 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 a- R( c5 C, N$ LBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS4 O M% B7 i0 \! K1 ?4 b
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
8 r6 P4 e8 v8 A( l1 joperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that. f6 J. f: n E9 K& I
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
& ~% B3 H8 Z2 S9 jsolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
) l0 v* P* K1 Q2 q Y"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
- B" l) X1 A0 F9 hcauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
6 F- E( n' s* d. {3 p( U2 _" yHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected# {) w/ g6 |0 H
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and \7 O6 }) O8 g& R& o2 h$ q' g
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor9 y; b; X$ Y/ F2 \9 x* O% r5 m
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.9 ^) P5 ^5 ~/ |1 X" V
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
0 [2 ]: Z2 n- s& O- z9 _and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
' y3 X6 W) J9 I1 P' r" ^' Ccriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be+ Z: G. x5 g2 p5 w; _* j# M8 t
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
/ c( o3 E$ O8 ?9 F# f* e9 q0 anot stop her runaway Lexus.! a, B% h$ B6 ]- Y
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
: s( {" U- ^3 |, y+ t4 s1 oTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
, D3 v: `' [* l6 b0 f"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.2 F% e# S# f0 p; s7 t4 U+ W! V
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
% R5 l6 y6 _# Z& u) _2 Eearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
z' f# t' o3 s0 Z"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has( ~& m1 a! P; r# n, e l% l
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
9 L) w3 v& Z* M4 Q% j4 j- ]through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
" ~* C y+ a. W- s3 e7 ^investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
% l0 b0 P/ b. @8 l2 B9 Z# \% wLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
# [2 e0 M* a1 ~9 N& @) J8 s3 z: P5 telectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
% @/ t }3 N. \3 S# qthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a1 I0 h& `3 K" q% }4 z2 P& _
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
9 i7 e9 q+ i- t4 f/ p" u( o" R( J, Nsaid.( t/ r3 e) z. {' E7 o$ A
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
- u7 C n7 E8 x7 khappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
d' Z4 J* h9 G- U$ |about driving our products," Lentz said.
' P5 h& j4 b- [! {Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's# b2 n$ R4 c8 n7 F
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has+ W+ b' @+ H# F1 c6 Y. z5 D
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6. M- z1 i) `4 o0 c
million in the United States -- since last fall because of
) s2 ^5 J8 G7 B/ q& u' a7 I) Gunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
* e) ^0 k2 }) ^3 I5 a- cissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
) ] {: z8 A' v: S0 Tconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of( O% B s- g8 Y: ?( {9 Z- b
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
: X3 [# L$ \' k4 S: v" f& [! b2 C Adown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
% f+ R1 ]2 J9 q" X" }received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
+ A( w" c8 I( rof Toyota vehicles since 2000.
0 ]8 m3 `6 W1 ` W# n9 X8 cLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
2 l: E" f. I" g1 z- Q( E$ ^brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he2 G5 j! ~3 x2 t
understood the pain.
r1 `4 z; f1 X1 u+ S"I know what those families go through," he said., y8 a# c4 ]* ]
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's) P s" Z, P9 e$ \
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.; P% T: u" [9 L2 D. s4 @- U- G& J
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
# D7 I9 y' z( g/ O9 d' \Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put2 Y, q1 |, m! y2 {/ H4 p/ b
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
$ z" P, k9 ^$ R4 nLentz replied: "Not totally."/ o' f+ n/ w, S* J
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
9 l; D# q0 R$ j1 H4 C"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
' n# F' A* w1 O1 w4 ^7 WToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas |( {1 B2 v# j& g
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
* v) w( B% o+ `: ?7 i3 vvehicles already on the road.1 ^' H: }4 g3 S5 ^& o
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify6 ^- S2 Q6 Y: R" \# n) ]
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full) z8 c; N) z* o4 k1 ~$ ^# Z
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and7 a2 i, K* `% @) t) _
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were& M) S/ e: c8 h! P
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.9 I$ ?/ Z. Q+ X- m6 D& _
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a" s; O% L% P1 O
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
0 n( {7 b/ ~; Cfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight( @% y& Q4 `+ V8 q3 s; x# W3 h) [
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal/ X8 N" b3 k) P& ^8 C" U
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
! m! U& o! P& s) Jrestore the trust of our customers."
* _5 D, R1 Y2 p* v8 C8 ~Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from: x4 ~/ k% C/ r+ r0 k
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly3 v1 m- i8 W" ]* L% \' d8 W# ^* m
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
7 ]- B+ c$ [( Q, x$ \7 sshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
3 ?: J2 S; K6 `4 g$ o0 W9 nhitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough R% m! d$ U; q3 T9 R: J% u
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
, L1 N- b" i& e9 W. L' H# rturn off the engine., Y9 h {. a3 s4 W5 y" `/ I6 P
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
# y5 e) Z! y& q; s. ~. u8 g3 yOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."! m) ]* W0 `0 E3 v
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
! M; ~, c2 i( f. |' x% _1 osaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond1 u+ @9 r+ F! {* R
to her complaints.) z+ Y0 j$ a/ K H/ V+ Y
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers1 }: D& H1 \' T. R8 n
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
6 M% x N' U, e" s: z0 @, k# y0 gmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.0 _/ Z) n- p; H' `6 [
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
7 q# d$ D9 e( {8 B% E, m( d. {1 Cthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited4 \' P& E, K Q2 x
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut, T h; u g4 G
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
0 ?' {3 y9 h5 G3 H9 _+ c, v. q" C* K* bTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in% ^ C1 g' N$ v5 ^) ~6 g
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
; Y% z* j# e1 |5 dbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
0 y; C9 }/ f _1 X. ?were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
' |$ X$ T" a9 G0 v/ O4 Uevery question."& ]0 L+ l; {2 Y2 k/ Y0 @- Z; m
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether( i3 H& G& C6 q: q& D- s6 }
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The5 G8 }7 N9 u1 h
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But9 [/ R ]: b5 O) N- P9 V
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small) L7 M, c1 {# v: M8 U4 c2 s- k
number of vehicles
6 H* b6 Z5 e# ~& L5 O3 {: m uTracking down an electrical problem can be far more
+ m/ V2 c# F9 @2 odifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a3 N0 o: x: B8 V( |* G
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
% @4 n; k' Z& ]4 V+ J& U& Jsource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
, A& [" ]7 B: m' z1 E: d- ]Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,- j* {3 K% B' d0 c) p; e. z
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no8 Y* s) S7 X% Q% A
trace at all.
% C1 a9 G- n6 L" g! b. ?House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
" p, N# f# C. a. b) n+ Odatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden/ K6 [5 y& m8 b" @; K$ M( }
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
0 Q6 H" R; q( k- m. K2 krecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
& U9 Y9 k& K; e$ {1 kRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
! I& Z2 q6 b4 @. M& F+ Vsaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and0 x8 v5 k, n( q5 ~' f
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
4 M0 f4 [) D' d& r$ u N) Welectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible7 O0 z9 p( f7 l% N7 |
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only/ s$ K# m7 N/ g2 `
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
. D6 P W# p, O$ G7 _by Toyota's lawyers.", ~# }! {" W6 s3 [' H
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
- I. K0 t1 b) T8 G/ e, [; K& Q/ jproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
$ k) ?5 x! o$ O" Q: {customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
U9 P- {. w1 f* Z4 q& {2 I6 {9 Hsaid.! j0 M9 |; Q) j
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with) r( f d3 J& I8 k+ O ?
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our" b. \; p3 W9 T Q9 B4 E
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating5 N: t! s. G/ @' }7 r
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.& Y6 E8 l+ [2 B0 {
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying" B! G1 B4 J" Q2 H' d+ ]
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
8 C& K8 C( h2 B+ E( Drancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
2 W" j* Y; x, Z$ `0 U Nautomaker, at least in part because of the government's
) O5 e- _! p: kinvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
& z' w6 p4 e" i' C( U5 g! VChrysler.- T6 @/ W( |" m1 Z+ l
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
3 n( T& i5 O% X* \" s) ydollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
1 f, l6 k: j! T, u9 `6 s; LHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
" B' i0 F! _/ ~6 S) v wserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
8 Q$ U/ H6 K, g. Z9 k4 g; Twith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
: H0 D- N9 O2 S4 Btough.") R2 @& Y+ h- L7 n6 J
---
) }7 Q* _% i- |% V! uAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom' u' T% `" ^& S, s& n$ _9 ]
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to, Y& t6 I6 \; [" j. l" g6 T
this story., ?# k$ E: O H6 w
' `; s7 ` b3 {6 Z-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
|