 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$ I0 Y! T0 C" L3 O: K3 E
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
. S& A0 f. P/ C- L/ E6 R4 [9 }Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
5 s7 a! N) V# uoperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that& h0 Q' p) ^; F- ]9 T, s4 N
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
' g4 W$ b1 M# {$ H9 V3 V+ a; |- Nsolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
; O6 j% a9 P4 R$ V( T9 @* Y"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential8 `! c3 @$ c* W! j3 S1 f! \/ e
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.& X# ^4 @. a+ `# t: b% m+ ]# E
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
; R: C& w7 C1 I5 @/ h/ e+ bacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
; \* ^! u# e7 x4 ^; @trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor+ O ]2 U1 p3 j3 @3 j2 m
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.& j l1 w, I3 s' e2 L7 c
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal8 j: U- ?0 w, L2 V. Q6 z
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp3 w5 G' p% a5 R' G* {( y9 O2 ~
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be1 `9 n: Q* r$ t% ~; o+ y8 a8 E
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
i9 } e; a7 B" _) e! Y9 k+ jnot stop her runaway Lexus./ h9 F2 C. U6 c! q) v7 i5 j2 q9 [
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,1 x: c; m4 r$ J& |" P
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
7 Y7 q: N& G7 M" N"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.9 j# y; C* e0 U2 m/ n
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
/ r) z7 q& f1 M# k0 s+ N7 |* wearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
* N$ b% A3 X1 k3 o" \% D"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has6 [7 f/ t: f) J4 l: U K9 e# F$ L
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
+ l4 o- j; q* A# athrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's! Z) H: m; l( J G) X
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
6 [4 ~# D$ j* ]* J( N$ k! d! a. p# bLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
1 J% s7 y& \+ A% Jelectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of9 t" m( S6 d! i# j3 ~
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a; j: \9 R0 J0 J
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he( T* `5 d) [- F4 `
said." Y/ }2 x# v- t# s1 y% w
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
7 @ x6 U) j; r: Uhappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe3 }2 n5 c* U( B( C% n
about driving our products," Lentz said.
; h+ E: |& ^( E" k- f6 ]Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
* U8 S: t1 n0 k: t5 o/ l, rproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has D6 S5 [, j& y1 }: u, h0 M
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6. V# K- m! B' y2 V% k5 q
million in the United States -- since last fall because of: v; |5 t( g. K3 V& \( a
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
8 n' j$ C, l1 Q' R$ eissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering- L. h' V% F" L) J: R8 u/ p8 c
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of# e7 n1 U/ {) B* T/ e+ D, Y4 p
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow/ m7 C' D/ S" c4 w6 K0 d% Z5 Q
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has+ M2 Q: Q/ F# P3 p, }" U
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
# G6 j) K/ q# h) V0 Eof Toyota vehicles since 2000.
_" ]$ n8 k! ?3 F. L( lLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own+ S7 @) Z \% f$ \: F
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
$ N1 [/ y, O7 }% S5 Wunderstood the pain.
9 t4 b3 ?& M6 s+ \* V+ u1 G"I know what those families go through," he said.
/ r1 T$ u- Z% i3 e& e; n# KLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's$ g1 O) ~7 Z3 U+ z) h0 x) g
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
6 l* h5 n; |! b5 i0 C5 N! RBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman z5 }: k' B1 l% G8 Q* L
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
; ^& Q- |2 F( a _' C# ]9 a, o0 ~in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
, Z- ~5 Y& v4 h4 O4 A, BLentz replied: "Not totally."! l. K4 z, q; s4 ?7 |' o8 h
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
9 G+ r, V4 @# ]9 z- @"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said% h* x+ E' P# _7 M, M
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas; y, L# E/ ~0 F' v6 J
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its/ I$ S4 |9 R1 {6 ?% |6 H6 |
vehicles already on the road.0 c _/ P/ f L5 y q
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify! p: q9 \0 M6 T/ Q6 h
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full6 z- _2 N# f* l" z+ Y# m
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
* n) q' u- o9 j# n. toffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were d1 d; ^- @$ k* b7 J( K
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
' j: u; x* E( n"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
3 N4 N1 G6 K4 a9 L6 t, p$ S7 {% m* xtragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony- C* @5 ?) V# R# d, L4 a3 C! z
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
- a: {( K |5 p3 X PCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
4 ~2 T) P' U* s% p6 dcommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to4 h( C- N6 Z3 g% K$ v1 @
restore the trust of our customers.") h0 t7 K f( I/ p+ z& U; y
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from b# P) x! I- C7 U/ R- ~# V
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly$ T1 K( r, U9 D. g
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --, E/ F- u3 ?2 c# w; ~2 W6 V7 b* g, z
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
! O9 k5 z1 Y8 q8 k+ z8 Ehitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough0 e! F. t1 L7 ?
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and7 }- _# D$ K6 S t% c: B) W
turn off the engine.! a' Q/ i: B% u( t
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of# c' ]/ d' f1 g h! |1 J9 k
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."& m' ~8 J& m) X7 a# q* V
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she' ?. Q0 P0 |2 }* A4 f) E( c2 L x+ X
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond& s* _0 `1 Y# v, b
to her complaints.
' w) G4 V/ F4 C" j% S% V% a8 XIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers% f" q# K y9 t6 A6 R
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
- E7 @) }3 U- l# wmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
1 e+ Q- L- L) t5 z+ _) ?+ C* m"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric6 J2 k( I& c: u4 {+ L
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited8 m6 E" H& i. y9 @* S* s1 Y$ \
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut, b. r; k& P$ {$ \% l% k
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
: F( v6 f- }" e; NTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in2 C- R# Q+ c4 A- f: h
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
2 i7 u$ H( e9 h8 s% h6 bbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls, @3 c; \! [$ B# T
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer& m: J0 a- o' w4 B
every question.": ?2 |4 u: d5 e, D l( Y e
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether' L+ z# o, `! w1 a2 j
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The: E' t. f0 n3 m1 f
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But1 P: \+ j. ]$ d* L- n9 E* }) H
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small8 j' W0 \( ^2 Q" f2 x5 b
number of vehicles
' U' X; ?/ d9 f& h9 rTracking down an electrical problem can be far more
4 e3 u3 R s5 I* ^difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a% `4 B0 a3 H& {. S, s: [3 s3 F
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one4 ]. J5 u; e# J+ f
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.) K3 |7 X9 d2 U
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,( l G% E, ? [7 v
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no6 H8 @' D, N3 ]$ p
trace at all.
, i, x/ Q2 U! K; d0 a u' }House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call: H y* u8 t! w# g) U
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
; i a* t7 y) b) v* A0 D, o% vacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the" z6 W$ D7 r; Q+ `* ]0 b. a
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
- f! q$ D' K- T/ C3 mRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
& L0 F, L3 L1 L" `6 C* c9 z% W$ A3 asaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
; f2 M9 T; K6 @other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
+ ~, X2 A! w9 ~$ S: N$ A& l3 delectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible7 a k4 p" F5 \: v2 x
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only1 j' }1 d# D' t9 ]. H; v: z& @: v
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
' t: i( p* [5 p8 R: ^0 Pby Toyota's lawyers."
' s0 _0 Y5 P! f' J( ~# MLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
# t% p- n) N9 u- b1 @8 u+ yproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
- o5 |$ F7 Q$ |5 o+ ucustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he0 g* |& O4 T* t3 g1 Y1 m9 x
said.
$ Q4 O* |6 t8 Q4 u% P8 t1 M"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with, o% z; M9 _' X9 u$ M1 v% x4 }( G) M
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our4 ?0 H- N7 A: \7 q
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating7 ?7 V4 A( q) [8 S6 j
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.! k7 j5 y0 n4 B' [
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying$ x* J" i2 ?" G& P
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread+ C, o0 ]5 j: @1 G0 `; u
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
* k8 O& {2 O. K) G3 e" Q: iautomaker, at least in part because of the government's
+ D' B& ?% b. w+ a3 ]investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and) i! X) P/ l1 M Q
Chrysler.
, A; j+ Y$ C$ e+ E# G9 s# E"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax' h' j6 _5 S2 o" z
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
; z, l/ L& l) P0 AHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
$ g% @- g7 i; V* nserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
, g+ F( p. R2 F p* l) z4 h: dwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
( M, w/ K; _- \. K/ e& Q0 E8 |5 wtough."
- t$ j$ ?" G7 l. B: T---! p0 @7 `* }- I
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
% }5 T% P' T# `0 B8 CRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
! Q" [7 k& P$ `1 P4 b8 V- Xthis story.$ e* q, H' a: K4 {0 s9 B" w
: d- R# n9 {* ]7 I
-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
|