 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1 |$ J4 _% x' s; [* w) K( n
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS- {9 W! X) C2 y2 A8 `$ \
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
2 X; o: U' t5 A: v, h9 T, `operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that; h3 _% | e/ x, j6 o6 V
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"! y. c# _$ I& M" G/ [$ s
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
9 U- Z% X/ `- E. l"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
3 G7 _6 y5 m2 ^6 |4 t; C- Scauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel., u; ^4 D; r# K% y( b/ K a! L9 z
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
* B- v$ U% \/ v: m% O# y' Uacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
9 V8 G H5 J" {+ C' jtrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor O/ ~: m9 |3 X& h% F' P
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.7 L6 J2 Z y. p& `
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal: G2 G1 [9 r% U! y: J! r
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp x, l k- [" ?) \) i: r; t
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be1 |$ c X8 `$ I. |# K* c
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could" h( s% C5 ?/ N
not stop her runaway Lexus., Y) L! s7 [$ G8 y
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,+ |0 y+ O: Y! u: Z8 a* b
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second& c6 a* n' K& _. a3 I
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.' v4 W0 X0 w, W1 u. U6 ]5 U
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues; g& T# C. [4 f% c7 j
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said* g4 ]4 @& g- [1 h( F
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
) Y8 R U ?) z$ _$ J' b$ ^( gdone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
& P8 z- b3 F# ^3 u/ k- X: `through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
2 l s; L% n, Y. T! Uinvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
7 Y- n/ X8 q2 T! Y6 |Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an8 J2 B; `* s) g' x& h
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of1 w M+ Z3 ?5 `
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
2 e& k3 p6 R6 h/ @! W/ D5 ]malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
6 C! }* W; l! p: I# B9 L" ysaid.4 o l) J0 W8 w5 z! S4 Z
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what* C4 Z, o# G) u! Q; D! x/ ?) l# Q
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe! X' L8 r; i j) n
about driving our products," Lentz said.
! J5 O3 }: c! a& p6 z' @) k- Z* W5 [Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's$ N6 }8 X& ~, K5 H( e5 p
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has v* A) w( K) A, [; o- W
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
: R v1 P4 l8 D% `9 n* q$ J0 ?million in the United States -- since last fall because of
- o# k t( p2 P sunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
2 s* A8 N7 T2 D. B' ^issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering9 }) M& p& ~* U0 T
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
8 L( R2 q. H- Ctheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow5 A- |, s, ~- H" `! n
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
r8 C: T: p- e* `% t/ xreceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration0 y; t8 T$ y1 I1 U8 V% r1 C c5 w
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.3 K) m+ x, Z0 Z
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
. z$ w0 }4 P1 s8 n) b' _/ u1 D1 C1 j+ Cbrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he2 q. s k" c' `2 c# h
understood the pain.9 ~+ E) z. `5 m( j Q) V
"I know what those families go through," he said.! ?1 _# p$ e+ Y+ F& X" F( k
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's, {+ r7 M: C+ f: b" t
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.( a+ z2 M5 B+ }- ^ M& Q( R
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman7 x* T3 f: i1 C
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
# [9 W) f- { W6 W C& Q( W* o2 uin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,( w U* I3 Y- f% x5 H
Lentz replied: "Not totally."
( ^/ C" _, W1 P+ ^) h- ]3 d8 f0 sStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were s4 o* L) u( n4 ^! i/ d( Z
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
% A& ^* k" i$ W& `! j f! p: fToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
$ E! |9 R; `4 g0 C9 E1 {; A9 H7 d( upedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its' H# \# I& l* @
vehicles already on the road.+ i' O0 K4 \; K# G) F7 d/ X5 G/ D
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify# p5 n% e0 Z2 d. C; n8 K
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
* i* p: A+ G) sresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
0 e+ N9 ^* r, B( `5 foffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were% [! r1 G( s! l& Z
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems. o5 i0 Q; k/ [$ n0 d% i9 x# F
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
/ ~4 a3 ?0 |2 ~; I& Jtragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
% R' I; |5 R1 }/ z' efor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight) ?/ s5 J1 Z0 g* x; |" Y
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
# n7 n9 P6 L4 \/ f0 m* i0 W lcommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to- ^" [3 \+ L5 G) b
restore the trust of our customers."8 [2 i4 t$ \; m1 n _; D% @
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from4 f) [; h# ^5 r J: {* @
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
4 F ^5 @8 J3 `3 B9 L% u X8 Vzoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
' s6 \: G g( v# s( d/ x% Ushifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
" z# N; t- m$ _ @! z) Ghitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough/ c: R6 j: w0 Q+ _1 u+ _
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and6 }) T4 l; f& O( u7 l5 d
turn off the engine.
& G3 k9 N- g. cFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
$ A$ P8 z1 j4 U. q: c9 p0 N& W) bOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
3 Q: }6 |; ]* D! Q$ P; X1 N6 _- e1 V"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
+ V2 T) {4 L5 V2 d* lsaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
+ P1 o, h O! w# n' S. eto her complaints., g2 r3 F9 i3 o+ Q: r3 D
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
5 \3 }) S8 h3 W; T5 breturned again and again to the question of whether electronic# M! H$ Y1 v9 g: B* s2 @* q7 K
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
& i# W# x3 K( W/ w# `5 p* c; S"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric9 ^7 r: D8 J5 _9 w t: b
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
; A8 A0 x G; a7 x2 H/ X; s"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
) o/ y$ V& T" f) \! q5 ioff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."2 v. E) f" l& H
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
6 }' F; z9 M2 [% B# l9 ?prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
: {! r/ _- S. e% {4 P$ Tbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
8 X0 l' [& t+ A8 S6 bwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
- b- ~: R, w5 E/ M: n3 Vevery question."; v$ s4 D/ j( T3 T, _4 M, _" M
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
) F5 O6 \6 Z4 }2 j1 z. S) celectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The/ c2 I0 m0 P( D/ N
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
2 ]# O+ i+ M8 Z+ V. k- e' K$ C& fcommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small V5 V% O9 |6 D5 c. _
number of vehicles
* p6 v' P0 h- w0 N6 U! bTracking down an electrical problem can be far more7 e$ J+ t& W6 R6 Q
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
2 I' ~0 ~6 i; a* n+ a* H: wmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one( B9 w" \5 T3 N" t8 h
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.# ]& O4 f4 ^* ?, I
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,9 X& E/ y" _' M6 I) F# i# }; K
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no1 z' F1 D# A. Y& O0 k' e% x& H
trace at all.& t# [- {8 r: l( e
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
- {+ Q, i& L7 F4 ^4 {database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden8 y r. f( B/ v! T# T# R M
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
) C! O2 a" w0 A7 d9 o; F frecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.4 Q/ ^" ~9 a" u$ C
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,$ ~8 w7 n& l( E/ D: w3 S& N. W
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
4 U9 V: X5 R% d/ S4 f" Eother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
& y5 X R6 y* pelectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible5 u A0 z# M4 X; b! `' p
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
& T3 B R4 R+ Z' W- J; k7 K; ^such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained& ?1 ^. e4 n& |7 N. H
by Toyota's lawyers.", k% U2 Y4 F9 j, k5 w; T* W* G( c2 J
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of* S# M# F6 y5 |
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our9 Q. l2 F' q: J
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he5 a4 c" @& J% }0 `5 g V: l" ^
said.
+ |3 F+ n" r# x0 w/ U8 j4 j6 P R- O"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with' Z* f. U% D1 s+ k
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
* n l6 N7 O7 ]+ @# k k5 Z0 Tgood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
$ u' O8 M+ q. M9 F& E- F- |officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
; j# M$ O3 o2 r: V3 QSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying) G, [- N* `9 A7 l1 _$ S" W
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread1 ]( i* v8 x5 N( u, @
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
% C3 b+ u- C* [0 \ @automaker, at least in part because of the government's/ {( a0 G/ G5 s a5 i
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and8 m4 Q( l8 q/ Z/ |+ j* v; p
Chrysler.0 e2 P1 F5 C3 @6 j {) K
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
' G- J* A# W+ p6 b5 mdollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a j, o$ _" C$ D5 G- U
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also- _: n {0 N( Q, w# \) \
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
?& L+ j6 L C% q# W0 u8 ^with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
3 C" {/ l# k! G+ S, Rtough."
; [9 x$ w9 K9 t5 S& ?--- t/ ]/ p0 p5 D; w. l% S/ O, h
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom% V! X1 a6 \ [- I0 v( J( w# W
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to# F% e# a& R% {# A" [
this story.
& w3 i* _! P2 |; V
; Y' y' r+ i6 |. S/ ?. S! K, d+ k-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
|