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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 y0 P* v" m: a* j1 sBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
. `. P) {+ S8 X, M& AWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S." F" e5 x$ i1 N3 \
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that4 w5 i% x! S5 L! `. F
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
, Q1 ]/ a) N7 x4 ?solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.: a& @" ]( i( S
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
* A+ t0 d, T& T0 O& S4 ?causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel., a2 O8 X( S1 F2 Z& d# p9 J% {
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected, g, |1 { F/ E
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and0 t- c& q8 F" [2 O( Z9 a! C% b
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
( I2 W8 r* o8 { Zmats and sticking accelerator pedals.
) d; s( r* X" i/ L ?1 QHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
7 V; s: ^1 p% v9 U$ ]5 ]and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
8 O0 G! s6 f9 M5 b n) A& x/ Kcriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
. Z' ~9 E5 {( F8 Lfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
2 b' _5 k* e7 ?not stop her runaway Lexus.
|- F7 Z) l8 o9 n"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,9 _$ a' |8 x- V/ f/ N9 [! X# K! b
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second W5 w3 `$ v8 D1 V2 M7 _: W2 q# Y0 v
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
3 Z8 Q G8 l" | m. u+ tTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
5 N) a; l O- Pearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
/ O# W$ c! G2 X8 o* O4 S) V"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
+ W! g7 M/ ~- n* S" Kdone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
1 M9 W, G9 Y# V6 t3 k* X# wthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's7 R. A; c6 t( N$ v1 r9 H+ @4 j& ]
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."/ } w6 }) P* Z
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
7 }1 A' w# u6 X: pelectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of# K. @ b* i# [* p, F
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a% }) t4 m8 w' |$ ~ q
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he5 n! d1 }6 r0 y7 h
said. Z* W! E: @" L' F+ E. `
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what6 [/ O C* E8 ^% A- Y5 `" U
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe' a6 P! v9 N- | P( F
about driving our products," Lentz said.; i" ~# ^) ?% \! R4 Y
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
. ?! G0 I' f6 n) o( eproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has; b2 }; @- l( d2 K& Z! z
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
4 B* R& R" f' j* Amillion in the United States -- since last fall because of$ m- h8 s0 l. `* C" }2 R
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking# I# A; j% _; w! `# ?* [8 ]
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
8 b9 y6 b4 g- Y/ H Fconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of/ F% ]+ m0 T; C" O1 a- W/ v; t
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
1 M+ l$ T3 K* _0 T, [. g1 Jdown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
3 g* c3 G7 s% [$ x$ R8 ?received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
% {* u0 D; W2 N e2 ?) r% A% Pof Toyota vehicles since 2000.8 F& m: a0 P2 x8 m
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
9 n4 i# Q# ]5 Y ^brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
0 R/ ?2 y: z& ^- lunderstood the pain.
) @8 K. p8 W. G0 G! P"I know what those families go through," he said.
& ]8 K! Y- B4 |2 ]2 k9 CLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's( @4 a/ J7 \- r
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
, x# m5 C/ l; e) _" k; k ]7 uBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
" }8 ?- Z* f! @, v `4 j+ B2 gHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put) r* [$ a" e! T9 M& D
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it," S* r( o( R3 Z0 a
Lentz replied: "Not totally."
: V# U+ s6 A& H3 b5 j0 P% E( m7 Z; lStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
8 X4 ^* y7 y- B! N"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said: D L& l6 o# ?" _& [0 u
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
7 l! }+ U; ~) r* L f- b% Ppedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
$ s% c9 a+ O+ B& @* `) tvehicles already on the road.
9 B( q' j1 ~, LMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify8 V/ N; k9 _+ b6 x& \
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full/ Y" _3 a! Q: ~" _$ t1 Z
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
1 I4 c6 G4 S; e8 T/ \1 T6 Qoffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
! j% I% V4 l# kkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.8 w( A: k5 R& k8 B; ~
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
' p& h; [* U0 r. p: }tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
! t% K1 r9 y( ?$ O; G u; rfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
$ V3 g3 C( W! O- X' i8 b" HCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
( F$ C8 R& d: W( `' N) s% W# Icommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to- O4 o- p4 k' V9 x
restore the trust of our customers."
# [" l* l6 a4 T. N' i) G& n7 jLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from c) @" }6 Q& A9 W/ t# w. L+ H
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
4 V) l1 G0 m+ J2 e) A4 @zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --6 [2 y7 Z# v9 ~) \
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
- q% V8 M( t( e" D% M+ r# ?hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough5 b# M6 z y2 b, X+ D7 A
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and$ q4 \* n @. T1 W/ ?' @+ A$ f) B% c
turn off the engine.
6 k# h& _* A% p8 W& z% CFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
5 y; h) D1 r2 ~6 o; E, sOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."5 s7 E5 m0 ^# v u, {
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she& d/ s6 U3 V: S# Y' H0 X9 m
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond; n( V& ~" y2 N. |& q) U& ^
to her complaints.
, W5 s# N. Y8 b! }In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers, y( p; B ] ?% G% C {" F: c" a' ^
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
( F# C6 g6 u- ]( o5 pmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.8 R8 H5 q# L# H6 p h' |
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
. K' x$ R( f+ i2 Othrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
/ x0 |, n* z% y) ]7 Q5 ["fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
1 M& c+ W8 \5 @, y& u& Y8 F* Zoff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."8 }$ Q1 U$ o: c" E6 O4 B3 c+ {9 q" g) x
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in' D1 F3 }/ I" Q/ u( z P3 L1 m" {
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were) C5 D3 Y, _9 t5 f/ m. }0 {! P
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
% X( X! w* `, y2 ?9 `were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer' z, o/ P7 F3 [* l
every question."3 |: d; r# m5 m" j+ p' v
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether+ ]8 p# \! V# F7 {) M' C% f/ o v
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The* y, l8 T3 e6 N" n
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But) C+ h: L) u% y( Y* Z r L
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
, m) ~5 O+ _/ _4 |3 Lnumber of vehicles
: t- n9 P" k. S: S& q: `Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more! k G0 X9 W6 j5 p" h, r# ^7 J
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a- \) Q; F; z7 q. r6 p
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one' @! p% y4 n4 }; e G( |, h, i
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
( O# x8 C7 y6 k; I3 m. zMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
1 T( B0 C, X! p. v. awhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no& Y6 v2 i5 F& C1 L' {6 J
trace at all.
1 \7 U: T2 J1 x% X% j$ A) [* sHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call: X7 p9 ]1 L- t
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden- z3 d" K) e- U0 R K$ H
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the- m5 o6 H$ J" m5 \0 A, Z9 _! n$ ]1 }
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
, [) N: W; E' H, \+ n) YRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,$ `' ~! Q& K/ W# y- T4 k
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
/ \$ T1 n) P- F; r8 Tother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
; _% u; b. U9 z' f k! Eelectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
8 o. r$ Q' q, y2 zcause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only, \4 k# `9 J) s3 i2 r+ v: Y5 X
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
( |1 J, D5 z1 E% qby Toyota's lawyers."
+ W3 c2 e N* A! K9 i2 wLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of' b. v: s' @% I$ J
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
. L6 P2 V+ [2 T, wcustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he9 Z) m7 M0 M& C& `
said.
: j- M+ J+ L' W, K; u9 Y"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with( I6 S' j: b5 }- e9 Q* C
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our0 H* C$ F" A8 I
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating4 Z9 x4 k4 h s/ C
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
H' Q+ k7 i. T( h; U' Z y+ m6 GSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying& B6 C3 h5 k1 x+ O# D7 {
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread) q" S& o* @0 M
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the# ?* _/ q7 g. ^, ^, D, l% `4 B0 t8 t
automaker, at least in part because of the government's
/ ~6 g! y' [4 _1 Q3 r, h" Einvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
) r( I) n! P/ R, S* Y) P: C2 ZChrysler.) k O0 s/ V T& B& y
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
1 m1 ~: S3 t: o/ n, t: x- F" Gdollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a1 c. S) ^' P' B% `+ n
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
7 V( y0 K5 Q5 d; {5 Xserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete( }4 K" l8 R Y# H: F* b
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
$ L) Z0 \9 `$ {' B+ etough."# X, i9 B/ h1 q# B2 H& I
---
) k' G% I$ `, e' yAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
A; e5 t8 Z. }! l- \Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
" I" n( Y% y* F1 w! K! t( Pthis story.7 Z0 G# k5 g q4 X8 O& x
' t, ~8 b8 n5 q
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