 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, O4 r" W" F, E" N. v" v* }: D
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
0 q& P8 g6 j% ]7 d4 EWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S." a, L, N4 F/ w7 M/ b" d
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that9 C: B, M& ]% }8 X
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"8 |. r( G( Q o! L w V- U
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
) M7 v8 @! Y' b: M2 U"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential# M \8 B f2 p$ [. s3 t
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.9 E* C+ l, ]. v {7 }- g2 m6 c- z
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected* O x% g# _2 K) H7 B) @9 y6 D' z
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
: c9 M8 e# G Jtrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
1 D; n8 b$ z/ `( n8 a* A) Amats and sticking accelerator pedals.
+ w6 L- {$ a" n9 Y6 s/ O0 }He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal5 ~! L: f" w8 _" r% z' Z
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp) P4 z4 g0 T- [! z
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
# z V! X) L" Y2 [) c+ b; nfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
4 i; y1 z! h5 m. A Wnot stop her runaway Lexus.
F. q2 F5 e6 p3 b"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,: ~* z& i, D, n& V! t- h7 U
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
5 K3 E, a( s) y7 {9 G0 v% n"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.; x' t0 J }3 E' v
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues, A" f$ n/ K* J- G9 B
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said0 X" m; V! l7 }" a. @ W5 I' i
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
2 `3 q3 l" G" _( f7 c; Z: {! X( B+ Adone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
! k# w3 p( o( x. L9 q* S, s! sthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
0 @" P' O: ]( t+ h$ P0 ]7 N/ z6 }investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."* {& Z7 v$ A) T: c/ a- |( G2 [
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
8 g* _* I+ m8 @1 k- N' `7 [electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of# v/ _: J9 i$ S, C* B
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
5 B' k* ?, c/ O; ~malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
3 X( |' a0 e7 w* |5 y) V9 S. Isaid.
1 e1 k; ]5 D) N1 c3 nAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what. j' J' Y, e; h8 n3 i. S
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe- j4 C8 z* p& ]* B9 t/ L
about driving our products," Lentz said.9 V# p, L0 I; M) Q1 I# y) l
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
5 j6 M& a4 P6 X0 a# S' U: lproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
% L# ?! W& D0 Trecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
0 g% @, z1 P# Rmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of
2 D& ^% z' h- ^/ Cunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking! T3 U) A( p$ P6 x8 R3 ~" y
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering0 f+ r: Y# s; u \0 A f3 W: ]5 h) ?
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
# ~# W4 _+ B% W1 gtheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow( G" Z1 C; q1 \- s! {- O
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has1 @: @ I+ E1 z; a" c7 r! R" a! s
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration0 K& V9 z! `# q4 z$ V5 j6 f
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.0 B" F. Y$ s; K- U6 s& X
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own( k, V2 j' [ D7 }8 X8 d
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he# o* l1 ^8 z! o9 \
understood the pain.' Z |' B; \3 C. M+ h, d
"I know what those families go through," he said.
# i" t* W& D% s7 {1 |" i: |" b7 |Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
6 U6 y/ r' f' F# Xfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.. ~7 r- y( x ^4 w2 q0 @7 |
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
! Y! L7 e) p. w. c9 h0 y7 l6 l6 DHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
7 I3 a3 h3 g9 l5 K; @! j6 X1 ain place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
. j( t1 W2 _0 S4 I' |; G- SLentz replied: "Not totally."4 ^8 g) v m& ?2 s8 w d$ @
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
3 Z( {+ y) z% G& S"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said6 q" {+ L+ T) {! M8 P _' @* j
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
6 M% s! \6 @9 P3 h, Z# \0 p# ~pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its( L6 K: H2 X) e6 c. g Y) X
vehicles already on the road.4 |3 v% ]6 k# o# g# ]. Z( u
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
! N1 k+ J: Q4 b; hbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full p( e7 T1 C8 P: ^4 k
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and% t/ s6 x3 s% }3 n/ Z
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
% M* Y7 N* b2 H8 [7 Q/ Ckilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
! C; e- j& H; L% Q' j"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a/ o6 |7 E, K# x, c* n) w) V
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony4 H- H+ }* A; g4 U
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
5 n' a' [- ?" g, {1 ECommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
: Y# A+ |: I# x- G6 b! o! Z; O" X" ^commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to; m0 p# K" c& R [
restore the trust of our customers."
; f& j' L3 g" e: Y: e0 aLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
Z; {& R. ]1 b5 LSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
4 P) a" T" I, b% Zzoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --5 d( r. Q1 O8 B( @" q2 l2 [
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and( x' t; A* f2 Z+ N% F: P
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
8 m7 H8 C5 z; ithat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and& t% B& j. L P- t# G; I
turn off the engine.
d+ a' h+ G$ |$ U$ L, DFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of0 S0 S* V4 q0 j/ h
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
3 U8 T2 R+ a. z" y"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
. a' R) R$ G) Esaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
# y2 P3 s) \# C t/ z- bto her complaints.& G/ G( |. y# y7 p9 L3 [
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
/ D x. {; ^, x- t8 B# ireturned again and again to the question of whether electronic) @% ]) @* ^9 h, M# G) e
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.3 _" m" y G. z2 x: S. o
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric" O* s1 E1 G3 Z0 C- E ]
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited. m( Z' l z9 G
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
6 M% K$ D [+ g) _# g9 woff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
8 u* t+ U- R% s7 X( WTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in* s P( Y1 W- ~( s+ O8 ?( Y9 F! G
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
. w" D. u& [9 {; Sbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls( I; W! \8 b# t" u
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer+ N) f# R; i/ R/ J
every question."9 T; X" ]5 T% n7 E j& J$ I7 q' M: h) q
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether6 \4 W/ t3 p& @
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The' n7 g D+ ]& O* ^
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But2 R# [% e7 J! H7 a7 E
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small( }4 r1 n' s% U1 D
number of vehicles" i' @( ~# ^* T
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more! ~1 n1 L. x% \2 H: k
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
$ {: a: \! N( L# Q d- vmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
/ _! H) D- Q/ B- B U# R5 w' Ssource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
. d w& |6 c. ]# q) v8 xMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,/ x; y, H7 b* y( R
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no6 x( K9 I) b/ K! b8 N
trace at all.7 j6 L, V- V ~: i: K0 [: L
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
5 D1 F* }- v' ^/ w* S% R; udatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
2 O# f& ]6 i2 s0 `' C' D' iacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the/ y3 V% w" h- _( N6 R
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals./ l2 k! V r! w6 w/ a: X
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,9 v+ v/ P- m4 F4 k* p
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and$ p" _& E2 m- i
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the* s/ y/ N% z7 G1 u. x
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
9 z0 h4 `& ]2 B- ocause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
e5 Z* I x8 d0 \6 h4 Ssuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained4 W5 p" ?( ]4 b- s4 r! V$ |
by Toyota's lawyers."( f. J( s! u( `1 _3 W0 e
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of! \, f0 k- X x& i, g* K
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
( t+ \* O( n O8 Y8 t/ L4 P5 vcustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
& A8 V# `. e* Isaid.
# Q" c* v- w4 w* d9 `8 f"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with6 a3 s9 L! T) i$ H7 t8 D% `4 K
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our" W; ?$ L! O! t$ o: ~. p
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating5 g" l: w, z$ V
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.( z7 l; ?1 L: }1 P/ g
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
% u7 w5 A" ?4 B- O9 F2 Dmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
3 H" N* v2 ?& Y, L: \. Q |: V% Yrancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the3 a: o/ y+ ^7 f7 C
automaker, at least in part because of the government's
& L* q. B" O" I3 W. z: Iinvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and9 i) E. H2 j* ]/ b5 ~' z
Chrysler.
$ W* k$ m5 ~) U2 ~$ \1 u"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax/ Z% }) j9 B3 \4 C8 B
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
, k; x' }) A/ cHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
/ \ a, ]3 }. ?served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete& L" a( A q% Q8 Y' S: G* z$ ^0 ~1 F \
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
2 E5 w5 E% ~3 Ptough."! w4 Q, A2 o, q# T
---+ A* G% N8 K1 j4 _
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom$ h( L2 F$ |7 u5 E
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
) u5 n& B$ `* M4 }$ O( _this story.
0 W Q6 L( b1 s9 f& O, {. R6 D7 f3 r& W( w8 U7 i9 V" L" |
-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
|