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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/ a. G: f0 q! c5 L. m
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
& p* S$ c X8 TWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.6 V4 g+ a$ S9 T. }- d" A
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that# q4 [( {1 W9 v8 _' A
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
: Y) @, W; u8 o3 J3 {( S# nsolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.2 l) x6 o; o( U$ L
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential( N+ r* z; t( e( r" c2 U! T
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.7 g: \% r! O. q% m
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
# Z' D7 o7 N) d xacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and1 @+ H3 Y: W0 g$ I# ]
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
5 s/ U3 N) D( Lmats and sticking accelerator pedals., W! S" @2 W& g0 U+ E
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
! w% V) l1 }8 B; q+ Cand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
0 \/ @; p6 V$ dcriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be9 F5 M. ~, m1 W4 P) x9 }
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
1 G" h* l; E0 G* ~not stop her runaway Lexus.
' l8 G- e8 F% u; ^7 [8 W3 B"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,, M! o! i+ m! @( e
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
! W u' h. E Q"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
: W6 w2 k. P2 F3 w# b! rTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues2 s0 E8 i( L b* P
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
! g `! i' Q* w8 b0 {5 Y"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
$ Q" ^( t. U* [1 v. u6 cdone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway8 _3 c, J: g5 ]' o' U# ]% E+ m
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
# S+ X1 [! ~; L0 y( J* z' ?3 Jinvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."0 U5 A4 Y7 v$ c* o4 m) E$ m
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an" b4 Y& g+ ]1 Z& l" ^( K; m7 I
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of6 s& m9 f9 x9 Z. y0 H G" Q* Y
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
8 e% o U; K/ L, i$ x" h: P1 ]5 [; imalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he9 p6 h, R8 P) Y) o. |
said.7 q* z! Z* p0 C3 \/ X3 J. l
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
+ Y: [: Y% _' _( S& @4 khappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe6 L7 f$ K3 f1 C* ] J( C% {! H
about driving our products," Lentz said.
1 i' ~. e7 Y: H2 @! w) O2 WThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
6 ?- \6 z3 V& d8 cproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has v% R7 `4 U+ [4 R- ~
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
- _3 q* n7 x; i1 c0 T! Omillion in the United States -- since last fall because of6 P9 y" a( Z9 K4 @, `
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
( ]; ~; o1 \8 {2 l4 I, j5 ]9 `issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
& G' {/ H4 ^% U/ { g% cconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of1 F# c4 E6 W. i" D% l5 x9 }
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow7 d& o A5 \3 F1 N
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
$ }" E/ l3 I9 M3 \received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
6 {1 L$ p0 W& w* n: ?4 ^! {of Toyota vehicles since 2000.0 e; b* ^1 @8 N Z* [/ D; p
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own; w# C" R3 t3 v0 w2 q
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he/ B1 d, |$ E% k: E
understood the pain.
6 C2 y6 P7 x& U* L% }; w1 z"I know what those families go through," he said.
" z$ ?- t; \ kLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
, i9 ]1 m, Y7 L6 dfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.4 _/ B1 n8 D* y; _' Z8 @, o
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman6 F. ?$ ^" g8 c4 N" P( b3 R
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put e) [3 }0 Y6 b/ Y. W# d4 j1 U8 q
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
6 a9 L9 e5 ~% A% c: Z' x8 d: QLentz replied: "Not totally.": p( I8 W( E" h/ \2 U
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
2 x' @+ C. k) p2 i"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
) E" \7 h0 ]2 e/ h' ~6 J1 {Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas& }2 Y' h2 K0 T( K) [, t. y
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its, Y. _' {! X) f( F
vehicles already on the road.
* h# C- b' x |4 v+ GMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify* M. X) g j6 Z# E- n* T( e
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
1 E. X9 ~/ C5 |responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
" t- D6 r% d9 }# ?. `" D+ hoffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
% }% V/ Z8 D& }killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
5 i' Y" }. Q7 F }6 S4 @ ?"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a# n$ T( m! n m
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
2 m. d: S. q/ V* ofor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
/ ~" K9 b1 R4 WCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
" B( P! D6 u& f. mcommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
6 S' f2 P+ }3 r J8 crestore the trust of our customers."0 b) _6 m; I- u A5 ^+ m! D
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from8 {8 q: Z; i. B" q
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
L% j# z* U- ^3 h: izoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
* X. p# G& T: K% X1 f/ V( ?shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and9 U% q. x# j/ j& Q( u1 t' C
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough; `) D( n3 m1 \7 K3 v) S, U
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
) l! w$ {3 B2 j" iturn off the engine.7 F9 O# H! O! p1 A
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of8 G. f+ j. S+ ] p1 F7 d& u9 m" `, Q; T) H
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
% i* ?8 b. P3 M' {0 D* `: H6 V"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she8 c" A' N/ w4 g9 x
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond" v( b: d$ v! F# Z: W& {
to her complaints.
" n4 l# a, E; O& U% JIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
) p" V! w+ K9 z2 creturned again and again to the question of whether electronic/ ^4 ^1 C& ]1 t, f F5 i6 |
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.. ` a& s' |% l$ u. v- p" _% `5 M
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
7 v1 D1 \) g( A5 |9 i- tthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
, T+ ^5 |3 ?; m: `( t"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut# o: c0 e5 m7 r5 S% m
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
. O9 o* y& H' N0 [: ]0 ]: W' t8 WTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
2 }& @! Q& ^6 Y! E/ s3 B4 ~prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
4 z" [* N2 Q" ~5 Hbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
; v8 b: F: V: j2 O n \were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer; F" d% h4 ]" |/ p5 P: P
every question."1 Z( B. }% e7 ?8 B
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether$ u$ a, v3 u* ~, D
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The' ~( y% j1 Q U. j
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But2 K1 |. I$ I4 f, n# o" q" O- o
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
$ N- L6 ^/ ~) R5 f2 cnumber of vehicles
; x. S, b% V5 A) @0 STracking down an electrical problem can be far more% I, c9 ?4 `4 B9 v0 }% K
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a# p0 j5 |0 e/ e+ T
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one& X0 D6 e: w; W6 Y% H! v0 ]
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car. ?- ]. R% J4 G2 l# o& Y
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,* G! w' x4 @1 K! R# E
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no+ [# G: M' L1 ? ^
trace at all.( Z: u( `6 N- b/ ?: M! ?6 J# ^
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call: F4 J0 v0 g- R o! Y
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden3 J! q9 L8 P. R* x/ L4 E& E% m- b. s
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the9 ?: Z* U$ u7 v. N
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.. T& e' K" v O
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
. N2 ~- ~. A9 P; jsaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
" Y8 K) [0 i, G+ l$ bother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the! l: P0 Z; B5 g: x [. w3 C8 ?
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
: _- j: _0 ~/ |& ^7 J* Ccause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
5 U; C. A7 k) y2 Ksuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
( i" c: t2 d; l" Cby Toyota's lawyers."
6 n( `& a% H' @1 @* Y9 ?, ILentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of% m4 D/ n5 @6 j2 w
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our" R6 k. U. s/ ~- E; h! m5 r
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
) S( J" Z5 m k) A+ r) Csaid.5 E- I% q z( ?8 n+ w% e
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with8 c; f5 H1 d6 ]% i
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
8 b5 D+ X: K% l. F, b: Bgood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
! G6 B: d# P: B' j0 }+ cofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.) p) U0 H6 q# G
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying; W! q! w% |/ T" h! O, y
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
, W+ s( X j9 i. A# v( K' E) Arancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
: e- L% K. p* h- e( bautomaker, at least in part because of the government's
7 m* P% M; x7 h( uinvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and9 n& \. S5 P& T+ V3 r. ?
Chrysler.; `. j: Z9 Q& c
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
6 S! R3 c4 Y+ J" G. H" N/ ]dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
. x, j3 g& R& q5 W+ g, xHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
, q- I! C( R/ h4 t) t% wserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete6 h5 _. K e& _5 I% J- D2 {
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
e- u0 O3 `2 Xtough."
/ r8 a! O1 _* V3 c2 j---
2 J* e* p# i0 U6 ^$ GAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom4 A- q+ D+ y, h. r
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to$ x2 |: `/ S- Q' C! n' ?
this story.# L" Y9 p2 q7 t2 J7 C/ d
( L$ a! q4 }/ n) h# i& q2 i4 w
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