 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
: w @, Z% Q* E3 v4 A" N- S: rBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS; |5 h" d8 N3 X2 T' _0 d0 Z: m/ S7 U
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
9 D. ?' x& R% }* C/ K$ r" r# Ioperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
( w l2 C, U2 \! Athe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"1 b9 u; B5 P. D7 P9 A
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
, G% k6 r- {( U4 c% _. A* h; Y. H% I7 S"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential1 q R t3 D. F+ ^% U1 W! V4 O, m* R
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.6 F& i6 W; n$ p5 E' V, Z& m O
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
* {. l: `8 M4 N1 m$ K5 L, D0 F. sacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
: M/ a+ ~" Z S% b6 Q$ ltrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
/ a" J( C+ [& @7 c5 imats and sticking accelerator pedals.
2 i4 h7 @+ O& e# T4 \ HHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal( f, W5 j& J$ i0 y# x4 T* D
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp/ V* w5 Q7 {; Q, H7 R- E
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
, W7 k" d. {2 L; V% Sfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
1 n- k% _! L Q, F- t7 snot stop her runaway Lexus.
& T6 `! G8 [( Y' s0 u"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,5 W% c$ \2 w6 H# p$ y: v v
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second% k4 n1 L+ A6 v0 @8 y
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.! B9 n) B& r# F- E2 C$ n( ~1 `
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
: e# Z' a( y. Xearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
% C7 w& ^, w% S: t+ s"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
1 m# @' h$ f# p" s0 n/ bdone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway2 Q6 f% k1 H- Z5 g9 W% V
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
* F: A3 i6 v* Y! Tinvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."; Z0 z# f, N0 W/ `
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
6 X P* U3 t9 e$ }electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
+ [& M, J/ R, j& k3 x$ }; [the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
! a) |. Z" n8 z" f- lmalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
0 ]# q8 d6 _" f4 Lsaid. |6 k8 B" H: h. ~) h% v
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what& H% R0 ^9 z9 g5 T/ G( O G
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
+ z$ {# H$ s. r4 ?, N Labout driving our products," Lentz said.' R" Y4 o) J0 ?7 {- h) v0 W$ l
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's" m1 Q% r; n; K% j" N
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has8 a3 k( I6 o- {# |8 H6 ^# ^* R
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
2 B. [+ [! K, S( y2 l8 W: L% t7 emillion in the United States -- since last fall because of
9 [6 R1 v3 O& I. q8 L( Runintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
8 M2 g0 Y& X5 a# k( P" ?$ qissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
5 b8 q3 M; q+ X8 @. fconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
) l: \0 ~! ~, k1 Stheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
2 O5 n4 h L. Zdown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has0 c! h' I2 W! e6 U
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
( S! a$ D0 R/ Qof Toyota vehicles since 2000.! c" Y* c& W$ f b# e5 Q; h* ]
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own, i8 R, }1 O$ H, a
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
5 }, g2 ^% _$ S. a# aunderstood the pain.! E \9 o3 K6 v0 [1 S) u" S9 C8 w
"I know what those families go through," he said.
* O0 j- g" c9 D( W! x$ n0 RLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's% w* L6 R8 I2 C( @
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.6 }, G+ z& ]/ R4 G
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
. h; P. o. h, E3 p; t3 I) v# {' UHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put. h4 ]) K4 `, J f- T; m
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
4 u \3 |# U: n$ X: Z9 r2 N0 JLentz replied: "Not totally."
0 n5 N, o, j* f' Q. n: w! MStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
* H! Z. N& j2 m) b) Q3 Y( O"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
; G$ e, b9 a1 o" ?: P) F& rToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
: f! z l8 T5 ]pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its3 O, i k, W/ y
vehicles already on the road.
' K$ v5 F; ]. C6 L: z2 wMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
4 B$ ^, b% X( X& Gbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full% ~. ?; \5 s- `
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and' {( h4 z( t, w2 D: ^, T
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
7 j" W F. t- \- ?' J. dkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.9 {! R2 ?; a( p/ w" p
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a1 D! ?$ s. P4 Q X. S
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony. _6 ?+ {3 S% K5 \0 k) i4 l
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
) c8 z* E! ^6 b+ G% {Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal- g+ i8 v2 ~, ]) B+ D) H2 ]/ S, P5 b
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
5 m! Y8 l5 ?% e# a( b0 Mrestore the trust of our customers."7 _) W Z% T* u" r- f- u
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from# C# ^$ L: H( R
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly. K/ R* W" Q* S# z& W2 `
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --/ i9 u9 r* R9 W- S* g D1 h' l
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and6 h' w1 c* P( H. Q5 c) |) p
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
* [+ f9 Y! D, X5 K& O: \+ e) R, Bthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and7 ?; Y0 G! q; r. F$ f& c
turn off the engine.
) g: F7 J. o8 _, S$ kFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of/ C% \2 D$ d6 \, Q& }/ B2 \+ [6 R( Q
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
' \; `9 E- I7 }7 S# T"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
0 {6 h M4 F4 W3 [/ z& w* G1 Csaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
0 o+ u! z, P+ y* T! l: Rto her complaints." N5 ?) S% [0 G- Y
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
6 ~ K9 V7 _- d( b. a' R2 v$ Dreturned again and again to the question of whether electronic
, O6 K! W; M% ]* B( tmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.. ]. Z: y, y, U& p: j
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
' z! B- X+ Z, E4 B7 `throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited$ j: R5 y/ _: m, W/ ]0 g
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
4 C+ P) g0 ~" Y# b0 loff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
( Z J& ^9 y" u! u# i% A ITransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in0 i& f% l$ N. t+ v
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were/ D7 K9 t' X: W' X1 W' K; S
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
9 ~4 j8 O0 A" K4 q/ l/ fwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
: X# d8 D C. _: N' p$ n5 qevery question."* [5 O$ Q, p" y3 o8 I& _* W
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
: f7 w% l" d [ T) relectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
3 e. r3 m' y% }' N2 A- _firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
/ y& I5 |0 x; H' qcommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small
) u4 j) R% n6 ^* l$ K/ h' pnumber of vehicles9 O) c! l- k4 g$ C: `$ J
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more- p# L4 M% t; E' r1 x
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
0 _. S9 H+ S3 N+ n( F: fmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
# d( K2 I8 [8 G% V. Rsource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.6 W6 @7 _4 h7 h! Y4 g' D8 Y! ?
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,3 X: I, ]6 N/ M9 M' A* O
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no: @' [4 v) g, c6 `
trace at all.
* k. l8 g4 F# f* G0 g. J( ^House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
1 J1 Y6 Z$ K$ jdatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden) R, Q% e5 G. @+ e5 B
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the! I1 a1 J! Q2 @, x9 a' g* a
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
T, T8 |5 l$ GRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
' W3 {7 B! N7 [% z5 u" F7 ^ q5 }said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
8 Q( J: O& ]9 H. x6 rother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
" S# g K# x" @electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
" T: P8 Z) o- e! G* O; K& k% f6 V8 ccause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only; }$ {' k. Q: K g8 G6 l1 b4 d
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
1 w, L9 v- M8 c& c+ Aby Toyota's lawyers."
1 E1 z+ K+ l3 ?, p: h7 TLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of! s8 o+ |# o \1 P Q0 n4 o: Q
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
2 ?, O6 i$ o* ] l, Tcustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
$ p+ R5 R0 V4 n( [said.
4 a/ @: i/ ?5 o+ `+ I"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
% T/ M. V; U) M+ ra rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
# J: q) ^8 y- ]& [& T. H/ K; `good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
0 X+ D6 h- `# F; Vofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.* S# ?. y: B) u, Q$ z
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
7 w. U6 |: l: ]9 ?; ?& E5 H! pmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
! n; F4 B' D( ~4 O4 y% wrancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the L7 y! K% S- @) R* C7 r# _& i
automaker, at least in part because of the government's
# G& v% k p7 z4 Z$ j( V+ winvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
. O1 a6 v8 m! D( R$ cChrysler.1 b( t$ S6 V# Y
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
( ^" u1 Z# U. d3 bdollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
3 }3 B L; C% W% k7 M0 y2 XHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also; |% i0 o! @. l+ i3 a; U; N+ R7 F
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
9 G: q' w/ s/ bwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
4 ]$ G0 p/ ?- f7 ~. H% Gtough."
/ m' n, W& [0 R8 _( s0 {---7 H. L1 s. o% W: Y H5 o
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom( j+ A' |- n0 @' y6 ~9 F+ ]
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to7 S6 u# f1 A2 E+ ?* y3 D" j
this story.1 v3 M8 E" v+ q2 ^- [
" |. i8 u5 Q s% E, `-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
|