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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
) ^9 H! {" K% D" f0 mBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
0 J) c: v, C/ v2 |& c# X5 nWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
" f! F; V( q; T Aoperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
- D/ f* C# v: Ethe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"1 C' q3 ^, V0 X( J5 z' g
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.1 R+ @0 k# k- h7 h
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential, M4 I2 \5 k# D+ U* N- J2 Q
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.; ]: Y2 ]/ I! ]: [" @* Y
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
' x5 x" |3 v3 ?acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
& F. X: |* L( Etrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor. [5 k! K- H1 f) e+ D) r- l" { z
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.
8 L' Z- X5 \4 y. l3 t1 c! NHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
* _6 A2 Q' i( a) _, A4 jand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp; p- B: ^5 {1 a# g% O7 Q* ~6 M
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
( y6 e8 `5 ?9 ^4 tfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
" x0 f# u9 ]9 V2 Pnot stop her runaway Lexus.
, C5 Q; C: l. H h0 H"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,- ]. B9 @' p' x5 }% A6 p& W0 |8 Q/ ?
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second6 J, K- u& v7 V; [* d
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.! q4 ^, F) R$ _5 o2 d3 s
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
, J0 [9 i/ O/ B. t+ ?early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
% O7 z0 u, Y$ y* p) x, F4 j"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has4 w* [) u) G4 ~+ [
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway5 {. { B9 {4 @* H, Z4 H
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
. G) f5 t0 h# v1 S4 [# k& z1 q5 ~7 rinvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."' J6 T/ L$ ^& ?% ]
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
6 x3 q; T! g& ?' }2 |; p+ Yelectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
8 b. \/ ?" N) q8 r/ \" R" l; y- ythe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
5 O; m, i3 _2 P" u& Nmalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
! [; L; F( h- \8 \said.
4 j4 |. R; A( ~2 zAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
: K# I+ l# ^! Y: e) M- Y% _6 |happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
9 p, G0 P( ?$ i; T5 aabout driving our products," Lentz said.6 ?$ e/ L, v4 Y: @% S
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's/ y: h8 [. F5 O+ h
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
: ~# @ X3 A% o& o$ ^recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6( G% ]. k7 @1 e$ u# l7 e: u' S
million in the United States -- since last fall because of) e# d$ ], n. K& m
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking" m1 `. y0 z7 }7 x2 b+ A. |
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering# I* S$ _, I$ a( v' s7 `* t# X9 v
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
9 m9 B; E2 f; e) f# R: l4 f, ltheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow/ x6 @7 Y W/ l. ~+ k1 J& ?% ?
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has# ?# U4 S& |* M( v+ v% y
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
' _1 k- J$ x+ P2 D+ b8 t( Lof Toyota vehicles since 2000.
' b: l* \& R$ R) g" VLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own( l0 _. `) Y9 K% C% w& r a* F' m
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
- c6 H0 q$ f- m) k0 O5 Kunderstood the pain.
7 W# t: h% e3 V% P, t1 ["I know what those families go through," he said.
- }1 k) f/ N2 s& a2 ALentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
/ [; m( N- O" w8 m$ Yfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
1 L! U# {. y7 lBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman# W& N2 @5 U" a& W8 G5 u
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
, S0 i, g8 T% e$ X! z9 vin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,1 O3 T# B/ ~! q" D
Lentz replied: "Not totally.", h3 ^/ ] I' H: `: N
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
1 [5 |; M3 e+ I( U"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
7 b# y' r1 x0 X* E8 G) t% FToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas% J2 [/ k# e6 `" M- s. K- F
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its6 y+ j- W2 C" a& K# K+ J0 V0 q+ d
vehicles already on the road.( E5 p3 N4 U) a. Z" w# V2 _$ ?
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
3 x/ B* b6 ~: G# Nbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
0 ~1 P" g7 }4 U6 z2 J( Bresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
. O& V/ i% e( l' i7 ~offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were# h7 S8 F, M* r( G2 R( H$ `' S
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
$ t: ~, O' g7 |! B"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a& ^1 Y; k# z( v* V; e
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
) C2 z5 G7 U1 E# d9 W& }for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
6 ]! }2 x5 y; N$ x$ \Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal4 O% F! B2 ^6 E+ h& S
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to* {! M3 r4 O3 V0 I1 Z
restore the trust of our customers."
$ `4 ?# J7 z# a3 N, R: gLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from3 d& A- x9 k- w2 U
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly" h1 D- \. a V1 {8 [4 B% M
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --, f7 T; @/ i! l
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
7 l; N8 q/ O- ^% Ghitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough7 u/ @2 y* J4 w g
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
0 v& u, L: S" \& x# Z5 |2 Jturn off the engine.. D% A' k) G. {3 V
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
: |9 w" F% i, {8 M- r E/ B6 KOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience.", l( q( R* c) K# D% x9 e" F
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she3 g) d% Y! B8 M5 |
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond; g1 \; w6 i j6 G
to her complaints./ k6 }# Z3 ^( E9 t
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
5 a$ o# o# @6 p# x8 i/ `returned again and again to the question of whether electronic! Q4 _& I& c- c
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
* C- y, L# s7 |4 Z, L& N0 @"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric+ s( ~- k- ~& m) I$ `6 `/ l. S
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited6 J& \! G" a% _; q& I3 v7 Z; f5 f
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
# V$ u8 X% n! m: b8 |off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
" D& `7 V, D, ITransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in4 L' `5 X3 k. v3 U
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
$ `8 P- t! q! W+ M* R# }being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
* S2 }2 \8 B8 y4 O+ O$ |were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
5 Y: ?. X0 }( T r$ Ievery question." n1 }' `3 C( w8 j% s* _
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
- k# e* O0 C L! |$ e/ _6 ^electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
6 N. O6 K, }9 Zfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But& y9 |1 ?, ^+ h
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
' }' i! Y) Y1 i( f, C5 y" Vnumber of vehicles: q$ e, _" C/ v; b
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more
- Z! O& m' c' }2 X! W) odifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a& ~3 J; S# k& h3 `
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one4 s% _4 B$ A i; k: b
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.6 F0 z( e8 Z; t; l9 l. i
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
0 ?9 e8 e6 e# `. a2 nwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no, |$ v) C+ Y" E5 O2 f ~& ]! M
trace at all.
3 n) ~4 }# Y6 i* C$ [$ Q6 c* DHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
3 i' e9 B( }9 E5 @database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
: Y* |) F @/ K8 ~* uacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
+ S) `( S+ |/ B+ n" R8 Irecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals./ T) q2 h+ { t4 c; k! y
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,( o1 \/ O S5 @8 R0 ~
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
2 b8 d& @. @1 ^, a; g$ H Nother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
- m# {7 a4 R4 Q; _8 |7 Oelectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
% W1 S( h9 s- J' C% vcause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only% n+ R" u7 ~, J! Y# _$ Z* V
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained9 G# M- r! D( Y: ?* `
by Toyota's lawyers."
3 Y, N6 g% m' z2 R7 c+ o7 N I. CLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of7 r! Z7 q" i; O$ d. l
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our: M6 T$ ^# T6 Z Q6 K& ^9 A
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
' B7 d- K3 Y* P# r3 @7 c" w) r" n1 q. wsaid.; b! R1 R i9 h! f
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with6 v) R$ g& X- c% D) \7 `
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
) a: F- q5 E' w. G4 u4 ngood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
# S3 j6 D% N3 _officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
3 F: @2 k& A$ T, {0 ~* I6 W9 `Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
9 x/ r1 n$ }( Q. qmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread' k4 }9 w x' D7 N
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the) x2 |* H+ l: R! R% p
automaker, at least in part because of the government's
9 p$ v L' [4 r' R% einvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
/ N ?* L5 U- @/ {Chrysler.0 k7 Y7 p; s" r3 V1 W& N
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax$ d# C+ y! M: ^0 V
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
) P4 z$ Y/ V% T6 g2 Y4 Z3 bHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
1 p& b1 A0 b( J7 W1 H# l" ]; eserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
$ K E3 j( w* |8 T. r" q# B2 mwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty9 N& s; N) U* q) n6 o1 V- r
tough."5 N9 d4 f; o3 k0 J
---: K* L1 h( L( m7 y. h
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
; U2 D0 ?4 c8 I2 U* nRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
$ R1 l! o4 y2 f6 p3 ]! ~$ j, c( zthis story.
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