 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
3 m6 ~) E) B, p! Y5 lBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
) j8 b" g$ x9 P% S2 F0 }8 CWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
7 B N6 N. b# l7 @2 eoperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
9 d5 p0 x+ o, k8 [' Z: R4 Qthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
6 a6 D' h5 E& W' H0 {# I3 ?solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.8 L, v! `$ ^7 E. V% T% y# j/ ^
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential' l# j9 u L8 i7 e9 D) Y
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
" \* D H% E; E4 b) [) t) GHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
, t$ q* W0 l" v9 L! |acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and; k0 o7 W# y9 L- v5 M7 u! x
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor. v( f/ E3 @9 n
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.
7 @" p: A; L6 R/ B! ]6 qHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
8 O' Q4 W. G6 Vand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
& F9 P6 T! p* w6 F" I7 Fcriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be$ L* f3 T2 F& g. `* F
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could$ w% }4 l# Z' z& S( A1 E/ [
not stop her runaway Lexus.
5 h. J# k1 k+ c% X"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,3 ^+ a' ]5 S6 P' Z% q |
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second5 j7 q0 ?- A$ s! D7 J
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
0 N' n( ~, \# T1 @Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues0 `% P- [5 k& k& [! Z1 N
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said% Y: n% F9 _% |( \; n4 X0 k
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has( E4 d3 U) n6 @1 J, x
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
- w+ B5 I: X( q7 w* h _ S8 Nthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's# E) L& U$ g0 k# {) l7 v. u
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."* n+ x( Y+ f @9 F- I0 J5 n
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an& {& K6 m8 x4 \+ q
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of: Y- e% w; E% ]/ b
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a, a4 t! v1 S% c* k$ E5 P& j
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
* B& {1 C2 t/ B6 ^% \said.
- |5 H @& z0 e* _: [+ z! |, HAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
) p/ Q+ F! j R e1 m% ohappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
% J7 q! ~# s' Q; `about driving our products," Lentz said.
9 Y3 t+ n- P+ t- n# a0 [, y( V9 z8 |Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
% G' y! j# W0 T k# e" eproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
9 T5 C3 v; o8 z' A& \$ Crecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
, @% P6 L E* v w% s$ vmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of
9 m G4 C6 {+ R; g2 q- ounintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking; ^' ]' E R5 _7 U. L8 s8 P
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
: J! H0 X& B( }) Hconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
: m3 w/ J' @% l, {7 ytheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow4 V! i* y6 d: w8 s3 b
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has& {/ S; c. Q1 @% }
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
; @( V! N0 P( ~. v: v: P! `of Toyota vehicles since 2000.
( K! Z4 ?" [2 E6 G- cLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
8 X2 W, m! ~9 ybrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he" V9 q; p& C# F7 S2 g; A* p2 \; C
understood the pain.; F; O2 j2 b) }- r. x
"I know what those families go through," he said. e% H2 w x+ v# u! f9 B7 f+ a
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
7 V) N; ^0 t+ _$ j; n7 tfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
6 w0 T$ H" v. U+ F1 B XBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman: t1 c5 Y" b( f2 }( t' U
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
- V0 C4 S' }) `; ~0 R& d& s% win place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
1 i1 d: \; A& Z4 z6 fLentz replied: "Not totally."
( D" U6 z# u/ \* H$ ?- S5 EStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were- @4 _ X/ y" a: i3 i
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
( x& A' l7 U- W5 Y2 D! H0 KToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
: V- }& P: q, Apedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
0 T/ h( u% p2 ~# {2 Lvehicles already on the road.
& T( o# B/ R. f+ V' \/ X# H1 xMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify* v) q+ k; L j2 y. m4 ^" |9 z
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full) R/ d5 z- B0 t8 N$ ~' y9 s
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and3 x1 p$ d: n5 L/ b% D
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
$ Q: P& y+ m1 o Q( ]killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.; S1 q3 D) J. Y0 V. H j
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a' m: p) `8 ~1 }) @- V) b0 d
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
2 ~: b! W% Z& `4 P, O8 n8 z7 @5 y2 Hfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
$ ]- O1 e* P7 y. m- @Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal& \4 R+ Y I' ]8 {; w) ^
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
- a) k- p. o, u! M, m% arestore the trust of our customers."9 v6 ?+ @, m. E" ?& L
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
8 | K. ~! c. G8 B4 lSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly \5 p% |3 [8 A1 @* o. z; K6 T
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
2 s! y' A! N) V, ]shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and0 J3 B0 T2 V# I8 L: y; L ?
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough$ Q- [2 |) K) R3 o
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and& m$ W2 A+ {8 A% U9 t, Q" m
turn off the engine.) V; p! [5 \( Q2 N, R
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of# u( g3 ]2 q D: |/ z
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
0 D( w" w/ C3 P& M6 x"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
, ]$ r. y, ?* u# Jsaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond7 K( X- A8 w# P- k% r4 m( ~8 G
to her complaints.
6 l7 q# ~) {* H$ s5 g+ SIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
0 a, G* n0 ?9 ?7 k" m o# a! Yreturned again and again to the question of whether electronic- D* J+ x' G% W6 g2 z
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.& i6 H, l) n3 C
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
1 O% ?! G$ v0 B' x5 B- bthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
Z4 p O- h/ x6 w0 I! J4 v7 B5 q"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
) S8 {3 h3 U$ u% Eoff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."* n4 z7 E0 N) K' [) z' T( o
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in4 |) _) o9 o( n* \5 J- N" U
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
! d! g8 C" V' ]6 B, ?. f {- j8 B& q4 `being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls, q2 p+ b1 E$ h3 T& o7 h4 W
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
. U/ B7 m. v9 w( Q' K% O/ |8 Devery question.". c6 M5 ]2 k2 n
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether* A: z8 Y( \* n" B1 b9 U
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The3 p3 [# ^; b/ S# _! a$ s5 t
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
0 X9 V' h- [7 K& [committee investigators said the testing studied only a small% [2 A0 p) `9 k# a& P: Y& E# b& }
number of vehicles
: Z: ~5 o+ V* E( {, k2 w/ G) aTracking down an electrical problem can be far more
. x7 H& \/ G3 C; x5 j8 \difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a" |9 z! v n0 h6 U* z
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one) x& H- r+ Z, b6 Z+ u$ c
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.1 E" k# B0 E) O) t; R0 v- Q4 }
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
: B+ `% u1 G. e( d7 Ewhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
, i* r# P) S! k$ J3 u" r- M2 Utrace at all.# D' }' r/ l$ k9 f: c: l
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call1 C: i8 f) B1 D" M! p' |
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
0 K+ S9 D) s$ L" J' Pacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the V3 {5 {3 I* r( z$ D# p2 L* M
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals." K# M/ U2 [0 ~1 z3 x
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
- ?- E3 }4 @! c/ K+ f! y( Q/ osaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and8 c h9 y5 B5 f& Z: q: w1 |
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the7 U" P% m# [- N, H" y; l8 W
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
. _5 z7 K- p: Mcause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
& n1 ~; J' z% u( {5 rsuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained5 C" j. R- A4 B; E) t* n
by Toyota's lawyers."4 m$ o) g& k. Q; }9 B+ Q
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of, ~& y: ]+ k) O1 K) h# C
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our" p# N- ?( \) U* b
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he' h% O m+ I" [5 ~, |- `9 v
said.1 @- q* r6 `3 V6 m% O. k5 m1 r) u
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with y' X0 N8 \& b2 a* t( b
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our6 d" [) }% t8 s8 |! ~
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating- z: m! q+ Y) j
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.4 U! k6 W t% @; p6 @( w+ G; q
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
* i! Z( f6 S8 X" ymembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread U3 w: | ?% k) s
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the$ u, y7 q% E9 ]/ u# m/ [
automaker, at least in part because of the government's
9 p7 K* d8 M* B! I9 vinvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and) P: V3 ^5 ]! F) ^: O' B
Chrysler.
% u$ T; u1 D- Y8 V$ R) D/ W7 S"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
- a9 n. l8 {* t6 y3 ndollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
* ]0 _. U" C: h7 _7 Q0 PHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
; U0 a& ^7 i+ |served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
6 P/ t) F! A" x) Q2 u" [5 Swith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty& f, \3 f' _5 R$ M
tough."
% [' V$ t1 L/ X. w. W---& a* _" R/ H3 N# l
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
. E: W5 B9 C8 p! o( gRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to0 J5 I8 L3 O5 o) T, M8 p% q7 a0 {
this story.
% Y3 i; u! c% e( F: o* ~% s: r
" s/ D% f7 G9 l0 w& G9 x1 ^-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
|