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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
1 T. ~' a: Q' SBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
) O1 R4 j, R5 w( w4 p0 cWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
* l* N; O2 y% I- x6 M+ J6 Soperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
* P) d! _0 U! \$ U- R: y3 ^" `the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
+ l7 M' {8 {6 Z7 x1 i0 f! Tsolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.& k, d! R8 H; D
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential9 f) ]+ h- p% u
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
/ D) r. J. E G) \4 o. r- bHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected$ C& L1 v) h ?5 ~$ [
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
6 o9 w8 R4 C' u$ I' j# ltrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
) H4 `1 }+ D. O& {( c5 R) f( Cmats and sticking accelerator pedals.
; u! q3 \- W- @& L5 C6 jHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
" z3 e \# i% r2 V; @7 e; d5 M: r& S4 Vand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp) x# {9 }( e M, V, c0 Q% E: p
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
! D! w; n3 e# ]+ M0 ?1 ]! nfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could6 y) P- Q9 n+ q5 `
not stop her runaway Lexus.
: T3 U- J& H2 N5 F, T"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
0 X V6 n( X$ [" ^ s: oTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
$ W6 A$ I5 f- y/ T+ L"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
4 G. l5 f8 [6 A" ~# C2 X8 MTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
1 r& v! Z% D u% f% d' Uearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said o; m7 \1 F/ C
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has0 X; f. W4 u }5 \
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
) k( j/ Q& q: h; y5 e; Wthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's5 Z# j6 _/ v% Q/ l2 l2 v; ^, I
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."- f. @: f0 P. M9 j9 [
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
* x4 C) }2 F) n7 O% Welectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of- a5 C; v9 ]* g
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
* M; c. i5 ?% x" amalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
, e. V* _" S v9 C! F+ u. f' isaid.
5 f" S6 @6 o3 i# G' RAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
; _7 \ t2 l4 N' O+ _7 ghappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
( ]6 ` P: G0 m5 Wabout driving our products," Lentz said.
* ^- @1 {4 s4 b2 |" A- W: XThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
( m' V: r+ E" I$ x4 x1 Fproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has$ } U; u+ ~7 X( \6 q
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6" e. }- L/ D% `1 C1 \5 n
million in the United States -- since last fall because of8 [4 w9 L9 e- J; f+ p! F
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
) S# a8 e) c, z) d9 Iissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
* W: w3 T8 Q! T. m+ o5 k' Wconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
( R( u: ~& h& r- K7 k# O8 Ptheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
( _0 n( F+ @2 R( H6 s2 J7 |down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
5 L+ f' X% D+ b( X# creceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
& n1 j# G: C. P, c+ ]. H# Rof Toyota vehicles since 2000.
+ z4 p" e5 Z' R3 {9 e+ n+ b, [8 J# ZLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
# w7 @( C( q, N/ K! Ubrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he D. w* C! L8 L9 Q
understood the pain.7 {& u* W$ E4 r
"I know what those families go through," he said.- p3 P; L1 H: O
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's: y0 K/ A: J0 A* n& |
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.4 m s0 ]+ C' U2 k# P/ w6 s
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
9 B H: C/ v3 a& O0 |Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put' {" V& i# R$ ]* d' q
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
1 m) D. E+ W" y; p' @% \3 K% {Lentz replied: "Not totally."
0 Z% C6 @) m# T; c# F, Z% \1 S! i6 yStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were' D4 R1 z3 P! P; I2 M
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said* V& B) j C4 s0 F- Y! @* h, Z
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas0 M" z$ P/ q8 F# p, u) Y2 d% B3 m
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its! J0 f, a2 K/ y* g7 L5 ~# f
vehicles already on the road.$ B# b. D: F% X2 n" w
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
" C/ l0 r2 ]( j3 F! x/ jbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
4 _4 a0 Q9 f' W7 A9 _2 Z# P3 gresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and" v( B8 E$ |. G# s/ {
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were8 U" a' T: `/ B/ m0 J7 V
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
, @. R# f' A% P# H" U0 p"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a% O9 k; x% S# V3 R& X
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
8 m/ s/ a) F5 u7 nfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight0 w7 M) I% H. ~" `) g: k6 b" y' \
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
- A% C# M* D+ P5 b3 Ecommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to0 d7 |) C, |7 R0 C' G# q, y
restore the trust of our customers."
0 U1 X: w1 d- ]2 n9 S9 i6 bLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from3 Z' @( J! Q ?
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly# I& ` T% O A4 D' E- C
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
* F5 G/ V& Q- _* L, d/ }6 yshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and# W% v0 P: h+ [ H Q {3 K5 q* I
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
0 X# @4 e! n2 ~- b) v }that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and) _# N- v+ m( P) f; P
turn off the engine.
2 q& B) h6 I+ v; H R! J" j0 v( P" jFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of3 A, g: h w, P! C8 T) f
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
b( K. `3 C1 L; ^* I"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
8 j+ h% v, z7 i8 U: N' T; r: P2 C6 Rsaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond1 Z8 _: _& {; J3 A5 q) @" O
to her complaints.
( C$ t& \; `( @5 ^/ AIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
7 i, J* B8 l) C. `& I) l1 }returned again and again to the question of whether electronic5 u1 o2 L4 l! Q: V( n
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
1 q8 i. c: _0 W3 j& \5 ["We are confident that no problems exist with the electric( M1 d* A+ B! l+ j8 ?8 |4 b2 v
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited; z/ P$ c, F/ O4 w$ x, `/ ~$ P+ ^
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
. \/ ~2 P' G& Ioff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."; z9 S* X# W" h9 R- k6 m
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in- O" f* {, n+ A& }' U2 z/ G, L
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were; k* C' H1 H3 g" k% `
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
' W. t1 E2 d- s- l# Twere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
9 z, T5 \! }& x% g& O/ r8 Tevery question."
$ A6 W8 q0 P7 i) ]- |5 N$ uToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
# a2 y1 Q8 b1 B+ Yelectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
" `+ A: @% |& z, Z" a; Qfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But" `; P% w+ D/ h5 D; _
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
. n* V* m( S/ A! s) X# |" V, Z7 e* y6 ]number of vehicles7 @4 b' t0 T. {+ v8 u+ X
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more
- J- F8 k6 Z3 ~8 ndifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
6 E6 O$ V7 z) ]mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
( o# X# m [& D" Q8 H/ V1 N. e7 Usource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
3 ?5 o1 m2 H, ^0 cMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
3 D5 Z" e5 k* |where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no9 x# ?# ?. T4 r/ l0 s
trace at all.5 m- s3 T2 {( }1 N9 J( N- C# C
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
1 O7 X" u. @/ F* e4 R' }% Jdatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden7 Z- x" c# O, k4 D2 g0 f I
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
1 m; w( A3 J: N, s) J* w6 {recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.; |7 s3 |, y0 N+ Z8 J
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
& Q, r) E- C2 `- m! v& Z; m1 j2 hsaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
9 ?' A3 x% v% Y) q; @4 n7 A( Qother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
* D& n2 u+ v' w8 I" { B/ [7 jelectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible! v8 z3 l6 O3 |6 t, E* a" k
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only4 L, @9 z1 N+ W: t9 N$ R
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained6 ]$ q: C$ e& L$ t# c* V
by Toyota's lawyers."4 u- c$ ^: a( @$ k' m; {
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
& N0 c1 Z O: Z9 C0 B* t6 b, _problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
( J: e8 }- y% R3 x! [4 r' kcustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
. R$ S- G5 r, G! A: Esaid.0 i+ a2 p4 ^5 T5 [$ S3 U' p) W
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with9 b3 J0 \# _* I( i/ e' H
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
9 h( p- }. N7 ]( v5 N7 agood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating3 f" ?+ \9 w) b! P3 W( q4 z, i5 l
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
8 f# z2 G0 r8 y, FSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
7 t4 v6 s0 e( Zmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread# G- T8 e- Q; w. E0 w, u( U* U
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the9 {- K) I. W; n6 C- c
automaker, at least in part because of the government's) Y' \4 {% I, K" Q% E. i& y
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and- y, h) S9 j \( j- q1 @" s
Chrysler.
0 S5 K2 m: x( }" R J, S"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax+ e( o7 j; M3 v3 y% c: j
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a3 B/ `1 m, I5 \+ B
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also" F) @" ]- Y; ^7 U
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
! ~$ L2 x. Q! g# A% I/ v+ r! S. Lwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
! ?; N/ N1 l' K+ \8 A3 K/ @/ ?( ftough."
8 a& s' ]: e" o. @---0 t6 `- B7 G) a2 b
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom3 F! E. Z( P% X- S& ~4 A
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to5 D! X; l5 }% `1 U) n3 Q$ q
this story.
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