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(单词翻译:双击或拖选)
Big news, a billion dollars worth in fact in a story, that 360 has been out in front of. Toyota today announcing a massive pay out 1.1 billion dollars to settle a class action lawsuit1 by customers who say their Toyotas accelerated out of control. In addition to the money, Toyota agreed to modify affected2 cars and take other action beyong that, all told more than 16 million people may be covered by the record settlement which follows a record 17-million-dollar fine, Toyota paid federal regulators ealier this month.
The 360 has been on this from the begining, uncovering details no one else has. Back in February Drew Griffin broke the story of a documented link between the company's history of unintended acceleration3 and Toyota software. That report highlighted an internal Toyota engineering memo4, the company concedes it didn't provide the government investigators5. And his story featured a Toyota customer who says she is convinced that her brand new Lexus surged ahead on it own.
"Tanya Spotts thought all of those problems with suddenly accelerating Toyotas were old news, which is ecactly why she bought the car of her dreams, this 2011 Lexus, ES350 last June."
"Did you think it was solved?"
"Oh, I thought most definitely it was solved, the federal government tested, you know, Toyota, they said it was floor mats or a sticky trod or something like that. And I believed the government."
Seven thousand miles later on the day after Christmas, she said she was pulling into a parking spot at a local mall, gently riding the brake she says when, well, take a listen.
"The car just lurched forward and hit the cement wall in front of us."
She jammed on the brake so hard she says, she strained ligaments in her foot causing massive swelling6. And when she called her dealership8, a salesman insisted she call a Toyota company lawyer.
"And you won't drive this again?"
"I will not drive this car again."
Toyota has never conceded an electronics or software problem could in any way be responsible for sudden acceleration in its vehicles, but Drew and producer, David Fitzpatrick obtained an internal Toyota engineering document written in Japanese with English translation, which shows that, in one instance, during preproduction testing, an electronics software problem was discovered. Toyota says it has nothing to do with unintended acceleration, other safety experts disagree. Today's agreement does not address the software angle. And Drew Griffin is here tonight. Drew, first a big settlement ealier this month, and now this, is this an admission by Toyota that they really did have such a problem with sudden unintended acceleration?
"You know, absolutely not, Randi, from the begining, Toyota mantained it doesn't have a sudden unintended acceleration problem, certainly nothing wrong with the electronic throttle9 control system. The company said this was three things, this was stuck gas pedals, stuck floor mats, and quite frankly10, operator error as they said was Tanya's case, they believed that she, just stepped down the gas instead of the brake. So then, what's this settlement is all about, right? Why settle?"
Here is what Toyota's US legal officer said in a statement today, "this was a difficult decision, especially since reliable scientific evidence and mutiple independent evaluations11 have confirmed the safety of Toyota's electronic throttle control systems. However, we concluded that turning the page on this legacy12 legal issue through the positive steps that we're taking is in the best interest of the company, our employees, our dealers7 and most of all, Randi, our customers. The fact is these court trials were begining to creep up on Toyota. A lot of lawyers asking for a lot of documents and depositions13. This settlement keeps all those records out of the public, just like those the record that we found on AC 360 this past February. So it is a way that Toyota says, we're gonna put this all behind us and we're gonna keep all of our secrets out of the court.
"So, Drew, who gets the money from this settlement?"
"It really is huge, Randi, the bulk of the money, according to Toyota, is going to go directly to the customers past and presence, and that will include a brake override14 system for all the vehicles that were identified by Toyota as having a problem with floor mats getting stuck. For Toyota owners like Tanya who actually sold their cars during the crisis when sales and the values of owners' car plummeted15. Toyota set aside 250 million dollars to compensate16 owners for the loss. There is gonna be a separate 250 million dollars to compensate owners who don't qualify for that brake override system. And finally, all 16 million current Toyota owners are gonna be eligible17 for this warranty18 of what Toyota says is a certain parts related to sudden, unintended acceleration, the warranties19 go from 3 to 10 years."
"And I think clearly the intend here, Randi, it to turn the page, just like Toyota said, put this legacy, legal issue behind the company. Sales are up, sales are good, the company can afford it, they're hoping this really just puts all the sudden unintended acceleration in the past."
"All right, Drew, thanks for very mcuh."
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1 lawsuit | |
n.诉讼,控诉 | |
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2 affected | |
adj.不自然的,假装的 | |
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3 acceleration | |
n.加速,加速度 | |
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4 memo | |
n.照会,备忘录;便笺;通知书;规章 | |
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5 investigators | |
n.调查者,审查者( investigator的名词复数 ) | |
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6 swelling | |
n.肿胀 | |
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7 dealers | |
n.商人( dealer的名词复数 );贩毒者;毒品贩子;发牌者 | |
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8 dealership | |
n.商品特许经销处 | |
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9 throttle | |
n.节流阀,节气阀,喉咙;v.扼喉咙,使窒息,压 | |
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10 frankly | |
adv.坦白地,直率地;坦率地说 | |
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11 evaluations | |
估价( evaluation的名词复数 ); 赋值; 估计价值; [医学]诊断 | |
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12 legacy | |
n.遗产,遗赠;先人(或过去)留下的东西 | |
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13 depositions | |
沉积(物)( deposition的名词复数 ); (在法庭上的)宣誓作证; 处置; 罢免 | |
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14 override | |
vt.不顾,不理睬,否决;压倒,优先于 | |
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15 plummeted | |
v.垂直落下,骤然跌落( plummet的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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16 compensate | |
vt.补偿,赔偿;酬报 vi.弥补;补偿;抵消 | |
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17 eligible | |
adj.有条件被选中的;(尤指婚姻等)合适(意)的 | |
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18 warranty | |
n.担保书,证书,保单 | |
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19 warranties | |
n.保证书,保单( warranty的名词复数 ) | |
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