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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
. a# q# C/ Z/ t) s1 F r: gBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS# e9 K1 A- Q5 b$ ]3 P* \4 x
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
( n2 A, D! k8 W% I. F6 x+ T) S4 G9 u% Woperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that7 X/ t! q# `5 S. L
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
# K6 {) n" T& j: e2 {: e2 qsolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
5 A# @" B& v6 X"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential. r8 [6 k* W$ N) [' M) W
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.2 D. @! L! g0 j* o! N' D+ z4 G
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected, `! V9 c) D6 m+ V6 _& M
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
1 b- m( ]( x" I9 X/ ctrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor. t9 c; m9 }+ f8 [
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.- ^1 L' h( e+ ^* v7 x" i3 m( q
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal/ a0 L1 A" W6 }) ^" E: W
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
[4 ^8 X& a+ rcriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be: T+ w, C# l* M3 G: E; e
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
- \* [0 @; E- [+ J5 knot stop her runaway Lexus.2 G& N, t5 h6 i1 A5 f& V5 J( e
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,; W8 ?. ~' @8 [ \9 X0 T% Q' \
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second' m0 G8 J T7 y7 }2 J+ l( f
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.; L, E9 D5 N' ^( Q
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues6 V/ m1 x0 ~* k& @ n
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
) Q/ W8 V2 C% K! q5 i g"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has# r8 ?% I+ w j0 e _4 D+ F2 e' F
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway) N+ d; b: \* j& j
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's ~1 t! e7 d9 q1 r T8 \' x; |
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."9 R7 ]. ]' Z; m! E+ [
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
! @2 C5 l# G; G! E1 T" ielectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
, w1 ^/ O- J, c! `& ~5 c0 Fthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a4 n4 W' F9 t- @- F- z
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he* x9 }0 l$ A) [% `1 {+ A
said.
% U+ ^6 h; L+ S x8 u4 ~. AAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
J; h7 r: {. Z+ J$ l0 fhappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
' _6 H& U+ S- z3 babout driving our products," Lentz said.
( k$ w' r0 A9 E' ?+ Q$ sThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
8 }: m L, n& @0 v1 yproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
6 a8 R" \% ]. _9 S( ~& Z) @8 grecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6% n9 L2 E6 O( D0 Y
million in the United States -- since last fall because of, J! H3 K; g K% x
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
; S4 b! t0 Y- P5 x* {' @issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering% B: w, d' L5 H. b
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of+ Y; n( x; |! e3 o0 n5 c1 g7 R
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow' h" O9 T7 r+ N$ ^
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has/ a" ~9 t9 q; ?$ E; k
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
N. P; Z% @' u$ bof Toyota vehicles since 2000.+ H1 M( V4 I: ]% Y1 a5 ?
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
g; L P5 O* V( k7 U5 Wbrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
3 Q: q ?4 I% \9 f& zunderstood the pain.0 q" y$ g) M4 ~) I" `- n/ m
"I know what those families go through," he said.6 M. f0 T8 p, q& [ M. |' o* g
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's j- P; h/ j- r. a6 f9 I3 h. ^% t
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
2 s6 }% w9 T+ @ `& Q- [# qBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman1 s8 |& ` a I- b
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
" v* @. n) s; K# _# I+ B1 ?. hin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
, K" I! e: X7 l7 n; {3 SLentz replied: "Not totally."
8 i1 ^0 I1 K0 h1 c" OStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were' c0 n1 g0 S7 Q. k3 m5 s
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
# R ~: M. U2 D$ jToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
$ P8 f+ T# m! K6 f9 Y7 {( u" npedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
& B4 x& @9 E- J( d8 W, D$ x$ Wvehicles already on the road.
5 D9 ?5 h2 D. d' B- j8 yMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
! i7 u# Y4 n2 c rbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
# @* G0 a) m2 zresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and+ i; L% X1 d- c% [- P2 l( N
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were W0 N7 T& O5 A% s% |
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
9 R6 \/ [3 W2 ~+ H; J"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
b8 G4 ?; j; E- K1 }tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
, N( c0 u$ ?5 c9 p1 mfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight& {3 ^( v! ?1 ~. Z
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
0 p( {$ O: N% k2 Pcommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to" M# d/ \8 i( [! z% q) }2 f
restore the trust of our customers."" u! A' X4 Z& @2 A6 x q# m" N1 u
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
4 a+ k+ S X }4 pSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
3 Q8 Z3 @+ z9 c! E6 [zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --) b0 v9 i j B
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and5 s5 Q* `* { s$ N! ~
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
P. o* G& _3 I; \2 c7 r7 V- ~3 Xthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
; _ m! l# C7 T7 p& p: [1 Lturn off the engine.1 o: h; e7 s H+ M7 N
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of ~' ?8 d- g0 c/ J H
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
. p4 {/ M" C0 U# j$ M5 G5 y7 |"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
4 B# V6 k8 m$ l! Msaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
8 g0 C) l' e1 V; Y) ~7 Q; U- V/ mto her complaints.
, r) @4 n1 n% G* \: qIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers$ A1 t5 K8 P' b
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
, I0 F" ^1 q0 J9 p# V1 lmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
4 n% Q& J5 U5 O ? H"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric! T/ p% E- l) Z6 @) \: {
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
! w4 ]/ K E: A' W, I"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut: S6 f1 z$ r- y" {
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
* j8 q% f# H( p, w6 ~# hTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
; X- ?/ g# N7 B6 Pprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
0 ]2 ^7 W7 |" ]being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls) _7 U/ {: E9 u
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
, p9 B1 K8 I8 Uevery question."
" ^ x) P* r* ]6 m. ]Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether. k) _0 v' ~$ s- U- `+ y3 G3 S7 P
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The# j; }$ K# ^0 p9 ^5 y
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But5 U& U! i1 u3 A* S, G5 a& y j1 F
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
' O+ ]( e. S/ `; ~5 q' b9 x& `number of vehicles
5 u% i5 x' V( |9 A m% ATracking down an electrical problem can be far more
m9 s& U9 N. w) L5 ydifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
/ v: J" Y: B Z9 B3 |/ Zmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
# g5 ^" ]$ L9 z6 Ksource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
3 J8 x6 w9 D& x/ A* w9 x6 D7 UMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
7 p! {, w: A/ _& [+ c! D, W( P V8 kwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no9 X& H8 W' r) k1 o
trace at all.' t9 \) G8 f5 y6 x$ x- D4 Q
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call) O/ w# J& c0 b* U& T7 H, Q
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
5 r+ p6 x7 J* [acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
3 H9 z. b( A: \( Lrecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
& ~8 m: F8 M6 ?+ tRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,' m; P, Y. H# c% G [2 V
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
6 q% R1 V) `, Nother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
: N1 L. B9 F7 P& a }: W; z8 Yelectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
6 N) f9 A! _( r+ [1 x5 Tcause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only* e- Y/ F0 B7 w, ]2 O
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
' ^4 D& x$ i/ e5 W) Q% Rby Toyota's lawyers."
1 ?. z, n( Z$ ]' @* h% dLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of$ L4 R3 x2 \, s9 k9 H( s( \' G
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
$ \ l6 j5 G4 Ncustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he& {& b: X, Y: k* w }/ o
said.
8 O& g1 n9 [0 o' b# S0 u) a( p8 V"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
4 B. _ O' b% H# f/ t" Ea rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
! u% ^5 c# n7 y( q) ^9 Q! ?+ M3 Wgood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
( L( j) ^# A! e- Y1 e9 o$ Yofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
6 e0 P/ D" D' u; VSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying$ O% r! z) u9 y) ?: R
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread0 X1 @8 y, J* e* F4 U2 f* c# B
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
( ]2 o, b T' T( A# a e+ E0 n1 Wautomaker, at least in part because of the government's. m3 @4 {; o0 \; F3 Y' N( P& ?# h. A
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and3 ^7 h& Z2 k/ j( b' h
Chrysler.
$ ~0 V" A2 _6 k+ D3 A. u( o"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
5 u) }' E/ ^# B% ~; |- Adollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a; y: t( ]4 _0 o- l) G
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
' s, h# G7 y" rserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete& _( c7 H8 i- N2 b$ ]. j
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty( D" [9 `% F& X5 i& `
tough."* a% a b7 `" b
---& k" E/ I+ A2 @+ i( D
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
$ k$ [$ \( F) M2 D0 P0 ?( e9 GRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to- W( a( g Q. l4 u, R3 c
this story.
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