 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
! r! K/ A$ M4 G' ^% t! q; C3 H8 hBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS( P% }! a% n+ {" b6 g: X6 s' X! `
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.3 |3 T* f8 _( g3 ?; T8 @
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
. x+ \& V# x" T0 r- y- c. Q3 H) \the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
+ j1 B) y* s9 |# X3 |" esolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.0 |( u, U- G& A$ u# h$ I
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
1 k3 J% P( w% m- M, P/ F6 j% jcauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.5 O. H0 N, q/ K# G/ |
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected9 g' h; @2 ~2 {0 n8 _
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and1 D0 ^# X7 J7 c/ h! {
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor6 G3 B7 _' v+ l3 ?
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.
0 U6 ?# {4 e$ lHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal6 V8 ^3 m' [8 {" E/ ]) N/ L( [5 {( r
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
6 j8 G+ e2 `* i4 t+ a2 Ccriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be3 a# i* a3 v* B- Q5 @- c# I
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
3 d% W. d, g8 P. J" F; z7 znot stop her runaway Lexus.$ v9 r( p6 g* o& a2 `3 |+ I$ Y( v
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,3 g8 r* q' p5 f: }
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second+ c2 y( b# k4 w( D- N" C5 \
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.( S: H- H ^1 [8 g9 N/ z# Y
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues% S3 s0 u5 a6 X' q/ v2 w/ t8 [
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
, @# L7 k" F: u: h$ v* ]+ r"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has& H( D0 ~& ]6 U) x2 o
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
f8 q8 p: ~: d0 u1 ?, h1 r6 zthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's a( I6 c5 d) T8 b0 Y
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."" d- H- b; @( b; Z$ |+ K
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
+ n! Y; ?# Z7 M" lelectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
) _& w% [8 V4 [+ gthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
/ h7 S2 l( f% C* Q* |malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
$ n2 P2 T) v! C' A. vsaid.+ U1 |2 ~) ^; X0 z& w( ~
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what" @: x$ o' B+ N5 Q: A |$ ?* N2 I
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
, ~0 K5 M3 @3 y( S- ?about driving our products," Lentz said.0 w5 ?! v( |2 T- m
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
. A; B/ V& g2 r7 E$ ]7 M9 E% @0 \; M6 I; Oproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
Z" n; ?4 o! {5 i- b5 p5 Z' [recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6* C, ?; i* Q8 L( ?! x: S
million in the United States -- since last fall because of
8 t. D( q) F7 Bunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
# q: g+ h! S+ gissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering* K5 U+ t1 R- F' V, N1 w
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
5 K# X, k& \+ g/ k: H& mtheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow8 @7 n) w. s% t* O/ v5 R& \
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
$ M/ ^" _- h9 O" ureceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
5 ]5 t) y0 y) F" `3 [- K' O) jof Toyota vehicles since 2000.
$ v, q0 a Q y! c2 e" d) yLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own) g% D+ t% T& g" l0 L( y2 Z/ H
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he- k e n! v2 F4 }
understood the pain.* j- h7 U0 I3 K4 M
"I know what those families go through," he said.; G8 J0 J8 C( D F* m) \% Y0 _
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
- }1 T5 K2 l6 F' t3 `2 ufixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.- e+ G' D) c9 X4 `& J
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman. |) o: o8 i. s9 z- W8 v
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
% Q! Q9 Y9 y& kin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it," K* }* Z/ _7 H5 C9 ~8 D+ k5 x- N6 P
Lentz replied: "Not totally."6 Z. L( q" m$ ]0 h. C5 S
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
4 {) n$ z ^5 }, E$ `$ P"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
% F- O @1 V' D- u/ c3 ?Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas4 X3 J$ L% R# K
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
& I o" }1 r$ Vvehicles already on the road.
* R0 N4 g; \- l$ A: O* a& C$ \9 e3 LMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
) T% H( ]" S. J0 g: vbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full+ M) X9 D- o' J: f- f3 I
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and) ], W, z8 g% [% T. ~% X( R
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were1 \5 T5 C. A/ [; @; o
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.$ o* X% a% _! a: @
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a; J: s; ]& r4 |: d: V
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
, i+ v3 V4 u H0 m Cfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight/ m6 j" y6 P0 d% N# O1 A
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal/ O5 p( f. n V
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
" D) T# E; J1 j% t zrestore the trust of our customers.") \- S6 _8 T+ A% j }
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
& l' c; w( y4 U- k% w$ p1 _Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
! N, K% Z: Q8 B R- ezoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
; O0 u6 X3 o3 J( wshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
" E7 ]; L" i. _: a' n( { U) ], _hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough; D$ X7 q! j8 ~+ ? C, J
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
! X: d8 X) o) h+ [turn off the engine.
: v4 t+ y, p9 w i+ N$ oFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of: j! c+ B. `; Z5 @4 Y# `
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."& ^8 m- c3 ]. w7 R+ `, g1 v5 q
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
1 Y" o, Q4 T+ G0 S) c' p* X, I& x7 `# lsaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
* q* {2 _3 {+ S' Z, m" vto her complaints.$ c3 q1 W/ p/ o' U
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers, g$ q' G' J8 S8 k/ v$ z9 e2 C
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic% F# V+ U- s* [' S3 Z" I
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.! {8 p3 i' G2 E C6 M) ^
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric# f$ G; l6 H+ t9 D% Q% I
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited" e |! v! a4 \% l
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
. l* X+ X) O% t1 hoff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."- W( @/ G5 u' p* \0 G. F- b
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in* x1 n) G4 \6 N) q2 J% Z) `
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
2 B& F' M# ]2 |4 Sbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
- Z+ p* Z. J1 q% d) I& ]# Jwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
+ F5 `) H* @) r$ nevery question."
: O+ g% Q8 h5 t8 e( z$ xToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether; V& V) ` A7 G- g. I) R+ D4 b0 ]& M
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
/ i) j, z6 L8 `! ]' e) pfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
! {1 X4 D+ m3 ^' X3 h J) V3 acommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small- k7 _! R/ N) k0 q
number of vehicles$ V0 y$ f% D8 ^3 d
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more
+ D5 W9 Q! W! j/ mdifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
5 I" y+ m' H! f5 v4 f0 t5 d/ ?mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
`4 h1 H) ^6 W% J/ r: zsource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.) E4 o* n. `1 P0 b/ n2 }7 n
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage, M/ y* m0 ?- I+ I
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
* j1 ]0 i. I2 O8 Ctrace at all.
+ M. n* J- x1 N/ ^House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
4 e8 T" @6 D' P" sdatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden. c0 i- _0 Q+ L& e2 @
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
( X- Q2 ~. b* c8 B+ b% u: k p- [1 arecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.% R+ E$ m8 b( _# k; o, L' H
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
, W- H7 q1 |5 n6 xsaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and0 H+ ~( ?) k+ s$ n4 \8 E: B8 g: f
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the' h! P! I0 E6 V4 x0 v7 J+ _
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
+ j6 ]0 |* n4 m8 a" z$ _cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
}8 g- s a# U& N! Qsuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained$ p6 [+ P& s: c' E7 q3 U
by Toyota's lawyers."3 T1 l( h! b- ~* _2 d
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of# g) B3 a7 L3 o$ l N
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
5 C* L$ Q( m+ B$ m/ Ncustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he( \, ?6 d0 V e S! }0 \! u
said.
& j3 @7 p, ~; M$ z0 U& ^+ G"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
. l6 g; v3 w8 ya rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
$ a% {( v% X5 o k% G6 zgood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
. k) U: o1 a& f7 R# ], U2 }officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
/ B, \9 ?+ G$ U. {; }Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
' c- ~$ B8 W: }; O! e8 L0 e& d5 Xmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread2 T9 e" z; s4 G! U) t) r9 ]/ m
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the+ a6 L: h: b8 S, S9 k: r2 K6 B
automaker, at least in part because of the government's, y. F1 I1 K0 t: } e, V
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and. w7 X2 S! { s% v. l z
Chrysler.
! r' C+ X& n0 R; p1 Y% f1 O"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax7 b* U4 A w) |6 |
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
8 |* a* l0 W& U1 gHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also1 H' u) g( m4 x
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete0 _- }2 l0 X$ Q0 k7 p! V- A
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
, \% A& f. h/ |tough."1 c' f& M1 N* h) @2 h
---' x* Y$ g1 a; s+ ~
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
. S, @- b. g z: ERaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to8 R7 }2 r. e& r/ [
this story.+ Q" l3 ]$ a4 Y3 r7 E1 M: \
$ n. U5 @" f& G
-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
|