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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
1 I# J3 F1 m* b& vBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS# K! u9 w, w4 P. B) ~6 j/ i
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
5 q+ H2 S O+ h: O8 G# {1 ~, toperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that5 O! c6 \2 Q$ \# [. S' a$ }' l2 Y
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
$ U4 ?9 n: t1 p! isolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
/ f% g: q+ T! K* d! \"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
; \. a5 c9 B9 _8 ]+ Scauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
" P( B9 g, W1 V9 D) H1 GHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
+ y: t/ d9 u% r4 X+ ]; wacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
' o; z3 ~/ S; [" Y- |% M/ S2 Ktrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
( j! e4 U7 p* D( r7 \7 ~/ L1 I/ Cmats and sticking accelerator pedals.
( `4 h, z0 }0 j H; r3 AHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
: W5 P$ H1 S& G1 v6 ^and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp4 g+ J: f' l7 J, Q6 u+ {! K) r
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
) h0 C7 l; R) D9 m# o Jfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could7 q$ }6 B e1 {% ~5 T
not stop her runaway Lexus.
& {4 Q+ {+ n% ^. b9 h, V$ K! I2 ]"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
$ F7 P' c" N# ZTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second7 M8 H. R. s K) e
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.1 s) H1 N, V' w* ^
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
% X. z7 z+ V% F) A8 `early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
& g" ^$ I g& \" e) s' }"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has0 J- O3 ?8 D7 y% ~# D
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
0 N3 y% a |6 }) C" A. Wthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
. z' }3 B8 }9 @4 k1 Q9 Qinvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
" K6 c! J. J5 }) g$ U- H( FLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
( S1 \4 A! [/ B r7 [/ ielectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
9 p# p' C9 l7 E4 ^" L% ?6 A7 tthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
6 m( K! l5 W6 `2 w. emalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
* O) ^* z2 l* p6 D4 D" F( csaid.
8 k0 A- X0 @& H" M% L, f4 ^9 B: ^; q$ @% VAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
3 P9 k/ x; E M, D1 O# \5 d7 J$ Dhappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
" h2 T1 {# V6 w9 }about driving our products," Lentz said.
$ a8 ~9 z3 H6 B. i4 G& r! Q; c6 iThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
4 ^* [9 F$ x/ d2 B( a9 B0 Dproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
y' i- e3 H+ m) `; E* U% U& Zrecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6! i7 S* K7 l. R* ], t, O
million in the United States -- since last fall because of5 V. h( a/ q% X9 \ o7 _' ~8 }- y
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
, }! U0 m! q9 ~5 A& V! O- fissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering& ?3 m! q) G: J6 s$ Z" w6 f% a
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of9 ~; i; N. ^+ H5 y" r7 ]
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
t: |4 u, L$ ]! adown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has, |/ m. Z) x- U8 s5 C
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
( M1 r+ l- D" _! F# ^/ p& Mof Toyota vehicles since 2000.
) D7 v3 i; f( }+ a6 F, R5 hLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
" H% `6 |" t# e( Y. h0 |# U( gbrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
6 A: `6 U) P+ X( Gunderstood the pain." R* [$ n, v3 ~5 _* G2 N
"I know what those families go through," he said.1 U. w1 ?! k* U7 i" Z0 V
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's$ G4 V4 _! U. s
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
% \8 `# u/ T# L; o- ?3 ~3 \But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
k5 o- q n. K( ~Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put1 o9 P# O2 M+ {1 x3 `2 |- c
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
% r) {! V) J* O" U" I, mLentz replied: "Not totally."! ^; w8 }; `# q4 U1 \
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
; Q& h8 O& j7 I"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
, `: G' T) @* E% }8 T4 w) H1 \Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas9 z; J% ]/ R6 L3 H. j$ u
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
8 v3 A6 r) D8 ^& bvehicles already on the road.
2 z/ |0 v) n @Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
Y" m2 v" _+ a$ `before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full* K' b2 v$ h4 l1 z
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and2 y( o' u% Q2 Z; p% X6 U
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were% g7 W6 \2 h3 U* m5 f7 u
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
* f" I, I& z9 F2 `3 Z4 E"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
D$ a0 }+ P. F1 Stragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
6 j4 Q1 R( R& Q. [for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight6 {7 n+ _ r) |. m
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
# v/ j! i" C2 ^% l- Y1 c" Ycommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to8 q0 Y" d s+ I$ n% n6 D
restore the trust of our customers."# o0 `2 w* {* @, w4 M
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from$ n" G1 ^; k% W: e" [
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly% {. Q( U' P) O& a# L% d# T
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --7 H) s: z+ V. i! E
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and8 _; N. L! k2 ^$ w' J% M
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
* e( r2 |7 h- A% fthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
9 E) {; g9 u7 y$ F% W( Zturn off the engine." S$ _% q( O' W4 O$ d+ S
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of) e- u: m! b7 `# F/ L1 L# ~) Y
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
2 w2 U" u* X5 w( }4 A" v( @& a"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
* a% l' M9 Y6 fsaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond) }7 X; @- f6 D
to her complaints.
( x! c% v: L3 g: P+ e( c0 q7 UIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
6 B1 E: S( ], d! D/ kreturned again and again to the question of whether electronic
7 B) }. W# b1 _3 j9 xmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.8 o( N% ~5 e5 r+ t, S) X+ h" \
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
. O9 L* ^' Q: C6 Q9 Z' [throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
! X9 |2 p3 _& N"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
1 ~; v9 H5 q0 H, m4 Q$ }! b) Loff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."4 Z1 c% H& N4 Q. c ?% h/ K% W! k; N' J
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
% K! O6 P) A/ Q3 e6 O/ }! {prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were4 E$ N1 k) x& d! Y/ Z
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
6 w' b) X( F. F! Lwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
: U6 Z" C1 j& Devery question."/ ^! U, T8 d, D6 Q( w. ]% I6 ~
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether0 c7 K) ?2 F( E/ n C" [
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
- ~' |0 m% b" j+ Ffirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
$ R3 I1 M p. Y/ scommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small' h% N6 I- V& i/ I# S; E3 a
number of vehicles
4 v: ]0 e2 p4 ]. z8 FTracking down an electrical problem can be far more
" Y7 x% f& m" t1 S0 _: ^difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
( v! U4 a8 N, q+ A/ @# b. h2 fmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one1 F* n) |& P- c
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
3 O4 g8 R3 v& K9 D! ~ a; Y5 j5 ~Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,5 a& g3 f, k2 H$ Z! c8 [5 ]1 `
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
$ ^9 o' `* d6 ~trace at all.
0 z% S4 V' B* J# ?% l- zHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
5 T& C6 Z& W% D/ y: Zdatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
w. l Q: G3 H4 z, Y* Q' M2 Zacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
( S0 S5 v/ ~* W# A1 L+ f* t% W* urecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.2 G; r0 p$ t* G/ H! h6 e
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
6 H! o& \# {7 E- [8 Qsaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and8 D, K& p( a% y1 L
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the$ ]; }% {* E/ n
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
" p N; E7 h5 i. G8 p7 Rcause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only r; y; ?* z4 O$ x; x, ^
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained9 D' m) q5 w9 \3 @
by Toyota's lawyers."
3 M+ N2 E6 _6 Z/ t" fLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
' v4 i# L' W7 l4 @5 v2 d- wproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
+ [& K' z5 H% S: O5 y U1 c/ ecustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he7 G: `$ H$ f+ B) E
said.0 `! L) z; U5 I4 p5 \ ^
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with* t& p* y) C, b" H; A
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
9 `3 |% H. v0 Bgood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating) h `4 L- N0 N# _8 v$ r2 F5 t
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc./ ~. w) c9 v a9 B$ w
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying; T5 z2 [6 r1 j
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread/ n# w! W1 \: q" G& M6 X
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
6 P# [% e! l- M; `, _automaker, at least in part because of the government's# g8 y- m" A# ~5 B) m, h" a
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and' ]- h) A! H, [7 {2 X
Chrysler.! r- V& L% m3 J! z% K% z f
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax3 a5 q$ H8 k+ ~2 T# F4 a @( m
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
7 p* q/ v; f6 B9 q3 i% }Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also1 K. W# v9 P( `
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete0 f8 c# z0 s) U6 f" C
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
! ?" I. Q* z+ {tough."# p0 b* C' |! S
---# p) ` }+ {' K& ]# q: r& @
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom3 b# e7 i* E Q: k
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to* Y7 J3 i" g1 T3 ] E, f2 G
this story.
2 a6 a8 c4 R0 ]! [9 x. s, k8 E& U5 j# ^; I9 D8 m
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