 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
* L) P3 T; N# q8 v) ?: OBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS/ o, W! e- R7 ^( o/ q" P( h! U
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.1 {- e ?7 l& w9 k! G2 T6 o
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
# y$ i7 b; n8 X; r" e% J/ `the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"( q; s0 ]+ @( c0 S# p; o% _7 c
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.9 w/ M' C( v' j7 w5 b5 Z
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential2 Y. [1 a+ A8 P' D; ]3 `
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
4 \4 X9 I* S% m/ p. \' rHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
4 j) j" q K9 ~1 T" Dacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and: j; k/ j2 j- y4 i- o8 D& H2 s/ z
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor3 u. D$ T% p6 x% W
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.$ a1 B& g4 v& U8 A) E; w( D; A- u
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal% j# Q# `* `8 `% d! r2 C7 F) n
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp* u0 Z: S. ]7 @2 v# s
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be A2 v$ Y- K( }0 Q% O- o$ p" f
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could, X }" v& f) `: r( t
not stop her runaway Lexus.
. w9 M5 n/ d- I& ^ L4 l"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,7 M7 p% W. e6 S% l7 `2 `
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
( |& p8 j# u' J. N# }6 Y( L"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
& z) M `, Y( d* h, h& S |$ UTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
2 \9 O2 r2 p7 {early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
, F# w- `7 N: z" m/ g"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has" w: j" h$ @4 N) h& g
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
- d# ?# B$ c# d V. c' _through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
8 K- u7 I* {( m% y; Q( Yinvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."! Q ]7 ^6 W3 x7 ]% O; [
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
" _: d# T3 U/ V% P0 S- Felectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
* T/ P; q$ f! U3 P$ |' x5 H* h5 ^& Sthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a/ q% Y4 i: [1 ?. F2 P/ A. [
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
+ S _0 L" b, F0 M5 isaid.( a y4 M9 y5 m8 S( A
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what3 r. q* ^: X/ A# D- Z8 x
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe8 p* f' N) w. R8 ^+ [
about driving our products," Lentz said.) C0 K( f' p9 W7 c8 {. x( u
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
9 O4 }$ Z( {0 h8 `+ x4 f9 pproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
^- T9 D# [2 H+ m4 A! O3 M, k& o2 brecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6: r' E# Z2 x7 I. `+ m. P$ x5 y7 w; H
million in the United States -- since last fall because of/ G2 {/ Q# A+ g% @" F
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
8 U! y8 [7 J# a _2 Wissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering2 l2 z' G5 |3 B+ L# C
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
6 {# R2 i% y* u0 e" f9 E& y ]8 utheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow% ^$ B- h- R9 G5 K" q
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has* P1 B# W" Y! `8 L
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration0 Z1 h0 {2 q) l/ N/ ~6 o, u
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.: z" g5 n6 v+ E8 o
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own& a5 V! ~1 K/ D% R: @ f7 C% T
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he3 }& ^- ]) s3 X! |9 r% w; y; {
understood the pain.
# N) l1 T, {1 R5 ["I know what those families go through," he said.6 S/ i- q1 x1 o* O. E5 s
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
. }9 V5 v, q: [4 Y0 G/ Lfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems., ^" ~: g0 ?# A O! s& i1 e
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
$ H7 F0 [. T2 i. n! y8 nHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
( r/ E7 ?" v* e6 L3 F0 bin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,& X. Z- G, F9 X- @8 s
Lentz replied: "Not totally."
: t, X% ^6 f& K" G# O( `$ q8 r: FStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
, a9 _4 n0 o2 N$ ~"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
" s. h% h$ r0 Z, h3 IToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas+ \. `8 \9 C7 M9 T$ i' J
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its2 U4 ~1 a: s2 i7 Z! @* u) W
vehicles already on the road.! C: t2 U' i1 k: ?
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
a; p8 w& q% A0 s( `1 h% p; ]) Ybefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
# s3 S! z2 x/ M, Tresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and: B8 l7 H; q/ x1 s
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were/ Z" e4 R% R5 ]8 n
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
2 ^- s* w9 i& o9 N"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a) E9 K2 `# o J5 t2 l( }3 W
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
3 L* d1 X/ Z9 p$ |+ C4 J/ jfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight* j) S: N5 T" ]. U0 V
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
/ }# Y4 A, _8 Y$ b. Gcommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to9 z6 I( f% q @; x/ N
restore the trust of our customers."
) g2 l/ \4 @; v( Q+ GLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
, d0 u* I0 B4 X+ YSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly- D6 D; Y' l% |, _3 D
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --& B; Q! b# E7 M
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
' T& }+ b4 S+ b% V( Ghitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough/ P5 O: J+ X, P' N$ o& f
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and4 s5 w4 N8 [: |; |) m, y
turn off the engine.
% w% Q6 |9 o6 E2 B4 h3 Y' YFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of9 M3 U% P% g6 V& y( S' f
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
- y; j( M, T& D! t( P1 H& j# {"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
4 s) s+ ~8 m$ M( b0 b* H& h% tsaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond$ M' N- `3 R+ Z% n6 ]( C l
to her complaints." K9 y6 n: t8 E& |1 _ u, U% c+ u
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers0 s \( A% d+ f' s4 d' M
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
& b3 i# y4 t, Omalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.; e" k- Z5 L* f* ~
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric! S% z( o- V' {
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited/ p! n# j- O I6 X% z8 a
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
+ U4 S: r/ n5 `! m# d$ f M( S5 Q3 l; [off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."& o! ?" P4 C- A1 u f1 I
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in z s m: T2 o& V: N) v% D
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were$ d) }% j* O# `; u4 I& s
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
8 j) ?. A0 K. n* B0 `9 `4 [, nwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer; L7 Z8 {: ^% V5 y) c
every question."* H% Q' L2 D" E p
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether& \5 \# L# N& F* f4 o# l& K
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The! |8 a# c+ f# a/ n5 S9 m# y
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
/ U+ i \' ~0 q/ ]7 t) |. Ecommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small* @8 A1 L* d% w& k+ ]) l1 p! u0 z
number of vehicles7 W( C: i' ^! ]/ Y9 Y2 B5 H
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more$ D6 B( m' h: o5 H( g
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
% }- T- ]. h- @9 U" m3 Omechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
' d2 x- L4 ^3 Y, B% q( p2 f& O+ `source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
' W6 C9 v" k# C# G+ C/ s0 M) AMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
' G. ~7 r5 V$ g T7 o. n7 Zwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
6 O2 S4 R# n' C& Mtrace at all.6 L* M6 d; a. ?, z1 H. m8 }6 d
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call; n. F b) a: j: z! T
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden! l; b' B g+ ^. b0 H
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
" N b8 T/ y* x1 t4 Krecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.! Y4 h* l; x; [" x
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
3 O/ e) j6 p, a" Vsaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and8 V1 J2 S% C4 Z( z/ m
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the- Y8 R% [, E& Q9 d: y! B& M
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
1 E2 G# N- ~; V" u* P/ c! l4 Icause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
v$ F3 S* i6 w# R% c _5 I$ v! T* qsuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
3 r2 H* W1 K0 M1 Q8 z7 P! Oby Toyota's lawyers."' A; |* F( s5 P5 e1 ~& g
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of7 o: l( d) M9 }6 \' F! \
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our4 S% L- L$ @. w5 o% k! f
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he, E, r% w. e! |: s, |# l& v
said.' p3 ]2 M3 j* o( J! h
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
9 ~* w9 Q5 A+ n4 K7 Ha rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
: m' c' f3 b1 Fgood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
3 w* d7 ~2 D& d2 m; d9 g7 d! G' Y! A$ i! vofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
; N% X/ J" t' M" C8 WSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying) c# n7 e3 e; W# `9 ^$ v
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread+ t1 _/ O: i# j) n7 A
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the# ?% V. v1 V) ]4 y2 i. ~% l) Y
automaker, at least in part because of the government's
2 y6 x6 T4 V& ]2 A% ninvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
3 Q! b8 w- t9 s; g# m/ v+ uChrysler.
/ E: Z9 Q+ w2 S1 y, \"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
3 R. L" E, C$ T0 Q# Ydollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
3 k8 l* r5 o( s% _* L" J% pHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also' ~" `3 ^2 }1 ?8 g& ]
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete8 Z0 b( Q; _/ _1 M
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty1 F& _$ ? n6 B2 j6 F
tough.") n+ r' ?9 m5 k2 n! ^! Z
---* d8 G% D% R- i4 m* N2 M( u
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom& [8 f% y6 Q2 E. X
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to6 ]' U x5 \/ m$ }0 z
this story.' S4 m5 q/ x. d
6 F( x, n7 t8 K5 y# q3 j( r$ M
-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
|