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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
" Q: d8 p+ a7 A) ~. z, A2 Z5 d9 u* GBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS, [" o7 u" t$ L0 {) U/ j8 f
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.$ l* ] v' w8 e
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
& ]: `7 T8 P2 Gthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
3 k j/ |0 c4 s- fsolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.% Y8 b) t: }6 r9 `1 a7 N3 ?
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential& }) F! {2 w1 N- u) ?$ t
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
- [! |* h$ b& A/ ~* A3 K/ Y& e9 ]4 Q( BHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected8 p( |; A: q; r$ B/ E+ _
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
$ }. R( y9 s8 Q8 g% Ytrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
. u! E+ z8 a) o# g8 D+ gmats and sticking accelerator pedals.
/ T! E% t. d5 A; V, ~He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
) N3 _: @( y: x# x2 iand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
- i% S+ ^/ D( J8 x4 F. Gcriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be7 q1 ]; {# E$ l7 O q
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
7 G$ x9 X5 ~' q3 enot stop her runaway Lexus.
; f( B! H& T, ]! N: I0 L$ C"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,. u0 ^+ f) m7 ~( V
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
5 s: R9 a5 E* W! e' D0 e"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.; _& L2 M7 L2 b. f
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues% ?% z9 e* G. M- j; o* N
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
% W; n4 E( H! k2 H5 T"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has! j9 w7 |# e! l" _9 F
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
( c+ e' b6 G4 i% \, {through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's) m: [) D: ?" G9 _" {3 |0 R7 f
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
. [ i( i; A0 }/ ILentz said the company had not completely ruled out an: H1 N. a; J- w# M: l/ i% _6 g' ?: _* Z
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
2 u7 l, u" y! m0 W$ ~( Mthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
1 h' D+ ^4 e) z0 B* Emalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
- t$ R3 |0 H, i( m$ I3 Asaid.% s4 K+ A+ f; a% G
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
7 R9 C5 T& J4 ^0 Khappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe8 P7 Y8 p: y# ^) [2 J' ^
about driving our products," Lentz said.& G4 m* j7 |# s' g* F ]& M
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's0 i1 U$ C2 q# Z/ D$ \; ?
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has" ^* ~) G) N; u" R7 ~2 k2 ]
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6' n4 p1 a9 ?" w: A
million in the United States -- since last fall because of
/ P1 h8 b7 _4 V( L* ^unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
: ~% y' {! U" }; t: U+ X( x$ K# nissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
1 [. V" p( }" v* {$ d# _0 ~' @concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
( | p, k3 n9 [) ktheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
/ o9 g% V$ V, ^+ a7 J% A6 j3 bdown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
' O) K1 Z. e+ G' u1 p# k- ~! C& Z! Vreceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration2 g: `5 O$ p+ E
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.. |, \9 R$ t1 h& x; q/ `! \
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own5 {/ T; _7 ~/ ?
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he- |0 h0 x' F1 T2 S2 \. K* f
understood the pain.$ h1 r7 i; ^, e& G% q
"I know what those families go through," he said.; |$ K6 q# d* k: s1 P4 _" s
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
& X8 [/ [, g4 ^* I9 @2 h( Efixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems., n% J% t8 D# e: ~
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman- }1 j2 G7 Z/ G, b7 R. r; i! B
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
5 h3 X8 l+ P4 g( I1 ?7 c: Kin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
- w( Q# k m8 {# R$ @( {" P& i& S" _8 H" KLentz replied: "Not totally."
1 I0 H/ H3 O- A6 DStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
0 y: q$ f: x, i6 G# s. I"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
. T3 e9 I1 C% I9 a( V' U0 @Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
5 ?% r* ^- Q( z+ I! ypedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
% S' y: T1 j# m0 H# |vehicles already on the road.8 y* e- l+ j- u9 ~; H6 D
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
) ?2 o. r2 d- l) F* Pbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
" o& y5 f& ~6 u3 h b, l, mresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and* d& d2 ], ~4 W* a6 J" T
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were( q9 X3 k4 b# x8 k, \. s& y; L0 T
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.* v$ ?1 Z! Z$ ?. p4 s# N3 B
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
* `5 c3 P0 J* w9 G/ Ktragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
- C7 P4 P9 W, _' K7 Sfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
% _& {8 O9 a9 B- zCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal7 P/ T! h+ d+ r8 p" u
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to5 T+ l6 Q1 L& a/ `9 l
restore the trust of our customers."
4 j* C0 H+ Z" \. B5 bLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from4 E6 ` u, G! C+ D+ V
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
8 B) D& y: u+ ?; ]* z' rzoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
% Q, l2 | W9 k1 a0 ] wshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and1 v( q( l/ u6 e! N/ t" N0 B
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
) L$ Q0 [* n* Z/ {$ ^that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
, s& x# I! g( hturn off the engine.+ d( K9 b5 k3 B* s
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
( G& g& u& B* vOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
* Y4 {: O7 s" c ]. G"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
( E n# ~, g+ U" xsaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond6 K0 A4 N4 Z# w0 J* k' s
to her complaints./ ?2 E& X% F7 G5 ]/ M# w
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers: W) Q/ ?" t3 h) f+ F7 k1 a
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
5 n; V' G1 _1 Q3 ^; A2 mmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
& F! [3 ]. ~$ e2 a$ c @7 A' V"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
. W* S, c' z$ }% [* ^# p3 r- xthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited/ I9 s: G/ t* U& E% C* Q5 S. t
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
& U9 A6 @+ f8 z5 eoff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
" ~3 H2 D) n0 VTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
& R$ G; j4 q3 H3 ~! u+ yprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were. G3 d2 b* d) U; G! V! ^
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls2 \: a0 G% |: |% R- ]) `3 d
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
9 T% N5 s9 o3 h" D) gevery question."8 ^, S* ^% w" f+ k3 b' A
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether9 a. A* j+ d' {$ s9 ^% E
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The( r4 `) O1 e2 l# S
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
$ U( w. Z8 L2 Q" J& `, _3 g+ Fcommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small0 [4 _' @5 m9 N1 Y7 ]: X8 o
number of vehicles
/ `! D8 A7 m$ V3 N0 p6 ^" mTracking down an electrical problem can be far more
3 ^( {9 v) r3 ], ?difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
3 E+ c' H! v# d ?: a) i) Smechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one* B6 T) r1 \! e ^
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
, J/ B. j2 N# G. F Q; ~6 J! KMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,2 J! Q Q- V0 g) ?- K4 L& @, a! Z* g
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no/ d- w/ ^* H+ C3 u h# `
trace at all.
2 | j& `7 Z; v6 ^House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
o# H* r7 S1 |database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
! D3 a2 ]5 K! H+ I: d! {0 iacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the# ~2 }& x+ M; {4 h, u, f' p
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
; y3 V% X8 j, |) X" QRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
" \( T( v3 R2 tsaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and0 @! \) c2 z5 A+ `4 n3 U
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
$ W* I% l& ~9 _. r- Z9 Welectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
5 v* L& c, K3 h8 x+ Fcause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only. v1 e: B$ ?2 u. X
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained8 Q# b3 `+ A+ B6 U$ w" P- h8 a! i/ a9 C
by Toyota's lawyers."5 [2 S% _: z5 N' c2 K& Z, ^8 J
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
* e1 Y) C0 q, j* n: i: |" p3 Uproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
3 ^# f: \" o5 k; \customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he$ K5 R% G9 _# Z5 \: m1 l
said.! a2 X( h: G0 B/ c
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with1 t+ W! w) y# l" C% R
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our* }( m3 c/ ^1 X/ q) M% M: ^
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
, U! x3 @. D, [( [: zofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.' ]& z7 r" w9 Z$ i9 @; H
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
4 e' S1 L# q1 X* m, Xmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread6 L# \- }6 i7 E) O, J+ o! }8 n a
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the% {9 G" q6 @0 }' x0 T
automaker, at least in part because of the government's7 g8 e; t/ {+ z0 _& Q s
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and8 L! y- Z$ r) P$ V; [5 K
Chrysler.
. C3 }# t9 c) S2 N9 I) h* [* c. s"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
1 U! g( C* M7 X. I5 i. tdollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a6 \6 G E5 p! y* A C# Q+ F
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also- Y$ [! D8 f8 o4 q
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
9 O4 w( ?+ N/ x) T6 e2 G' Xwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
& ?1 j _ K3 [8 rtough."* d6 f, Q6 g& R- l7 p0 M: [
---
$ s" D1 F8 q6 H! IAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
" V1 X% V+ k' e) p" y! GRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to J' M j# ?1 y! Q" Y G6 }
this story.& P2 B0 r0 J4 c- f; M
7 Z3 \0 L* r* h! H& h-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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