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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
, @+ x/ H- z3 z/ ~, P! Z6 pBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
8 R5 U+ Z! s& pWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.5 F" Y% Q" N6 t: ~8 s `) p
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that) w) ~+ _% O& K8 S
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
" t$ a4 M+ V! R4 U* ~/ |solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.: a9 p% c0 S6 h: M0 x
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
7 R3 ]3 W7 n6 }causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
/ c8 d; c& l- y8 wHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected; }. a% V: K' i5 T/ O. A
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
0 r3 s+ \% Q% }0 g/ P% S: btrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor1 u `8 _4 ^& }2 c+ _/ @; J3 W( \
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.
& H- ^0 z. B" P2 ?# B# KHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
S- X& J3 _, p7 @9 [) q0 `: n- H* Gand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp/ q* {& g' X8 ^. h! z- v. K
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
# d1 Y+ H3 @' K) w( n9 U. D# \further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
( G4 e" t* _6 n+ onot stop her runaway Lexus.
8 `7 i, G0 p. z" K. I. Q X"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
3 s. U" N% i m) F9 i1 yTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second2 A" W6 H% b7 x9 I/ |. L
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
% s& m4 E: {" L9 c* ?3 W2 LTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues' A3 A6 f: P( \* `2 u F: a
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said- z" I O/ L7 I. z( O* H0 A
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
+ K- u x/ B" j, R+ q- m4 vdone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
5 j& b: ]* c! ~+ X* a- ?through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's! Z- i8 v( ^6 C) y7 U
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."- M, |" `, ~3 M" h7 v
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an1 f4 U" H0 r5 v ~. {# @
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of6 \3 ] H z9 }( N4 x
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a8 s+ Z6 S3 J" `. o$ X1 j8 O
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he; b/ ?! H9 r+ a% y
said.
! x2 \2 C/ Z% mAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
" a! X( I: P4 h! D/ d/ m: P* Lhappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
' a1 {3 |+ J; i$ R' @/ z0 N; f/ Habout driving our products," Lentz said.* R6 W0 f3 J' `/ q z9 t: f
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's. Y+ ^8 ?5 b4 S. O" p3 Q" B3 A) |
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has' _8 }- r ^# v2 Y9 y. M1 P2 _3 \6 V
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 68 W+ k5 Z8 z& Z$ f) T, N
million in the United States -- since last fall because of
' N3 B' ]% E! E: j" Iunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
% f, k9 N" ]' G( \issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering4 ?2 A% H; S7 Z) \
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of# F: N( x( q9 _9 a
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow) R' y' [8 q! S3 V
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has7 V; L# {' g! U ]2 n
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration c. V5 I0 y1 h( Y% d/ ^* F! {! a
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.
5 k6 y& ^8 o# ] k# [- J, iLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
& b. _+ u% r @6 r3 k* J2 ^brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he: c5 o* {- i" j
understood the pain.
" `, k; a) E6 p* i) u# `" _% t% E"I know what those families go through," he said." d- ^1 F9 P9 Y2 @; [
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
# s$ O5 j) J$ G- N# Ifixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
8 r1 p& {& z; u" s" V7 [But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
1 X3 K8 D' B2 j CHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put* v- K# Z, Q0 z& Y+ B% ?
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
; o0 R n9 c s1 z, u$ tLentz replied: "Not totally."
2 C# A/ @/ F6 ?* v6 NStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were) t' a1 I' d2 p, Z$ d! R
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said7 B- a3 z |9 T) T3 A4 o0 H$ [
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
. o% t, [5 z9 ~8 q+ P9 y9 V# B, npedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its2 I) z K: {1 U( Q
vehicles already on the road.( U. j% ]0 J- k* q2 b* E2 h' x
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify6 Q$ u/ j; q- b5 l
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
; s8 ? g( l, W) T2 tresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and, u: M- _& [$ ^! O1 X
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
& S* t( `# o9 C, x8 Bkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems./ \# U- L" C1 a6 B: n, N% o
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a5 `5 t0 |: y. ]& m" P
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony0 C; |/ y3 o& f4 _' ?1 o8 P/ \
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
6 Z2 A3 }" z* T0 }: c# CCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal: {3 T2 L! S0 O! e- x0 V% O
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
. C0 b( ?4 E; W+ V, N4 L' Wrestore the trust of our customers."2 R& G, A4 H) B$ J/ h6 F, ~
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from3 U$ ~ K1 P' [
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly/ g7 B4 q4 F& A2 ]% H' p
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --* H8 k& ]: d" K% z9 V" H
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
7 S/ A( G$ [! G q0 nhitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
+ O: Z& j8 g } f& C. A( bthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and" K: h) x3 F; a" q! `' E e
turn off the engine.8 B+ R0 j9 z7 X2 o) V$ Z
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
- ?1 c* T0 F$ s- aOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."* c! L$ ~( V; r
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
* k6 r% f- g" K$ V% R9 f! Jsaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
7 L, s1 m. E$ i2 I- j) G9 E5 Oto her complaints.
4 L2 E( ^9 s% |+ H$ pIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
, O& X8 J4 I0 U' ~returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
0 B. A: j! c, e' G$ r/ g+ p; Z" {malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
6 j5 s; ~2 k @, Y o"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric) s, r* u4 Z! Y% l6 D) R
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited G# W& G$ c# ~
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut5 @3 ~! n2 `$ G$ k/ p
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."3 _/ j( ~, `( c- @5 K" o4 l
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in& O' g( _: _9 ]" D
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were% I( o. R, Y; ]( I" |6 [
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls' N. ?) F. A. i+ |
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer! f9 D3 I k+ l+ j* u; U
every question."
0 w% ~, _8 P" [: J8 m/ KToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
! Z( F! f7 n# X/ \electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The: F% {: w$ R6 W
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
' Y) B7 i! \$ dcommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small
) u# R: u0 w2 L! anumber of vehicles4 K. T5 t, U& F# W
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more
5 M k$ Q* C8 [' @3 l; `9 n2 ]7 C) Cdifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a! \- q% z6 y; n5 X: N# h! ^& s/ @
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one% k" h4 i& ?$ }# ^: W- h
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
" t+ F& w3 R$ T' r. |$ g2 jMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
' ?) P; S: ?; W7 Y0 }% `# Qwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
) N, ?; N* h+ Z& A1 ktrace at all.3 E" ^0 M% N B$ n- L1 P" [& B4 k1 T
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
& p/ ?8 U" k1 h8 Qdatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
5 U6 n4 v8 n- _% m% a4 macceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the" ]' c8 u# }: i1 l& ^! {' F* j& n- o1 n P
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
5 G3 }; a$ `: A, a' ]Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
+ e& r# [5 U; L# y5 ksaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
4 U# | L8 `. [- H: o" ]other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the- B' u ~( O* v" K! ]2 o. l5 q, W. H
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
/ q, C1 y3 R8 ecause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only9 {0 A$ i+ E3 r& G' v7 I
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained, V o. W: p+ l6 r
by Toyota's lawyers." j" x" x( i) K, y) P1 r4 x
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
5 h& `+ R. V p# _problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
) Y! r4 l* N; |; s( h2 k" Dcustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
. h! v1 Z1 `5 qsaid.
9 y6 ~( E4 ], C# P$ S$ [4 I"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with- ?6 ~) ~3 _! o* M9 S2 r3 `
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
* T! y: b' i3 L0 `) G& | fgood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating, k1 D& C% L V" p- e( b: d8 S
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
5 g( H5 n/ \+ jSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying) N: c. q2 J( d/ I
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread4 K: t d8 x4 z( o- {
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
- `0 a& J, ~1 I& w3 J4 Qautomaker, at least in part because of the government's2 d: N/ Q$ X7 U7 t l
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
. p6 o3 y, T. MChrysler.- [# S. J) i$ P ~, Z" ^) }2 |
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
2 p1 ~+ u! k( qdollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
% ^- v4 l" ~( ]& S1 j- d- XHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
O$ X" K3 b# c6 [served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete% g; q+ S0 `" G5 z3 n2 e; s
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty' F% F1 d8 n1 d, D t
tough."
, _3 [( Y" R( L, {1 l---, N0 F+ Z: Y0 E6 n4 t+ {& w3 G& g
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
0 Y3 v! x+ h) ^: c/ v6 j& NRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
. b" |* S/ |4 Rthis story.
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, c, W: l- S, M7 d W: L' M-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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