 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9 V% N5 @* e) a% p1 b5 W$ V
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
% R( r j" c, PWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
& M+ o& M) n9 @- Y q! f% roperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
5 b) d" M8 C% N# K8 Qthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
6 s: E* l% F) z: Ssolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
# x# x" t g) n- W"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
6 E3 _4 p4 U4 W, ]- d: Z+ t4 r$ ccauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.( R) N) \6 B% Y8 C& n+ x
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected# F. L9 U5 w1 u. O
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and+ P( X' Y, H1 G
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor" Q# o: d# j1 F3 k; G+ G/ j
mats and sticking accelerator pedals., B4 M5 G, B6 M# E; {
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
- c4 k/ ?5 ]& Mand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
3 W% Y7 i# f9 n' y( ?. S" Hcriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
4 H Z: n& B& l& q) @+ [further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could) T0 \2 d9 g! u6 S4 R) O
not stop her runaway Lexus.
N" W1 O6 q; m& ]( ?$ @4 F) k* l"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,4 O; H* d# `& @3 W4 m5 |: @& o- ~
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
0 y7 q7 n3 u3 r8 {; y8 I( s"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
5 K: e- w2 J9 j5 \' WTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues' E4 w# H6 L' g3 E9 T' k; M1 s
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
1 ~/ z. @9 g# g$ l6 c"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has" p, e- q |! c4 `9 w3 \8 r% @1 R
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
/ l9 `' j) m+ t6 q4 @' _; Pthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's! E# `9 q Y$ Y' [$ A
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham.": r& D" S( D) D/ U0 f1 p$ V
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an7 w3 ]/ @/ K% b. K( N7 M8 [
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of& H3 P& C3 ]* w1 Z1 o: D
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
6 r; ^4 T2 Y; z; V8 Umalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he! D$ o* `4 {6 t$ O: C1 {
said.
3 X( z" t" e; y3 o a! NAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
& R" |8 {4 P6 f* k! y" Ihappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
- K4 @' ~; |; H: A' w+ tabout driving our products," Lentz said.
6 y9 ~, N) v2 m) Q8 dThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's( J0 Y* e0 j1 |7 T0 R' a
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
% j7 c; F) U( @recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
+ L0 p1 k0 U4 b9 Xmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of
! g5 x$ G7 s" O! S! ?: Xunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking+ n- _& x/ q2 v0 l
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
) Y- ]$ \4 v! y ?concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
2 c Z" u T Vtheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow/ u) O/ C7 q) \
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
+ J9 g# E+ `! v6 L }! sreceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
0 X' \2 ?* M) _1 c& }7 M: |of Toyota vehicles since 2000.
- s/ u' a# h* R1 o9 P! D3 E% GLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own9 y/ Y. q% E6 a5 c) p; c+ e
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
( }; h5 j; g1 N4 Lunderstood the pain.
- }4 `1 ]) [+ x% ~7 j7 @"I know what those families go through," he said.
}( d0 l# {1 M2 C. K8 _: @Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's+ r- |* E+ Q+ E* l; k: E/ U
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.% N7 j# x$ X- |! X! H6 y* b
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman1 R/ h% X4 n0 b2 `$ N
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
0 T% H, I- K1 u% v5 ein place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,/ `1 y! T5 o5 k5 X+ i7 G$ c1 S
Lentz replied: "Not totally."
8 r8 ~9 j5 |; G, S) d6 sStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
6 s2 | ]9 u$ B8 j6 S$ g"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said2 j) x3 |! y! R5 f( W* c- }" h1 O1 m
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
% |. a o/ [! n. ?5 h, Y9 `: F# N4 gpedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its: w! V7 C) r* W
vehicles already on the road.
2 {3 a2 h3 Z6 H, E% q! fMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
: P7 z+ L: u% e) |: bbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
# f3 [( v# S% J ~! a( l2 C- rresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
: D: b2 D7 X9 r2 _: x" _" Foffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were# L$ R0 C$ U: ?# L) q
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
+ f, R. ]) L- N) k* }"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a0 `# L0 C9 q" j3 y, K: O
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
; z% A3 R2 \5 |2 `$ N* C0 ofor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
$ m+ T6 b! s( n' T" i5 @' h! @Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
# q/ _9 Y1 ]# O# i3 Acommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
5 T+ m8 O% S# F) G( srestore the trust of our customers."; V3 L% y2 o/ h P8 }+ m
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
0 F/ x+ C* `8 I$ lSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
5 e s `7 R. }7 q. Czoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
( [1 @; g) d% ~# X) V) @' S; J$ pshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and5 m; s0 G& F- E$ C9 }
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough# O. e! H+ z4 y( H) |. @
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and9 X- M. P) e0 s1 f/ w7 L
turn off the engine.8 R; W+ u. n5 K7 K
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of% h, O7 j/ S! B1 ?" U$ _+ Q8 o# K
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."/ @7 ~$ V" ]7 }
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
2 S( G( Z* d t; o6 |6 ^ e$ Bsaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
% a' q7 E* y, U4 Ato her complaints.
* \) w4 X* l& B$ r% OIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers5 e; [. u. V) |. q
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
& Y; r/ k( |& V! d5 D9 N. cmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars./ a- W) C: Y5 Y: U9 \1 r7 }
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
, C8 L" x: s- \5 } U7 Fthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited' T% o2 W' a( w, T5 k' S% W
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
6 [7 f% R, o( h8 a3 ]off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
* b5 A6 E9 G, r2 {Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
( J" p( P* d; R% |% e. yprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
4 A, i$ u- M! `/ Fbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
& z% J. O$ t' U% |$ Jwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer2 _9 S- m; b: A% u7 `9 b# k$ t
every question."5 ]' q' n' l0 m- k3 \ E
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether; p7 E8 V9 g/ `2 m1 u6 v' ?& w" b- G" j
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
; ?& {5 r2 g% B0 }: j1 hfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
/ }' q: n2 C* K. o; j; Ycommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small* ^1 W# S' E; d8 N* z
number of vehicles
5 R; \+ \# q2 U1 Q; T, JTracking down an electrical problem can be far more( Y X9 {2 j0 K# H; Y3 C2 N" N8 G7 M
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a" `9 i4 O8 `/ E. ?2 J
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one; _& y2 ]1 M& d6 Q
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.2 H6 b, n. J' y! l& z
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,* ]( `& _+ ]! L W6 u5 Z$ b4 l
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no1 ?4 h$ x) q. x( j
trace at all." b7 Z8 A- ]# _% e0 z& b+ X1 t
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call; c( k8 M/ V4 ]
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
% y2 X: p( {7 zacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the- ^. B: X3 F! U1 w
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.# }& U. `3 J+ a7 ]2 K) y8 B
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,6 _' h( m0 k$ L# w( i
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and8 Q1 b% E3 V+ D) C0 t: p
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
f7 t0 T! O6 jelectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
* L d1 R( |9 g- hcause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
% T1 j$ `# d, |$ v) q( ~' ^such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
j/ G; K& t+ l1 lby Toyota's lawyers." u S" a3 u' n* L
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
" E/ H M% b; l0 Yproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our5 \) v8 l" H2 y2 H( Q+ u
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
2 U2 p3 C8 s7 [7 e* Msaid.5 k" V3 O" T6 S; w; f |
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
! x3 \, m+ F! fa rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our4 U) q9 U/ A- [. C
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating" [$ G: o" N! r: f$ S+ U% b
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.8 ^! ?8 Z( F: s" I$ T
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
3 r( \/ M! D2 d* c( h7 C f M* y' Lmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
) g* G9 I7 d5 C: n1 z" nrancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
1 I7 p+ J% P/ W; Dautomaker, at least in part because of the government's
8 t) F7 v6 `2 B; N& o7 `investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
1 P" W* B" i5 C# A! B HChrysler./ D- I3 v N! N
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax( E+ J" X3 K( w( ?: s- o M
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a% C) o, |' \( B7 O' u/ K) P
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
4 U# |0 m+ o8 m- |! w* ^served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
# X% u/ Q8 h* v8 Y: e% W1 wwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
0 E; E4 }8 p' W# {8 [6 E" G" Mtough."5 k* ~5 W0 y6 w( q+ J
---, R- Z, L( [9 U# l
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
" k7 i: V& Q4 u9 ~" yRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
7 j; l5 D8 s$ [, l( [. d c( f$ bthis story.
8 x6 O5 n% D) ^+ ]( P, t+ V; f' C- v2 K, O5 e& N3 A4 O
-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
|