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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. E3 G6 S( z7 F- \
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS! C y0 u$ Y. ~- \% _7 Z0 q3 P
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.' H, e" B6 e/ L5 G; `' ~
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that; p- M4 I0 E4 a" i1 `, I u. `
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
9 I8 b1 Q1 q0 Y7 E: Osolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.1 @% y% _, @, W4 H
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential7 q8 `) M/ y, c( _$ C/ d
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
6 C! Y# L; H) j1 j- W; j- H# qHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected# C k% }, f5 j. {. W1 H
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and% {0 ^# ?, T" t+ a8 i$ _: G- b) h
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
! I* b" L! m' {7 b! J9 ~+ \mats and sticking accelerator pedals.
! u2 C4 \ e) k4 XHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal+ g+ Z* H* \9 X
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp; q1 q* w4 H" b* f9 K" ^* j
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
7 }2 e [7 P0 V' xfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could0 K* G$ I" ^" Z( m
not stop her runaway Lexus.
$ Q( p) X' C0 d, I l! ^' S! x"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
; Q9 H" K2 s6 E; u* JTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
2 v1 D+ ~- l5 L- I0 U: @"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
* F6 [" J, V* I$ p M. mTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
; W) `8 {- Q' q8 Tearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
" D% [7 t( P7 ]8 b"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has" U% [) P7 G, y9 x+ C$ U
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway& \' }3 F5 s9 Y' } A' a
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
2 ^9 U b" K: |/ o* a! f$ `* ainvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."( P/ M, V" z% w5 |+ M
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
2 s# v/ q. ~7 H" T% zelectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of& r% ]& @% V4 h+ E _! w7 P f7 c
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
8 l$ f* Q4 e" L& }) }3 j" o& fmalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he1 q! J$ I5 a; X7 J) S" S0 M) Y% u
said.! a3 q: _8 _4 ?. |4 R
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what+ G5 Z7 K; h/ k8 [# q
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
+ j: ~3 ^" \) Habout driving our products," Lentz said.
7 G" U8 h( G' @! ^Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
* ^ x1 V5 V1 n: _problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has. S2 j, s' m7 T- w, w; h- J
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
# \- ~) M/ D; f$ rmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of
0 z) n; r4 ~! Y& K) Gunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
2 ?" y0 l6 E3 |& v% l6 jissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
: o6 U: k! @& C. E5 C3 D2 ^concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of$ z. g/ s% P" K
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow" r7 M7 m) G* Q. t# T; m8 P; x
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
4 ]8 T. } t; z6 n+ T' t0 [7 u/ A% E. Treceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
& I& D/ r+ o- o( F9 r' zof Toyota vehicles since 2000.4 I4 Y, e( n' ~ M2 y
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
+ W* |$ b% i, q1 Cbrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
) ]; y- k. m2 ]4 Q- }understood the pain.' h; ~/ |, T" O/ f- C! |, @
"I know what those families go through," he said.
0 c- N/ s# ^5 G! ?$ ELentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
7 I# s9 n3 r% X6 u6 X% s1 |fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.; g' x% e; Y" j" A+ Z8 ]+ O
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman! F. e2 {6 B- E3 W
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
1 G D3 E: y6 g! A( e' k2 jin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,, M7 z. W2 y6 T9 B X0 N1 \3 z9 l3 S
Lentz replied: "Not totally."9 {3 ?- Q4 f6 ], C, i9 W
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were( Z2 D, N# a) ?$ O/ T
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said) o9 u5 U- F- c" O
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas" e: p( t3 |3 H; Q, |( q- z
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its# {' \2 \# \6 {" F3 H7 B
vehicles already on the road.
2 X( p! v$ q0 {; K% DMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
8 L- x$ _" M% k4 fbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full5 A. l4 q/ N( Z8 n3 P {. [
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and" Y" o1 d# \0 J6 Z" m" _" w R
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
# F, m" l, R \9 ~+ u3 Rkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.; [0 ^8 f0 P7 C+ s0 j ?
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
% D0 `5 n( @7 M A* }, k* |) btragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
& b S4 j0 K2 v; I7 a f0 @for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
3 p! r T" e6 i# BCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
X7 A; K! q5 b" scommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
' R0 Q0 h" h2 {% w( @1 X b2 Jrestore the trust of our customers."$ M: f& i! F! X2 }: _! y
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from! S; A3 d3 t+ G" C* z
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly& |7 | ?+ f% L9 U' C4 C- F4 E
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --/ {$ c; y" X& U% y3 b0 q+ n
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and7 h; ?: k1 X$ A; d1 }) |/ w, y
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough5 Z; `0 t7 Y% b I0 t' N
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and+ k, @0 d: Z/ b
turn off the engine.$ F( X4 |: W6 V( a( J
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
7 j" t. U% H) T2 J0 yOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."3 @+ `( w$ Q' J
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she6 A% c# h; m; A3 `& t* @/ {
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
! o$ S' {7 q9 t3 d3 l5 H, T" o, Rto her complaints., f) ^3 m/ a/ x( ]+ I$ U9 y
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
% C6 i3 \6 A* b( a2 s# L4 v' Q. S* ~returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
# I5 w" z9 i: o e/ G4 Gmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars., q( P& V3 ~! w, |
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric" {6 j* D8 `' j: I0 R
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited! P; [4 \) T* U( I) b% t) L
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut% G9 B5 y! K, b/ p" b- w" G
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
5 }9 b+ Q3 ~; e, t" c+ N# s% zTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in5 n" S( O$ S) }. f e+ o" N' h
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
9 e) U' B1 p9 y: h4 Hbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
. H( b" r! k! }/ ^( owere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer3 K0 _* A! e0 h
every question.". Q6 b/ t' r/ {1 ~' }- T; k
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether( }3 x& F9 Y7 W7 P! W# p# a7 F" @
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The6 T# u& [; Z* U! Q1 W, d
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
) L# v! J" f5 q b, V; V/ E, C9 h- Mcommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small; _% D" n; O. \( D ]; E5 F# `
number of vehicles
% t% M$ y9 W6 K. V" x2 w0 Y+ C: @Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more
# A7 I! {" `. E; a. m5 s0 x0 pdifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a0 A' V5 M( {5 g
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
6 r4 O: \+ y1 x( W7 Z2 Ysource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.* l# c9 I7 B* B0 \" I8 [3 J9 d
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
2 ~( v) o) ~' K" e: ]where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
* N0 g! ?, Z1 v) y" h: ttrace at all.
5 o; S7 i# N1 W! VHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
, H2 |: G# W4 ?, u. r9 fdatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden! {: y- P$ r, W3 u& r# x2 G. Z
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
! B% S3 _" |( zrecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
* o. A8 G0 O/ N# J" I6 U6 I* BRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
# _3 ?8 {/ J1 H4 F) k0 h1 c0 ]: nsaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
4 v) k% Z0 X* s& b) }other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the! `2 { C0 C6 m7 ?+ B3 {( y% S
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
4 V4 ]# B! F# E" C: ?cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only" O9 e9 ?7 Y$ i( t7 u3 M* ~$ a
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained" j+ N, u- i0 ?6 B
by Toyota's lawyers."3 v, f& l& U9 y
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of& O$ h& D- M( ], H& m% ^
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
( F! i! F7 W* n) L, ocustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he/ D1 I- C* s, ~9 [
said.. i5 T* q& |/ x5 g+ t
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
9 h p$ J1 F0 Z. ~6 X2 Ha rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our4 S- Q! j1 j% Y1 c4 s
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating" G5 q/ Q U2 s+ L
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
& C4 ]$ ^5 B2 |0 SSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
/ c J0 d, Y1 L: ~% F5 Lmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread: h7 R R; T$ Z5 W7 N( c
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the+ M" [2 @- E! P5 B [# a
automaker, at least in part because of the government's
5 k, E2 @* \9 ~investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and- t4 v! P; u% W. k8 L9 n a
Chrysler.# q! u! v9 D! F! d; t
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
! G8 w. L b1 k: cdollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a! y' {" T$ e- f- t8 Q
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also+ w- s) i" Z! _5 g) L; h2 A5 x
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
( {' }6 K$ ]7 xwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
) Q/ t6 [% m7 Etough."
' n5 W/ i$ Z6 o" h: H9 K4 B---3 G" a. C3 E- v1 F
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom G6 F2 _- Z& p& W, G
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
% c' [' t& c5 R; G4 v/ rthis story.& W; }3 L2 M6 c3 Q& n
9 k( q o: u9 @# M3 e& l4 `( U4 R' Q. d$ H-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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