 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
# l2 l" X' A: sBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
+ W* X2 K) E; Y/ O2 j; y2 h) W" BWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
0 A. l" M1 {' c0 W; W. Soperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
6 {! u( V0 |7 A) r4 Ythe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"- E- ^) K: E. O8 v* G
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
- E X: j, ^) v1 @: q"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential; D& n+ Z+ G9 A& B* k
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
$ V. h- I$ x9 `( \9 z5 k% F2 _4 ZHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected9 O1 D1 Q3 s. Z/ ^
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and. F6 C" f A* x7 Y' W
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
" A/ u1 U; J F( L; O: Vmats and sticking accelerator pedals.
8 |5 M, m/ ~$ ~! l7 g% X& k4 k) dHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal* a+ z1 `! r* P
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
# p, q/ e! y8 _( v$ M/ z$ P9 t, O4 [criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be# B. N5 y- \& w' v I/ d6 @
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could8 m1 z" e5 L S# ~5 I8 ?! D0 S) j
not stop her runaway Lexus., A2 y5 g1 k* I& A/ j4 T5 D9 a$ h
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
5 I: Q5 J4 j r; t+ GTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second! V) ]6 k$ Y# }, }/ G
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.3 Z* N8 z# g2 h% i' h Y! U
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues y2 o* u) W5 x5 z t
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
# K7 w" t, Q3 o0 V; V* P- P"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has c( \9 }0 `- R' [+ z3 k/ L
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway" H; t+ B% H7 H/ v
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
1 W8 N4 f- \8 b5 }5 Uinvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."& q4 d9 y) O1 n5 K* t3 W$ z
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an( O/ Z, R! l3 g5 T2 c
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
6 w" H7 M2 z K; y; k5 K% Ythe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
+ K/ j9 Q, s; [0 T( s+ Umalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
0 L: o1 Y! G. L9 ?; m. Msaid.
5 [+ b8 J/ m, e) w5 w$ a; oAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
" f. U9 Z6 n \. Qhappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe! F9 @2 G9 Y1 j* ?
about driving our products," Lentz said.) k0 ?" a: L) g' I- t
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's: [' T/ e( `9 \& g
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has' q) i- v; J0 q3 c( `( v
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6; a2 A7 ^2 s% t1 E4 r2 b
million in the United States -- since last fall because of
: E, c2 L, S% M# L7 M/ `' j1 Dunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
0 \! F! g& F/ t- Z/ y7 G, wissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering) i( L8 X# j8 G R
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
/ L4 l' e+ I$ H' Ktheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow' z6 P( P: s7 D, y9 e2 I% p+ m
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has3 t1 B# G' C }9 |! H |( {
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration0 @7 U. z- ]9 b: r5 i! ~, p, p) b6 F0 @
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.3 I- |& @ P+ t6 L- x. z
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own& u. B! ?& g( _8 A) h
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he# U9 z$ o) Z- I/ p) j
understood the pain.$ r4 Q1 l' j# A+ \3 [& V8 w
"I know what those families go through," he said.
0 D3 W# p& w/ c) U) J+ ~, ~Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
; E- t/ B q: J$ x; R2 ]fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.2 X: Z0 F ^8 |% A: I
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman' H) d/ _( i% a- t7 [
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
+ u6 h h1 o4 x1 v0 M( din place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,+ u; s9 [) q" Q* P% p
Lentz replied: "Not totally."
9 E6 Z0 U, U2 G2 }8 r7 `! I: ^" nStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
, x9 h% |5 b! w8 Y"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said; U$ L4 w) C4 t+ h6 W, a
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas5 n- z( B4 x" p: J# L* ] |% N
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
. u( @: g( ~# V* B0 g% y, O0 z: \, Cvehicles already on the road.: N/ E: I2 ~ x# W
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify! I; j4 {4 N) f- P9 ?, i3 H
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full( x7 [, U- m) S
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
( Q6 V! M1 Q4 F+ a% t4 U: n: Qoffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
: S0 i0 K- U9 U, Hkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.) l0 P8 P) X& b6 s
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a$ U, a! f: w' t7 ~8 E& x
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
' W* u' d# s. Tfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
2 J9 V& o6 b2 T; ^- ?9 MCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
3 [. P1 B% g, k( J# A# b ccommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
9 e: K/ l) }7 y# M9 crestore the trust of our customers."
/ ]& R* A: J" GLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from, D( |' a3 n- B* Q. |- g
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
" A: K+ r. A4 |6 B+ n4 K$ ~zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --% k$ f- ~ O0 R
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
6 R; P$ `8 i9 S) S0 ~hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough3 }1 Q" j7 s4 J
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and t/ _/ Z0 O% @$ b: j, {6 @5 a
turn off the engine.
. L# C4 Y3 U! {" S2 E( a! LFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of. y( L3 G) T+ n" [& {" P) t- M# y
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
5 D- V# e5 |2 X$ b- h"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
6 E/ a9 j! A: psaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
! n5 Y( d9 S& K7 q1 vto her complaints.
# o( k3 y X" Z$ MIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
) F) e, y! K9 [( sreturned again and again to the question of whether electronic4 |, Q* G7 p) l- I3 _
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
) T6 c( a4 \; X3 t# d: o. ?2 L"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric0 V" h9 ^" |3 k
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
$ p& l, T3 O/ |, S"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut) l$ O0 _4 L$ d* [
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."$ G: F' @+ t/ r3 h2 q+ ]3 H' I- L, u
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in6 Q4 V; n1 G& v0 [+ D8 H" h
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were1 {; o! H! U+ F$ ]2 @6 @+ s
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls3 Y6 T/ C8 N1 Q7 U. Q! A/ k0 r- m
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer; X: [3 Q/ l* D0 a
every question."9 z& _8 }8 \5 V3 _: j
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
* X3 j' E" ?1 d% Z1 O- s. h( qelectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The0 W6 H& y7 _8 z S7 }
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But+ c- y' F* H4 D2 @
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
9 l$ |' f$ H4 {& Unumber of vehicles
& _ X9 a, W1 B4 w- ?Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more; E$ d0 p- L$ y( ]
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
+ L# d2 A0 J% _1 ?mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
7 g1 m% x: {3 l8 `# M! hsource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
+ ~9 m5 W+ v8 Z P$ A+ u: _Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage," F0 _' f' g6 w3 t; u A
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
2 \4 R: b3 @/ Q6 u3 U. Z& Vtrace at all.: O% h4 f6 e$ l2 L# J2 W$ r
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
4 [# P% q$ }4 X' t# Pdatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden* k, _: ], Q: V3 a: f( b
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the: Z% j$ q: Y2 A( j, E
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.2 K+ ] w: p5 A4 A+ p
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee," U4 V8 {, A2 A$ l1 t1 b
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and8 w5 s2 @* B/ T* d7 I
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
; H) O( n3 i) N% |" zelectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
7 @1 D6 m9 f5 C! A% E, Dcause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only* U1 F4 ]) i: [/ O$ w
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
& `. Q3 ?5 G1 Y- Z* \by Toyota's lawyers."
+ ^- s. o6 E; [/ E: ?Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of5 w' c. m* i: a) Q/ C u1 W
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
$ u# D1 M- Y' U! j0 i; L' pcustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
+ i1 b; j8 n3 M8 Y* W4 [said.* e0 i% F3 Z8 h& _0 G2 F
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
6 Y: @/ X) k6 n/ Ha rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our r: _$ [% f2 C# p b
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating2 \: w" k4 f- z5 M& ~3 S
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.9 g( P- d0 G4 g) [& s) J
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying' t& h+ a% F5 h
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
0 G) U* ?( |0 u e) crancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the w) ^+ o$ U; N( M
automaker, at least in part because of the government's
* f; \1 U, P: ^# x# Linvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and C# j7 }' Q- j; b5 W4 D* [& g
Chrysler.
( I# {( J y& I$ F$ O7 u- S"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax: H' S* c" f& F! Y1 n8 c" X
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
- G4 V9 G7 o5 B8 U: I( a0 ^( NHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
. {. Y8 O i+ q9 g' Bserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
, N& _+ R- T `5 Rwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty' {+ P: {" v9 {; R7 _
tough."
! v- H2 T' F0 u, ^9 B. h7 W---4 q) d8 k8 B3 S0 s! I- [
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
" I) x( d+ r& P/ Q! bRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to- G Z" a7 ]; `* a
this story.
8 _9 q6 V4 _! S, q/ f
) R5 O9 p; X: x-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
|