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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
7 r4 _: E, T% l; `9 `" R7 t% K; ^By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS+ I- D7 v, c' L1 L1 o m
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.' P! K0 A2 |: e1 ?: o
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that5 t3 [. M. j7 J: e
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
b$ a4 L$ u. ]1 ~$ Y) r$ Fsolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration./ u2 x& n4 L+ [+ [7 `
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential& I6 i3 o1 a1 g' B8 T
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
9 U' [6 e" g* I$ eHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
6 j3 o+ C2 [. |4 e& e8 n3 U& l. {acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
$ \( u8 z4 l$ r: m* H8 |trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
0 O9 B5 \2 L- c: Z. Tmats and sticking accelerator pedals.
; f: P K3 L$ a: O! b8 i* I2 }He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
, v* W) D% P' I* R n! @# E5 P7 C+ P( ^and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
2 \; n/ s7 T) A) Pcriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be( r: r0 M* r( _+ |0 }; f5 l' S
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
, k- t1 p; V/ Knot stop her runaway Lexus.
s# {! H' R+ _5 [' r p"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
! t# g T* H1 F, [7 M& ~) t, BTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second4 C/ p7 A6 K' ?$ X8 I
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.9 n4 X7 T* i2 v
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues2 i9 F' O) m% T! J
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
! k" w4 `, a& e& S+ I! c"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
3 }- y) C: c# A/ ?! F) N* |done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway1 Y U5 n/ d z3 h' H
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's: e: A9 S* [: F; ^$ O/ ^; O& u
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
2 ^- S# f3 @2 H. o) R2 YLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an* V6 g# w1 m, q T
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of9 N u2 M& R1 A; k0 @
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
' V+ V8 a& T5 e' B. [ c, f2 Cmalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he6 q9 F2 p# N; M/ ~. s1 r4 K g* `7 }
said.6 M: h) g+ v- k N) r2 u' a
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what4 Z. D$ \ w1 h- b: u
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe( i1 {1 p9 F! a) |4 n) w% J5 R
about driving our products," Lentz said.
8 _* L* j e1 u6 {Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
3 b/ Y2 j8 G$ l* m2 |problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has1 J; w5 Q- C' w) I7 g8 [8 m. E
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
, h7 g; f+ r9 x! N t' l* Bmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of
; O3 M7 O) }; U7 }1 J# d2 ]. i3 sunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking0 `1 @. [2 m: W; C( X/ V9 V: Y. b
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
/ q$ w: D+ ^2 V/ Econcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
: F" F2 G. A* ?. w, ~their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow7 A1 f+ ?% \. x0 Q$ V3 o
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has% s3 q$ z% l& x, Z
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
& ^0 d r* H6 O. w8 dof Toyota vehicles since 2000.5 P5 \7 ?2 O2 b; I8 z$ z R: S
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own$ B. I5 f% I- d/ z
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
$ a* g2 w" l# P9 E8 V6 wunderstood the pain.& O7 }7 z$ Q% @. y
"I know what those families go through," he said. K$ j5 p1 ?: t" l; L3 s! @) o
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's% w2 Q1 f* ]/ O7 H! J
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems., ]3 ~, h% n" f- j. h. e
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman p' ?6 e4 E# @
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
7 Q' [' Y( E1 D2 qin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
% L5 s4 J0 G. _" lLentz replied: "Not totally."* z" f/ m3 d$ a6 A
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
; \/ b# F1 s% X9 `"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said' _( x+ t& V) E+ N4 F( e# U8 H
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
% D& w3 G6 m' Dpedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
, ^5 i3 N2 R( }; e) O- M: ], nvehicles already on the road.
6 r" ^6 [* z4 s; s- @5 yMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify l& N3 y0 p: o" _; w
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
" z. w' T' h7 n! G# rresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and; e7 p% ]1 [) g! g, \+ L' ^5 r. D
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were# ?& ?" b* R/ G: I6 K
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
( O" \% }$ h/ x"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
+ k6 S5 w$ p# \! H+ Y0 Ytragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony7 S. q( Q6 g+ z0 b M
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight8 m& L5 }; v2 R& T5 k/ l9 r
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
! M% E# F* k7 p! N' h* O1 i5 p5 bcommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to' `7 A$ e0 j" |1 F& ^
restore the trust of our customers."
; U$ z3 I9 ?- L9 K2 q* VLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from/ o' p' w) [0 V- j4 [
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly7 i2 ~+ q0 x: u+ l5 e* X
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --5 B/ j+ Q0 ~* C% N/ P
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and; _: ~" ^7 J) d" g s. N5 p3 L
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough- R8 k$ r* x9 ]6 W" H# P0 O! y
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
X- w4 N- s6 a: x* S( ?turn off the engine.. u* ?+ E6 Z* O! K. { h
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
7 Z% z' z: v' D& V7 jOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
/ d, ~1 g' U5 p- |5 D: A/ e4 |"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
+ a m, S' ~2 x4 dsaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond: F; H/ k r) e0 \+ E# m ?
to her complaints.- Z( j4 s( z( p ]) ^
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
4 `" e3 q H/ e) I% \* f+ P$ sreturned again and again to the question of whether electronic. l0 a( v2 N F# K0 P
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars., |+ ~' G6 O( L
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
3 N% S2 I$ E7 D G! [' R0 _throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited6 q C: {9 |- ^; P7 V! |4 @
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut: v3 {- t7 w0 f* N, L
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure." s/ a. ^, v# P2 t+ z' d3 v4 A( R
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
3 ~3 ~' I7 r* z/ m' hprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were! X. ]+ C/ g; a& B
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
5 ?5 i, a2 T8 T% q( iwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
; O% Z) \% x! O* b$ ]# Severy question."- b Q5 I% L: X/ ?* L
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
* u8 v* L$ _: {' ~* A6 {+ _electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
' j6 w7 p+ R _7 Qfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
$ n, p0 J* w# k' g+ M# C/ acommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small
# S3 @8 e* r! ?; m: r+ ~number of vehicles
' A1 b; ^ q, ~* vTracking down an electrical problem can be far more* _& ^8 G! c& S: a( Z) s% m* K: O( h
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
6 H# l; X% Z0 n+ Bmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one; | W9 G, _$ @8 D, n- K J& N
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.9 v! ~ S7 }9 a4 Y N; m
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
# R. u4 i6 o; D' }2 q( X9 z uwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
- ^4 A- X3 x/ W6 w$ x7 A8 v" Qtrace at all.0 t+ E. H8 E) r: A4 g5 Z
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
3 U, m! U% d$ T# M7 K' n- }9 P- Idatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden+ r5 L+ S9 V y$ O
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the# m% H/ j5 d# s+ L8 q) Q8 U
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
1 b9 h$ w9 _' B, c5 B1 e2 X3 tRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
9 Y) @1 w. b. U1 w/ P+ Csaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
0 l$ C0 ^! N6 B g- r0 Q- f% I& Cother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the8 I* f+ B; h8 b2 r, C2 ^
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
% A( g8 O! s# u" Q" Bcause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
. ~7 ^& x# z" usuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained" z+ @+ u- y) m7 R
by Toyota's lawyers."
1 h9 y9 j$ Y% i% @" Q6 s" DLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
8 |% F/ V- w9 X3 l7 ?3 gproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
& N! D# b' { U' M0 t4 Rcustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he0 Q8 c( B. A, T$ z: z: R! ~& j
said.. `- d# E. d& l( W/ v
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
2 p6 D6 I; }2 l) P4 fa rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
0 o( n+ h3 B$ q4 {good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
% O% C) ` b. W$ G7 Zofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
( @ h. Y* p8 h5 ^2 w2 NSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying7 }$ m4 M% G9 Z0 \2 ^
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread! r; T3 W Y+ y6 r: f; I! A q( p+ y
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the/ e* W% [2 K( R0 ^
automaker, at least in part because of the government's
, B3 t/ C2 @3 ]: b1 o; B* R- ~1 Minvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and9 r% g9 N$ p f) [
Chrysler.
: V7 G0 \0 Z) p7 b' @8 |8 |"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax9 B$ b& z" y% g* Z! ?4 K
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
, U9 r) D1 A0 H9 [- GHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
- k' w( c8 T" O+ a) yserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete( r! [: @! j) J: q. K2 x
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty) y5 A: s! K9 n8 @5 c- d
tough."
0 n X! p* k9 M- X, ^---" b1 J- {9 n4 }; H
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom( @) b* A- x( m ^0 K
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
! {; _& ~6 x* V! Z+ r3 xthis story.
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