 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% z: R2 S; I" [# k( Z# `
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS0 ]/ t9 Z: Z5 n! S1 Y4 d! |
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.# L( h" e9 l& V/ E6 u
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
6 \5 y, ~2 O- e& w2 @" \. _the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
`& V0 Z& o6 j/ F( Ysolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
5 m% j' p" V' {+ \3 A"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential {; i+ r. i) |6 o0 X
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
% E" i9 D) j9 GHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
/ t) @* E( r' K. @# u0 q8 j8 Sacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
' R6 e% P) x9 e8 g4 y( }) w# ytrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
+ X0 Z$ x/ \2 ?! B7 Pmats and sticking accelerator pedals.
3 ~5 ^* W/ J2 J3 G0 hHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal7 D8 W4 Y# M4 n% o8 k' M
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp% v* L. I+ A, Y8 e+ X
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be; q2 W0 V8 A8 j: d' }# V
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could* |" J2 b( W' o+ g6 ]
not stop her runaway Lexus.
" ?& ?' ^' d$ @ }* @. v"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
' i" w+ N7 r5 q# Y" iTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
+ g& X5 T0 M! v7 V6 N"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
, q! \1 d5 G# Y% D( U) p! {: LTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues$ X( B s0 C6 b+ \$ i5 B# x
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said! G; E1 m' _; M5 }7 D
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has) g: ]5 s$ a0 a& O8 s8 F$ v
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway- \( K6 d5 C' z# J2 D
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
& U5 ?& a: B" ^, minvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
}4 m! Y4 O$ ?3 f- [Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an# r' {/ E a3 w% Y
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
! M3 s& ~2 t" |( {" ?2 athe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a0 t7 M* Z @: F; K8 q. ]
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he6 j1 k3 w8 `- Q% m2 z; L
said.1 ]. F) u* H( z9 K, K6 E
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what4 j }' j: k& D3 [5 k) H+ M
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
# Z0 b+ U( D' S8 Y8 m6 |about driving our products," Lentz said.9 e9 U6 W2 x) s* z
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
- J$ a0 Z) S; P1 E0 {; Kproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has4 P6 t4 W" ?. X1 |; T9 j2 y
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
) Y! i* ]! y: N! ~8 x+ imillion in the United States -- since last fall because of/ o. i1 Y3 e$ p
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
6 d: g" R' W* k9 l2 j6 vissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
8 L3 S' _# G$ s! `concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
* L: I. Q# l6 y- A' Etheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow& ]3 r: z1 [% B0 E" v i8 p
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
# `; y+ |- m, `5 ?7 o4 {3 Dreceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration; }' j6 e ?2 {& x U9 N8 v' C1 `3 k$ c& V
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.% p7 `9 ]' ^; w% Y$ j6 F0 j
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own( X2 T- b2 p0 F4 K0 t
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
( x( A" u, L- _5 E( e- Lunderstood the pain., V7 \! I$ M4 I' @% D t' d6 ~
"I know what those families go through," he said.
: C* A) J! q1 J0 U2 mLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
/ X6 U+ _6 [4 qfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
: I" o" m/ n) M) j0 U( o: ^2 @But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
3 A9 \! Z/ w& ~7 K3 ZHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put& _: {6 r# g8 m: Q u1 \6 X$ e
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,! @2 f- q3 L! \! ~" g
Lentz replied: "Not totally."
# ^5 c9 M" q1 p9 p+ d: t8 QStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
( ]0 r6 y* ]6 w" b" v3 j" H. M"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
, m( ~6 @) s3 E |- p; y3 vToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas, n. Y6 A+ b0 W- @) _1 i
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its# z2 r4 X% Z! q% T% u
vehicles already on the road.: N* \2 H# |" {2 v
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
7 O5 s" E/ {! A* x; P6 i1 G" ]2 P% I$ dbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full6 [: t( L" ~2 m8 z% u6 V4 x
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
6 h2 d- g! `8 \6 B2 e. e$ j$ _5 g' v& Ioffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were' L/ d8 {5 L: ~; s% L
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.6 V6 R, }0 V3 d) y
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
" d4 L" [9 }6 J/ B; htragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony+ N9 o+ z, ^4 u
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
) @0 h" R; m, b5 p% H2 Q. _Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal9 U& g) }7 I. ?+ @* x: M) z
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to* n. P) U$ }: f- `
restore the trust of our customers."/ K4 l( D2 r8 S5 u
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from4 A9 S. g$ j" s6 `* k
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly; |3 p; n4 T- y+ g# r
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
9 y9 h; m2 Y+ A. Eshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and& J, [, G3 C+ y/ o
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
9 m0 s. X. x A* e9 |, D8 l# F& N+ zthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and" S0 U2 C2 [ M- Y' ^
turn off the engine.
8 o6 P- k* M; j z2 ? p$ pFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
6 J/ d, b% c9 z, j7 {) T; POctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."5 z# B1 c* ?' {
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
3 P% W0 d7 C0 g" c1 h$ u; Z' v* Jsaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond0 D- s9 Q Q( U1 W! l: i
to her complaints.
* _6 U) Z1 c' Z) X' d! vIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers6 ]6 E: x- C8 d, R4 {
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
* F- @/ H( ]: `6 q3 R( o9 vmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
e7 `) C9 F& Z/ X. ~$ k$ c"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
: }5 E- [, p9 Z0 k. othrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
6 f& M7 w# M; C) w; ^7 j$ J$ I"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
1 _8 j; s) \, A3 E( F! aoff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
% ? J" F8 _' j# o& uTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
; d2 ?$ Z4 [; E5 f1 Q( z: d) Xprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were+ R- q& z6 w0 d9 e2 f D; G$ p
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls& e+ N; |& v5 t2 f
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
7 C* X& j8 `$ ]! u, \every question."% u- e' u5 {( ^
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
: H1 T+ f& j1 ^8 A0 y" o% s) |' Y. ^electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
l9 V* V* C5 m' d0 @0 e5 [firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
! ?. t0 v9 s% k# G2 icommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small; i( E( ]# Z/ ^. {' q5 H$ Z9 P
number of vehicles
% O" b! O. L$ c$ r6 c) E+ RTracking down an electrical problem can be far more+ s- N- W) u8 _+ z3 p
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a+ P' b7 N1 X; O |7 N" |% P: p* m# @; Y- f
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
( h& d; L. w5 m7 U- dsource, and they can come from inside or outside the car., i9 ^, y6 t+ t Z
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
! ^2 Q' G! p9 c ~5 }2 i$ d* Fwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
/ c; @0 O6 k2 A4 i: @* H0 strace at all.
9 k& T. G8 M: RHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
+ d3 `; s( o1 c$ y5 K. Ddatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
1 e; w- n7 h( C$ c/ ]" Oacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the3 \, Y) X# H- p" v: y4 V
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
. c8 k# X e2 T' X) i; MRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
/ W; L" E! H- o+ v8 \( tsaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and3 F; ]& ~- H8 X4 w
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
|% |( f9 d& M( L- K; Relectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
' q4 a0 A0 M% R8 C4 Ycause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only! r! d3 u" R- Z8 R# v; v; w
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained. W6 B8 ~% i" I, e
by Toyota's lawyers."
2 K c; O O2 f, Z7 ]Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of) b3 C/ p7 ?4 K$ {: @
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our: p/ W1 u& t3 k2 G9 q H
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
( M. W% [9 w5 K: r1 q( Usaid.
0 k$ O, }( Q# f2 s" C8 t, I& n- g$ t"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with) V% [% @; t- K3 E
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our8 l# S$ c1 ~" j2 J
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating0 s' j6 [! ?5 o- u& B4 f8 D! l, R
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.( j6 z, U& y- l' X* B) X& E( l
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
" \* p8 \. o* t9 gmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
) P% N2 [5 z: J2 U; Q0 ?rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
. Q4 F0 B9 ]0 Zautomaker, at least in part because of the government's
( [+ f( \+ V; k4 C, C5 ninvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
7 y C8 C/ |1 K4 u# S- m9 V" o: QChrysler.
* g2 ?9 T4 @' g' k"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax6 b' l3 `: z* |
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
; A/ F4 `& n r: wHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also7 |* @6 \% J! ^, G: k: X9 ^
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
Z0 f2 c/ S; v9 V/ s Owith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty1 b/ g, F. o2 `8 M% L8 @0 z
tough."
: ?: @' f& g0 }% V& V& a---
4 s n3 W' M% \! ZAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom2 s0 s- E$ D4 A; x
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
7 H4 @8 c3 b+ l+ {1 Rthis story.
k+ e& p I# c3 y
; S& [1 {$ E# P' l3 _/ T( b3 j-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
|