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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
3 s |3 `' r4 h3 r( R! l4 U. NBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS1 ?& \/ I$ _- J+ F0 j$ {/ b+ b
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
* C8 @$ [" g M( Koperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
- u& y( z8 b. b1 Ithe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
* E! B. e0 p& z1 W( F/ m* g+ b( usolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
! J9 M2 `3 [$ P* I: J& F; ^# R% d"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
: X; s; I7 h& n& |" W3 Rcauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
. [" H2 s0 G% PHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
9 i, n! Q* Z6 ?# `3 xacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and" i. x- o) C \' N( n
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
, z+ s2 \: _3 B9 Y" m; [3 f; @, v- Emats and sticking accelerator pedals.
) Y4 M; P7 ?+ x( b4 KHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
! T2 ^& _2 v9 T* s' Land fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp. `0 c& d3 f+ O% Q
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
3 V$ q: I% P) y+ C H& i5 `further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could) H& R2 N6 f, O- G
not stop her runaway Lexus. c9 n* q. s3 u' O' o( @
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,8 P' K7 z4 A# [5 a( E9 O4 ~
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second2 b2 \0 i, `, R) ]/ z: {, s
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators." W9 ?! L. ]4 g2 o4 v) W
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
3 ^+ _' O6 F/ D( y5 }+ Searly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said. |9 m- Z9 k; P$ }
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
" H2 J9 S2 G, X; {- c. P5 f- D# udone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
: D( t: x3 \- }" X% D$ C' Mthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's5 e1 t! {1 J! ?+ G1 k: I0 y
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
1 M0 L/ ^3 k. A7 y/ M# ^Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an& ]3 U: K+ p( y
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
5 I- ^3 d" ^5 [/ E* q7 {the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a6 q5 p8 B* X: m# U0 R
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
8 O! O. z/ ^- j) S& O7 ~said.
1 X9 H, B* k0 h0 U6 a& i: xAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
9 b+ c' ^ z& m# _' \' @( p6 a; \happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
# `2 M' Z8 b8 qabout driving our products," Lentz said.
; h' c, ~! i7 G& n# H* rThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
! e5 e# \0 r( Q: i1 b" z8 Eproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
3 x4 s' z" p% Urecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 68 X$ {" z t) B" H4 r% `* g
million in the United States -- since last fall because of
% O9 A! H8 D" zunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
% l. q4 _4 I5 [1 H* `issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
, G, A) ~4 E0 }" ^) tconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
6 i# z5 x7 e& ]5 O6 j( f+ `their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
" {5 G! y# Y; ~% e3 a bdown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has! A f( L; _& H! J0 w
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
, e: ]5 P7 ?) @) S5 k% `+ g8 _of Toyota vehicles since 2000.0 T: R- w( J! W; ^& h, {; [
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own5 X! I+ z F0 X: k. u
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he! F9 G: o3 k4 a+ L/ s" {
understood the pain.
9 s3 x- S) K% T! W' s% \"I know what those families go through," he said.- e% |% {9 M9 S, a
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
5 O! p4 z# L# y3 N1 R rfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.- d2 i( H7 F0 J1 m
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman3 h! Y9 p% U1 j Q$ v l
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
$ ]$ J0 J; s5 Z* vin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,! m8 t3 n3 m, E' J
Lentz replied: "Not totally."
; Z3 ]1 ~. B; [Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were5 f* X2 e# O- a0 w4 \% ~* i3 a
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said- J$ L, b- ~, c2 i5 V- M
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
9 i' x% n" M1 H/ `pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its5 ~" Y; i0 A) E7 ]- ~
vehicles already on the road.7 n' \! `9 U3 |( i0 P
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
7 {7 C9 ~2 G5 X3 m* \6 ~% @before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
. d6 j0 n( q' f' n/ Rresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and! f( T& }3 c( C
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
% z! ~0 E+ f8 l9 {( \; T$ }killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
: Z+ I$ ]0 N; c* U2 t"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
+ E% y1 I/ i' H9 I( y3 ?0 vtragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
: `- H. p9 ~% ]- q% N$ d1 ^* @for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
0 R( G# p- f' L8 j1 v- pCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
; s+ q$ P. |9 ]2 Ecommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to6 |3 M1 Q5 r" } P" m; b/ P
restore the trust of our customers."
+ i. i( M k! L( `4 q7 XLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
# r$ B! a" \& Y) HSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly& d! [- S, O3 {6 O7 M# q; ~% S
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
6 K+ M; u' [+ _ v. y7 D0 D- H7 lshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and6 h3 G: m. F" K; G# z1 r
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough& y, p7 V* @. A: {
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
8 ^9 x( r2 l2 ]' _* ]turn off the engine.8 M A- u! {% ~6 f, g
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
|& l/ |) f! `9 r3 L. }0 w( GOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
8 Z* `0 [8 I9 R. W) A8 z% @( y"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she7 d7 s8 s, `: B" S
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
6 J4 T4 L' ~2 J/ V( s5 O: z8 L+ Fto her complaints.
: E+ H6 u6 G9 y* oIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers2 _# S) a( m% }$ r9 K7 E
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic( ]7 g& C9 N% l& J4 v* Y
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.2 {9 S! O5 ]8 ]
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric% y, F8 A/ N3 E5 h4 s! h
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited( v# _. [, ^. [$ j0 S" R/ \1 h
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
/ G+ D* w3 y' Z/ }) Roff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
8 k, p2 G2 a# n5 Y/ _Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in' o# [$ l$ q6 ^9 E8 W& K* [
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
! ~3 d! N$ A- S6 ]( B6 ibeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls% p1 \! h4 o" @2 W
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
: C5 J& _0 `# I( a4 Qevery question.", e- M, G* y, ]" H% P9 g
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether/ K; b5 r U$ g/ h9 e# l4 v/ ]" [
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The* _) |. a1 O# B/ T
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But B) }' y# r# w) b
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
6 B* {8 |& q6 G' Mnumber of vehicles% b% z4 b( e3 D
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more
; V1 Q4 r% |0 P _difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a( Y: w( z' o: y
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one2 W3 ]: M2 x9 S/ Q( x3 l" i0 a5 |
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.6 L W% l6 ~% }/ M
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
- M8 M/ p' d2 [where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no4 y( r- A1 v8 M6 ?2 C
trace at all.4 {) Y# p) \, ~$ |7 Y
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
. T! T: m9 \6 Fdatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
9 W# i" u3 ?( L c8 pacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
; j {0 @, T7 R! Zrecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.6 g) L! s" s: h. J/ }
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,; l/ e0 P/ O$ k6 f
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
1 L9 F& z" {$ `: Q/ v4 N3 o* ]other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
; R! b# H+ C9 R, @electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
$ s! c5 e5 G z1 E9 Zcause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only* k4 e6 M( f- Q$ M. Z
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained+ k* K5 i a- L/ {7 b7 c
by Toyota's lawyers."/ s/ s+ G: T* G" l m
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
) k: D. a) I Z! Mproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
- ~8 r; @2 n6 k5 P# T7 p4 vcustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he8 O9 f" L' I) n( K* ^
said.
' G* k6 Q5 e: S. J' e"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with! ~' l$ H6 \ M- u" b
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our8 ]( @4 t" K c9 L" {
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
& M, e* r( z1 L0 i* m0 N" hofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
9 r- V# l% O9 J. ]: v9 TSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
. z% T$ y& R' X9 |members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread2 A, k: { C7 n# c8 k5 a0 u' p
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
% N& [: B5 [( Zautomaker, at least in part because of the government's: b* E* a; E. p, U; \- z6 o2 y
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and; F, G, ]9 Q2 f, ^* ]4 k
Chrysler.
7 N+ y* q/ ^, I: X7 x# u"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax- P! Q2 H" u8 b8 k; i' v; c, b7 y
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a1 `4 F6 E. _: t ^* K- B! T
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
$ M* v% ^$ \2 ?served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
5 j6 ]( j; X# M5 e5 e5 L6 W; Qwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
`/ N% I$ A4 |# R0 _tough."
) m4 u( p$ p5 q4 W7 P---
. o9 h0 T0 n3 xAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom b2 ]9 N% P( t+ X% X" _3 X
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to, `' w) }7 ~$ m
this story.
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-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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