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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
( S6 @$ e" T' p! A* NBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS1 [8 J: W" m* m- l( d# P& ]9 E
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.( ]" ~: i% o6 K- p' p% z9 z* U
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that0 X8 `' S7 l6 V& V8 I2 A
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"& A0 X Z# [+ v: B1 P8 o9 f h
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
0 V" t. W0 |- b" W' D: o( w"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential( j7 J) Q! F* s" |5 `5 o$ Y
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel." V" J0 K$ y+ ~5 A( X
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
+ b+ [ c8 r; I- Q5 a9 Eacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and) v) v- Z- H7 x) _1 j. f2 {! C
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor3 f1 b; O t8 q2 o% R+ ]# C
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.( |# y4 z9 w* p- B
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
4 m; E; ]5 }. b' z( N1 Cand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
& ]" i6 o; q, W9 Z0 ]criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be2 ^9 n$ ^* d$ M j5 o7 S
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could. _; c9 k+ r, ^) d0 S/ L+ S
not stop her runaway Lexus.
- w$ A; B. U5 ^. u# P; r# T( m"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,' C6 \/ v& |4 l# S* `% w
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
/ h9 v( P- t1 F2 \5 d5 }, K"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
2 H! H7 s- D: y0 _Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues% W$ E, f0 v( }1 U
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
/ ?% m1 F/ W1 a5 z6 j"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
* _1 D2 @# b/ u$ @# x) ?done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway+ T' F/ x2 V! k, N J* O$ Q
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's. L; ^7 c# T' J' W; z T# F
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
* V3 |4 W, P; j$ eLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
1 r5 N: m" m T* M5 m5 A( uelectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
; ^) Y: Z- s, s, _6 ^4 t+ Jthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a! @- D2 X" {/ Z$ Y7 g, A, s O8 @
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
+ a: L* ^3 s& m7 Msaid.
8 S) g- k9 h1 J l) b# \( kAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
: D/ g3 l: y. \4 p% `5 yhappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
( ~- d& R# N$ W5 d- pabout driving our products," Lentz said.
- M( @7 W- h! a) K/ P3 VThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's8 A" D; Z9 n% J- C* s, d* a
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has* j7 z; A4 H& s& c
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6+ ^0 \( @) v: t* Q
million in the United States -- since last fall because of
7 S: d1 w2 `, N5 q! c& nunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking! g. U4 m6 y0 H, o
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering7 Y a$ V+ t% @/ a2 @! H
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of# u$ j# o- k& L+ E8 y: [: l- b+ S
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow1 }0 [9 n5 U4 @! c. K
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
4 I A9 x V2 x: @received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
, \3 ]( L6 B) U. b/ i+ k) o4 Kof Toyota vehicles since 2000.* U$ v/ v h9 M8 M6 S9 p/ p2 z) p
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own: [4 O2 Q( t6 |
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
/ ^# F1 {" }3 Y5 ?understood the pain.
1 B/ K$ @ w3 ^+ X" F"I know what those families go through," he said.1 ~, z( i6 v* r- M' \" I
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
% B4 ?$ Y; ~; k1 P( ifixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
8 y* Q/ {8 @6 a9 K2 c- p% CBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
6 ^/ T' Q3 R( Z) t ^) M1 S& KHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
- p; j( k4 r# L+ z$ Gin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,9 K$ N9 M0 ~" m# @
Lentz replied: "Not totally."
6 c( j3 b( i2 J, b, e/ S/ |Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
) I8 o# Y& \ w"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
9 G8 ?$ U9 g3 f( o4 p5 b# x' `Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas5 |8 `4 v9 ~- Z: Y8 j7 C+ l+ C' I8 ^
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its: m: l/ \: T( M, {, \7 S
vehicles already on the road.
2 _$ W4 w- h# T" Z. s- vMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify* Y u2 I D8 Y: L& Q
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
1 g( c, y0 l: W" B6 d0 `7 _responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and i: \- G ]9 g, U* H
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
9 L4 ~+ p% |) ?% V9 Kkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.) d7 g3 y# l3 r/ m j$ h
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a' w( S) O. Z4 o3 D: y' b" z5 D1 B2 a
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
" m1 U4 w( z( b# B/ |4 }) Gfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight" k0 V1 ~- h; u! S7 ?0 \
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
- O+ r3 O' \) M+ d) r( Dcommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to$ d3 h6 k/ n+ M8 O5 b
restore the trust of our customers."
+ D& Z1 }- a- d9 S9 O/ D# ?% |Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
2 c7 X9 ~ g& c- d+ c/ nSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly7 F4 Y, }5 x# L) [, [: ?& T( I
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
/ K8 p& l) {# m' yshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and7 x4 N C; [4 r# E& V
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
5 K7 b8 V) Y# h' Zthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and3 }0 ~7 i: q; z; K% I, e! b5 G
turn off the engine.
/ e% C; c. q& s* p& P: nFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of3 ?" ]+ h% b2 P
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
# ]% K/ |8 p/ l7 I8 F: r M"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she" J6 @' I$ D$ u9 O, X% n/ V
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
2 g+ ^4 \# _! E- Wto her complaints./ a: t/ n4 J- u: \
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers4 ^) x+ h! v7 t W
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic: W- x o- Z7 c. U+ \5 ]( \
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.* ~ C- }3 f% h% H$ A2 E
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric' b7 y; x+ p; q1 O6 t
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
" q# j$ u8 |2 s' A9 f"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut- O W8 z0 V4 @/ @9 z+ B7 t; N
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
, b; s i) M; G, @) v& R2 bTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
. a0 S" ]) L& l$ A7 Eprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
$ N+ h* B2 o" {! |being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls: }+ W" _/ x |1 \% ]9 z
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer% k6 p V1 V. l3 _
every question."2 ~- b1 c4 ^/ E- q! g i
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
7 M! s/ U. a( F _electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
' D% Y8 x. n4 `! u) C0 Kfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But# u- V4 C& r/ o- M. p- `
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
8 h. N# D5 w; d) f+ x' vnumber of vehicles
% ~: N( C3 @# p& `6 Q! _6 f6 cTracking down an electrical problem can be far more
& `1 e7 G' P8 \6 d- ldifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
( C8 M4 t& z% I: }3 b. Q8 Z: h* B! wmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
; q% g$ v6 E$ }1 _' n, ?+ Asource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
6 Q& f+ w9 Q5 D9 L5 k: O3 ?Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
8 u0 a. x7 n7 x7 z' ^# j& ]7 rwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
) l& H& \$ M4 ~- `# T3 d+ y) Htrace at all.$ { T+ Z6 A. J) D1 b1 x0 W3 K
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call/ O! ]; Y' o& w$ K& x I
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden0 Y6 i& h: e4 O/ V
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
$ e# W6 @) X a3 Yrecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
4 w! {8 n9 Z, ^1 ZRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
2 z& L: y9 M9 ^, t, ^, M/ Y5 hsaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and4 V. g: P% k* e. t
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the+ e9 b! B" r+ u# j
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
$ w% a( T/ t, v- y" c3 b! {cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only3 I/ E2 Q% e# @ H) [3 V5 |7 L
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained: B) V! r) B0 E0 _+ S
by Toyota's lawyers."$ l2 ^4 N6 y; B# p9 `* c2 p
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
5 Y! ~6 i( ]) Y+ kproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our1 |! z. n _* a7 C# y" O
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he+ l! p5 P3 n" f# a+ Y- A; ?! \0 d
said.& U6 d- t' Y: e9 ?. w. Z8 m3 _
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with) O0 U# L9 E2 P( J; H8 ~3 p3 C
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our: e: s- {0 b% [
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
+ y1 |$ Y* t/ J: E& y( r6 Oofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
2 u5 R3 d9 {0 M! r: e, |Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying7 M+ \( K {& Q
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread9 Z0 G: c7 k' U! J1 v& D- q
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
7 V" n" s* O( q8 ?2 Zautomaker, at least in part because of the government's
) Z/ J4 i% Z/ q; Sinvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
+ r8 A4 t; q% k1 w2 ]Chrysler.9 }( Y0 ]' b4 @3 @) Q5 F3 h; }
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax* U, @- W# D I' L* S
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
- v7 c" F# N3 i$ A0 HHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
9 Z, Z* P* R1 H0 _! \served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete; I! M- r* a! ?. f
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
; s2 ^/ c: ]- I8 t7 A8 ctough."- Q6 r% \ R) r
---: ]5 P, Z* F8 }
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
+ D2 Y; K% O, v2 m2 cRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to0 {; K" i. `1 f9 ~& B c
this story.
* J0 e+ a( B' s d3 P
% V C/ \' U0 k7 H' e-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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