 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
" ^% s. T5 h: MBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS- h( f! s0 k5 X* l8 M
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
7 ^. H/ ~9 F# Q7 {( X' S( koperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that- u c) d% I+ o6 S3 T
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"# E6 W% \6 w( D. e
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
7 P1 } O& {/ X% c"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
3 a1 e- O' p5 Bcauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.5 g+ W& P8 z: x5 i% Z: g
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected0 B+ L: q) C( f4 |9 P7 E' S
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
8 A1 @' c1 j' b: d0 A0 ?4 qtrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
2 B0 k% U, c( umats and sticking accelerator pedals.* _" z6 G' B7 |3 s* ]3 k
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal+ J3 @, `- F# R% t' W/ F. h) D
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
1 l* X) R2 M _1 Y0 q: \criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be* H6 B+ u" b* }: y
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
7 W7 q) p) \" [3 _% N' u9 nnot stop her runaway Lexus.
! g+ E4 {4 m( F"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
8 Z6 w: m0 `+ K8 l$ gTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
$ V6 E) [; ~% L. m"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
! i0 K$ t+ q8 O5 d" [$ I9 o0 XTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
# B1 n8 q9 ~# F B6 N H6 d0 Qearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
8 P4 [. t$ o2 N0 j, C3 G"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has" P6 {' U) [. d) R- R
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
* {' G0 j( A" b" Gthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's: p: E( A |8 r: Z& U6 [
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
) f/ d' e' d$ k8 b$ h1 DLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an* ~. T, @3 T* F0 J1 e
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of/ l- G. C5 Y( L ]- p+ z
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a/ Z2 q) C y2 ?1 s; e" [8 q
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
6 q2 f) j; n5 c( d9 } d4 @said.
# h# g! w* R9 W1 N) AAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what( r$ g+ I6 [, O: A& q
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe7 ^8 c3 ~# W5 k2 z; ~4 B* Q" m
about driving our products," Lentz said.! v7 R6 R" x i4 H
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
% E, a( [( u# R3 X0 \7 g" d( Mproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has: D: N+ e, y8 Q) {& J, x# g
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6! g: ?; N9 @0 U, Z6 S4 @2 j+ q
million in the United States -- since last fall because of
; Z% W4 d" U" w0 qunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking* c7 H( x9 Z9 \. ?" g. C3 p
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
# u' p; \4 o2 x, e' d3 S, Q$ econcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of& @$ t5 r2 a" E9 r" s5 D* ]
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
$ a, @- ~+ K0 S# k1 p7 l4 p% ^) Udown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has9 Y+ K& Q, C5 f- l5 r8 r
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration# [+ m! C4 i! k- B: U
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.
& x( R6 b6 S. t; d$ l1 c; vLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
. M U; Z. n- i* h& n% ~brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
, e/ i5 F, e/ j" {understood the pain.
* x- O& |- x5 \- ?2 I2 v* ]0 n( I( B d" \"I know what those families go through," he said.2 ]' _% E0 V4 [# ?
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's1 M5 q+ S) q) W0 x$ y1 t
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.0 s6 g5 O! R6 A+ N3 O/ G
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman+ @, C+ f V& a6 ]" @- V
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put3 B9 T1 x* s" L/ d& \
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,! u" J1 M; ]; z1 u9 j
Lentz replied: "Not totally."+ i" f7 O6 f. t% \
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were# ?% J/ ~* c. K
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said0 w* I$ b7 ^: D7 E: E1 [" e
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas5 M2 ?$ H. b3 B
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
6 N/ o" n$ K- Dvehicles already on the road.; \- ?. b: R% W5 R
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify3 w8 V& Q. g$ d/ i( y! C
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
: @: `! ` E. z8 r7 m+ h; [responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and ?% B. e3 k1 c4 h- Q% l4 f9 t
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were- l/ A9 r" B6 E
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.5 y9 b0 L, V L6 |0 \- Q3 h( y
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a! X- k, i9 U# \0 o0 s2 d. n
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
) a ?' _" E" H% Cfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
& {4 B" C: }5 |# Q5 F# vCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal9 p! J! f+ o# ?$ e
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
2 P8 L, V0 v; d- I+ Q7 c7 }2 Zrestore the trust of our customers."- G0 F( Y* A7 Z2 t* A: X
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
) b# n6 X# ^ Y3 x* ]# kSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
5 h- P! k7 r7 v# a- l4 p/ ^. P- i' {zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
$ r6 d! |$ ]4 v; Zshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and3 E( R5 J" l' t( e, X: i2 A; T
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough/ ?1 E/ B' m; j7 p' ?" {/ W
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
& K/ X G/ B/ y* d5 ~+ dturn off the engine.+ G, C# T& v3 P+ V! z% b
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
, J. S- d, N# H; F: g$ uOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."& n! V1 R: r' B, o
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
; x" _; {4 q/ C8 esaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
7 B9 B% F2 t- @5 ]3 a5 I; h8 mto her complaints.# Z) N) M8 v8 u) t/ l7 Q7 w7 {% n6 C
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
$ J/ S y+ P4 d1 @2 [2 v2 C" d: [returned again and again to the question of whether electronic- W. B' n3 `! y/ ~ \! y' H
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
5 ?+ [' J0 T# k: h! K"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric6 a. G* k$ f3 p7 r0 S3 q
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
: z! p% Z; z; h; {"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
( {3 e4 C! ?& ^% H) S, `off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
% Y/ G# T6 |' T4 _* u1 LTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
+ S/ {8 D7 T' N; P7 z! @* ^$ `prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
" b' s9 M8 i% O6 o5 P0 M, i5 Wbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls: a' R. X5 \- P& t/ F
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
" b+ y& q4 V" j9 m0 g( W; Eevery question."
2 z( t" J' A. y! c; J- S9 c# L* x. {Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
$ @8 o b! t2 [( F+ delectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The7 K- h& ?$ Q9 u9 N# D8 x% ?7 Z
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But: N* f! K h# ~& U- J9 T
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
1 i% V* V3 d4 t; W3 Q r) qnumber of vehicles
3 `. ^7 ~$ Z5 k2 ]# I% rTracking down an electrical problem can be far more y" }# B& B: h' h
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
* i' t, B8 m4 G9 {- E# K/ [+ Kmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one% F1 b0 P; a3 T' Y7 i
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
+ i9 g, c* j; XMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
4 B! {/ `! q# Dwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
/ S% F; R" _/ q n2 ?2 xtrace at all.* c" M0 B( k E4 V
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call( z n* ?" k" `1 L) ^; ]
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden: X+ X6 h' P( e; r6 ^ k2 j% q
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
5 c1 ~3 P" I( ?( M4 ~8 xrecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals., z1 m' x6 l9 n& ~3 r# ?
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
6 ^ Q$ f1 H/ ]6 N% T2 T5 b9 Gsaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
! U# i+ X u1 H, S4 bother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
* j! A- e+ Z, z0 Q4 W6 \electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible) R9 Q1 a" y y* ]9 M- A! e
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only. d3 L/ ?3 l6 x2 d6 ^
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained4 o7 B+ R& N- q" L$ |/ J/ t. ?
by Toyota's lawyers."
4 ]* T% Z1 M4 @Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
1 U; \/ F. g7 g$ I p ~problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
5 y# l; L+ b; L' a) t* A8 @- j9 hcustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he, J; M3 P# a; ?0 D5 h' I
said.1 L( B" G' N) s+ i( G+ C
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
7 Q, @5 z( K% T7 ], U* {a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
! G' A0 L6 V- Y7 J2 Y8 Egood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating- p1 A* i+ `& A+ q7 |8 w
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
: `/ g! h2 \9 `Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying+ D( a3 d( Y! c7 T% D0 B
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
b3 w1 [% S5 S s8 k" W0 y5 a. u5 Crancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
3 @! e4 B) _% R0 y9 N5 rautomaker, at least in part because of the government's
: r7 r: {: l. j* a1 ], F6 winvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and/ c: x- b5 E I( S2 c+ S
Chrysler.8 ? D# l( e, b) ~* \9 t6 S7 g
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
- `% g* [2 M, M r3 Hdollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a K8 v1 N" A5 |+ H5 R+ E5 t; M- i
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also% Z& F9 N. o' C7 k6 v/ p0 v- S
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
2 L0 l/ y+ _# Q3 l; I* e$ Twith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
: O& d- e$ W& [1 f; ttough."
7 Z6 d7 f1 l+ G' W---
! v" a# D- @2 ^# Q4 M: F. }Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom0 \' L! J& x/ }1 P2 m9 Q5 I
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
# T+ m4 y# Y, Jthis story.
6 m/ u: l7 u* Q) v! w
" n4 `) q% N" m4 K-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
|