 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
3 @' K5 X v3 {; ]" YBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS4 W' N& u" D2 ]
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
* }. h8 @7 }# \; v O: [operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that1 R; {) G: ^" m, e
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally", I) l& M3 i e3 `9 A2 v x
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
; u @ @7 u% D; E. ^( m/ P"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
3 |$ C# T5 S) {' z0 xcauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
2 M7 [" ]6 ` w9 L+ K8 d* hHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
3 m$ w" Y0 K7 r- a! e" j, Z; v' ^$ Oacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
8 Z2 Y7 k9 U3 X0 L. jtrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
/ H- S |2 v2 U9 _( w8 L+ hmats and sticking accelerator pedals.3 K' t1 C! a) p( G/ s
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
+ [ P9 F. w' f& C" a5 rand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp9 }/ I- u7 m: f
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be4 I. g9 A( D2 e6 J
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could+ Z w! K' Y( `/ v) d3 k Q) r
not stop her runaway Lexus.
; _6 u' }% Q; Y# T"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,! f% i! w6 H4 T
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second t0 c' B4 B: t4 a8 u( D
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators./ ^0 c* D$ d0 Q. w. ?: |
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues+ f* w6 u2 F7 [1 E& E
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said8 e% y) H" V! ~, J2 ?
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has# T: Y$ s1 e: F- ~ @ \8 a5 u4 o
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway# k8 t1 ?5 ?; S5 p! Z5 D: J0 X
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's! o# ~9 v1 X% a
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
2 ~2 V7 `4 K% W. j& m+ R+ L# PLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an$ x% p4 L$ s3 n r+ s
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of6 f4 y* l9 L- k7 T; E
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
2 m# a( y* M% }- I+ }5 l7 p9 Q& n5 xmalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
0 J6 s+ s) {- b, \; B5 Y" Osaid.* T* N5 c6 x. x5 P) m+ j
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
5 E E/ s; @2 ?1 B5 O& ihappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
5 F1 G% `0 |" t9 Y8 aabout driving our products," Lentz said.
# \+ Y8 x; b! Q! u$ x% LThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's* A) K( S& ?/ f9 ~* C
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
/ ^9 q! G# S8 B T/ Arecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6# l) j% M K: x2 `* h/ P3 c
million in the United States -- since last fall because of9 H, P% E1 U6 t/ u/ n! l
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
% O5 K1 M6 r& {issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
' P. q, \ b3 n+ k' }# Vconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
; k# C1 v9 [' \' Q @their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow4 ~' u, n: ~) W6 R4 f& V. m
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
8 t1 c" o% i8 t p% ~: `! }received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration+ |: B0 c7 D: Y+ V. y1 m$ u: f, f+ @
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.
6 Q9 G* Q& [+ H: I. `; L. w% ELentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
2 ?$ b' |# f( zbrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he$ i' F: P7 ?; i* c2 F+ g5 S
understood the pain.8 d) ^8 P# t- ^# z: D' R: c( H
"I know what those families go through," he said.
) w" u+ |3 ]$ yLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
8 m* Y) j z- {: M* Bfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.& d( V& }! r( R# g% q# Z' Q
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
- h0 C8 {$ D. ~* m: k' Y4 W, }4 e4 V' \Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put# L" K' q( K/ ^% p+ {/ L
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,9 a. c8 k) o; o1 P: }
Lentz replied: "Not totally."
3 O: u2 i. b! @7 k2 O; IStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were# N+ x/ V2 b v* U$ c
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said4 ]% M% d; j: d0 t g# X' ]
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas3 O# }- L- a% _1 s5 v5 _
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its! d% \ L4 D# a8 k* Z- h5 Z
vehicles already on the road.
t+ b* G. Y* r8 L, _& H4 MMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify @5 A% s( G" d) o
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
9 V2 j7 }! B- B* D( `, S( d9 qresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and7 {. d7 O h3 E/ Z1 ^3 [/ k+ _
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
, ]1 f7 z6 e1 r' p* @) dkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
# T$ |$ ]5 W3 ?! `"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
' D6 z5 D& y: E1 ]$ Wtragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony& K& a5 c* R. [
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight* R' P( g. `3 ^/ g9 a) Q' l
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
" e) o) `# T2 i( U icommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
0 F! e- Y& Q7 u" orestore the trust of our customers."7 g. ^% C3 X# z" b1 O4 t6 z. K
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
8 k' B' f3 n4 o- U, xSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly: l. A0 m! Z1 \, L1 `/ u( F
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
+ t! M% s1 w& e# Ishifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
8 K% f+ I5 V: ihitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough2 F, b. |0 n) A- f6 [5 r
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
) v' ]/ {' v& m* K7 J/ B% g7 k. q0 xturn off the engine.
* ~- @! W; K8 xFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
2 [. u# o/ p( m0 F# @7 MOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."( \; i }, G+ R% J7 E: [
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
6 D& O: _+ u' msaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
# b- S1 `1 z H; B# E8 O' t6 \to her complaints.. P6 c; O( x% ~
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers0 {# i$ g2 [) d
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
) R' z9 @3 `: X' N; |malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
! ~' q$ n* l; @) E7 H"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric, f5 B6 a4 K8 I+ o/ p
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
: H, }: K3 Q. `. R0 ?"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
+ b8 S* Y& ^' @off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure.", m' h9 S/ Q- {; b f# O
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
/ V0 K) m9 o$ _ p4 r0 j Bprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were% Y% |7 l) O( G, _" [' @
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls, H) @. |& b$ I- v
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer9 R7 T7 f! {; i- K1 D7 d% J9 e' ~
every question."8 N1 A$ g" P* Y; _$ w0 S' L
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
$ P7 e5 D0 k+ d! R. B) y# telectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
1 B/ C& H8 r E" ~firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But" A7 B C9 B8 `: @& o3 U% ?
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
+ N! T- U- D& {+ Enumber of vehicles( P ^3 \- ]$ l
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more1 R% K3 a0 ]/ D% H3 q
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
9 P( `: e. H5 `, v6 Emechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one4 @( ]1 `/ W5 X
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
- ^) n9 Y9 \5 H$ PMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,' y$ ^* D4 c7 p
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no7 K$ S6 o; Y/ g9 G8 J4 {+ Y$ X
trace at all.+ f, O4 N9 R6 q( B, X
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call& J5 b5 n( B" C7 ?5 i7 D
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden( u* `8 P$ x8 x6 H5 W
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the) S. p& d) }5 K1 Y
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
" Z; ?1 V& O) h- w: _0 b# m$ DRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
4 K8 E1 p# s4 A: B3 g4 w: A0 ?said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
' O1 ?0 [# l/ u. T, }other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
0 [4 g. b# T& b- l: |; |electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
" G" ]; k) k4 E7 Q( ccause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only' z% r; y, z' q( H
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
' N6 }0 R3 G# I- |by Toyota's lawyers."
% d+ q$ G/ i9 L" A& o& Y6 CLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
# r- B0 x/ G+ [. y: [8 lproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our1 w. D7 n; z7 N* o( j& C! K
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
' q" J! y/ N0 [- q# V, qsaid.
7 ?, X3 ]1 S0 B4 M"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
: K2 _/ I7 H, ]& |0 R4 ga rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our# X8 o1 J, b- c
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating; W) o( @1 k) K
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
/ ^% t3 [: h2 vSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
3 I2 J7 l; n% [% N. ]4 _* Kmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
9 M8 T" p7 b2 D8 X/ `& L O* w1 U) francor toward a federal government they view as picking on the5 n/ \( c# s# E: T9 o' Z
automaker, at least in part because of the government's2 k* X h2 j+ n- ]$ P/ M0 M8 k. [
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and% @8 }0 Z0 q7 e; \
Chrysler.
/ z; \0 @9 R$ ^ E$ S) ~$ D"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax! o! S5 g2 O- t% A# Q! }3 ?
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
: j3 c6 X1 Y% `; Y3 NHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
3 O' l+ I+ n, vserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
1 u# K$ U$ `2 Y8 a; Y5 Y& o& |with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
- B3 {0 Z$ x! |5 X3 w$ A5 Htough."
r: I5 q3 T8 v" [---
1 _; V5 l: Q( ]/ O9 ?7 u0 o! G* U: \$ tAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom" }2 R# `4 L0 V# h4 `6 U" y
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
8 S: |# c" L" I7 i4 \this story.
: ^! J0 Z/ p9 I- J
% S K+ E- V$ X* p) i- D% V-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
|