
# i V3 Q5 B6 z6 C3 J6 RMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,1 L2 x9 ^* G7 x$ _/ b3 b# S
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no. B* D7 h9 n) s' O, W8 s
trace at all.
8 C: y5 e6 K% h* `# f& i6 `; ZHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
, h. m& }. w9 k" e# k8 Fdatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden6 f4 n/ [7 p8 C) Z3 g
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the0 @1 l4 D {8 Z7 t N# o5 d9 H
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals./ I. a- o5 n3 M( @( D" G% U
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
& Y$ \$ j+ W* `' y) S5 ysaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and; G3 N6 A/ L% {* Q5 t m
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the+ B: ?5 |' [; A$ ]+ L
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
' e2 W. a& Z* Z: ecause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only) I& ^1 s2 B- O1 o
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained, d- M/ f) F0 J" Z( a ?
by Toyota's lawyers."$ m! d: O& ~+ ]& A
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of! A* E1 A" u) H, e4 H5 Z
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
; m5 v2 d v. d: q! I+ Vcustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
( C' {- ^1 \# Y# E* ?said.
' B7 b6 _4 X8 Y( p( Z$ ?"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with' A0 n# _# G) k
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
' Z2 v5 Y3 s6 C- e8 f8 }! R1 G, igood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating! V0 P0 ~; B$ E$ W, m6 L: N
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
# n3 o% c) b0 F7 k) hSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
: P) M) {' ^- t- D: C3 d7 s- |members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread. y) J6 j* p, L
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the6 T* b. m; ]1 n& J
automaker, at least in part because of the government's
; N9 V: J( g2 Binvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
& p! [9 d# E0 O; q- E$ [Chrysler.- t2 G6 T/ y- O# m% [) w
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
, u% W# Z/ z0 ~0 i" w- V! I1 Hdollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a0 F2 w( j: E) C
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
' k( c) U* g+ b$ u$ X hserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete1 A! D$ g% D& D" }9 ^' i' I3 i/ l, I
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
; m5 d6 `" U( `: ttough."0 {: y3 Q+ @) n1 i @
---
/ x& z9 G$ ?" v H# Y/ P3 j) B* \Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom9 C/ I& M: U5 V' Y
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
5 |& I7 N8 C' G" k0 Q8 uthis story.
* v/ k! `0 p" {2 O& k. p
$ Q' T6 d. N: l6 p) t+ L) D-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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