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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
: o. J! y! F/ C. ^8 I( h3 uBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS+ Z+ C9 |# }# G' k
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.& q1 W5 u' O: M6 F/ |. t
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
5 {% `" I0 f: b' G- ythe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"9 e3 Q3 x6 x. G, L
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
5 R: Z" i, O' j"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
, F0 m9 v$ K! {8 `, V N" dcauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.5 y7 R. Q9 o, ^
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
& e) M: u1 c; s7 k1 uacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
* i3 z5 _- K4 u9 L3 u4 D Vtrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
$ z, b+ B, K% d1 \% W5 umats and sticking accelerator pedals." Q0 C6 J; a4 K+ r6 M/ O
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal8 |( r) Z0 U2 S5 C% N+ h# U
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
$ A4 W5 b4 u: S/ U# kcriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be5 P, K- U! |! t. w
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could! m/ n6 P" ~6 u/ p7 o5 p
not stop her runaway Lexus.
J' @- F- w- O; Z* k/ O/ {* U"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,/ h- \% B2 {3 X8 ]+ d
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
; V" e* t* ~- a4 g; ?' O"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.* q) I& d3 a" R$ s/ x
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
) e% F* H; x' O" F0 ]early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
% W4 y+ l# ~' r7 I/ u"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has) W" a6 |9 A0 I3 Q: e! ?7 `; L
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
- V9 M5 }8 |% G9 i7 S, o5 ~3 J xthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's2 k/ N- l7 C5 F4 K6 b
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."; x) J( X4 \* d( P1 g( b3 U% g
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an* c: w1 x- L3 }$ a E8 \
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
9 |7 x3 M$ m+ C3 K0 Z5 u. u2 C3 hthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a) H7 [! e* @) f A3 u
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he4 E9 b$ x! C/ b, k2 m( a b
said.
3 n* P& U' ?& ` j5 B& f. o7 oAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what) P" _3 N. D) C0 x3 d0 I: k
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe. V$ T. l! c- Y
about driving our products," Lentz said.9 x) [5 z3 H% T/ D. |$ o
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's7 b7 O' M. X( w8 E& j! G: O9 ~
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has" }# J7 v+ ]7 e6 h
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
/ }; x( X9 _/ g. z1 tmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of
8 c" Y2 n: p2 k$ `unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking1 n/ `, s1 v+ k- i( c4 N" z/ t
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
1 \* ]3 K: J4 Y; v; Vconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
, @! T5 e# ~, k" S0 ptheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow; y0 A) |( O3 }* w( l1 |! G( [6 S
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
. d" e4 b2 C5 N7 h' Areceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration: Y [( v2 h0 l3 e! W
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.' F( ]! k% n: D! k% F7 M$ Y
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
; G. d2 c/ }1 x/ g- [brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
! y: X* d, z7 C& f2 S9 g! b, }+ Munderstood the pain.
* p! e5 X$ J5 a1 g$ }( Z8 n"I know what those families go through," he said.
5 q+ M6 {! V$ J/ i7 [Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
* B; i: ?( }: x1 U1 T! Ffixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
3 o v' Q5 f9 ~7 ~3 z8 H3 uBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman5 b+ e! z/ p0 ?7 j" [5 d
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put* x: z% \# Y# S. p$ o7 _
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,8 ~7 J' u4 y( s5 `. W' ~
Lentz replied: "Not totally."
" x% N% x) K; n! f3 XStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
% |; I+ ~# s9 I"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
* V8 _0 Z4 d* q% k. N. sToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas( A; f* F1 j& `( b' D4 c+ |
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its3 e3 M) ]; q/ @
vehicles already on the road.
2 E% \3 F% _! SMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
$ r! d8 k4 f3 H2 Pbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full1 B5 l, V8 o3 a! l' M; e" P
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and: j, x, P+ U4 W+ d' k4 h
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were' A6 r& F5 K% H2 g
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.* G! ]/ K; G. @9 Y( O- f1 U
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a: Y( K$ z, R* k7 A3 U
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
: c# H4 M9 Y; R; C1 n" }# [for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight" ?2 E7 D8 n! t4 E; D' ]/ P
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
0 V! b' \8 h0 `/ h+ C3 ^commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to9 @5 w$ m! C% @5 j3 k; X
restore the trust of our customers."
; r! e# f! L( \& d/ o* S7 I! dLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from+ }0 I. B" l, t; ?, B
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly" X$ M4 E {5 }) e2 u) B0 j# Q
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --6 M9 d& R/ W! D3 D
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
% V1 n+ p/ l4 y. jhitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough$ c- T! m& D* ]) h X; g! V
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and( _' M* d! H1 ^$ d& n9 R% @
turn off the engine.8 I' Z; M: P, X; m
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of/ O+ a$ ^7 j' o* i
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
5 F1 Q' [! z4 [0 G1 o' J l& H) y9 Z"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
$ f% H0 l7 j/ w9 f' m1 Bsaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond I4 S, e' R( t0 L5 O4 o
to her complaints.; M: ?3 t$ y* [; _" l7 [
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers$ `1 v0 `2 e2 e! e) B$ s
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic) ^& }5 y% D3 Q( h
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
; G7 f1 z4 T( n- g+ e"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
6 C5 {: X$ R: c% j' \& ithrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
" Q5 K2 n. P; v/ k+ V3 ^"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
$ k9 t" E3 ?; n# koff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
3 Q: A' H' z- U6 X! [: i- _Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in( \ b$ z' K" Y3 j! G3 g! A
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were+ [+ }$ A# |' N( X8 K3 w
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
) x2 t7 H D% q% v& v$ M# \were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
9 H7 N h C7 g) s& {, k1 |7 }every question."
+ C( O: J! A) v5 y" k6 N. `, pToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether) i/ B# Z' K. T% J8 P. B3 J
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
) w7 F6 A7 D4 z1 b4 B4 i0 t$ v/ hfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
7 C, \2 B; c% p4 \+ `2 V$ k6 Ecommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small' S$ ~, n+ H! ^" c7 S/ x2 N
number of vehicles) o8 D4 F4 N& m; ~5 [) p
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more
- Z' F" I4 ]% ], Q( M! A; I2 Ddifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a* { e! m0 u" [3 b" @/ v+ Z
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
% {9 t* h9 s) Qsource, and they can come from inside or outside the car., Y d6 z3 W& K: K. t9 ^) G( A4 J
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
2 B9 F9 K; M7 E7 l( M# Ywhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no! i) k* |) K. j2 @/ H c" x' \
trace at all.
7 H/ }: T' b" N1 VHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
6 ?$ H$ X7 V9 ?7 `database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden, z( i' m X" G- ^6 ?
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
; n/ ^ [9 r* Crecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
1 O7 R# v- e! |$ Z. v, ?Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,6 j% [5 ?6 r, t, x* c$ D$ o
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
+ F. E3 d) u1 @other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the7 T5 E$ O2 x/ V5 [
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
- n u/ `1 `) m' F: pcause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only6 R$ i( b7 x t0 V
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained* D: ^& i1 v1 e( P% R7 ^
by Toyota's lawyers."
8 z# ]( r' O, z; n, dLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of8 e! }+ a1 D5 c' U
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
7 I' Z# w# m. Mcustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he$ F: d0 a$ ?9 p
said.
. N: ^ D) v' P1 b! a( Z( c, v"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
4 I2 |% h5 X+ \* @& ]a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
) u. n3 {8 _. I0 Q: Hgood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating$ b. u$ n6 x* I: w! V
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.& N/ O$ j! J. @0 l! Z( I: I$ L
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying) m. _) T" [$ _, Q8 d1 i& [
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
' V. T Z: C' z; Hrancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
( A5 R9 _- o- h& u+ _automaker, at least in part because of the government's
& _8 f1 \- E5 b' W' x6 uinvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and: y8 U0 ?, Y4 j+ G# ?; ~+ [
Chrysler." u2 H# E; z; t8 t+ |
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax* \. @* ~3 U; S( Z
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a. |0 @& h2 j" q6 N. \. D3 p
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
9 r" k, Z) n4 _( S- H# ~served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete9 U, K3 g; q) h/ g* B& K7 X
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty( c- x* h% {0 F1 M* K
tough."" C# _. s$ i: a3 p* ^. c
---- X8 K8 {5 D- }+ ~ o
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
2 p" g( G- w. r* x% QRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to( |+ c. M+ d( z' }6 V3 C5 M
this story.( C+ |* j+ a1 J' H( w6 u$ j. Q
5 x: m5 L$ F& q! B% J-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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