 鲜花( 1)  鸡蛋( 0)
|

楼主 |
发表于 2010-2-24 01:19
|
显示全部楼层
丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题
8 |- K# N2 O8 b5 UBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS0 g+ l8 i0 {: s& P
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.1 C: \/ x8 C/ e5 `, u* a3 F' u
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
. C; z9 s9 w! Othe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
* @3 \1 F4 v; tsolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
# E2 {9 L3 d$ A) n"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
% M5 ?& q$ u3 h" W& icauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.4 g' C6 k. B, X; o. G* i
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
) V- M2 ~1 B8 g. _& T* Racceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and @& w# d4 g" L: H$ ]/ ^0 h
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
8 A0 D6 }% H3 ?. r8 V- e2 o7 }mats and sticking accelerator pedals.
$ E; e. }" O5 N8 ^/ mHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal0 _: |; f! i! \- l; F
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
* w7 z3 m/ J G' ?* jcriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
M: e, f& o [9 y0 ]further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could7 ?3 t' |+ W- _# Q# D
not stop her runaway Lexus.
! p" o6 q0 P* X"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
7 d% z- I0 n4 b+ Z: ^Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
1 T0 o! C: d) D- A+ z"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
# a; e+ J! s; h1 s3 y' fTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
) W3 q& z$ I- L/ Jearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
+ i2 N' `" E. P9 w# x"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
6 V0 E" o" N3 s( u: Odone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway- Z2 o1 S [' P% m4 {: o6 ?
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's9 |6 R$ q8 {( A& h J% c* R
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."; b; \* }6 `, a0 M. t8 {1 R
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an4 h6 E. B/ u1 H) n9 `$ r! |
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of3 s- Y9 P) s* U5 l3 X6 f
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a; C) d2 |3 |! Q& B% Q
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
# g! X" _& n1 L& Y* osaid.
+ Y. e' t1 ~, _, A' gAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
k& x7 M: M' } }1 Hhappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
% o, h' y& a# z! w& j$ _8 k4 C) G3 _about driving our products," Lentz said.$ b: R' X- {' I
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
5 T' L8 o) L% Mproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has0 e: ~/ X) g- b3 O
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
1 x4 y, b6 m% Z) ]million in the United States -- since last fall because of/ S& Q9 @/ V. [! L/ f/ r0 u
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
6 I) p |2 v% tissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
& Y6 B2 h4 l+ mconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of3 s6 B: J* r* ?2 L' o( _: n. V: I
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow, Y5 ]9 u: n2 E% J! r$ W- ?
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
" w/ y' D0 n# o: Creceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration* v6 L' i# ~- D/ ]
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.
. J6 C. X, i) {& k2 f4 hLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own- h7 Z! m8 F. D9 R# u' \" t; O; n
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he/ D6 E% [- u, O; H {1 r" ?
understood the pain.0 n. Y7 F! w* J7 q( i
"I know what those families go through," he said.1 d9 K1 x! v( E# O$ e6 O$ f
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's+ V- }' O6 I3 L8 x
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
# {4 u3 p2 s0 t. t9 wBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
+ }/ l. v% Y U* A- ~7 Z) f1 u ~" [Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put1 M9 V0 r5 X1 a
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,% }! j, C8 x& V( s
Lentz replied: "Not totally."
& Z$ l+ n" x/ WStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were. u1 }# A" ^1 \8 s5 V$ x
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
% w/ C: c+ U: L0 F7 C* a6 OToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas* d- g: |5 Q, @+ a
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its4 y X4 [+ s o3 m
vehicles already on the road., ~7 ]- _8 i" W. u; }
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
2 s" p6 W2 l1 H; i8 F) ^( Fbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full8 {' `3 y O% }1 K: X+ x
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
. O e# c7 E; r7 B6 E: {offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were4 Z8 y$ t ?5 ^7 }$ T* P
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.& T7 M6 Y k0 E
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a8 G0 i* P" X& s( K
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
* f5 j' _, o6 S. {5 g( Hfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight9 b1 e6 M/ b" ?% b1 E) {- w" ?
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal) \5 X3 L7 L, f% N- h* W. {
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to1 f M | Y0 W2 k8 E5 `
restore the trust of our customers."
+ K3 @* l* u2 L( Z$ }/ `0 t) iLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
! \+ f! w/ `0 WSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
' w' g i3 ~) Pzoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --7 a @) Z# I; l: W$ ?0 V2 J
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and. `8 Q/ v# V& T1 s X: i4 ~
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
8 H) U D4 ^$ n8 Ythat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
# f9 ]9 u9 Q ` R: Aturn off the engine.' Q) Y" E" ] O/ k) |) q1 d
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of' B$ K, S" ]( j# n% a4 b% V
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
5 F, Q" w. a( n! l# e; D+ Q"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she$ {) S2 {* K( l* O
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
0 d N$ |4 d! r4 l5 P7 c% C' T. [) Bto her complaints.
3 m9 z! S- S5 ^In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers+ y$ f# Q3 W, |
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
( C8 V: }9 O7 t- fmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
; ? A/ j& b; p7 l6 T# V I"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
1 u# z o3 J6 O3 l1 xthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
: l; o6 B3 F' t' O& F# V- b6 ]"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut/ w& R0 V/ s4 \: A6 }* q( b; z
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
& r2 S% Z+ e% ]% O4 K! `1 aTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in4 [7 Y/ W& v- m- H" Y
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
4 @$ ~. H8 O0 c* Y& P; E. nbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
6 {8 R6 Y6 f7 r. A$ C$ F6 M4 Iwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer) ~& Z6 ]# s: ]) A
every question."; ?3 p( v+ M( G# x) n
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
( I5 k. H& U3 k6 Felectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
5 I3 |" Y' j; u$ x8 Sfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But- I4 ~6 r* v) N; | y
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
, w* o6 ]; x2 J4 G1 Z; O" ?number of vehicles
. S; H; O: e& D3 K4 \; ATracking down an electrical problem can be far more
) @# \3 m( C7 B) c5 `difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
( o3 T% w5 E2 X. A8 J$ omechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
. F3 }, | `: g$ l% y V- o) osource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.* b: { g6 ]8 c( R- n
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,' f+ t+ Q6 C( y7 H. W; `
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no' O" U: A- L+ W4 z
trace at all.( }( G% y5 I3 y6 S& w
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
7 X" e) S$ O. l" w" N2 Y; }7 ]6 Kdatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden2 ]+ c; o3 B1 ?6 ?3 m$ u+ I4 m; b
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the) ^6 k5 Y( Y* y1 @& O
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.( K0 _) F5 K' B. D; H- N1 P9 x& z$ ~5 l
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,$ l1 l6 J, O; \. L, n3 R' D
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and8 `: `6 W6 Z9 @8 S
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
* `# \0 h, f7 X0 R1 j5 H. C% Lelectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
_! `6 ]6 x0 @+ icause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
" I" x/ ^& l1 e1 N$ E0 u, `8 M- jsuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained. q: V' P2 V! z. c: i) p
by Toyota's lawyers."
- }, Z+ l% J8 G9 x6 k! ]1 Z! X1 _Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of) F# F2 o& g, v0 A$ l8 j
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
" J6 m2 ?) M& f3 L4 Lcustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he* Q+ m, D4 n" R4 {7 Q! L
said.( Z L9 j) l/ i9 K
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with9 Y# K, s! N8 e2 j: z- `1 x
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
( h' Q! h& ^( ^4 c0 fgood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
7 p2 M: M& V) l q" Y% }officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.# ?; L( a2 z' B5 T
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying! }% L/ ~4 ^% U& f! W4 h) I& L, K
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread- E* X% v1 n) m( p; t, ?( p
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the t5 B( h& u5 ]- w1 E7 m9 ^& _
automaker, at least in part because of the government's, K: i6 Q S" f
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
7 N) ]' ?" k4 b2 G5 p; EChrysler.+ k* ?( C$ S! l3 u# [
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax9 e4 o8 _: E5 O7 f+ I8 k* p
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
9 i' t: u$ U, ~0 W# v; T9 lHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
/ |& ?6 N7 j* ~' n5 a2 j) I8 Jserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete e) G; `. I f9 ?- B0 ?
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
! z; e. I, k( O9 g5 O5 u* {( Stough."
. U; E1 Z8 ]8 I: J8 D: W: {---
+ r4 N) H- Q1 H- L aAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom& d' Z% a7 h4 d0 o
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
2 y- Z+ O$ ~% t/ B2 J7 {this story.8 g# L5 U( K) A: _4 R! x
r1 t! y( G0 e+ P-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
|