 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4 _5 U/ G$ f! @ p- U. Z
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
9 r4 r- g( R( A8 }# [, cWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.. Q3 z. x7 q8 O- E
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that7 z z8 s3 m5 G; a! U8 a3 x
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"* b5 j5 o5 f3 Y% Y
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
8 a: ]! S4 ~6 t0 N6 c( }"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential0 Y- I3 t0 M# d
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.8 m: I# r8 W1 l4 Q
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
( Z# W5 c* i, kacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and: g$ R% D, N% Q6 i. g
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor# c9 M6 \: Z" I7 j2 @1 |+ y
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.' D# ^ ~0 G! E& p$ V3 x/ J( g
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal2 |, @0 ^& y" Z2 y
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp! w2 I/ `: [- G) Q: C* o+ _
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
& V, i( C# A' {5 Y/ H Wfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could/ j6 O3 `4 J1 P
not stop her runaway Lexus.
% ] l9 @3 V/ k7 {7 ^; K* A/ H"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
5 J# T" l8 p% GTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
; H4 r7 w# d T& D2 O- p& Z1 P"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.) ]8 X- _) z9 a' y- e( [* s# f2 {
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
3 u4 U' n( Y8 x" {6 J: Q4 U/ f6 hearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
% S/ e+ P7 {& [" L. T3 p"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
! q: L9 T) F1 w5 j% _4 `done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
5 b! t' ]& k ]& ithrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's" s; M0 C0 N1 s' o/ C: q
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."- b& T" j9 \) W- E, b- M4 F
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an/ B2 J/ ~8 P4 b" \
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
" d/ n( A, k2 [$ Ithe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
' n5 b" w, l. Kmalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he8 }' C' `' W* x ~1 c8 e9 p1 q
said.4 X$ k, J0 z h% W/ U3 ~
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what- L) |- x) b/ J- L
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe3 I6 x2 a! Y4 E% B% k v% _9 l
about driving our products," Lentz said.+ g' J' T+ `& U. L$ T2 H3 \" I
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's9 F3 ^9 b4 q9 p! l R. U4 F; h! g2 I4 a
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
$ ?' h7 ]$ |3 [$ i# Frecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6, u% C+ C! u5 l, \7 m/ I$ M
million in the United States -- since last fall because of* ]$ v( i2 v D# q. w' g
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking0 ^8 y& H( _4 t- x2 `& D. w
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
' v, f* \4 w% t9 }concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
* K% X; Z& D! ^# ?" K4 T( ltheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
$ k1 |3 m/ T/ {6 F, ^$ i4 ?down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has$ t7 H, B7 k" b! _8 V$ V x% x
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
1 B% ], t1 _0 ?of Toyota vehicles since 2000.
( B% O7 ^: N2 u) V& U% n6 qLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own8 g, l* n, S- o. R& z# s
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
: A% `8 p6 J% k4 `1 Wunderstood the pain.9 q3 L8 Y/ e; w. n3 B/ g
"I know what those families go through," he said.
! {: |6 x6 G; D+ B% _Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
^" _4 ~3 M4 W' ~% a2 nfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
' b' Z$ S8 s( a" \0 h9 wBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman7 H; W# z8 q! J: h) y
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
$ o7 Q" Q- r2 l, y* Tin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,5 Z2 q- A: V0 e V/ z$ h
Lentz replied: "Not totally."
5 z5 c; [& z. C8 u) oStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
! ]2 k/ ?# X% t$ r8 j"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
$ t" d: K+ K% a/ {Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas7 \+ j' R2 r' i. J. n, n- G3 G
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
( q, g% ]. J( d2 y" kvehicles already on the road.
) @8 D9 z: M: Q1 `% ]3 Z+ U: {! tMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
6 v6 Z& K; W9 t6 m: P4 U1 g$ w. `4 y( jbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full [9 I2 d, _5 _: Y; ^ R
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and9 _8 \8 D$ r0 I) m; V# ^
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were) E6 T5 l' R R
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
+ J G/ k8 F0 J2 }3 H+ |+ l"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a' J) Q' v8 U' F8 S( v B( w. z
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
$ V7 \; M# x# _/ G) U4 ofor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight% t6 I( d6 `5 `' E
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal' ?, c+ x |) _% X q/ N
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
5 [2 o) g g4 k1 ?% s9 W* ]restore the trust of our customers."
: V( w* ?- B. u+ \, `* LLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
1 K' B0 x. ~/ l' {- pSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly! C& E: J7 p% i& ~; M: i
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
. I! m. Z1 R7 Z7 K Jshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
# g* E6 a7 G2 V# ]9 [hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
, Z2 ^9 m' H/ Athat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
8 c- A+ C2 c2 I& i$ @3 {turn off the engine.0 J+ Q9 L% k' x8 R: U2 P1 L9 Q* a
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
% p2 h9 ?; M0 e; O7 s' c4 p& ` UOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."1 F8 q" N' S% {# d+ q8 V
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she( Z8 n( G1 m+ I4 D2 |4 F) p& ~
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond+ \7 B/ H) w' X, h" Q# W9 `3 C# H
to her complaints.) ` x+ R3 N1 T. O: t% U
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers. n! O: K) ?- F. B4 S
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic! z6 j1 m2 {6 Q7 ^: s9 Z. P
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
7 v, }% W( q$ H' E& s"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
. i0 C" ^7 d, s' s4 y1 E5 C1 Xthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited) I* T0 v e* A: ]
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
0 z% e* o _) I1 M9 \off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
+ G4 c) i& g% Z$ ^% M4 LTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
z1 G+ L4 o# O* i+ w$ sprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were/ D4 N* {; @& z) n1 z6 ?
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
7 n# N2 m o" c! ]0 gwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer3 @, \- V5 {; a
every question."9 m6 N# M! [7 s7 x9 F
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
7 \: U9 f2 {' T' Qelectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The3 g# A' B0 w) o% r
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
& K7 k, s( I4 u8 `committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
0 `2 H6 }5 e3 j' jnumber of vehicles
6 L; D0 L( W$ @# L/ STracking down an electrical problem can be far more
. E4 m9 Q0 B; m- o5 c2 xdifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
; c# k" s( `. J! @+ W: B* O# Zmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
2 _4 y( J$ g$ x1 N6 Rsource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.( c$ T" K3 l" ?' p! U2 |
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
0 M1 D9 t" T- a. |7 Jwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no0 a6 O, ]4 O) _/ h$ t R8 i7 |
trace at all.# [* n3 X- ^* ~. @' H
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call# a/ `' P4 p, @4 I& j7 [5 G
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
1 }* E3 O/ K7 Y& f( }acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
( T, _- `& B- m. r* Precalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
$ R( F- _% A% r! n0 `8 n5 NRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
0 N4 p2 Q. v8 y- D% x; S osaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and% j; M$ E6 V+ F8 t# r0 L/ h
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
& E# E, o' c; z$ I8 U! Pelectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible" Q* b: \4 [) S4 [+ U6 Y8 y
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
1 g7 C! a+ h& U! M6 Esuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
: e, d4 D" K! nby Toyota's lawyers."& i, b4 k: h% \, i- s
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of3 z! p+ {# s. J" n$ z$ K: A$ X
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
4 n1 O& B6 S( M( lcustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
5 e- P* s" X g! Y5 O2 hsaid.
9 [6 u7 e4 H: [/ K' z- \/ y"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with! i! w% l, N" n/ F
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
3 [* u, `1 Y& i! l0 ~good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
) E) y/ m& @& C/ }* i; Aofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
+ u0 v1 {6 x/ J* Z( wSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
, T: f( p0 O l) h. s( Fmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
0 V" D. n0 S2 t. xrancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the! @7 } b' @1 e. \0 {
automaker, at least in part because of the government's
3 w- z1 R/ m9 iinvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and( c& W/ p0 R5 Z% l t& l
Chrysler.4 X: ]# P/ ^: B: R4 ~
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax8 \% p, b- D( e; s$ L& U
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a9 `6 Y5 S) W4 x
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also2 |+ U3 i$ m/ M) o
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete# |2 F" n* O- t. \$ r$ f. i v
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty- X7 R' K' S$ M7 H& A8 T' H' N" h
tough."
W1 ]/ p1 `* f. ]- o( C1 @6 W7 ]---
& Y Q; h9 ]- HAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
" t( A. s2 P0 ^5 { h7 w# _Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
# x! C! Q3 ~# `, m0 |this story.
9 p% m2 ~9 c1 F E4 J$ u0 }% Z' |9 Q- ^! O! G9 g
-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
|