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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
) P1 E2 H6 \2 VBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
! P, L! q- v0 a% G; R# [Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
! v: `) @& }" a7 z Y- _operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
2 t, ?) c% u& Y5 Vthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
4 l8 N! @( d0 c/ Osolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.; H* w4 q; G3 h3 H% F
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential" o1 l, M- d/ o; t
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.# V: Z6 ~9 u% g/ ~
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
% y2 \ F- X0 x8 L: p8 Iacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and, v4 B# |3 F$ R m" o
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
4 l% R. X9 y7 V+ V- xmats and sticking accelerator pedals.
' s; W3 S- Y$ K+ h7 cHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
4 I* S6 q! Y+ b& W5 Dand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp2 c$ A8 ]6 W) @- c. p; v8 b/ V) K9 L
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be/ Q2 w2 Z9 O, W0 `6 W
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
- F! R6 c& m; p% Q" c- jnot stop her runaway Lexus.
- F j0 u( q7 Y6 W5 M' k"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,3 J. D; X7 W$ \. M
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
2 Q+ M+ x4 n2 p. y"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
( |, ~0 q; N' ITexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues- q# S+ y4 m! m0 x, i4 S
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said" w) X7 U' d/ ]% K4 G
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
/ c# w+ S! @9 ~, N" c- Z3 c( @done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway2 j6 |+ [: U4 q. ?2 }
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
) I9 K; @3 v! ]- k& binvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
- D! E$ a0 h- _5 a B/ QLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
& Y! ~1 `+ O5 i: Y' ]electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of" a$ u! V3 B" e4 z
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a7 C+ u8 E' [$ |" Z0 L+ w
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he4 F. o$ I' y7 t5 s) `+ d
said.5 Q0 L5 E# A1 ?# F
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what1 {5 Y# d2 N R" s" r2 ]
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe0 D1 M% T! @& b% j% A
about driving our products," Lentz said.3 e3 K0 S7 y; m* J# c1 c; K
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
8 a! v6 ]0 F! H4 n7 c. wproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has# l4 k# N/ }- Q0 e; R
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6# {3 V" Z& r" q$ D; U
million in the United States -- since last fall because of
l$ o: `- O. Nunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking( G- w, e! N5 ]! D0 n, Z
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering& Y. |- Y" u+ ?6 @
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of6 g8 w. y: A# \) I5 K
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
7 f# _3 L: ?+ G/ ^down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
2 {& W8 D9 O/ j- E; z& areceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
- G( _# r7 ~8 j1 q* j6 A: e, I mof Toyota vehicles since 2000.. U$ M) M- m1 b5 Z. D" F
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own4 _2 l$ b5 G% c( V' d5 F
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
( i# _( \( n% ]' Y( n: X3 u! _understood the pain.
% ^5 s; s+ H8 Q3 t"I know what those families go through," he said.( Y* G6 z5 O7 D* h+ G
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
! T" x9 T) `) U6 |0 { N( k5 ?5 g" Dfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.+ ?' A6 c( Q& l) k
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
( |+ y8 X+ T3 _, H1 ^Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put( D2 a6 s8 ]) K
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,+ e. y5 X& j- j" x- y
Lentz replied: "Not totally."- e9 a4 M& h9 ^1 A& i- ~8 J5 t
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were/ `) G8 P/ i( Z* @; W5 S
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
6 b7 t7 d# ?3 m9 c3 QToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
3 i0 g8 ^8 x9 k9 |. [+ s, F) qpedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its1 x* [1 m$ Z6 i: v$ }
vehicles already on the road.
# ^9 J2 [0 q$ U* R% f+ d% QMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
u/ r; E, W( h/ X9 }. U% a. h3 o$ F$ Tbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full/ k: F: Z$ M, h+ |
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and- ?. P% ~$ p/ U+ ] m& `
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were v, x0 U( o5 h3 R0 G
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.! U, g1 w y' X$ ?# k; u. b
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a ], @5 L, f7 u1 Q0 L6 D5 K* c
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
/ Z. O6 i, E- xfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
' X+ m6 _" e8 g: kCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal m7 X- j$ d0 [3 M: h1 _' ]
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to% Z. P, p: T% I* }
restore the trust of our customers.", Z- y, u J. s2 h2 f7 l7 P* X( B
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
; H# w P6 J# Q+ WSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly1 d9 b/ U7 g- v) z: [) s- O9 V
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --+ ~ \3 s9 z4 ?# R5 w
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
1 K6 ^1 n6 p+ o' q1 {- x3 ]) Thitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough# Q$ R, x8 ^/ g+ q. F
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and, y# Y) ]& O- J2 f. z+ z C
turn off the engine.
- N" P5 H6 ?( SFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of Y7 Z/ o0 ^7 B7 V% {
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
$ b$ z0 ~9 E3 C. `+ N"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she/ ~! n5 a4 ^+ V( h9 B
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond2 S1 X% b: R" p& N& |
to her complaints.2 X0 v9 G4 W% u% n
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
: G0 K+ X% n# v( ]+ Sreturned again and again to the question of whether electronic5 k1 x$ I1 Z Q4 [6 Z' B: G
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
+ W3 m8 m% r) v( p"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric& f N+ j& I2 `6 e3 g" q( {" v- `
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
3 k ?% s( O1 @+ q"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut% y5 N; z% w; u1 m+ G9 r) p
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
9 H6 l' z7 Q) E2 |Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in4 ~% P. J! Q1 i3 [% E# }
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were9 `1 M; |- `. _9 Z- }
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls) e% i& n3 z; `9 V* V P* b$ ]
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
+ |" m5 d+ A, Y) ?/ [( Nevery question.": S* v7 E" ~ I! y6 ^ R9 O
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
* K8 _, V( H) [' i: U+ }, n! m* Kelectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
# S ^7 a& k# `9 K: A! k' P) Q* jfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But0 {9 x+ v" M7 ~
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small% t1 _$ M9 m1 u: f$ ?8 o' i
number of vehicles2 d1 @ d9 c9 j
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more5 U9 H" F& s4 S, {3 j* b! j
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a- z0 {9 o: q$ m( ?- ]# t( ]/ }
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one f' X% X9 r, D% Z: u) ?, m" ^
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
/ O7 `/ ~$ r( U% ?Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
1 Q7 n& `* S0 r$ S! u' zwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no7 h; Q9 G, Y1 `3 ]
trace at all.
( v; T* V5 R3 d! n; E0 q* @' V4 }8 qHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
! q4 ^. L3 u9 d; F+ @6 N! Edatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
7 V- M. j7 k2 l* tacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
3 }7 @0 X7 U# R, |/ m, nrecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
9 u7 W# ~2 x3 k- D5 U+ qRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
1 N- o0 y% Z- e3 o+ O$ b/ ssaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
2 j" H$ I, K4 h% H7 ?( ~0 Iother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the9 ]/ j6 Q/ u4 h8 ~. q4 {1 K K2 Z
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible' C. N8 i( w/ k* U( i7 r5 y. z Z
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only7 C5 f5 Y$ q5 `' R0 q* }
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained7 q) w) B; P# d1 A
by Toyota's lawyers."
2 C; k8 D; ]( w. H1 BLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
$ p' b' S- |1 Hproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our' Z0 D( X3 Z+ L$ r, w D
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he' O; L' v Z, J* F" P5 ^# q
said.+ a l6 N5 t' ^. U1 T
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with9 C& f. v3 J2 D' B- q0 G+ K( ?
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
# Z0 Y' R( Y$ {' Igood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
7 [8 f8 |% e/ u$ aofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
, b+ X4 M9 p' D7 Z+ z, M; W1 t; tSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying' H2 ~ E9 v8 a6 F' j0 q* ^
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
! A# a5 b# i( J9 l7 X ]rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
6 y# [- r! Y$ o5 eautomaker, at least in part because of the government's; T: n) t* m7 l3 X
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and; l. F/ U/ s/ d7 Y+ u' J
Chrysler.# l C5 B+ }5 Y" f
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
$ V- g$ ^, r6 g; ~1 f; q+ u) udollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
% v& s; e4 F, f! ]Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
a9 A y6 L% M; f; |served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete. p! g( | m- |) M w! n
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
2 u8 o7 g9 n* F2 |: ]' atough."
" n8 B: z( e D1 ?' `4 _$ ?---* U# G+ F# J7 O- u* K& P/ e. Y6 w \5 ~
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom3 D# @# m1 D/ W1 x; r' V7 r
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
. Y& c1 c' ^, q8 I% v" ~/ mthis story.
) W8 v) h h8 s% I$ {& d$ n# ~! U1 J3 E9 Z$ m
-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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