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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
& |" ]4 o: Y. e/ P2 V j. r+ rBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS. `/ N( [. e+ p7 Z. k- J4 o
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.# K) f! F7 c3 L4 r
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
, B! }3 X' b# C1 O! ]the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"6 Z @! c$ G' s5 @/ r, u
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
& @, N. W8 Y# z( C& S+ r! P"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
6 h% k7 @ T3 I/ L' x: ?& bcauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
9 {; d. W7 V, c( [5 e1 g% `However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected3 P' w- g5 |1 k$ w- |6 w
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and4 P, l4 h, x, F/ r9 e Y
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
& D3 j4 _1 o. V( u% F5 M9 Zmats and sticking accelerator pedals.
& F( x7 d: b1 @+ g7 e+ e( tHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal4 t/ ^8 {" j5 v- K8 n0 }
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
. u3 t4 R: s5 p) acriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be5 T* f/ [- _1 M4 I! k: f! T: A F
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could# {* d2 b; L) M& B
not stop her runaway Lexus." C* ^5 ]6 p: u t' L* c) Y
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,- H" g( Q/ j. f' M1 l5 |
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second) w: u6 z4 h2 B6 E3 }3 Y
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
8 h2 J4 j! R" k+ L- O) pTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues0 D* E; N1 J/ L, p/ Z, |* n
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said9 |0 Q: ]3 w+ j( _, f
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has3 u$ R. z, ?% t! v$ ?
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
& ^4 m# M. r" a1 K' Zthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's. n6 }5 R0 U. g
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."( z q0 g! Z& k$ D3 s/ E$ u0 A. g% _
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an- k2 m& _/ o) E5 a
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
8 i! ?! v8 _9 m, zthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
! @6 b; a, y9 |( Wmalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
3 a4 v% E _, C, m$ R$ Fsaid.
/ m! ^% f8 u; pAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
/ t- f D' e/ W9 phappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
: s4 u- c/ g; R& {3 `about driving our products," Lentz said.6 S- l7 J0 y. q7 z! A/ Q1 |
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's& m8 O8 c! l" [. m C; x+ D
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
- N( c! I! b% Z0 O7 C( jrecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
# }: D& V/ z1 X: O% s& `/ ?6 omillion in the United States -- since last fall because of
1 x) S' [. M! c# C; b6 ?* F6 punintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
9 p( j7 F9 g; h! l4 cissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
5 ^' [9 u& Y4 y: I5 Bconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
5 S( D$ j. D7 I5 }7 gtheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow5 }# W4 g3 Y& W: [
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has8 N1 u5 E, \% D0 i+ T
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
% i; L' b( Q' p. z* p+ A i# xof Toyota vehicles since 2000.9 M: f" M- @, u' S# j" Q
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own0 h: F5 P& y7 T* l$ ^
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
% F+ O1 G" v% ^* ~1 Z; W% Gunderstood the pain.
' c$ f, Y2 }) V& K. W! a; {"I know what those families go through," he said.4 J9 J& y8 \1 i& c" _
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
/ c/ L3 D6 m: u* X0 n6 ffixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
- ~0 S( K) x* c7 l# w3 ^* jBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman4 Q5 L" R8 g: S+ M; V7 {
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put7 e- m; X' J% [! s/ e! E$ T
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,. X; x1 C. s" W- R+ Y1 p
Lentz replied: "Not totally."
# t+ ^! W7 B rStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
6 E: V5 ]) V G7 |* n"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
9 p. C r. X. s0 @2 s, mToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas8 d: Z# c2 @+ \8 Y8 ~' a6 l
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its5 y) X6 X: H5 B/ a! p( m: o
vehicles already on the road.) h% j; y/ ^# H! Q1 }! S1 L
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
8 P! X, r z1 _2 A/ }before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full8 v+ e4 z2 G& l" _/ s( A1 p
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
/ g; K- I+ a' C/ d& Uoffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were8 j0 ]1 T" u$ C4 q
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
, t4 k* H" p3 q j9 O. O5 ~' k"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
3 R M$ F; d, w1 }* O" Y$ e" ctragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
, t% g* s5 |5 v* K' Q9 h3 Ifor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight) i$ `0 ]( c# f. f7 x% Q
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
9 ~" S" ?+ j& ]% b# s3 dcommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
/ f2 c( {6 |: T3 Lrestore the trust of our customers."
7 k t7 |2 L6 c- C: wLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from% a* S7 P" A0 G/ u- l& L- G
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly) L2 q/ m% q7 [/ w4 u7 L& w
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --) s9 [# f" L* m3 q( H S$ j
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
o3 n7 Z1 C9 _ E* f. e# s. Fhitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
+ | D; B/ L( Ythat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
7 B7 _7 p" |. d' Z; D+ ?% Xturn off the engine.4 Z7 `& G0 |. V4 G. K5 D# ^
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
) t2 q9 p5 P2 Q* d! hOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
7 a8 n$ J' ~3 D9 _0 q"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she( A) z0 P' E/ V a
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond5 _4 D' S, G$ M4 K/ h; Y, n; D% o' s
to her complaints.. `- ]2 K3 L$ J( U* }( R ]
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers" _# D5 O. ?* g0 ?, Q9 i7 H/ J
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic: n5 O0 d0 W2 W3 R
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.: v' J& h- _( \3 F) D: T8 l* _
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric" J: C( E0 p; ]8 E1 s
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
, X @% q9 A. X: T$ O' e/ V, @"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut( Z+ a' X- Q8 L& ~
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
) L4 Z; |6 Z x. Z4 M, G, CTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
" j# ~8 y5 {" `! R+ U' t/ \, {5 dprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
2 x+ D% |8 J9 N, M: \being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls0 z9 c9 w2 ]1 a. z7 x- ^ A
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
) Q+ {2 U: ?5 @% H' h. [; fevery question."3 y# {' h6 r2 c/ S% `5 ?
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
0 ]2 ]" l& g8 O, H( U {, celectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
- Z) \4 P* Z* j# A L9 {firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
5 Z* w9 ]( x6 d# Z7 u8 ?, a6 @( y4 _committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
4 d* O ?! Z* Q. D9 V! nnumber of vehicles% z8 s7 [* l; C% g* |/ d8 a
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more
! n0 B8 P5 R* H" V$ m7 Wdifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a% Y) Y: b# C. N* C" r# A* Z, r
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
2 j# T, X7 @: X1 L# u0 }1 L1 x# v' \source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.3 b3 O5 S: m r" }! P" x
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
% _. Q4 y9 D e: K3 Ywhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no2 ~+ y& N0 p# p0 m/ H9 C+ V9 E
trace at all.
7 V2 f; V2 [4 W; o1 b7 s. xHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call6 ~7 S9 u: w8 z+ f" h. d; P" C
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden! J& ~% h* Q# R' j
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
- B, E1 f* T8 x, ^recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.' r1 k$ @0 H& [
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee, |3 P, V8 f7 ^% K: V+ x& t
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
, A7 w9 N+ d8 pother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the4 m9 H1 P. S8 x1 a8 y) P
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible, g1 u; U8 L9 m) F- ^0 B( N5 X
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only7 ~- m& i- k" ^& }* N X
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
1 j+ @6 V. p& b+ U, J, E' K3 s/ _by Toyota's lawyers."/ c/ u3 W; I( @5 p
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
# N2 G! c. _! }! Z+ M* }problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
4 }3 O3 {' _1 z0 Ycustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
: t. z/ [& F0 A$ H' U/ @said.
+ A- s7 ?: C) E"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with: i9 M X( h5 S5 t# h) y
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
" L5 o$ m) f$ n4 E" D: U1 B0 {2 agood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating+ \1 g" e5 d5 Z* G' [ W
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
, t$ @: R3 O' ~3 h4 {1 `) h: XSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
4 v0 V$ M; R* \7 [( pmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
# ?$ T0 U+ m& n& C$ @$ crancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
' P8 T: q' T# ^ |8 x- l! M& Jautomaker, at least in part because of the government's! H2 U! y$ O, I' Z8 a. G( q
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
, }- u4 K0 A' Q2 |8 n, VChrysler.$ G9 q& |5 |! S n! I
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax; l4 @+ J! d! X7 Y
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
2 r2 i0 |# ^1 {8 d4 vHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
3 V6 X, O+ j7 z" O6 O& W( Iserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
; B- Z: O& Z# J+ B* Fwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
4 G: N' Y$ \# F5 H) g8 C) R1 @tough."
; ~) E3 n1 W& Q---- t5 H9 R1 J" Q1 i, X
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom. o4 X' `9 S" `; K- B4 v
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to: R* [5 B5 q i# X5 [7 f
this story.
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6 _! w" }& c2 c6 I7 X# M- j$ \0 J1 c. v-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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