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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 L# q5 |8 Y! E. M4 IBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
! Y# a/ j. A! w( V/ sWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.) K; i# f/ m. @& a% o
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
G) n; n' _" K9 `% q8 a% jthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
N; I' ^0 U ^8 {" Ssolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.( z; L0 b. a( y( c! Q5 f
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential, I9 P( d- |& g( P: ^
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
- g8 _* T6 u9 D( UHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
0 r; W1 T# z2 {- j2 a) bacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and# |& P+ N9 z5 e. c! O
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor8 C9 I+ A# s: R+ I) ?2 p
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.# c7 d( T1 X q2 t5 d. N0 n
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal% u6 p$ Q4 I' R' p8 o9 n
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
/ Y7 y. {$ b, j: q5 {% t1 Ucriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be5 ?$ ^- x# u/ E8 W7 x9 S
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
S! a" r- y z' U. d6 ~not stop her runaway Lexus.; l7 x, d8 B# l. R3 ?2 [
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
& P8 C- G2 K* f( i3 n4 nTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second u r7 n9 t7 j8 w& r
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators., B( O( I8 S% }. u2 s. x7 |: [9 q
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
0 @* W: v8 \4 W, M3 pearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said- u, Q) F" u4 C& U" C* S
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
6 k; }9 f7 d* t7 J8 r4 ndone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway* _+ `' A! g, @9 a
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's5 S9 o5 S: W( j- j v0 G2 \+ }
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
# O% n/ l/ @( @Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
1 E) n5 r1 K8 x9 f, u; u' A7 eelectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
& G e0 a1 x. q' H# g( \the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
6 Z( G2 p7 ]0 kmalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
& v) W3 K1 _, h3 hsaid.
: K% z" U V7 NAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what7 c7 h0 {) j+ F! f0 h3 p" S
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe3 z! U' t! i* E: V$ K0 n, r- J
about driving our products," Lentz said.
/ J( M1 e5 w" c/ u* {, |. tThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
4 |' _* ]( u1 H7 qproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
N$ {% H! `' \4 lrecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
9 O0 y2 \/ g! J+ y t7 Kmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of' c3 n( m$ E$ N W! M
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
8 h" ?- ?& {8 K, ]issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
) D( i, F- {" A* n+ Sconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
+ c: Z2 F9 N* T/ H$ u6 N+ Q }their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow* L N$ S# E7 g/ p8 M
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has" z7 M O9 {- B" n) D$ j* J/ [
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
2 _9 x( C* s- W7 ]+ Uof Toyota vehicles since 2000. e! { t& E1 a+ f# _
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own2 S7 F }% n. W% {- z# D' y8 H
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
& {6 \' s' z6 X3 Eunderstood the pain.
, F+ G/ e! T0 [/ Y: P2 \"I know what those families go through," he said.
/ [. i& \1 k" i: vLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's d' j' D: P- O6 T
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
0 `% z8 ^0 b5 y) H7 N! EBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
7 O$ a1 N% d+ @3 n- H4 g! W4 Q( R4 XHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
# o, ^3 Y8 z+ W" B) bin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,* w T7 w% F8 \7 ?$ @0 M) V
Lentz replied: "Not totally."# _; e/ {' [- r2 ?, ?2 r& i, k; ]
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
$ [+ R; }1 W8 t2 R8 f: ?"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said' o U H# a( @5 I. E# x: f( S
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas2 G2 R' v8 G) }* T( Z
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
, a- u( `, G8 i+ `vehicles already on the road.
6 |8 K/ x" M8 F. V3 w H4 xMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify% M8 l) V7 r# z# m
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full R6 @% U! u- B3 |% n2 _1 f5 V
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
( @0 d& ~* x$ u z1 z4 roffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were% y8 C7 t& ^* C0 r, A
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems." ?6 D4 Q2 c) l$ Q5 Z( [9 |' b" c
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
' h4 o) l$ i- N1 Y* Utragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
$ o, s* S% T+ j. f. ]) x+ B9 ?: Wfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight2 r, S+ y5 P) W$ f, L3 M! r
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal' n8 f1 Q; \+ Y, O8 {/ w* i) [
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to9 F: ` w0 ^& x) L
restore the trust of our customers."& H- p& u- V9 j+ r4 |/ q7 f
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from; J6 B0 G" L6 \5 ]8 I
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly* E5 i8 l* D; f' w% D. e
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
+ a: A) U- G- e1 A; v. p. |shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and- h6 C& {! Q6 P1 Z
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
# g% Q7 I7 S0 V, J1 ?that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and, B6 d5 {2 }: o2 l" ]! s7 q
turn off the engine.
/ S, |9 E. m ^. n9 IFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of+ U% }, b* S7 o- h9 c8 Z
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."* F3 d3 b9 x, w m: q, ]3 {! k
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she+ r6 x3 @, V+ y2 a5 D( \
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
G& w! U" V* l, z2 B9 Wto her complaints.
: a& u( @. y* Z1 T( d# x J' OIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers! J b. F' t8 P+ d
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic9 O( H, H0 h, q2 }
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.' f2 `) p( A, ~, T. B4 \ A
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric8 Q( z ` ?, p; r: Y
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited0 B& K) ~3 C5 t% D4 [. ~( j' h8 U
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
. S+ q) _; l) y6 L B! Koff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
7 A& g3 \+ |& A0 QTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
. l! e5 U* @0 ]8 Z: d' m2 Vprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were: K' y; y1 {, m) O1 m4 T
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls% {6 s' _% s% [6 j9 a
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
- B& u7 C H, {0 ^every question."
1 |1 H$ W5 R. X/ R F$ Y- w2 VToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
+ c4 l/ S* v: ^* xelectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
# J- |! C5 Q/ j2 J! T. X1 |firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
$ g7 b# V3 H+ _( Ccommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small
/ M; W! }2 D: g1 U4 i) L7 C7 Nnumber of vehicles
7 ~& x( j: ]7 d8 k% b( yTracking down an electrical problem can be far more
, f) M; a# H" Qdifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a/ f. ^+ }$ p: \: U/ B' \! P
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
1 X4 }; o' l" D0 I2 L* Gsource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.7 u! S& }- [. f$ t l, z3 V# Y
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
0 x. b1 E1 G+ r Wwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no6 {- V6 V% }, s5 z2 F( c4 B
trace at all.. s/ T! i9 I2 o! \, B
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
8 u S0 r% r4 V+ x1 m0 vdatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden% I8 ?6 Q9 o( }9 \
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
: T: X& l, f, k8 Trecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
% k, V& n2 R" O, O$ `% J6 X9 f/ LRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,* L3 O2 T' ~! e* F# d! S' _
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and/ ]4 R8 d4 Y L: j& ~7 S9 Y
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
& r% l! {2 Y3 welectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
7 N0 ~4 b% S. _8 b4 x: f Y' Pcause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only! D5 x1 I) l: H! y' a2 Q
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
* B& X( o$ Z2 Z8 O/ W( O* e8 g. Oby Toyota's lawyers."0 M }: K& _$ S5 F! U# f# J7 y
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
/ `2 O2 `, }# h! o& ?9 Eproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our( S1 f; J1 ^2 f* y; d
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he# D$ ]9 f1 F: }: E6 T
said.
1 k, c+ C' k* M5 N! u2 e"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with1 g; n0 F S) w. V8 E3 b
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
4 v& ]8 j2 Y5 Y5 c5 ]. H. a& _good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
/ Q/ R' I% r3 N1 k( m$ t8 pofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
- j9 s7 D6 h0 y' |Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
3 i4 ^" a; d! ]8 N* z% Vmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
8 q& G- v( z: O) `" g/ Crancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the9 r$ q% y6 V$ J% y: b" l
automaker, at least in part because of the government's: \5 h3 e) c, l1 s7 _
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
; c. J! \ h2 h$ D6 AChrysler.3 m- X0 O9 N5 ^1 g j2 L
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax: `; @7 ~, _/ j! Z% J& C
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a" N/ ?& g" q: c* W4 a3 |
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also! n0 n3 K0 _ [4 R
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete" Q% p* r# ?4 q9 |
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
+ j6 g+ f1 Q/ f0 a# G H& G/ ftough."% L# u* D, a/ R5 O
---
! f8 w, i5 }5 F$ v2 e; hAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom5 D# n( r2 ^# q# G7 X0 {6 g
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to% e1 }0 _4 T9 d3 B& ]
this story.6 V$ x4 W+ o, A
, w- e8 ~+ t. U' ^' b3 u4 s-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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