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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
g0 _4 Z" A" ~- a: G- ABy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
+ a6 J: y4 j& K* D, h9 b+ {9 @Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S., x1 J; j/ T3 n( D& p. S
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
# D- E/ I' N9 u' U& v! othe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
& z, W8 i8 t+ O; u4 y% psolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
6 a" M+ w) U: x$ j0 t8 x) J"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential( l( r6 M! z) d- C6 P% ]
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.5 e+ O; w9 b f
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected" v) Y9 E# i# {1 I t, q! k# U
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
, _2 B6 u# B# ]9 i, X; O2 E# Jtrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor, [3 f1 c, b3 Q7 J1 {) b
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.4 I4 D6 x) `. i1 P4 ~9 Y6 R
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
# @ P! z& Y6 j; y4 V: yand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp$ M3 E. d; t% i1 e$ j0 v" S" |- }1 D
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
% @0 ]+ o1 Y' y1 R: A: e- F! Pfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
+ q; E# ~0 u8 e0 J% x( B3 }not stop her runaway Lexus.2 o8 ?% `5 C: Q/ j: c' @! L/ v+ D
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,0 ?5 B \. k6 y- H% N* [
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second1 L0 |3 y4 `# u; n8 O; S7 E( C$ q
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
( u) B' u7 e& y) j6 {% S( C LTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
9 [! v- e5 k; }( L2 w& yearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said: p8 n# B: N% F1 f6 a) g- L
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
6 J1 c4 E9 A# Cdone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway: G: o6 }9 H3 v! ]2 F: P3 ~$ t y7 t
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
) `4 U& z9 r" D) w7 U9 l# ]" oinvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."$ o! V- v) e) O) h" Z
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
+ i7 ?0 q# y5 G: Felectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of, |- L- ~0 o: U. I2 [4 F/ z
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a7 r, n* U/ k; M6 @4 M s! Z1 ]
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he/ J' n* Z, ]3 G
said.' X3 ~& ~8 I6 p% y2 Z
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what1 d% U) c8 s' z5 [" t7 F
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe7 Q& b% E5 V) G$ j+ ^. q
about driving our products," Lentz said.
6 E2 m1 G# X3 \# K: z# ]Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
* u' ]* Q G- C9 h2 v, oproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has" K6 c$ C, z! O
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6/ H6 K- p2 a8 W5 p/ j& u
million in the United States -- since last fall because of
' M G3 p, R+ g. L/ Iunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
7 b# l ?) A# [6 _issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
6 L/ S) {' G% ]( gconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
$ l. A1 H# C5 c8 C/ \( Btheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
9 G/ H# T* n p/ {$ V9 udown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
. Y% ^+ ~; H8 [; Treceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration5 i+ ~2 A' F* ^/ C
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.
5 b- a9 x, C5 W/ M( u/ X Z$ cLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
6 z5 F2 m. f3 }( U7 Jbrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
1 m5 {% i$ `$ p+ f Y$ |& R, u2 r* ~understood the pain.5 c/ \1 x) I5 d$ u% Q
"I know what those families go through," he said.6 L4 S+ u7 B4 {
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
' U9 O' Y) ^* i7 _0 vfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
+ q$ p+ y( G- W" r/ R/ a, DBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
" H& B/ r- h |# H uHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
% F3 m$ ^* q4 z8 pin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
# t. W* q; Z0 t9 r$ H. e; i! F& ?. vLentz replied: "Not totally."9 ?- L4 G2 B* q8 c
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
* u% p2 q+ b+ @0 I+ J"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
z1 |9 H! N" Z! O, U8 KToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas Y1 o0 \, q5 [
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
9 ?( G& |; { f1 evehicles already on the road.
5 w ?: O$ B v& j( X- tMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
: x, ^) p/ A. u4 E, z& jbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full. [) y* |! O8 o! D4 U( |$ z
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and- }6 H3 B! a' z! N7 ?0 M4 P& W2 u
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
0 _1 h+ m$ L5 h; _killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
3 I# V0 p" ~) m2 t- U! r, z/ c"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a8 l7 n, \1 k# ^
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony4 Y0 D0 I( e/ F, S7 [7 L, _
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
1 `- Y" U1 z2 X# N- x" T5 JCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal5 h0 u; l1 E3 [3 U
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
5 o N+ v+ \$ U0 f# s! [) T: u/ rrestore the trust of our customers."
, {( O6 g+ M8 x9 Q+ M, o! qLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from8 Q" i- B; w, E# n+ c2 Y' Q
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly8 m; ^/ S* d# Z
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --, ~ P# O8 v( S ^& B
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
8 M9 k B& I) x: j4 V* K j* ?- f9 y$ }2 hhitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough7 r: n& u! w4 T5 g' ?+ r
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and" R9 @& f) b- L6 G2 \( f
turn off the engine.1 s, R8 r( G! ~3 H% i& V* v8 Q
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
8 R6 j2 X$ }2 yOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."+ F, d7 u6 u: o
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
, w' i' i) v4 h! o" N2 \said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond5 w: T& `' S3 S9 C9 n; H
to her complaints.
0 d4 V0 P5 F8 h" `- q/ mIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
b2 p6 P7 H" a' e8 V; Qreturned again and again to the question of whether electronic
7 s2 u8 x* B1 o3 u# m3 {$ L% m' Tmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
R* \$ n8 W: O" J"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
6 G% x6 w+ n7 S% w9 _% D% Athrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited8 X- ^1 R" x- A+ C$ g5 [4 K
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
9 G6 n1 R. N+ u# @4 q8 w6 v. Zoff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."4 y" D1 E7 E0 a" f6 d
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
+ H5 o% s6 I- Z: t* M1 R; Sprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
# u2 @ }* f0 A3 E1 hbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls5 u L* d5 w. e+ @1 s& l
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
O- d( B4 _' h7 {5 ievery question."
. K+ N) r/ j6 p! \7 |' }3 z( SToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
' X5 r: [, U5 z3 q+ j& Oelectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The" [& |' k1 }2 d0 ?- t1 R
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But1 n' Y1 G( ]5 c: C5 e$ s% b
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
7 ^& ]4 @+ S% u5 l* J2 l' p, ^number of vehicles5 i0 o' m8 p/ ?6 t7 M
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more
6 o7 p t0 `: o7 l7 p- t: adifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
* i8 G1 i! w: N! U( J2 umechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one8 G8 a* A4 ]4 Q% ]) t
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.: w5 C# T* N1 d; O' A( ~4 w
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,4 `2 S/ O$ p9 N
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no! e! y0 p. h- g5 {/ u+ X
trace at all.1 [- \7 m' x5 v
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call+ T2 N3 m6 G: S j0 i- A5 c
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
3 Q( g9 X+ X7 j4 m/ Z" Lacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
' Q3 b2 Q' M) o/ _2 j. C4 p% frecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
) ?# l- C& m4 F* |! rRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,- _$ j/ A+ B3 B+ W% H
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
4 Z5 d6 W7 M; e ]6 ^8 | nother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the) }" ~5 Y- R1 U& f- _+ P9 D ?9 |5 q- o
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible8 ~) d7 W$ B) `
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only$ l9 @/ k6 E( O3 i' O
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained8 P% H6 K( V& s F. N% S
by Toyota's lawyers."3 ~3 h7 i' Y$ Z! ^1 l! z
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of" P. G2 T$ f `; |* K" C
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
8 M- q- ]% c5 }# Y& k! T0 Kcustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
4 R% u6 c" t, W4 x5 o2 `5 Lsaid.
; d: a8 E" h6 H' n, M2 J"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with* V0 f0 c# l7 \3 m" H+ I6 e
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our. U- w9 B5 u8 X |& Q9 G
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
* j% r0 V0 w: [3 m- y" oofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
; n6 H# }4 L$ e# RSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying! S9 @8 w- B8 M* I; N
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread2 @5 ~6 ^5 ^" R0 W8 j
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the; O+ k; N2 b# }1 I5 I
automaker, at least in part because of the government's' L9 ?/ A3 D; a. N/ Z+ r- P
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
/ Z7 j/ M# k1 _$ Y, @; b d8 |+ r3 uChrysler.
" }7 [! X) ?* [' J- I"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
1 Q/ V) ]2 v. U' F0 _dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a& }7 }, v. |& k" M! m8 `
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
- s: ^- T q' _% h# o4 z6 Gserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete% N- d( f2 n- I0 h, f( \6 q) v
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty0 r" _( W6 `- ?3 b3 ~: e- a- Q
tough."# A$ f0 \( A( p' s! B3 o
---8 N. L; ~5 d- P. G
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
4 Y8 Q2 C+ d1 e* c tRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to+ p$ ?+ _- r& }; j3 z1 {" q
this story.
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