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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
6 ^) C, M/ C4 d, P0 r- WBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS5 ?# O7 X- Q9 s! ]8 R
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
. v X7 r! B8 d; aoperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that3 p4 A, e5 T6 e# j* ~3 x
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"9 A7 d( k6 G) }& _# c0 o+ f
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
' Z% h/ T. j, Y+ }# U0 H"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential4 P) p' n c# u w* v
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.9 ~* j8 `0 }( y7 D0 s+ B; o
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
+ u- K/ N% t6 eacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and9 m% w6 J" Q$ k9 p6 e5 Z6 x
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor5 g3 U, J/ U' E' s
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.+ c9 P1 [; S8 q5 h1 A
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal! A1 i5 p# v1 F! {- [$ t
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
, t' S( W; G$ L/ `* J4 N$ f; U" pcriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
( f1 ]8 _$ T% }% G7 c4 Hfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could# j4 E& F2 `( q& V, E
not stop her runaway Lexus.3 L& ~# d2 g) n1 g
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville, D8 j- J7 f- ?- r) V
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second6 m, w2 l F ^- N8 V
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
, l |: I- K, Z: _% g( U* vTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues# L+ e& s: n: s$ U" C0 y- a
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said' M2 |+ E# |! p/ Z. X: |
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
8 p' R7 q# _( L3 O0 ?2 Ldone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway7 d1 P0 _' b0 Q3 a, _8 u3 P
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's1 H. l/ H* {. d! [7 f5 r
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
- c6 D- [/ m KLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an; z5 `* _# h$ A2 w' Q. R0 x
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
' E; j& |: q! y( W# j: `the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a/ ^" P3 p; @0 m
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
3 j$ l2 h5 s" v( k. }said.
1 z7 z( ^7 g# j) BAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what! x+ Y2 m K5 X% k
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe, X" Z3 b, R5 p; o* \" ?
about driving our products," Lentz said.
1 ?4 ]6 w4 T# c6 b) aThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's) X/ m7 v5 z9 |( S1 n. |9 b
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has8 \7 J8 q; C/ \0 a/ T8 I! r5 M
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 64 j; W' K& H o5 b& c5 j
million in the United States -- since last fall because of
- n1 N2 y n% F0 a, O0 @6 _unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
' M8 V( o9 i6 D( T5 a$ sissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering0 ~3 W+ {! o9 r. P u& r. p
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
1 m& m( P2 F# K* O2 N2 xtheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow! v* Q3 p6 x. y3 Q' o# M$ N
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
2 d2 j& T5 p5 v3 [6 ?: Yreceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
9 U: m f: Y) K$ Cof Toyota vehicles since 2000.
7 u: E7 h @4 e R/ s4 {7 CLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
; x- P4 V/ n5 r2 v3 c6 A! T; G- I/ D6 C: B: Sbrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
& \* N0 \; Z1 K) {( gunderstood the pain.
# b: X: [- {, K"I know what those families go through," he said.
* _# G! A' h1 Q4 \" [+ lLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's" k) f [; }$ R+ _3 c7 S/ `6 {* P
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.5 a2 }! \1 N7 S
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman f: R+ Z" G/ B$ q+ h! g
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put0 `# d8 ?- |' }4 {+ q2 c
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,. {. ]4 S* T* {) m- U0 j
Lentz replied: "Not totally.". Q: v W4 E& S$ X. _6 A* c1 H
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
! @7 S0 {, p" F. ~"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
/ r/ @# }$ {( o* ?$ r' AToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas! h" i( F9 J- ~
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
/ Q% b5 N) }/ \' W2 f/ Fvehicles already on the road.
- c5 r' M: q) m8 \6 \/ EMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify) b) \+ v# s( W3 t1 p: O
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
0 b6 R6 W( R) n' P5 [; Lresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
( M5 A# D. C' H, |" u9 a; poffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were8 x- R" S6 n( S) P7 Y
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.$ i( H/ I1 ^/ A9 @. H
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a! h. Z0 r/ F4 S; t
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
5 i. m* P4 Z3 v: l8 K9 t% }for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight2 W+ Z5 @( U9 S5 k( K
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
9 D, v' M5 L+ I1 T4 Acommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to( G2 k/ L) y& N) B* x, _ B
restore the trust of our customers."
/ y. X& | @0 V& ]/ y( n) Z- X% WLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from( h, b0 J( s6 R- f
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
: w6 Y, G8 Z; r. n$ Bzoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --2 h; H8 t: ~; f: Z4 D8 ^1 c
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and; W5 u: C2 t4 x
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
5 g( A: z5 k, dthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
7 v! I* U3 H% p* F' K9 c8 e! rturn off the engine.
2 I* M3 @8 b! |4 E# x' BFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
: }! Y! s a8 j3 b8 x4 K- E/ kOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
* k0 _% J: s% E"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
3 y. d. u" P. O% m# d- Y0 ?said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond; H$ d- C+ f2 |' n' g
to her complaints.
# H, F& S2 q4 O. B, \' }( \6 ^In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
0 Z- H$ O9 \% \, W# Zreturned again and again to the question of whether electronic
/ c6 u5 C: o: N8 Mmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.7 s4 f1 ?' C w7 Q8 r: c
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
2 g( O4 f% Q! {throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
/ l2 b4 Z9 R; _"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut% D$ ?& m! \& x0 J+ i8 Y
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure.", f- ~& {" m; u
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
9 g1 Z: x& w0 `8 j5 B5 S8 Uprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were( {/ W8 e$ n2 L% Z4 x5 X0 G2 @
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls# ?( U3 M. s) h. Q
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
) y' ]7 G$ e5 }6 ?; w# f: z9 severy question."
" ], C# G v8 d; X) O9 GToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
) v3 j! P3 P5 Y' Aelectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
: ~0 l# i& f. \& S8 l4 g K+ ufirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But/ `* ` N) f5 C( L
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small* }2 _4 n! Z0 }/ r
number of vehicles
" {& ?: [9 V6 ^) c; _: ~' fTracking down an electrical problem can be far more) q: E0 K4 s+ w
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
) s9 q$ I& g/ C- Gmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
: L% ~, I5 q9 y% ]: I Msource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.; G/ _9 a& [" H" Y4 T
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,* B( ~$ p( t l- R1 ]& ^
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
* ^% z# Z; h* o" Ntrace at all.% K1 K! [3 M7 H6 a d) b
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
2 {1 \2 h8 J) X: ~5 bdatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden, c. z6 p" u/ p1 c( c& Z
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
( T. k# u# e6 a& B1 frecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
; h! J! B: F6 X6 Y8 l! ?Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
# [$ A" |4 r, o% \$ k2 @" N+ @said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and2 z1 U, s1 |4 _9 O. q" `- K
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
, N; i1 G- X6 kelectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible6 l8 H- d2 `8 i* V" \! O
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only* U, b. k$ G& g5 U, L; g, c0 [
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained2 M6 T; q+ `+ b: G
by Toyota's lawyers."
; b3 O; y5 u+ w, HLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of& |& ]6 K% a4 W9 x& \
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our9 S- x. ~0 p( b2 A7 D6 ]
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
" y% m$ u$ Z/ J' R1 c5 ^said.! T2 b" }) ]0 L- C" i) l! b+ j9 ^
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with' p5 I3 \) @2 o m5 Y8 _
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
) D6 S/ b5 N7 c8 i2 Tgood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating6 c: o, B, P4 W9 c" b! i
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
! f, ?8 T" i5 `5 tSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying& n& N; C+ {7 R
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread0 g9 a' N- V3 b
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the/ ^! s* }" s L, G; r& g
automaker, at least in part because of the government's
5 e( I3 ?7 `( H- k m7 winvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
7 {4 p7 [. d% I8 D* j1 s# R& [% sChrysler.
4 c. @+ m% ?+ h% ~"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax. F6 {6 n4 r+ H0 l! w' @
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
0 U. ?- w2 u) m, mHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
2 E! j- f# p1 a) _7 n/ M' S+ userved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete. o1 C7 c" d: _; ~8 E- G
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty2 v2 P) E3 X6 B" T6 a% o5 ]
tough."
, w0 d6 a$ T/ _---, W+ a' z& \$ t8 X$ w% q" |
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
4 U' Y. W0 c. ~( n0 @Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
6 M/ p# m/ R5 R# m/ @this story.9 H# l( Q h3 y8 h( ~6 x
) g3 J8 E' @4 d, t4 D-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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