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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
0 u* o% ?- F9 @* v8 N) b7 {By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
% [; ~6 g7 s$ d0 w7 zWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S." U' I6 p! [/ e- F* J# K1 o/ S
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
5 y! h2 Q. R! Uthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
% P- y0 L/ e4 N: L7 e7 Z4 \solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.; P1 V8 _7 d" s& x' [
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential9 h" V* I; Z; Z! `/ |4 O( g
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.1 {( Z& p: M: J: J2 K- K
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
% {7 b" t6 A1 i. [% B7 N$ racceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
6 S% p5 ], M# Otrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor$ x8 E) k9 r2 O4 Y& u
mats and sticking accelerator pedals. f0 X# n. _3 R/ f: l5 h
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal! V" `, v% A/ P" |2 G, m+ y- ?% r
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
* _0 t1 Y: A/ T+ o8 W" M5 `( tcriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
+ y$ n0 P; y9 ]further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could5 O; o7 Q, ]/ [* H2 R! P
not stop her runaway Lexus.6 O( S0 J i3 }3 }# U5 U, y7 ?3 z
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,4 g6 e M. M& s
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
! z3 A0 ^+ J$ }' M9 Q: y0 w"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.; h! J5 ?, i/ X! p4 t8 {
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
% ], E) y# Z1 a: Vearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said2 b' j1 U# z& `0 C
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has* e# O: Q% V" B: |% A Y
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
0 P6 X# i* I9 y# v- v, [through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's2 g6 }5 }& I) u! r, m
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham.", i# z! M/ W {5 i, X# e
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
) k4 `0 l3 t/ m, telectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
/ I: D9 \' t( B: c+ A! c0 Othe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a& [0 f* A- i1 n9 Q. _! o
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
0 `' k' ? \+ ~+ ^4 Gsaid.
( `: x4 Y0 i. ^2 v: g* uAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
j! A- ?* L' v! \happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
# Y3 J$ G, _' iabout driving our products," Lentz said., L( p2 B0 E: G& U: r
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's; V$ J. Y* @9 x; V1 i$ _, D# z
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
- B* n$ j2 X# U2 n& v' R) }& zrecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
( R$ m& h! K. x& Q3 K' h A; Nmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of8 x% E! P4 X# t2 L u
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking, X/ y# w! S8 N, r
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering4 {) o. M# M: ]7 F8 C
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
2 b1 v; j+ |) s( d$ ]0 Atheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow h- L: T& | S7 Z
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has9 D4 O! I. ^2 R: h
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration& F D" q; B7 u1 b3 ^) ]
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.- Z2 N" a( B& u. X, [( P
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own( \/ O: L6 g$ t- c J
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
1 T+ a$ C3 u- }/ z) _understood the pain.1 L# j/ J9 d. I+ g: F1 F2 b
"I know what those families go through," he said.
# b# ^6 K; L/ BLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
) Y2 L. R w0 G* C: G/ {2 Zfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.: \% x" Q5 ?# [# k$ K7 z/ B% Y0 a
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman- h8 M$ V1 d, j+ K
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
1 g6 ~3 f2 |8 @- t/ xin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
4 `5 d4 C' S; Z( ^/ N5 nLentz replied: "Not totally."
8 K5 J# Y4 r: ^( K( P6 A, `, hStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were9 n$ i/ w0 Y. E* M2 E6 e
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
1 Q4 V* b, j( ~% WToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
) [1 S4 I$ t( qpedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its& V( k# b& E6 c
vehicles already on the road.
: n, s0 J b3 o% V* ?) GMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify: c! h: P6 ~1 E' ~* J P c
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
" a) {: w9 X) u% f( ~ s. Wresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and. p4 p2 F, ]% k9 u; w
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were) k. I8 w$ g) j: C! h
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
. K5 g8 b- k. b- w; R4 j# e) J"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a8 n* {2 _2 {8 r: I9 I) B- y! Y
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony* y. g) f% D4 o0 y( n
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
3 x( l7 e! J( {% ^Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
* O/ l$ ` `; J% @+ Q4 F- Zcommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
?, _4 A- i# R2 }* brestore the trust of our customers.") Q0 \+ m& S8 `0 p, \; ?7 {& H3 _
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from* |: O0 ? K0 l' V' W! C N
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly% w# E" D$ l7 ~, n5 [
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
5 `( t5 n. n! t3 E5 Q& ^shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
6 S d9 |0 c" x: S% }* o* Bhitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough% Z' R. e/ _1 j- m
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
, B, p) e4 G! \0 r5 ]* z4 F9 w0 Uturn off the engine.; a- W B' n! b" r+ `( {
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of- J7 m+ E V2 M4 d7 D0 Z
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
5 t! e& C" n! ^: [+ K, b$ x"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she4 g1 M* |( I9 ?* F
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond. ~( p" }( E/ [- n. x1 X9 j
to her complaints.6 I# k' z* p- k* a9 _
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
6 W2 k$ G! E4 Xreturned again and again to the question of whether electronic
8 C6 }7 A7 `3 Z5 dmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.2 S) `3 \% y& d
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric! J4 a! {4 O1 m1 B! p# c
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
) A% k3 N: W8 Z% j"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
' b5 w9 j" y0 u- K+ Hoff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."7 n5 V3 |0 |/ U0 |
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
[3 ~8 s6 p& O; l/ b: n# \$ r: A; Vprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were+ l; p' q3 y' A5 l" `& F$ N
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
# Y! v% M: }9 K zwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer* T4 X7 b/ \5 M0 Z$ o4 a
every question."
! X! E' ^ C. J9 UToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
8 U/ P$ V, z7 x Gelectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
) d, V+ D; w4 j4 U, G8 V& r% z( p) Rfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
# t' }; m, N: V$ |committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
3 y6 @! Z1 A4 C; lnumber of vehicles
8 S( ?7 z+ n" U4 _! X1 U! n7 u+ V6 zTracking down an electrical problem can be far more; Y* `) p: f$ }: }# {) ~/ C, [9 e
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
0 a- i5 X' ? Hmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one' ?8 P- Q4 J3 N
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
5 |% `. M& t8 g* l& [: FMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,7 D- D3 n8 O3 Q9 |0 A2 {
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no4 U+ ]+ m5 |8 X3 |
trace at all.# _3 {7 {4 Q7 j: @$ ?" H* B
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call: |' ?. Z. X7 e Q/ X4 m. F
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden; Z2 i" o* C5 C8 d, {; ]) ~
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
8 g8 N% \ S* |3 ^3 O2 A* _/ k! Arecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
9 L9 U8 A, D* v) `) F8 JRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
( s! }0 h E- s* |' p3 K% s$ S; Rsaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
- O! h' K0 W- K- h8 Z& R2 Vother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
* w1 B" d w a" ~# W/ E4 Uelectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible* }* V' Y5 H; o. F: p: j+ m: l+ N
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
. Y y1 ^9 j( {* r) bsuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained' {+ e( a5 `% q6 c* O
by Toyota's lawyers."& e- b1 U, v% W' a" m
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
0 L+ g" V0 `+ A Hproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
! p& V1 L% @2 B! L$ zcustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
# d- w( `3 Y Lsaid.
+ g v' G9 o" m1 ?, K1 @"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with$ z9 ]& w7 p* x
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our' r( S' |6 {7 _3 O
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating9 Y% d: J) z& m5 C- q8 R
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
0 Y: S- q5 Y) H r3 ?1 ?Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying* {" C9 ^5 a) i3 ?, ?% T: S
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
) X5 d4 m7 ^3 k2 brancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the+ n5 J# ?6 i# U# s8 Z" Q" }+ z
automaker, at least in part because of the government's
6 F9 u- u/ V- U1 j0 ?/ dinvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and! u5 X" T' d% `: L; R- T
Chrysler.' {0 V* f( Y ~( k( l# m7 y- B
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax' Q6 S# J. Z) J# B
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a: r, P' E& L3 E7 z
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
+ o; {9 Y5 @& c7 j/ B. n! Wserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
* z( A, @4 }% y" N2 K K4 O: Fwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
; }: V8 w+ m; }# s8 t0 qtough."
( M) N7 w) ?7 p) z) ^1 t8 r---4 i! `$ O" b! |9 S, S
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom* |3 |6 z6 b- W( A1 u' G5 h# p
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
8 o7 D1 a- H. |1 Pthis story.
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. E8 T2 O2 l7 `- ^( e! J-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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