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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& r% D b) r( U! @( ^" w9 l) [) O
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS k$ {% G/ y/ }9 t
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.' s+ o2 v8 h" R4 c' a: \/ U/ w8 }
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
6 g0 V. u5 k5 b# C( M: p5 H- Mthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
7 w* H ^5 t% r+ d! v& m* csolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.+ {& f# x8 e9 K
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential. x* Z. k/ d0 B
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel., R. Z: O. N1 {0 }7 g; a2 O" S
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
7 j2 Y( j5 f; N9 ]4 Wacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
0 s9 E6 O0 ^) C4 ?1 otrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
/ [* }; _4 K, A: E$ x; m$ B& l! V. K" Qmats and sticking accelerator pedals.
' |" @" P! o! G \2 mHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal! P# k' q3 U. J1 V, F0 T' t
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp) n& V+ |# d) p t' J% b
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be; A& `. c- j$ p3 }3 K
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
7 K9 }# @. O& U' O8 Qnot stop her runaway Lexus.
n) i3 w( g) j2 {. z1 Q- G"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
3 M5 I( Q# r' E; kTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
' I# q2 S& ~+ _ v* F"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
/ C& O+ z( U9 N1 l2 A7 ~Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues+ H8 K2 b$ e; {- q: t
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said0 q; [2 n0 @7 x
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
4 `' |: H" T% C3 g( W/ i0 Wdone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
: l7 l: H9 Y% A& }through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's2 G4 ]3 E& {8 J/ F" U- ]5 Y
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."% K# m9 \7 Z1 ^ j" N; Y4 @
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an+ P% }% P% X+ q8 o
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of/ a; F9 u2 A Y( l3 K, F" R! q) O
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a h" \) g- V p* ^8 F
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he) _- x4 t7 Y. _$ A' G
said.6 [* r% M% Z5 |% f. k- n
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what7 H3 J' h) p' K/ W
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
- t) G/ |' d; Q3 E# G5 @8 `; `about driving our products," Lentz said.- ]4 T p! {/ p3 E; F) q: Q
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
6 T9 z4 f$ N$ x4 gproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has" r( ~- p* b: O5 Y2 v
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 67 y: Z7 s2 z& R! y5 c0 a' {
million in the United States -- since last fall because of
W* S: A) D7 d$ Uunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking7 T' j1 m( k6 h! B" Y
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
8 M) q( o3 s9 Y+ `" @concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of/ T: }% k6 P" r8 A& W0 s* a
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
$ q- B' y; z6 Odown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has0 }$ N+ Z1 d! }* W
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
" _. n; ]% n: u" O* ~5 uof Toyota vehicles since 2000. G" r* N$ h2 G" v7 ~
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
" m6 K% [+ s- z7 S0 Z/ R( qbrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
2 E4 U4 q; O( y% M. N$ V6 ~: c% Yunderstood the pain.5 D1 Y4 N$ m* d& l( B, {
"I know what those families go through," he said.
2 l7 M* e# \5 {5 N5 b% RLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
. ^( e0 w1 P+ u! b; g8 E' ~fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.0 K) S q5 b: C: _3 Z. d4 P9 f
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman2 B- G3 p6 [/ ~ l/ k7 S! k
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
_$ P# G# u" T1 E/ S. Oin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
1 f; s& Y* a/ O' c0 ^, _1 tLentz replied: "Not totally."
3 [* _, n" I) [+ M; {Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
/ }2 w* T9 O4 r6 A5 @6 [' R1 W. l"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
: D9 ~4 J: a+ jToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas2 H' O; H; A9 e, \7 T4 s
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
5 V" m0 X$ g4 U, lvehicles already on the road.( U8 v% I% k% M9 A. A
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify! L* ?2 d1 z3 k8 M1 |, ~! G& H
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full! V* |9 @" m' L% U' X4 I
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
* w7 S- t9 K3 W& i3 o2 F$ Ooffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
/ s6 n2 M- W3 y7 B9 ]) g' @' Qkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.- B, |6 J- {8 E/ g4 c5 q/ X; N
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
3 j; f v5 F5 x2 D# S, [; Atragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
- N, I) b% f$ U( a+ A# Z# S3 @9 t2 ^0 Sfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
) k' M$ G! o) y" U. DCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
* `" P) C. ?6 N3 ~+ @commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
4 Y' \7 t% K! ~6 H" l, qrestore the trust of our customers."6 Q) @+ o% p9 r3 V
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
7 }) M$ \1 Q, \- B) dSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly, N1 z; c( {- [! `% N4 b
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
? ?: H. F s H) R$ Pshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and1 r" a: G7 _6 Z
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
; [# E+ d, j6 O$ t& n) |that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and( B0 m/ l2 @8 t( W. G% l
turn off the engine.- i! ~' Y; y: \% y6 X% Y1 i
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of+ Q9 e7 a6 d" v; }& @
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
% {8 ~) q% h# n6 |' e' s"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
! n' Y0 @+ }- i8 s# qsaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond" U4 t; K) p. j3 \" g7 v+ v7 X
to her complaints.
4 T" g9 h& D" I& ^. xIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
5 ~5 {3 w4 u+ U" D# b3 ~# B& greturned again and again to the question of whether electronic3 O9 H& l9 F# x) \5 p' z) q
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.2 [: z5 O: A/ p6 |% L; c" z- t
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric" ?1 H7 v% x F& o0 ^
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited$ M; N& V' I+ f1 F
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
. ~1 }; a4 {. f1 \8 G; t6 M( aoff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."+ ?; f" X% @' B5 t5 a
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
# S3 _7 u7 U, M" t8 Hprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
4 ^+ U+ U" ^; M% u; vbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls( X; g; x7 j# I" c6 }
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer, J& f( H) n1 ]8 @4 r
every question.": M* e: S' b. {2 R
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
" n* `& b. Z# S3 _" |6 Felectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The/ C6 `" K {$ c7 p! L0 _( ~
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
6 G/ g! h* a+ g. @( D3 ^; C: a& ?- q$ zcommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small
! v) g$ j+ L: c, K0 Q- @number of vehicles
0 D' ^$ w5 \- U$ B9 g JTracking down an electrical problem can be far more
5 _) n3 B6 O V/ t7 A$ n0 ndifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
j. D4 D. j8 x9 L& I" Wmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one( e7 X2 |6 o( z$ R$ |
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
& a6 l: u( t4 J& j! zMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,! w, }" I9 z1 A( z( x% I! j
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no% T7 _' |0 g& I" f
trace at all.
/ w8 {$ C. {; M+ `5 `' V' yHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
5 n. e) S) ]- u+ P( V; }database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
9 S0 R8 D: i/ F3 u1 G9 cacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
/ O5 J% v, ~& l. zrecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
* e# a- D7 j0 l yRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
. @4 T2 Y& R& F2 m! Zsaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and' X* ^; j; \0 m, @9 E( Q1 h
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
; I6 G1 @* w0 w) @9 W5 v/ eelectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
4 ^1 e( p& n1 L; m+ m! M( V" h- icause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only6 Y/ i2 h/ O6 ]/ \; p' y. e) z
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained) H$ u# B& S1 z$ F* o5 q7 v
by Toyota's lawyers.". e) a7 o5 v# H( Z7 U' W$ F+ K# k
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
. H- @3 x* J# \7 C5 K" mproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our: Z+ z$ ~/ n% L# a u# n! s( j
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
' X% {# ^2 M/ b! ~said.2 ~( E( E$ l# q& o+ h
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with4 R5 u6 M# F1 a" T( j& N* g D
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our, T( X& F) E- u7 t4 G
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
+ p5 z9 E9 T% E, J8 Fofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.2 }, k- b3 @0 M/ c' y6 M; {
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying5 _8 r, D1 h G |0 K
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread7 r9 p' H% g) `, h3 k
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
9 q& D" }% w/ s, d& }automaker, at least in part because of the government's) J" N8 B" J* }
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
6 V! T6 o6 h- _ R, K7 \/ cChrysler.% p% l$ h \( e3 M% u. I5 I, R
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
6 J8 N! s! W- y( E4 \dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a+ v& X8 Z: v1 Q9 F( K
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
. g- m" E% P% s6 X! c3 Kserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete7 h, E2 {* G2 i. g; p
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty) I" N3 y7 p( p; w: g( F4 V, |
tough."$ k9 G$ i9 r& m+ i0 G1 I/ {
---$ O* h+ c3 l" V3 Z# i
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
$ G8 [! P; ~- R/ c5 I9 N6 QRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to1 @* f6 z* e$ ?! k$ K
this story.! V. ]2 L9 |& N: W/ X/ P- M
1 i: B7 _$ o3 x4 a-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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