 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
- y+ H( ]7 W: Y2 ]7 d- E: SBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS2 [7 j0 A' l8 l d/ j
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
T( |3 t: a2 B7 Z# @- _operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that. v1 M1 d' i! [% Q0 v
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
! O$ v+ d2 Y+ W" Z1 ]& l1 A# u# \solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration./ J- s7 |8 B6 b1 c8 \/ x9 c
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential5 ?: H% S% C; b( J8 q P
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.! p4 `5 ?- g, g! g
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
- V; o# x) ^6 ~. c( \$ yacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and& l9 S0 [2 \+ c+ M
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor O7 B1 v7 \3 s' ]& l
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.( ` ` Z- o% G& p9 H& |$ i
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
# i% L: j) G3 G& O {$ T' \and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
" ~: C' w) a8 S4 h; g. Zcriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
7 ~2 y `; V) z6 `* hfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could9 e$ u' E' r9 T6 b' X3 b
not stop her runaway Lexus.. d; E) Z0 u1 J
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,2 o4 P) M- O: m5 g7 {' ^
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
- {# B! D# u i: q/ G X"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.0 ~! g4 S1 v7 Z( i9 v
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
' X/ Z" |% R" w7 |early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said: X+ i' U- `1 I W
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has- B1 r& F) Z( r5 Q" z. v0 w
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway0 U$ r- d. f' {4 ]8 ~
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
: b0 A) R: \; Y" j/ c3 X4 g* Minvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
' [. D8 B+ l0 J9 D. ~) O/ q- A# aLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an9 U( ~7 ?, {! Y! K9 Q
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of! |, p4 e/ l: y Y Q, G6 S9 p# r$ s3 ^" _
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
3 i' A( S- `, d5 a/ u4 qmalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
3 I) t* V, @2 h7 ksaid.4 R7 {6 J, V9 T9 D# N8 k
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
! J B* _6 q/ p9 W6 r$ d: ohappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
2 z( n2 a G$ L2 K' I5 S- |about driving our products," Lentz said.
; u; o; K( K4 u# |+ {$ |( \ V0 BThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's5 g* u5 K6 N/ s
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has; `- ]4 D; |7 L, [
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6! g q. o6 K0 L8 U8 Y
million in the United States -- since last fall because of5 O8 M' Y0 x$ O$ w- j
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking1 n* N( h, N J. x ]. n
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
1 q4 C/ v C- A+ {* xconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
3 l2 f7 o6 i4 o6 u ?, h* ^their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow$ m7 k2 P" l$ `5 U/ m
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has9 d$ n5 A. z7 f. j1 n x& N
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration$ u; t9 f- q: _' C7 J
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.
3 X, \$ x. l, F1 Y% m. J4 O- ULentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
) l4 a& X8 J7 m! s4 ~, Rbrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
: y5 F6 T! q( ~" z3 \understood the pain.
+ n* w/ d, c4 Y9 W/ r$ B+ Z"I know what those families go through," he said.2 Y% f1 j/ P7 f
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
9 A6 k( s1 c, Z0 Wfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.( p9 c9 b( ?, T5 I' Q) u
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman5 M4 s; h: ^. W, Q: I' A
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
% W! J: O+ R! O; I3 T0 vin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,3 [0 {5 z+ F& b W9 S$ S
Lentz replied: "Not totally."
, f, Q0 {1 o8 A l- n9 J2 nStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were4 I. q4 T( }( j. I3 o& c; f
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
2 O- S' g& F0 i! {1 NToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas7 J6 \5 M! m) c9 _$ L% x
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
7 t9 N' U) H1 K# q% @vehicles already on the road.9 b' Y' }- k) n7 t; V
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify9 [2 l2 N6 n# j* ?
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full! q+ F% N3 i4 S
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
8 o; T6 G8 b" ?3 F zoffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
4 X; b+ e: u, A; pkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.) a; C) l' o5 }+ D: C7 S
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
! v0 ~% Q) e1 U# S6 utragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony# U0 K4 Y( r4 x( N( R$ @
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight z9 [- g6 }( B& [, O
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
1 W7 U1 M2 i1 W1 C" }/ N6 }0 Ecommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to+ M0 |# o; t9 Z- {! ?' e% v1 G. U
restore the trust of our customers."
0 g5 B5 _" S& jLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
# O; V2 {$ h+ `. m* dSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
- N- b0 ]% ?( O% c9 g3 V/ Xzoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --5 p2 t5 S- p G! x. c% R
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
+ }- X: t3 W1 r# A" F' Yhitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough2 m# L: f* W0 ~2 b' ?* |
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
: M% a, w$ f/ g+ T( @0 fturn off the engine.! {5 K- D, ]' i: }0 i7 L1 K" V# u, ?* y
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of0 [, ?) Q+ d( g
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."+ {" r6 v; b; u# r* u/ H( S" W, q
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
}) v* W% s2 Y1 e4 \/ ?said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
- t1 o" G- G8 rto her complaints.6 e; `' i& Q9 a3 k
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers9 _( t" K: F: _6 ?0 p& R2 Q: w
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
g V" i) G" F; t9 u* J+ ?malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.8 J- d$ Y* C. ?4 k' G3 S/ B
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric( I6 U& l1 M5 K- U5 x
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
5 J+ b' G; e- z"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut1 P3 Z8 q' `7 M- L
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."$ A5 v5 g K" _7 ~3 ?3 N( ~
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
W* K5 p2 J. A* Q- F2 ~% h; uprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were2 L7 D+ i9 @* r" N$ T5 C
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls' K0 S# Q2 Z6 W9 r2 Z
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
- Y; j/ r1 A1 c% Gevery question.". K9 L/ ?$ k5 J3 x
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
+ n- f2 N. ]4 N$ l, N, ~electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The+ Z9 C; n4 H. n/ L# T/ Y- B* ^
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
0 R \8 @- `. a1 ccommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small
, J$ x' ^- O6 A( ?( [6 k& a, Vnumber of vehicles* N4 i0 P& L$ U# @% r
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more
: ?: ~1 o& v' I Q# R/ N8 ddifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a( T- S$ ~& v' J5 M' `+ L) L
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
2 d! W+ x" ]6 e9 C# }3 c/ Lsource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
; v @3 z% [/ Z. Z( tMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,4 q4 D. {3 Z2 c+ Q$ K- w2 A! d! E7 ^
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
, F! j3 ?: k, J; j/ _trace at all.) d% d" p; z3 w! V" F- Y9 B
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call E; j/ X, R/ J
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
$ A& C: t) b8 k% |9 lacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
' X# H+ U5 a- ^+ \- [recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
7 u; W- O( ?. b- V$ b, y& S+ mRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,7 g/ `/ S) @6 q
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
, P N; Z( J* W$ P* x) nother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
3 p3 ?( \3 k! S+ d. |% t& A4 |electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
. C4 ]! |/ F+ _. B0 c3 Gcause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only7 p( P+ H4 D' o& t G- C1 B
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
) }; E6 X7 A3 P R8 Sby Toyota's lawyers."3 C1 e8 @* k- Z* t
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of7 L$ B! y* _: w! j( w+ X
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
- V9 C+ @% a) \ A- C0 tcustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he" T5 E7 \' W7 V1 @9 {( E: s
said.1 M; @+ A" H* Q/ |2 _1 X
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with8 R0 p/ A4 c' Y. X. @. h$ n
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
. E' |- U# v; P G5 Z2 Vgood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating$ H/ b* C! k+ R" X8 {
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.1 C) X/ G( x$ _& q
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
# A3 |3 Z8 r: fmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread0 s$ B$ n5 e; K0 G. Q
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the, H- ^# p: Z' v2 A% a! O" P! K
automaker, at least in part because of the government's, @6 K' Q1 s- m: J% S! S1 M
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
9 n, J2 ]% t f& q3 m" J: B' A/ G; vChrysler.7 x8 i: s1 Y0 J9 N7 K
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax2 ?/ y! j9 L, d1 p
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
& m, P a# M8 ]) L- \Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also! c G- s# D6 o
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete7 {+ R! s+ u% `6 ^+ O. L
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
" W$ q/ Y' [' n6 Z# m7 jtough."
I4 }' N7 \2 G: F1 @---4 k0 p6 T$ [" q/ \
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom, l6 i, n% L9 x- K5 C
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to" e5 ^ L; F- a. s
this story.: Y( _& e p: R D+ Y; ^% n
+ b+ D! x) m8 ?* E-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
|