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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, V9 c" L0 _8 B' t5 W
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS1 }8 O! m8 U' f. d1 }
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.. D# O# [) w0 J% l
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
/ O+ ^ U2 G+ _' @the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"8 E$ s$ ]. H& B( \6 k& R( q
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.4 X. A. \5 i0 j1 U$ m- b% ~
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
- _ X( x" C) y9 {causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
; _# I4 w: [ C& c& m( X5 kHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
) u0 g4 f& s. Z0 U0 p- {acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
" a& Z! A3 ^6 X9 Otrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
- E! s3 i2 j# k- Umats and sticking accelerator pedals.! @1 O0 y7 H2 X: L# }2 {" Q$ h
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
; k6 m @8 U! V, q% @+ B7 E% xand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp* v) Q8 W; V! r! R" k4 V! J
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
+ }- ]8 c1 z4 L: A, k! ofurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could' G5 _- A8 z) ~
not stop her runaway Lexus.
% J0 s+ {9 ]2 z; V4 ^7 {2 R( n"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,1 I; t) M" A. l. \ O
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second* H! c f9 E+ ?5 f# S! x: O
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
# q' w" @9 ?" e' j7 H. TTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues2 I6 p; g0 m+ B/ Q
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
8 b$ P3 P& } x( V3 e E, ~"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has/ \/ v- e4 U8 O% f
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
% k; x1 U" f( G2 J ~- }through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's% v) X% ~0 c; B) a8 e
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
& @% Y8 `6 O/ jLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an$ L( O4 s2 E) R1 c
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
5 x+ S5 A' `2 {. ]* vthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
4 i6 a g( Q+ v/ r' j# Bmalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
$ V" a, ~$ R0 o; l$ R- {9 `said.% T$ R: G" [7 n) |
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
$ t% a4 l8 A* ?( i# T) O" r* @ chappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe0 \& N# p9 j8 G& h2 y9 H0 _; x8 \
about driving our products," Lentz said.
) K, ?8 C5 A, s5 P% ?Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
- \- n' W( n8 s; `problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has. O% K( A% ~! l3 a) B2 c& z
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6- O ?2 j( b2 v9 B( B3 {% U" ~
million in the United States -- since last fall because of. L) [: ~) r: D9 B2 G/ M
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
5 U; P9 N4 I U- o: Vissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
5 L! f$ T0 N' q. t! N. }5 Kconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of$ L* Q) G, H* F8 k; v5 }, g- `! F, e
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow, P/ t5 a3 x- `- [+ k
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has/ j: a5 a( N% k/ I( G- V( I
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
3 _+ m7 | G$ ^, K+ r2 G/ @of Toyota vehicles since 2000.) |# o. h. |/ P+ M \
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
! t( D% |6 X8 c3 i& qbrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
% U, E: C/ p& Y* l7 z5 Cunderstood the pain.+ z1 Y' H# p0 }% F& @( g
"I know what those families go through," he said.4 \1 C* {/ q) N4 f1 k" t
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
: a. a9 b+ l* J8 p3 i9 vfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems., y2 c: D* p+ t) F0 V9 c
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
# @" Y4 [; B2 B( v0 a; h) lHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put! \9 u Y, ~9 H; t" W
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,: J1 v: Z- g' e
Lentz replied: "Not totally." w5 L0 L1 y2 X0 y5 q
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were/ [+ T% W4 P4 y$ d- P
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
% m& E! ^: }8 {" LToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
' S& h( _, E+ S7 a) {pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
1 Q) J+ W1 {1 W9 H) svehicles already on the road.& n2 e' {% ?3 u6 y
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
3 M% e# J" ?' L. i' Q# e7 ubefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
/ X% ]5 c5 _9 q5 d3 ~# Xresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and' ^( b7 G1 c' O; V1 N/ F4 {
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
( t( U( K% W4 a" o6 D/ Lkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.7 @6 u6 j. e! i/ j
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
, [/ t/ R+ U% a" E% ?5 _tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony2 A* u- ?/ A) r2 v- `2 i. M' _! k3 C
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight- ~0 S" B8 n w' @
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
$ ~( i, N: b: B0 ccommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to4 o4 p6 f9 Y. \% u% b) N
restore the trust of our customers."
0 l8 s" n+ O5 g OLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
$ }& X: ?( p, W1 X/ o) ]Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
- R6 P- D- K" d3 rzoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --9 w7 d/ Z, q7 C; T6 J2 r% [9 o
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and, ?% c8 T7 L, D1 v
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough* J6 ]$ D# E# e, C
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
?9 P1 g7 P7 o: U& J* U; p: Uturn off the engine.0 E. ?: s( v9 {6 _5 v5 V
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
9 z$ z+ `& U3 G4 nOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
2 |) G3 h0 F8 P5 f: @"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
. Y7 c, g9 J4 H" |( U" @said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
$ h7 q5 a$ L: F+ F9 u( m- M& vto her complaints.3 V& q8 E* e9 Z: A
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
q* p3 I/ V6 U Kreturned again and again to the question of whether electronic6 x9 V. j5 N% |
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.& t- Z9 N, x0 @: z: N/ S/ g9 Z
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
6 w, ~- K4 M3 g! hthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
7 D, s; ~0 H- K% R: v8 m5 ~"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut1 X" {5 a$ [ a7 T' A
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."8 f) ~/ m% |" k7 t8 w
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in( o' U. ~% m% z3 Q
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
/ d" O$ g5 l0 xbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls8 F; r( V" Q6 F: S
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer8 V+ [/ g% ~. C5 v/ a& {# G
every question."
0 |2 _" {2 S9 p4 U0 ~1 @: R8 Y) bToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether: ^, \# A$ J6 @6 ] j
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
V8 p6 A; V: j- hfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
+ ^: ?; \" \* g0 \% Qcommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small
. y+ N3 @8 I c4 R, cnumber of vehicles
T* D8 Q2 J5 t- Z* V0 j6 ]Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more
7 D& n- N% q0 s$ }difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
; t" U1 s0 X- y3 d) w( dmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one( E! T- ^, \3 l5 i. w8 M/ _
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
8 R: ^5 g0 j8 {Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
9 v* Z) q0 O- x8 ?where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no' d l- q+ }$ B
trace at all.
: s' G+ o: v- z& l* C- QHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
. H' ^9 P& e1 v6 G$ @database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden: l6 N! {) G0 B# p
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the( N3 k) P7 J- `5 ]2 x4 U3 ?
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.6 U) j% L. \8 z8 C. O8 X) E
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,8 |) J! x8 ]1 p! i
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
7 Z" ~% r8 y/ T& N0 G' e1 C3 Yother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
8 w) I) W$ Q, K" ?electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
0 \8 |7 P# {# ~" b* ocause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
$ L4 a v8 V8 L( U' v {such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained. a+ C* }4 |8 ?& ~
by Toyota's lawyers."9 G V- t/ [2 \: v4 C, x3 c
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of: p, q2 V2 {: r* L6 j+ ]
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our4 T( d9 E1 {+ F8 _% T! w( _
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he6 j. c* S1 d) E. z% o: `
said.
' o6 D0 A) H( N9 e; W$ E/ [& i6 r"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with; D# C4 N" A( F. i+ a" J- z
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
$ K2 t( n' O; W I6 a" P, Hgood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating! K+ I2 s$ ~) T- ?6 _$ j, s( K
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.0 }* Y+ r) M, ~
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying( R( D' @- t% j" K# ~7 G
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
6 M, h0 Z8 g8 m2 G8 v! c( t4 ^$ Nrancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the( r. O# N3 h% D5 q
automaker, at least in part because of the government's
2 h, `8 m% b& E1 Q! vinvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
- A' d+ G. q9 A0 C9 ?Chrysler.
7 k, h2 q: c( h, |4 M"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
. [! v% m) g' t5 O. H e8 Edollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
8 {) o. K3 I# Y: P8 RHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
9 C# ]8 \* O1 m' B; e1 userved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
: I0 J; A0 F5 }( J( n8 x& @8 M; rwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
3 X3 Y0 p; y6 O! q; A) S+ P5 E+ htough."
: O) ~: A: y; \- ~--- t" O% \" e3 a( q- X* ?% p p5 C
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
! h& B( r' x0 JRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
" v; y z3 ?+ D3 v. ~9 n& D& Othis story.
7 D8 j% Z) G1 e# W( l1 G) N5 L% A; y% w5 A
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