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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
. U W7 V0 L5 I9 o# [+ L( e3 H3 ZBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS+ D3 t* L) \$ ^; ?4 x5 }5 d
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.3 d" T5 Y+ V* E& U/ ?7 t f
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
3 J" N) s2 Q4 ethe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
6 ?4 E' ^9 i7 B, `) W Osolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
' `7 K1 g1 ^: F"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
* a4 G, p$ {) `: a \7 N/ n; y$ K, Lcauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
2 i8 m( O. v F) s3 s0 SHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected* N9 r* G0 |2 o8 F1 @
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and( @% V/ p0 P; T2 t5 _# \
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
* G! t) r# @. d$ ^5 ?- ^* @mats and sticking accelerator pedals.# p" b$ o& |$ B0 U; H
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal. X# X( U7 Y! V# ~7 r
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp' L7 ~* J6 Q2 Z, a# ?; e/ U
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
9 U/ {" f9 [7 [2 ~/ kfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
+ K! T' M1 @/ z, }6 o5 w Gnot stop her runaway Lexus.
4 N8 i [ H; B8 u"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,9 }! j) R* i" R5 Q% U% v" u8 x
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
! r0 k; _4 P# z- o" k8 H"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
+ t0 \( G5 K- R% x. Z4 ZTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues4 C' m* X* Z8 z- s" P& @7 |
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
& l1 g. f* x+ Z"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has3 Z( M/ j2 f$ s& ]
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway* W2 Y* y$ w P% {' R
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's8 A- o; o6 m% B: a
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."9 m- P8 @% j0 U I0 U
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an. f- y+ ]- [1 ^+ f# {5 G* l+ T/ U
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
( c! g, R% H0 C- Z$ X' ethe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
+ L5 y! z& b! g$ P+ @malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
9 a: Y' }! U% U9 u" lsaid.
/ ~4 H9 H% d$ z- ]' C& iAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what( ~1 k, K* h) e3 x1 Q
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
; w% S! Q f1 Wabout driving our products," Lentz said.3 j3 e2 ?3 k) A+ t* h: K7 f2 T6 C
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's+ Z& O& p9 ~4 O1 D9 ~7 ^
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has! x) g, @* M( f8 {
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 67 \( ], P" J* N8 Q
million in the United States -- since last fall because of1 I& L9 G, Z! E
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking2 m9 X) `0 |7 i- S1 [' s, i. L$ {/ v
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
* C3 p/ A& T' g' A0 Bconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
0 t+ G& e8 [5 E7 [! L9 Etheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow3 ?# f. S9 q' I- u
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
' n0 {. G& A% ~+ Z7 _received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration3 ^0 C, F' \- v: T5 @
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.
. G6 I' d2 P) a* k: pLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
- `6 ?) k: f8 m" a0 zbrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he9 \0 C4 ]7 N/ M7 K
understood the pain.) G) _) D% o, e; e+ A
"I know what those families go through," he said.0 j% O) t+ h+ `# g, t! {. [9 ]
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
, g0 S% Q5 `* O6 O1 ~7 H+ i! sfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
( E, e0 _% B KBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
! T0 J) ?, P; ^2 S/ LHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
- J8 S9 P& f' Y5 I1 T) {in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,' I% M2 M# [# U" l7 @8 t
Lentz replied: "Not totally."- ]% \$ j$ t7 C6 J& D- w2 _
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
' R3 l0 T) R( v5 l"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
0 B+ Q. g' Z; k, E5 i, a: FToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas3 n* c$ I: Q5 V
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its, W4 V9 j6 j9 W( i
vehicles already on the road.8 _$ k" q- @5 Z" R
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
9 `% [% L* A- O+ Wbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
3 i1 @7 [$ T D+ G, s, T2 eresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
- J5 `* H+ \, Z9 d9 O: s, n; toffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
3 }5 G. J" u$ s5 O1 pkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.+ l8 v( T+ k& T8 T; W
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
- M9 A0 \6 O4 K9 E, atragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony t% s8 I/ H! N8 X
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight5 y k' m4 u5 b! Y! F$ L0 o% U0 ^: |
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
, C: }3 {) u: F2 l8 X, ]; R/ fcommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to; |' K2 l/ d q) H9 Q
restore the trust of our customers.", ~3 l+ n1 ?% V- A- t
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
+ r% v, Z A7 F9 I4 ]. w, n, [% wSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
+ ?* e7 G9 E. T0 ?6 n d' r+ Izoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
- y, S0 i3 ~5 c% Lshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and' }7 i1 W7 y; N0 e% I
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough: Q/ I1 g Q( z
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and! e3 i, R. G5 O. w' |! ]
turn off the engine.8 W2 `; `3 x% |5 H/ @" k
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of8 D6 H& x! L5 W
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."1 J$ ^/ k3 X( v# L
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she/ u0 r& j0 }' ^4 f& M1 q' Z' b
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
& M7 [) b. I' x- k; _) L3 Qto her complaints.
! d+ H/ T7 i7 ~* _9 w- ]& fIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers) i# {1 t5 u8 K: w% G* @) M2 F
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
* r" G+ E' H4 i" m9 k5 j& ]5 ]malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
& Y1 q2 H. p& |8 ?"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric! G# L, a6 l6 Y5 v
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
: ?6 v( S0 y ]0 n3 I, e, j"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
0 {8 J5 ?; j, @% m" r5 L8 Eoff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."2 G/ L; j' }1 _
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in# n8 k/ d' |( A# w$ { i0 P
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were- E% B, q2 [2 @
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
. ^7 a( b7 U! k9 q$ kwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
7 q, ]' O8 d: b0 w- ?) {every question."+ _! D* x- W/ q9 x
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
* ^% i2 V+ f3 Gelectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
0 s6 r1 V6 I! c9 j) Jfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
0 o+ A3 X r1 [4 ncommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small! I7 a; }- U. c! x3 T# I3 z
number of vehicles' N% ]5 L8 c; X/ C6 _, }
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more
8 G0 i% Q3 |4 G! r/ i; Jdifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
9 w Q p$ r! H+ Lmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one) d5 ?* x% V5 u: E8 s- m
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.- @, N3 l/ P h, b. i: i0 w# n
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,; L/ g: a( N# K1 K/ |# P/ E
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no5 L5 r# V9 m# ?; b
trace at all.7 A o( y, ]1 Y0 s4 Y) r0 w
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call: W" k$ x1 t5 b: {* M7 Y
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden O* h. d( c; E7 u5 o& n7 T8 f
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
+ Z0 N x; }9 R4 X( a" V `recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.# d0 v$ p7 x+ P; y# a. u) Z
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,, P9 X% X6 F! X2 |" f+ {( \, f E: k
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and$ `& h4 a5 _9 M
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the6 v8 b# v, k5 V; \1 C
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible/ x) R0 u: |- v# b; G" {+ |+ d
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
; f9 i8 O* p2 K& usuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
: G, S d9 c) s9 ^/ @& A1 E& J6 Mby Toyota's lawyers.". v' ^1 H! @6 i6 g( ~
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of: u% I3 l6 v% N0 u7 X7 m
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our, @0 P/ B7 A0 F
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
6 Q' C+ \2 S( q, f; G3 R ~4 H) Ssaid.# g) c+ E! c/ G) w
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with7 Y4 g* Z: f5 ^8 P) d7 T9 K
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our' }1 `( E$ G7 Z6 t1 a6 {# Y
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating; E" d9 O' Y/ h7 ^
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
! w4 ~, B" B0 b; _Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
8 u: o" E" R! O9 p; Wmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread* S! ?/ k/ T* ]* a+ \" h
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the) R5 W" u9 M- e, B
automaker, at least in part because of the government's
j: f" o- S6 yinvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
$ P, x- \0 C* |& Z, s# ~Chrysler." a+ n7 @/ |% N) o: s6 d$ g! a5 [
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax O1 `) {- E/ @6 M' r
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a$ P6 X' \; [! O% \: A' i
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also9 I3 [/ i7 G* |* G
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
1 V# Z9 p0 ]: O( ]with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
% L v7 X5 x& Z4 H* [1 Ftough."6 i& X- G9 G6 d% P0 ?$ p
---
( p, \+ n& M0 F8 QAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
" ~* l- F! g+ [5 B/ kRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to$ u6 @ I: B( g; r; ~6 ^
this story.+ }; S0 k9 l+ @# a: E
0 }/ S& m; F e: q) ^4 v
-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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