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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
' @8 X6 M5 k) X; RBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS8 G4 R' S" q+ U3 y# h' k% Z( s
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.5 ^7 A) J4 A3 E* V$ `
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that! m. U5 Q5 B2 X p# [: B9 L
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally", J! O; @3 G" b4 e
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
" e# ^5 n% K9 q' m1 e"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential2 U2 N b# N0 M1 T0 P! B; h1 I
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
J" {7 k2 }& w7 Q$ ?1 H$ nHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected2 f6 z$ y: |( m1 H+ U
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
* I- N, T, r$ {) n, M+ ?6 [9 F# jtrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor b& d" k9 w+ G
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.
- Y% g! w# ]' F9 Y" AHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal- h+ ^2 o0 d9 X( Y: k A. z
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
' i |& q, y; Z- d- s" _# q) scriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be9 s: Z: ]( g" N
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could( g8 m1 j/ D- I V" W6 g
not stop her runaway Lexus.$ k, l: m9 J8 ~* ?
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
( k6 J8 k$ p! u* n. K) [" @% sTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
2 c5 \1 N; y; O, c"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.: D+ X! H9 v5 M/ W
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues3 o# @: Q2 S' X. P
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said( P) k( z) X- j% @8 J
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has* g" ^+ Q7 s& O8 S
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
' K8 H- K- I0 M+ V% f+ Xthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
- f4 w) Y5 C1 i9 g! w. ~3 finvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
( w! b$ U$ F; y9 vLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an2 w) P' g, `0 R. Q0 V/ c
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
; i1 e7 ]' l( rthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a' U* F' O5 l# p9 I
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
7 K3 I) [- I" i3 A( Xsaid.
9 ~1 s$ R5 r1 g+ F1 y4 MAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
4 U3 e1 k- R( {+ j5 \happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
1 l$ p0 @+ p4 R2 t5 {& h: vabout driving our products," Lentz said.
J9 _! K1 F' [1 ?' x! fThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's& B# y! S9 ^" P, P
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has# x) g. t0 ]* v& z. Q) y8 q) k5 o `
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6# ]! G2 x" F/ i( d5 N7 o
million in the United States -- since last fall because of" B8 \) ^5 T; R' @5 l! l
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
0 Q G" Q2 b; W$ @0 n/ C7 @issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering9 q; m9 D$ Z5 \" U" i, c
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of9 d. g5 i+ q3 d7 R
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow5 u+ [9 l' H9 k1 Q
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has1 x% l7 K) Y+ v5 k9 F
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
4 l; h1 b, a* v2 [- x7 u! Iof Toyota vehicles since 2000.
6 H; I- J; t! g. T$ V H# D5 }# X$ iLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own. j' e9 A% A7 ]! q& p3 `! j/ g
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he% l3 x( N. n8 c4 g/ Z7 Q
understood the pain.
1 S: \5 |, |; `$ c"I know what those families go through," he said.3 b. g5 p, b( |$ g' |+ ^5 O
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's4 `, L! l. u% y6 U# x
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
$ [( F$ D* t% HBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman; R+ J9 m4 ~) g( |$ o
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put8 g. `. o9 Y# T: L {
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,: G$ a, V. o, K
Lentz replied: "Not totally."% r8 ]8 }" [/ W& e9 v
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
6 e/ r3 B9 _& j4 z9 z"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
" E; U/ I J- B% m8 J$ A* M1 OToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas1 ]/ H K4 [' R" m( P- e) x) V
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its/ l# ]+ M/ H* {9 \: _$ s
vehicles already on the road.- {9 L: i& _2 D1 {
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify# ^) W2 u9 S- S- W7 O" p
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
x, v: R% I: ~, O6 {responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and; O4 b6 w8 Z# \) H
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
( O( ]1 j- g8 n$ p4 fkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
2 H& v1 I: d3 a* t7 k8 B, t: M% l4 J9 K"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
5 I! d$ |# J5 I9 [: Otragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
! N% t. ^: p- l5 V5 Cfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
0 Z6 [4 @1 d- A: g" J7 f9 Z3 @/ HCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
2 K5 w# F/ t: p, {/ W3 r1 r8 V' scommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
$ |. [$ T& z @/ q% q! r* n8 hrestore the trust of our customers."2 l: H) Z3 \- ?# Q# c9 _- q$ a
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from" }9 H, ^7 A6 F
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
3 h# m. g' J4 h% G9 izoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --: j- ?2 T- J6 V5 m, ]
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and S% [" Z+ i4 ?
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
2 c& U/ } y& g, ]6 cthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and" \* Z' R1 B8 Z0 W% }
turn off the engine.
" {; @& g; F& p2 p! zFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
' a d2 F7 I7 f( M5 l$ aOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
/ p# `! }7 I9 O) T0 O7 K1 x/ X"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she V6 U: ^8 S: s3 |
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond6 J& o) |! L( @9 Q& R6 |. J3 r
to her complaints.
7 ?% l. x1 L' oIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers# W: X6 f! M6 Y- A
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
c# W, z' [6 |2 l: Omalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.* `1 K! M0 }* p& r* _
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
9 v# u% Q( [/ `% z' ?throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited; b1 j; ^' P. P4 S8 y% `
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut9 Q3 c' G" A: z/ u3 L+ K
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."& ]6 U0 ~0 `8 [3 b( }
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
! ?% I8 o* J" t7 i9 _6 Z% D# x% gprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were" @' @! J/ u* Q" ?3 D/ x8 Z
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
& w. c7 U1 t$ G9 x6 Zwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer' L, f- f6 D0 A g2 y( }
every question."
5 f. X2 ~3 h! o) X, |& F1 ?, Q2 zToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether( l3 q# m3 n; C; s
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
, h* p+ R0 A' P! {0 C" C4 sfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But$ m, O) \( J' I& `
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
; S( N( i3 P5 J2 l9 Z) ynumber of vehicles3 f$ g: A6 } p. s
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more
2 q P# x: B- o% ^) w+ G( W. Xdifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a- b; C/ a- S4 p [! Q4 K
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one9 T& e7 s9 |4 f9 ]+ R
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.2 h. }2 k! s7 G* e1 t/ |
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
/ l1 [; I! f! Dwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
% x7 X# h( L/ p. l! Z- jtrace at all.* H5 c% F8 j1 n$ i, v& d
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
0 ?6 g* B# ]& A4 K5 Idatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
2 i) x+ M& |. ^2 w" h6 v/ oacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the% U, o% a4 \- [% R% J
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals./ r2 U! H1 E, ?3 ?3 K. P
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
* u8 y. f# W& csaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and, S7 L8 |( m( R0 Z
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the& _3 r( z& x8 J [) i9 Q% c2 Y) ^
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible4 U5 W" C+ O- W: q
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
) S! P9 B0 p/ |5 Z7 X; {$ y$ dsuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
3 S& H+ U( V0 @8 f& o5 sby Toyota's lawyers."
) w2 z$ e* B# ], r! M6 bLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
! g) {2 n) a0 x3 Q( @( J1 [problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our! F# p+ Y" ]- [% ]5 A- Z
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he- {& P9 N3 }5 ?) X
said.) A6 ^. K: t$ A; V% g$ V
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
0 ^4 V% W0 k2 h+ K. t$ ia rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
" Y: M$ F: j* O( Ugood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
; p! Z* I% l) H1 W* yofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.* J- W" M$ {3 T3 t8 m% @1 f
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
6 X. b: i6 z6 U: X1 r: c: Lmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
. C6 O! S3 ]6 @! Z' I4 R9 {rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
- j0 ~# w- Y2 M7 Q* ^$ dautomaker, at least in part because of the government's" }* _# _) G* A/ n2 }
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
: {7 R# R K) tChrysler.8 X; n+ I5 ]9 z* i3 _3 z
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax0 J1 j+ Z( ^5 v' P
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a/ m+ Q5 ~9 q* r7 U+ y5 V$ b
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
8 a7 B. {5 l# }8 I. Gserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
/ P6 @4 @3 x# F# \& F* u6 lwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
3 {' _. a" { m1 y/ K3 b0 @2 Dtough."
+ Y3 B- f& ?9 N8 ?# H: j: k---- U* K+ f6 g7 Y8 s9 ^5 I2 Q
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
* t; s+ ?) N1 F$ RRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to% s( {) R# R8 T0 W
this story.
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