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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
& {$ d! i" @7 X; K; h w0 M4 l Z, { d7 kBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS; W8 X0 w5 {7 i6 @6 x5 T
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
, c8 |4 w$ L- W' v9 c& a9 Qoperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
/ j- X9 _$ E, ethe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
5 b9 q2 p/ F! c; Y" Xsolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
- e' S- B7 t% ?: ?5 m6 I7 O) T"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
* C2 m9 k% m G4 Y) c3 Zcauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
: z( h7 g- r0 z) o& I4 k- CHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected0 _7 d; ?; }' A2 j
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and# N1 q" {8 Y9 i. z! I, x: C
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
, I8 y! W I J5 \2 q3 Omats and sticking accelerator pedals.+ L: x# \" p( B% p/ C/ M
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal8 v$ U5 g! W" \0 `% G! J/ T
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
# H% V2 t0 g9 _3 c) scriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
: {/ ^2 T4 k0 [2 t8 Nfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
6 L: G; x V: y" T6 j' Inot stop her runaway Lexus.: a- k: e% V+ N# k$ v$ }4 t
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,3 ]+ w3 k4 y) _0 X+ W
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
# x/ E4 l4 i9 O4 { l"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
& P9 s- N* `3 h" ]! Z* D' @Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
0 ]4 {3 N! R5 U* s, i1 r6 N. z9 xearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
3 c- X! K) K; K7 c0 \1 D5 y/ o' X- G"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
' ]- g! }; r& m3 K4 X2 r5 y/ s* Qdone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway" e! }5 i4 `8 K9 o u
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
, Q1 F0 f4 T: ^2 [7 s2 }/ U x5 f! binvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
! ^, v# e9 }: I L, c3 ILentz said the company had not completely ruled out an! S4 S6 K4 k' x9 U
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
0 o( p2 B' W$ C- g2 D3 ~the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a: E2 L3 M |1 B! s p9 Z
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he7 k" a& y# l/ B- e0 ?
said.9 h# c. ]# O7 q6 j
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what8 v H$ \0 W& y$ B5 @- Q5 C$ Z
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
# m4 H. u9 ?6 [3 nabout driving our products," Lentz said.
# B- g2 d0 L: A8 \; A6 DThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's4 x5 ~; h9 z/ }$ ?/ f- G
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has0 ~. D/ x+ i5 G9 \' p
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6! E% Z9 K' w; \- ^
million in the United States -- since last fall because of
# t: Y6 ]3 }* @: r3 m" A% v' ]# Punintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
5 n4 n9 }# Z; a1 ?1 t. I3 kissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
! K3 s- G( Z& ^8 }concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
' f& U1 M* }- z0 U" \their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow! n- X& f: \! g$ ^/ g, e) ]
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
9 f- ~* V0 r, r& a+ x9 O4 D7 ereceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
4 O2 R* u. u# n4 Sof Toyota vehicles since 2000.
0 B' V' F1 z) l2 x& iLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own6 K u3 \7 r9 s$ `1 Q, M; a3 a
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
& p+ [9 a% y5 B5 S/ L+ A5 Nunderstood the pain.
8 w( C4 ]% }% a4 C"I know what those families go through," he said.
# p; i( v. x1 G; K- XLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's7 R8 P/ A7 i/ ^/ N# B
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.) R* B$ r# O3 R# t$ N% o' V* w
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
4 b% m3 s/ t3 I' P) lHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put/ B: u1 K2 W/ z, }. f
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
. n5 C9 V$ K m" i: S: P% LLentz replied: "Not totally."& _, ^: x# F' o6 z% L
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
1 ?& [7 _/ j( K5 G9 ]$ k"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said: X! y, L$ {4 x3 Z3 E l
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
" S* S5 i2 q2 \* kpedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its4 ?# D% b( `' Q/ Z d1 o
vehicles already on the road.* B; J' K6 K3 D! S* d
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
0 D- h& \& O! ibefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full0 x: U# b4 p) j" t# ~2 t" l6 Z
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
9 \ R5 _; r- w! R$ l& o% Qoffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were( m& f2 z" M0 c7 a
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems./ B$ i2 s! A/ @4 A
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a) A7 ?7 b# P1 f& K4 ]1 G4 B
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony! s2 |8 f+ F) U6 z1 j
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
6 Y! n/ d3 ~0 l* X' CCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal) L2 F1 j: c& e# B$ v% x u4 `+ W* [
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
2 L! G3 v+ S$ C0 F( urestore the trust of our customers."% x4 ~( x9 U8 Q% U: |( a, E! n _- B
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
9 u9 ]7 ?& N( [8 V' J* Y9 ~Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly f+ K- m+ `, K+ U9 C* A
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --) N% W" \; O# D$ D3 T; X# O
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
: t3 C4 g: p) Phitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough, G% D2 \; T0 A* u+ @) A
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and _9 J* Q+ w5 w/ k# K8 {
turn off the engine.+ v% E( c3 `* P2 {
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
0 I1 h( S1 E1 e3 hOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."$ y8 @- r. l! {! ?; _% W
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
4 ?( G/ K- ~1 @0 {4 F1 S# G7 _said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond; |# X: B. |' e2 f/ N# E
to her complaints.( }9 h8 V8 B! X" K4 M
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
. s4 v, b9 Z5 O Z- [returned again and again to the question of whether electronic' d6 l9 L/ c- @% a
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.4 p2 ?6 Z# W4 A( m0 |6 z
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
- d/ F+ @- \, |- f) l% Dthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited- ^9 c/ g" T$ l7 J& `
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
" Z- M' R! z+ J h) foff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
5 V" o: P* a+ n! x3 dTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in5 G( Y" u9 V" c3 U( c* ?: f
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
& W F1 _1 p/ Mbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
' S5 k6 ~5 X8 I# r( S: L$ U" ~; a% Uwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
7 _4 h9 h: W8 v7 P% severy question."
$ e3 i) J% p, d# O( P& LToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
5 B+ D6 o# N' }9 [4 ^electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The; a \3 k. n2 q4 q
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But1 g4 }$ @/ i. I) O9 b7 Z
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small- E8 I4 b R! j& u. `3 y
number of vehicles
" y4 b" D6 |3 a* r' CTracking down an electrical problem can be far more
- c/ @: }- R: m! mdifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
9 o/ P4 D9 N/ S; m; ^4 r) jmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one& a5 r9 R% J8 \ h, D! E
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.! o* ^0 |2 W$ a% r
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
! `) I3 y% v" G# O0 d; Jwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
. U5 w# D( q% @trace at all.
0 W) P+ _4 \+ x. AHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call6 C0 E# n/ { Q- {' V
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
4 O$ `& m, d8 ]- Nacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
8 X4 j2 w$ p) q7 r }, L% k; ?% rrecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
$ l& @5 s l9 M+ [3 X% I' pRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
; Y: P2 J5 w2 J" M* |& A; R3 Isaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
5 ~5 q( p: [, Zother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
! L( E6 L( H/ z s# v4 xelectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible/ w" u/ z9 ]$ P- @0 @! u
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only' h; ?4 {: c, ~; ~4 e
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
, h0 f/ G) [7 Z0 z5 L9 Jby Toyota's lawyers."
$ I4 m: N/ L/ d8 ^& ]. \# i* ULentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of! B: U% t2 X; X3 d& t# P
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
2 m* o: |/ z) U$ tcustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
( D/ F- n5 u v; c) B0 Y' Y& fsaid.
3 v2 _: v9 R {7 m! V+ z8 }"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
& j v& G* L0 D5 Ba rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our5 D; ^) m* R/ X% T7 i3 g
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating3 }4 G9 f' t& N5 X
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.. e' q" a3 Q: ^4 ~7 ^% h
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
' _2 F6 F5 j2 E$ s# X/ ]" ~members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
4 k/ [) v6 m8 `( k; w& Urancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
3 r5 y8 v( J0 eautomaker, at least in part because of the government's7 M% l* p: b1 P0 y4 L) I# |6 P- X
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
( R9 c4 D* A: b( s- X3 bChrysler.
' x2 r# E5 Z& V" u8 ]$ F- ]$ W"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax' T: {* J' J4 k# l u, v9 C: R
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
- W, w, X- f! v: y, x; p; eHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
! j7 F1 \9 S) n0 O5 h* Y/ [" Yserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete+ _5 o4 u: R1 l8 U I& r+ @
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty [ o* _) q8 G1 t
tough."
6 B5 U4 j0 `) [9 f8 A6 z2 {! X---
7 I/ N( c* c* CAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
) U7 q: R1 G' c. I6 {6 n: B: L8 W3 BRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
5 o" t, }- `2 Zthis story.' D/ }, u/ G) `
3 o4 j* ]# }' j y1 L-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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