 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 N* U7 ^, c5 sBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
3 I/ f1 S% K7 s* e; bWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.. q) f1 E: d: H9 K, g
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that9 W! P3 n3 w6 J# B; w+ Q, b7 U7 i
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally", ?/ e3 N/ {8 `2 i! a6 L
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
* ^9 }4 ^4 C0 G: _"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential, J- B) ^; E2 t- \
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.8 f- W$ y3 N1 ]$ M6 f7 j
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected! r& R l% Q# j7 | P
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and5 k; D# W* h; H6 l W
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
; x2 A3 X9 d/ s% i3 Wmats and sticking accelerator pedals.
& A4 r5 K' b2 n; F1 o* F9 d& MHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal3 d1 K, L& k1 p, p2 k6 T
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp8 @3 _8 e6 B9 D$ N1 u
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be6 N% g' `% h; t) s4 Z8 w( N
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
3 [# \; F5 r7 i" `) w, Tnot stop her runaway Lexus.
; y# s3 c4 B+ O$ _"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
3 |( ?8 [7 B. t+ C: STenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second! x# d; f( N' P5 f; z% Q0 Z. L [
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
: ~' e6 `; [ x8 B2 W' g: C( N; kTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues" }& @" D+ h/ `1 O6 n6 K! p' Z: Y( y
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said+ n. y, y" }) [/ }; f
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
; B. k+ R z, _) T% ndone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
. I$ G7 Z( Y+ Y" J- F1 Ethrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
8 {" R& b1 ]$ B: @* j6 i- Jinvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."% l5 t9 k: z& ]4 T% D
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
. k9 G/ |9 K0 {5 L- o7 X* e2 w7 ~electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
2 Q% N. m5 |0 j% L/ y6 s8 l5 l( J/ `the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a( N P/ ^" x& C
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
, A6 `6 u6 D# i% q! Gsaid.
; S# g9 R1 s+ g6 D+ m& VAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what1 ~2 c3 y. i6 U/ t5 I, p1 N7 q% ~
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe# j% D3 p2 ^1 X% h
about driving our products," Lentz said.7 s* M& K6 k! d8 [" ]8 c! Z3 ~8 i
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
: A% c, @* R; m; j V5 v3 oproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has$ ~. U' h: X- [3 g
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6' c4 `- O; ?9 \
million in the United States -- since last fall because of9 R2 T, T1 g& U
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
& ?8 u* _$ f! w" oissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
( H% [" u/ L6 g5 n) Yconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of- ~% A! C$ b: L
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
. W* f7 S8 b2 Z$ m2 M ydown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
2 d# v! f; e: W' B3 n' M Areceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
" j9 }- @; h+ Q: p0 _7 t/ Gof Toyota vehicles since 2000.# K+ I2 z+ s a( `6 f; k8 I
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own0 F( m8 G% {$ B8 Q9 m/ l! f
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
9 h7 ~% |/ Y, W5 h) ~2 X4 {understood the pain.5 d1 M5 D- ^4 L4 `: S% F
"I know what those families go through," he said.
( t# q+ H- v8 s) bLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's+ M' \- c/ h+ {5 X6 `( Y. x
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems., q, ~( x" v/ G* _ {
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman; Q e9 s0 ~4 J- X
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put/ ^# Z: T8 H8 ?: u7 U' ?# Z h+ P
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,* G8 p' g- o1 l; D( B0 u
Lentz replied: "Not totally."
j, A( K I7 J/ q+ K6 kStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were; E3 i- n) j* g" F
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
" S* i( M+ O2 B R qToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
& k( |5 X r& i1 z: k# Cpedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its& V7 y& }- j, ~; F
vehicles already on the road.3 a" I" e6 F# u; l8 \' F/ [
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
; y# A8 w7 r/ h1 f& N, ]& C- S$ Obefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
2 E* ]* ^- U" m- Iresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
. \, {$ r( k- m I" |- Xoffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were* s9 B+ Z1 I; F+ k- G! |, ^
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
6 G+ e7 ?5 h- w7 Z1 k' A"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a# W7 Y+ X% l# n9 |/ X* Q- a
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
" A9 ~( c/ P5 h* X+ I# H- w% `for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight E1 _! k6 l0 ~9 e# o+ H3 p7 o( d
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
8 t4 R! `$ v. J9 b) ?+ M1 O4 x: Bcommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to! f* N' l! L D- S' U
restore the trust of our customers."
6 q! K/ b+ S6 \; S0 M7 F- LLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
6 o9 B+ G% F/ G4 v# m4 QSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly6 z I; V& E- g0 d6 \
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --- @# q2 F& ^# S9 j, W- `
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and1 P$ g6 o' v$ R( y. ?2 o' r' d( G
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough6 x" q0 L5 A% p0 ]: A% X' ~8 {# f9 Y
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
, k u5 y& U) iturn off the engine.
% K; s( c) `7 r' \; rFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
% h( A+ f5 Q, t8 mOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."8 ^5 d7 ]8 C3 v
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she _7 l4 @! U6 H* z1 ]
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
! g; [* G2 D Q0 O& dto her complaints.$ i1 h: p- T+ c y# i
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
- r" e( Z3 X, P7 l7 Yreturned again and again to the question of whether electronic
v0 e4 [0 W9 }& U2 G) ^; g1 tmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
- \9 S" e/ i. k% w; V8 W6 H. g"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
: ~8 _ K1 C7 d3 Ythrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited+ |) i( b* m8 D" K& b+ z* Z
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
: A% ^6 r d" d& F. q' w7 I; i+ F( boff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
1 q9 K' f2 o: K( D. ITransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in$ N e9 c* t: {& g' K' J$ F0 m; t
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
2 P5 E' b o; v% C* Q! t* r" ^$ u. gbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
( B9 k1 @: [* {0 [+ B3 zwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer9 C8 V# R" Y# O# Y
every question.". w4 s1 L* _8 \, I8 @: g, A) K
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether$ Y0 p; [; I: S9 r* N/ a$ O1 ^
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
; r; q6 E+ z$ @1 s* Y7 k( ?firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
; m% s3 [: j8 x7 T' @committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
5 o, {" C6 c( j+ q. i% w6 unumber of vehicles
6 }- q6 @- m+ f: r' t2 kTracking down an electrical problem can be far more
) `, E$ @, w5 }; l# K2 |0 Wdifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
' z2 X2 ~% ]8 p0 R" n) kmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
6 [! P, }* p: V' z, ^" U/ y+ Xsource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
; s( m8 u4 G1 u C/ }& d# |' k; `Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
6 M( ~% N z) U9 y6 _where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
9 S( D& A7 Y& Dtrace at all.
. j/ b( z% }# I) b7 `: R1 ]House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
9 Z& t9 b6 m7 Q& | jdatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
1 N4 a& |1 H$ eacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the9 r- _" m4 l, @. y
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
( }" \4 V% V8 E5 Q3 d1 NRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
% {. L( G. t" h+ fsaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and2 I( | _5 B* E2 D8 A0 r# m
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the& ?6 A2 z% `5 h# }( t1 [. v! m3 b
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible0 G* d7 A+ H- i: Z
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
! |/ z( _* I& Y0 E; Esuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
8 t6 b3 i% h* p' tby Toyota's lawyers."% m& z( v7 o7 Q3 ?7 U3 `9 ?# F
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
0 n4 b- n5 n2 f2 k8 o6 ~problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our4 s; G, ~, q* b3 f$ F0 ?
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he" {, Q, v T( i1 M5 i* I
said.
7 c% f* f- Y8 \% G4 s8 n"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
; N% B$ H ?6 `4 g2 |3 @$ g! K) _7 N; Z) Pa rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
/ j* C8 |4 Z1 A( f, h5 v0 F* agood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
, |% D: g2 }" Hofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
0 Y! G" X) N& A8 @ z1 X3 k; @Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying+ D" T" ~; L% T! I' \
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread0 O3 U1 m9 m( v- M: z: ]
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
0 ?; }6 Q$ `+ c# b$ Dautomaker, at least in part because of the government's. E3 K# j, B8 L/ @; X1 W+ a' V' u
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
/ o0 o0 d/ ~ C7 u9 G1 nChrysler.9 E- s' G( B- {" L4 v
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
5 @, n9 U+ s0 E& E# C/ \dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a0 A" f6 t# v& }$ g0 [! M
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
8 c/ e/ L6 X, mserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
# Y4 I0 `0 Q- M( ?+ o5 nwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
& {5 O0 O; F0 \5 k5 itough."
6 n% p2 ]9 t* T& H: M& u& Q: `8 g---" M% F5 ~3 F0 d4 i4 v" N ]
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
+ Z( [8 ]: A& F- FRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
6 o0 e' a7 R1 X* P# I! gthis story.7 y- n; u% V- K3 A7 |5 n
: O4 {" [6 l {5 s# W-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
|