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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
: k: x U9 R `. n. m9 x1 FBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS- G" D) w0 i& B* q9 O1 Z
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.. i) k0 {6 _/ t4 `" N) v
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
# T5 C: s1 D- }the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
1 j; l* g9 H& ~- j: {solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
) A$ U& s" h& w1 Y/ m: o"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential' T `0 j& q9 g) r! r
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.# J+ N! e9 S( x0 }# ]) u8 h5 i$ Z; L
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected' s5 ^& \8 n" _, {' u) q
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
, ]* ]/ Y7 _& ]- g! Itrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor( p' N* V" Y2 P! A& D t$ Y
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.' O1 `0 r0 g$ L- \
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
4 G% l6 w9 e% R' \: Q# R# e- zand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
9 o5 v" G; ]) Y" i# Ycriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
& e8 |" P2 w v% N: }/ x$ lfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could5 R2 p" c, Q3 v2 M; \/ u5 Y" ]
not stop her runaway Lexus.
- A# N# f8 `2 l& P! Y% W( W"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,' |+ U, J& b/ Q# J! T2 ?
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
% U" t4 G9 e. `+ @! C2 S" M"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.+ d. E" j4 j% ^7 N( Z2 B
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
, M: s& _% o ^! w, L+ e4 x4 aearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
( \/ _3 p+ H f% }+ G"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has, r: h1 M: H/ e2 x* o
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
/ h# l$ J9 f, t6 A: J& f9 H- ]through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's9 v# `: J9 k1 H" L
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
0 I( b+ |# G$ z5 jLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an2 s o. s: w6 _/ i
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
3 m5 B6 j& c3 P4 `the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a& U$ {8 z6 r5 c0 o: w
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he( T9 y @$ r8 c% O
said.3 N. P; F; H2 N# d
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
. }* [( e0 _( G. H: ^' O" Z+ n Thappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe5 P& h3 Q- L# m# f* Y0 n( E
about driving our products," Lentz said.
) A% L# {& {) @+ F+ eThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's4 N# S. H% {' c4 V0 N& P
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
( p8 S+ s/ R8 _% krecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 68 r4 n' {5 t' h, m+ q8 J
million in the United States -- since last fall because of
. c$ S( R' M2 kunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking" m' g3 x8 ^( r
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering+ B1 e" l. p* C9 s* A( f! M
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of4 h. B t! u$ x7 R* L
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow* S1 J; m: U2 y: i
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has' }$ T( b" a k0 [. [' ?" a
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
- [* A# G% l m2 f- w0 Qof Toyota vehicles since 2000.) ?/ p' X3 I2 X6 B# r
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
# ?! K2 L. P3 N) \, ~brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
2 n3 J; Z) l3 l) g9 X( Punderstood the pain.' F0 e. z; V) l2 v3 ?4 E4 l2 n
"I know what those families go through," he said.
5 {& a4 n1 Q+ L" o! H: bLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
/ S3 {9 u. y+ @: U5 pfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
1 A3 F0 u3 G4 zBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
8 o* t$ o/ d1 \8 R, z& VHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put4 w y! N0 b) b3 ~; Y b
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,2 W' d: W+ @1 S4 }
Lentz replied: "Not totally.", @: H' N# a3 C' w4 T9 z
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
) s- q/ e. l+ @" g"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said9 r3 n' _/ j+ O# A' }9 }5 K4 D
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas( c3 D, j- C/ J+ d) s8 [
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its( G' k9 q4 i, f
vehicles already on the road. l% G1 l9 e. `5 W1 }- K
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
: v! Z7 B; n8 x* C C3 w) Nbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
+ Z9 N+ L9 W/ K* Z+ z$ yresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and& e1 Z& K2 ?- z) x- E
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were# C/ ?6 ^: {* [ l& p
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
b- w: ?) | l% T: w4 X' ]"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a: Y( c7 c7 F9 c* W
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
, H) \( L9 W) _5 U, L5 R9 N% a0 ~for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight5 ~6 T9 ]8 [; ]- v
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal( ~' c* l) d4 n4 O9 v2 L0 m5 P
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
! z3 ^1 |1 w6 a$ Srestore the trust of our customers."
I, N `: M0 G4 D: f2 N8 V# hLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
1 s/ a! }, A2 ]2 q3 R6 OSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly0 M% d& }7 D% X; s
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --0 I) T; }2 v8 ?
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
) o3 n0 m1 |+ P: H2 D+ ohitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough2 X3 f3 G3 F4 J! ?- W
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
# l: [+ W- H7 p3 yturn off the engine.
$ Y( S4 `& v. J5 P# l6 bFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of: Q1 O6 Y! y2 S; E3 b
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience." E- |6 G: [$ Q$ x! J( a9 @" p5 h
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she$ G1 d2 b# k* ?3 J/ [8 S# c
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
; m! P7 q( C; j$ V# qto her complaints.+ y0 T; _+ b# u& X( }5 x h% d
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers" ]1 v. Z) y, O/ o U6 k. Q
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic% k) o# w8 @0 L3 @4 A8 |- c
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
u% z, |0 m9 `3 l! \& w"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric1 w" j5 v% a/ O2 T, u' `
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
2 s; f" f. w% ^9 P6 D9 P# L"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
' C# H% o; H2 U2 N% N) xoff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
# ^2 B, c3 F. iTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
; N e9 \) Z( ~+ Y- F. O' l: ], a* yprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
0 c/ R* f: d; r2 b& `6 M1 n1 Hbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls" B' b; Z8 y& O6 Z! y
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
4 h! r% k# i% z. Oevery question."
% S; g, {) s6 `3 \$ xToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
% ] u3 j; b* Z8 f0 X- L, Uelectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The% I) L3 f% Y4 P, M
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But8 h* j# y: ?0 V- o! q F0 N$ H
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
5 ]; `5 U/ {8 _2 a0 m( T/ b& C( Hnumber of vehicles9 D5 [/ w$ w! O# L% g
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more
f( M/ j' M; _- J& Z. L+ k9 Y4 adifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
% W' \: { F' H+ V+ o# P& Wmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one" n) ]3 G6 L+ d4 c+ w! W: u
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
& B% G o, Q6 `" s a! h4 b; B" ^Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
& Z, B" ~; t) b2 `+ t6 `9 Kwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no5 l9 H; k+ k2 c3 ?' [6 Y5 L" T4 T* C+ _
trace at all.
/ d s D: x% Y; o2 pHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call& M% S; V& u h1 }% B1 \3 F( @
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
3 R! q* B# a/ D3 e/ `% Bacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
$ ~. [2 y% U- S3 [5 Zrecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.. r1 m; U. f5 x% u3 _
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
* z. A. p2 x* }) S& J# q; }5 w2 d4 Usaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
2 r* s. }# e: R' Iother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
2 f" s" O9 F: ^* zelectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
0 @- r6 o- b# _+ U6 n2 |cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only' J' [ o7 k7 \3 [# u
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained/ f1 ~# x; ^' j0 w2 D1 A9 Z
by Toyota's lawyers."9 ]( k1 e3 W% K2 {" T& i& R; v
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
$ S \ }% |" L0 I$ W3 nproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
: T+ G( z! `# L! L' \customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
' o* e o, S Q4 u: m8 fsaid." b5 z d- x% f3 v
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
" y8 i3 B1 w; E8 K/ _; e6 Ja rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
8 u; `+ F# A) E* Q) m& A/ A" Lgood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating- v. a# g; E$ j: H+ ?
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.( V" m7 x, R# s8 `7 H
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
! {# Q5 ^# h. K# v8 U& Z5 V& |members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
% R. s2 y; ^7 L: drancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the4 ?( T/ X) M. o7 c
automaker, at least in part because of the government's
1 s- ?" O/ E! R$ K: P# {+ {2 Pinvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and F& d. m* f" r! ]& X
Chrysler.
/ P1 l( G* B- {"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax( R( E* m; S: ?3 a5 Y
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
5 P/ S/ J W% L0 LHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also1 N3 K' g, j. F+ ~3 N
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete" X7 S# b, r/ n6 k
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
$ c1 @! g& G4 z. l4 jtough."3 c+ p: K7 R# P, H3 R' m |+ @
---5 ?4 V/ Y- T( |5 p' g
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
: i, M R3 H/ ZRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
: ^' C5 F1 X0 Q* o% z8 @+ Qthis story.4 @; G0 c. W F$ k. S1 A
/ B# o: t8 T7 v. Y-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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