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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
0 ?9 h, {- ]2 p# ~. w; E0 CBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS+ |/ p' {6 `8 ] K* N
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
# r$ D) X% [3 u8 toperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that- W, X8 Y; m0 A- q5 f2 {: B
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally": @7 x: t+ ^2 [' W x
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.' C8 B5 y4 p. r4 J5 X5 c7 U+ f
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential! R& F+ s9 F% b3 G6 v3 Z% a
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
" J/ r& ?# M! u( \* M6 ZHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
4 m2 G( {' {! |! G2 jacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
3 h- R7 Q6 J$ b- Utrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor! f, f7 S, r0 F6 z# V4 {
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.
( Q8 B" I2 N% rHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal9 A+ U1 g6 o4 U/ P, F2 i8 \: h
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp0 S1 E& o" e- x4 Z% H3 X
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
( F) j! H4 n |2 @further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
* Y$ O( {* O* ?* R$ enot stop her runaway Lexus.
2 {; G/ Y3 i. P2 I$ g"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville, f) @. }+ K2 z* u# Q. Y! b
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
; |+ E5 d$ n+ ]" r+ p! [) @, l' _"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.- ]; I' v# [. O3 z. o; v
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
. G- l8 h- A; M2 bearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
* f% {3 \/ p; J/ ~9 Y- S6 ["We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
$ t! N; ]" U. M% r$ fdone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway7 R9 b+ L, J2 r1 ~4 l5 r' B
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
. S5 l: @3 F+ winvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."* I( O, N8 y8 W
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an+ _8 C- h( J& o4 O$ h. S! x
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of1 ?) k) X; I/ N0 E: h8 Q; e
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a, ~# t2 B8 q; `7 l: O5 k
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
* i$ e2 O) l6 A: N9 ?2 Q$ Ksaid., m' U2 L% Q* z* W" ^* v9 ^( c3 [, a
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
! s; J; D1 t) i: K- \happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe0 d: e" L1 W- O+ {6 n
about driving our products," Lentz said.- Q) L- n" M' v4 \$ P9 m
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's( j, _/ N2 J$ m' A
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has4 ~: X- q: @! [! B% i9 T6 y1 T; K
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
3 g I3 c/ ^9 u+ ?& }million in the United States -- since last fall because of
& ]" }! }4 i) ?+ p) ?& y: z% M: J6 ^unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking& r5 Y: \7 y) s$ V2 K8 N6 @- D
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering" P, r6 k. W: c$ i5 {
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
7 P# v6 `* g: y5 S& ]' U" P2 Y. B" stheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow1 G( k8 C9 ?6 l' n, _
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
$ H- S" u* u8 k" K# ~received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration% ^' d8 { x Q( t
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.
' n& ~% D0 f$ Z1 x; fLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own* H' d7 h! U' P
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
. s" y% f w7 z3 ounderstood the pain.% h8 L8 ]- f# L* {% I
"I know what those families go through," he said.
$ C; u, n0 o) b, U; q7 W9 n7 s& gLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
" T% z0 c2 w5 n( K( q4 ffixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
7 V- p# y2 F# G/ \1 ^/ Q) F( tBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
+ A! w7 ~1 C3 X8 q( Z4 KHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put9 k7 s4 w5 b6 T, ^ }
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
& Z ?& R+ K+ |$ a8 f! aLentz replied: "Not totally."1 k7 F l' d; M0 ^6 N) V) k3 r3 l
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were8 n3 a9 e, _4 f8 C, I
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
/ D# m* t! C: L. e7 ^. ~' v/ WToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas! n! T8 y3 t! V) A+ M
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its ?" b' _# @5 B7 z
vehicles already on the road.3 Q/ r' W! X& [7 i0 x: d2 X2 S- e- {; B
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
2 h5 A: Y) j9 D" E/ j2 @, abefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full7 Y& H/ K- e/ K4 r7 K2 _# t
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and/ H+ n# R: O6 G; i% I0 F( { r
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were7 [+ P( t V( ^3 w
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.; V# x. |4 [. ^7 l& Q' d) g# @! t8 N6 X
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a, L1 S! K) e) x5 Y7 s
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
) ~9 e: f( |5 d) |. w. Hfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight3 K( y6 n. i, f+ R6 r3 `
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal3 E; p# ?9 ]4 o- L. @+ b5 b0 D; o
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
d0 z9 |) H* K' \2 P9 zrestore the trust of our customers."4 ~/ T: ], G9 @- M- q% l" W S
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
% ]( C' A+ i2 C1 f' s& s/ ?Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
% {% |4 ~. ]# czoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
) n" [1 o' y! Q5 Hshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and% n8 ^2 v% z1 r* K
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough6 I. T# T, q$ ?5 K7 }( B# {4 e& y
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
7 k0 D! Z& U5 _8 ?+ ]& `turn off the engine.
9 l: Q) r/ j9 b, F4 @* E+ E0 ^Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
! M# V$ N" q% M9 qOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."$ V4 e$ W% l$ _ o, F; A
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she8 n! {: F0 F4 m- B: S
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond& d3 z4 c- |7 a* W( B# h. ~8 o
to her complaints.. Y1 z I* [8 G/ u$ Y
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
( p$ d& _4 b4 X& v; U/ u* Hreturned again and again to the question of whether electronic
! O6 ?* o/ q# h1 X+ Dmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.9 C4 q- T8 n4 \
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric7 J7 N' X `# `+ L
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
) Z# z4 n/ r7 w" j6 W* _"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut) i9 s/ b- X4 M4 E* z' }
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
5 _4 s$ u8 [$ OTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in# Q- h; |+ e/ c
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
9 Y. b; L4 t. ?# M# i. T. E! Gbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls, ~. M* J8 h3 \& J
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
* s; Z9 S1 v8 x4 A$ _8 jevery question."9 U7 o8 @- [4 f8 |
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
, l: m8 _$ X6 d2 l8 lelectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
/ ]& ^ M5 D/ @: B1 d. ?firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But' y3 O, G& h" Z) e2 N
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
8 A' U& ]" i* \& r ]) x! y* Ynumber of vehicles9 s: ~- d: ]1 |/ ^ k
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more5 o/ K9 n" T5 J0 |& S' @( a* T
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
" Y" y, p% u- M# N, Y- ?mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
" m5 w: l$ ~) |& U" c+ psource, and they can come from inside or outside the car./ B' @: g# p! c
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
- {2 V' O+ b9 gwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
( H/ Y" f7 | o8 ltrace at all.! ~) z9 v" c2 _7 J+ }$ t
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
; k! H7 A: g8 u6 o6 B; V) Pdatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden7 H' R9 W5 J; t
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the1 y0 Z+ ?, a0 `8 m- F+ ]
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
- B( K" N# e& s: f) c% t1 i4 NRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,1 X6 I- U. E3 u. A+ d
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
4 n7 k) o' T' v% ~# s/ [+ Y+ ~other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the9 ~. s/ F; }$ t' B; ?3 J
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible- C5 ^ Y# C1 S! Z8 ?
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only7 ]4 }" O9 U7 i4 x4 O s' N
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
% T: m" H1 W! z5 o0 a2 C: ^( Nby Toyota's lawyers."
2 V& Q; F7 @' H% ~- s* o& W. W* ?Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
( Y( {4 w/ z' I! a: q ~6 e) _problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
2 B0 _* ^/ o* V: bcustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he7 c+ ], f% K- F- M/ c+ @
said.
$ k' j& V; z. y0 r7 h4 n! i"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
! e6 [8 r! @0 w/ \7 ia rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
) e1 U Q% H8 l( C6 r: s6 o, xgood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
! g+ a5 A% n6 ^- H2 o; vofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
+ o" i' @$ b9 z$ ]0 d- G9 CSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying& q% Y, j7 [* E# l2 J1 W5 G
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread" M6 ^5 _( i! e% u7 }
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the, |5 M8 i8 C1 O
automaker, at least in part because of the government's. I' A7 h0 l" G& a8 {
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and3 {% ]' N/ `5 ^7 {3 A
Chrysler.
' O! l; C& `' v. H"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax" h. [4 J' U3 S6 \" I
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a1 |1 q8 U4 M: o- j- N- i; n3 p+ V
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
/ n) D$ l) _( A: n" tserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
" s+ Q% r, A" L+ V$ e9 qwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty8 }0 t5 Q* \$ A% C- P. @7 M
tough."6 m5 \2 t, E# R6 ?
---9 r. |5 O, u/ f
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom. L9 G' k: C% s. X# M) [
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
5 c" e7 d7 u* X4 gthis story.7 R/ b; I# w) N4 z+ C' y
6 X% u$ o/ o# L) k$ L) d2 d$ Q( K/ Y
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