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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
, x- G+ k7 ?+ o. ?1 T4 T# fBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS# Y7 Z: X7 @) g+ {
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S., W# f, F8 D. u# {
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
$ e6 M/ E& ]) B5 I+ ]the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
2 w0 k1 ~# I% x* `solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.8 w$ g/ V! |; R. q
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
* w( p; I8 u2 ^! v# _! Jcauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
- ~# R% \8 u$ ]. u% ?% ]However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected8 d; @& f; J s& B7 v4 Y$ S" g: s
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and# H% }- f! I. X7 D
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
s0 s( Z) x: Y3 G# s( {( D9 n l, Bmats and sticking accelerator pedals.
& I& `0 J+ O) tHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal, p6 S1 v! R" V$ F, j, T
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
" C' Y6 `- E+ Scriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
3 D4 i8 W1 Q8 ~6 ?& F8 yfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
" R. p" b# \. x' H" Inot stop her runaway Lexus.
5 {+ _: Y6 R- q( \ ]; W"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
. y t9 O7 z* y4 H6 _5 DTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second$ \. H/ v+ @7 _5 z, m7 }/ E
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.- r# A- ~: w7 a6 G
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
! n* B }" f1 P7 }8 I9 ?early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
, J' [% d8 x5 \: w2 o* f"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has/ N+ G& X: p) L6 x
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
, C. `# @+ ^, _6 H( nthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's5 j6 l. J( R2 c. W
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham.": x/ l6 z& `( Z
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an' U) b) W& R+ ]+ Q! d
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
$ X. `$ `3 e8 g& J3 p/ r5 w' Xthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
' M2 q" K( Z5 R5 n) {& @6 Q5 Pmalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
9 k Z$ o4 a& E4 u3 l4 ^said.
) i5 z. R/ O/ DAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
/ o5 S: u; b3 a$ qhappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe& ?$ o" N9 a( v- \
about driving our products," Lentz said.0 H: G i* @' ]8 P% U4 t& x- N% ]5 d
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's4 T5 }4 h% e* E: E/ t# O
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has3 F. r0 S. O* ?; g$ w/ A
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6) M6 {5 p8 B% F3 l9 e" D- w
million in the United States -- since last fall because of
9 `* H; Y8 ^- q0 g: g6 B l8 d, Punintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
/ f! l0 y" u+ Tissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering2 L4 V- N7 w% i8 E9 i
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of# |, f3 \- t: k7 V
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow5 K; n2 o& ~1 l/ ^; l4 R
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
* k/ J: r6 }# F! E9 xreceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration" F1 V5 q R& v5 x4 S
of Toyota vehicles since 2000./ N! n. l5 \9 G* X/ h
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own! d p' n) s: Y- h: w5 w
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
* b" f# F" t) [understood the pain.4 M9 m, g: _* x( W# G$ C8 H: [: h
"I know what those families go through," he said.3 J8 M& s! |* V& Q8 Z
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's" [, n7 c5 X$ g/ q' W
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.0 Q+ t( q- G6 j, J/ w. p" \
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
$ |# g- N6 f2 E) O0 s* pHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put6 u+ D" R b. N5 ?
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,% U& ? T9 o' |
Lentz replied: "Not totally."
) E- \( _+ R" |9 k9 ]( cStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
8 ?- H! f- E u3 H0 d"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said: ?* o+ g+ y, g! _
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas6 Q$ n7 v. b Y$ g
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its) h+ e% |: F z4 {4 s6 _
vehicles already on the road.# s4 q0 ?1 N6 m+ ^
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
, H+ x: w4 m- T$ @. k# dbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
- u. Q1 ?4 C5 a% s% Y' y' Jresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and# }+ I, c( Z- a0 S/ V
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were! [. [3 y& L6 X0 j
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.! x. j1 O5 H) F+ t7 {- V; Z+ Q
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
7 O6 j, r+ s, Q* K9 h2 s" }7 @# Htragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony" O0 y2 B3 Q$ ~
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight+ ^# ?2 r+ Z9 ?! R
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
# E9 I, T& J) y+ L- q, Q: o5 jcommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to' S; C8 C6 A( s V/ I
restore the trust of our customers."
- ?9 F( ^$ }2 sLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from( H) \# a7 H# O g- i
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly6 \6 J% ^0 A$ p5 R' [$ R, }
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --4 V) ^8 @ [/ a% S s- p! q, B
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and9 N6 |: i q. T b& v h
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough/ L" m A8 l- Y+ a
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and7 L- l% b! |) j8 B) a
turn off the engine.
! U! t$ l( t- Y* q* cFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
, t, o, @7 f, t6 w, h WOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."4 H/ h) f6 M' y
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
; C+ ?5 I L" N% y5 U( i! l4 p6 zsaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
6 [& D8 u# x& A. w$ K* w( Mto her complaints.
B$ m/ S; J& R+ V9 W1 cIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers# f4 V3 ?' u' k) x( w) U4 X- _
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic, h! n0 X) ?/ j i& Y
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
( q; g: w. \$ ~6 H; v/ M# K"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric- F, _! z ?9 d% d, ~; F9 i" n) S
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
: y5 J: x* H \"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut* r; B& p$ ~5 t
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
( x( }+ l1 u6 kTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in/ T- A7 O9 l" Y5 E
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
1 o' \0 `5 \! I5 V7 Rbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
4 O" e# h' f. U' Bwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer( y/ U) W- o% f- ~0 Y
every question."
, d2 M( s* |' W/ r( p+ j2 S5 k; QToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether4 I( P: v6 M& D: k4 U
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The, n) j3 O/ }8 M- ?" a: a ?- p# }
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
, e7 C" t4 z4 F. o6 Vcommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small- H, `) v6 x% S p( u% f8 b
number of vehicles1 g4 ^8 A- S9 J ]
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more% H1 v; A& Y0 h* x. w
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a- z3 l& J* H# m
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one6 v' }: d; X: A( f
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.$ ]- f" P6 \% \+ @# }+ j1 Z* B
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
8 h, p7 W8 I3 G8 U0 Fwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
' j! R2 ~. y0 [) ]trace at all.
! @: X& [' e+ _House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call5 M/ ?6 C: R% P# Y
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden! D" P& e* Q/ U4 r9 z+ P
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
8 `. v' T+ N K( k! q7 Mrecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
& Z) M' j% W$ h& D' d+ l" [9 l9 XRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,- u$ L& _% y# m2 p4 ~1 w% w1 N
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and5 l' u4 M& Y" _9 f
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the( g) V# y P% u& K# n4 D; k
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
3 C6 l( d8 |. j) M6 [' E) H* J% \: c1 ?) Ucause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
3 ~0 c7 {# x2 ~5 ?; dsuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained* t# E# w6 q0 ^7 D. N ^1 z
by Toyota's lawyers."
; m' Z" F2 C7 C$ A3 ]+ {+ L+ z( kLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of9 ~7 O$ c4 G) M6 a1 l9 O
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our8 y+ W Q' y3 [8 P8 h9 k# z
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
0 ^+ C% G6 i' }$ C. q7 Y3 _said.
- d. M; j. W; t"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with3 R. H1 a) z0 d* R" \' P, W3 |
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
& u, m) x& u5 y( c8 z, [6 cgood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
# h6 f" a9 m; Bofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
; i7 T5 d% y- Y$ T- O6 ySeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
* n& d8 t @/ L! }members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
8 I2 a, q2 g3 I( `0 F8 v3 z R2 Mrancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
3 G8 u- o r" {+ Wautomaker, at least in part because of the government's
% Q( L$ X4 U% H& Y5 c. y. v& `/ oinvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
4 f$ q+ F& e: l5 R9 M# YChrysler.1 ]' }; V/ j1 o" C: Z
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
5 H- I' Z) r+ a/ q& fdollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
( D% X, f6 p# _- eHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
- Q% X" `. K! `served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete* V8 q' Z1 \, X+ |; G3 Y: c
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
/ @" [: z' W2 ]6 t, ttough."4 k! X( K2 s+ V! r) `1 Q& I5 A: N
---" k. d! h, R: T% a; }
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
* u, B% C" y! f8 F# F4 Q6 KRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to2 G. N. c( I) [1 @ ?# h
this story.
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' a2 D0 j# d o+ g- }-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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