 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2 g0 j* L3 T5 v' B( B
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
' N7 I$ ]/ J L$ s CWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.6 f6 b0 J$ n5 s9 S$ Q
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
0 B1 r" F8 N2 e5 ^the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
1 Z; P/ D0 k5 ?1 ksolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration." N2 \) U2 w7 u5 x1 z! U
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
+ \, \' E! R9 t: d" O$ D; w5 @causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
9 \ h+ H% l+ yHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
0 B( z, _) C6 d: T2 } i) Y2 oacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and2 h" O* }3 b5 \; K1 H2 g0 j0 C
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
, u7 S. s; [$ M7 H. Rmats and sticking accelerator pedals.
2 C* a6 S2 E$ H$ zHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal0 X1 o. ?) U2 o# _% X+ N. A# r
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
2 s" p5 A& R' d2 Tcriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be# p' f/ m( q/ S- i2 T, o$ v
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
3 Y. B; ?5 ~3 Y( W8 d- Pnot stop her runaway Lexus.
5 h7 I ^' }$ l3 Y2 X, S"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
' X& Q. x$ @* L( w- Z# kTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second" Y3 @; H1 p8 r. m' W: n6 ~( z2 J; C
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
/ x6 c) Q) q/ v# cTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
9 m! R5 H7 u( e I) tearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said' K, X: |' g1 k2 L4 x" f" x8 D4 N
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
( x% R# D& h3 `6 j2 t# z" [) Z/ c& Sdone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
3 X& `/ y* a" y! }8 v: a! Bthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
7 c1 T: \/ q" m/ Zinvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
6 W2 s3 H- @8 ] U& [$ R6 Y* o2 ~Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an( T/ {; S( y1 I6 p* |) @
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
1 W8 A! F" Y7 \: x5 Y# G1 _the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a4 a- W9 j+ Z3 k' F* B
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
9 ^" N3 R8 D; {; m! L4 Bsaid.6 F& S: G; Y# A# G/ d: V
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what9 v, y, }2 b* z
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
5 @# i) D6 a+ B6 tabout driving our products," Lentz said.4 a( ]/ B9 ?" a/ u
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
: v% |2 f! b$ L" Uproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
/ ~3 D1 W$ H$ U# T6 q8 S; f$ Arecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
" Q2 v; r1 ]7 |2 P( e3 qmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of
8 W4 b0 D, y. p7 cunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
* v# t: i. o* J# cissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
* x- I& X5 u yconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
- M' n) O* q" z9 x+ ]; H5 Dtheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
5 B' I5 l: d% ]$ N8 qdown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has* `& p# k4 V3 W7 g+ z$ u9 n
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration3 b6 s5 @& h5 B. C5 c; R1 A9 |0 }
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.2 H0 M M4 g( d$ ^% _1 u
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
# P& |0 w, v1 U$ @0 x7 xbrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he7 }- R5 N, y5 X! r) P% P
understood the pain.
) J% r) `2 O. ^) B% X4 ~"I know what those families go through," he said.
8 K% e2 p J7 o5 a ]' GLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
# y' \2 i- [4 M( j4 q/ Wfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems., t/ }4 [4 ~" ^+ Z: J
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman3 _: {5 E, J; y/ C. }# _
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
r" u* c: H2 O# _, uin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it, ]% H' i7 Y' S
Lentz replied: "Not totally."
" `" \$ \- E6 u) [Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were& w1 i' j5 W1 v4 I. |
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said/ d: e- i6 N& W* G* S
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas' F S( {9 I. T7 G9 M# y5 [
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its# R, G4 o2 f! ]( j
vehicles already on the road.: t) z9 F5 C# ^: U
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
5 i; _# C3 a0 b0 ~9 v Jbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full# H3 S8 i3 l2 W( U s7 m5 [7 h
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
! b, I- l( E" J9 Woffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were# {5 N- N# \- k% o [
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
& d( [% j d. M$ O, ?2 T1 }"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a E0 r! m- @8 S+ D+ |$ }' S
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
7 ~# ^+ M4 G* Y0 m+ g: rfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight3 v3 B: e6 O& O
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
4 v/ _7 W5 [! e4 _$ Z& V( B& ncommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to1 }, k5 y+ j6 \
restore the trust of our customers."6 a$ Z! J4 A" b
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
* g/ t& e* l% }& jSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
! p9 m8 @4 }+ y7 q/ D. b( Azoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
8 x; Y9 m0 N6 E5 m) q6 Z! G6 Mshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
9 ], s* o: q/ }! \, K W; t2 `$ Ohitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
8 o8 g0 j, P( e/ m* A7 ^ bthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and8 Y s. @& T- U
turn off the engine.$ d D7 f. E1 P% c1 j
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of- U+ @% t* ^+ W( Y! y3 Y; S5 y
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."2 k' ?! V) D7 m/ Y
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
! X& |8 }1 L( i+ esaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
3 V( [* r2 C [- p" U4 F' V+ G% xto her complaints.
. K' l4 ?' ]% e# ^% h6 F7 o# B* \In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers. O& C7 H9 N# N4 z( P
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic" X' u, G- g y6 D7 \
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
$ B1 H) A E4 R) w"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
. R! A, Y6 c r1 Othrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
1 a8 q" g- j% M% @/ f/ z5 z"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
5 I [0 ~8 Z6 f7 goff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."" i# w. Y7 U: d- ^/ M7 P% q1 S) I
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in/ g# P3 g7 @0 i, T5 q i
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
/ V4 V+ M0 o8 i7 gbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
' @! a& E# Y- f7 l' B zwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer/ n5 v0 S& i) {: }
every question."* [% y- I- W% r+ Z( K4 x5 r* y
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
& S& L# F9 v' g! s! S& M* belectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The" I$ u# i8 ?+ z/ `/ Q
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
& e, v# |8 J3 ^% K7 Y( scommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small
|! c/ Z' E8 o5 Q% inumber of vehicles0 C( r$ e" {5 S. y/ V
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more
" J) N! p2 w D4 g! _( vdifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
8 ]# l% u) @2 W8 C9 c5 [mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
" N( c7 ~4 x3 isource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
: @, \# ]) {3 m% w. K! X! DMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,% d, K; @) ?! y: F U
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no, ^! R7 b3 e- n
trace at all.
4 b2 `1 K# ?( S* ^6 p1 WHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call: a7 m" r8 |( _3 n* p0 {6 Z
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden, a7 ]" N5 r! g- F
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the: X1 i# c4 @7 t+ Y
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
2 w. {8 i6 Y. s# a( @+ Y8 t) Q0 LRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
* |- d1 \# m5 F F- M: ~said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
?! w# c! ~* |/ r% @5 Eother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
' C$ v7 V" A4 f+ n8 w uelectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible4 D$ Z$ O2 J2 l$ H; y* u- ?
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only" L# I9 X- r) c+ W' F0 o4 T2 N% t
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained. z" r! m' _! [/ q% `
by Toyota's lawyers."
0 b9 o/ I, y8 a5 W, H! Z& X- m- r: _Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
0 }/ G" w$ B n f" a; W' mproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
; i5 Q! Z; K+ V1 ?7 D! Qcustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
7 V; L8 u( }1 g2 y3 K4 s5 y1 o/ B" ksaid.8 q7 y4 |- K' i8 U" Y [
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
$ h- e8 S( Z+ d/ ~; Sa rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
# m7 E% x2 W- o7 A% L8 P+ J1 |, Fgood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
^% h& R# R0 u* H/ dofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
5 R6 z E+ m( n. RSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
3 `, Z9 ^' Z! k* z! {- ^members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
, a, R1 h: \2 s- j: [ Y: E$ M( Srancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the. H2 _3 [+ S$ S! ]
automaker, at least in part because of the government's
/ l7 A8 S, P( E: I3 x" C. Ainvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
( O* {$ H5 i' _% `4 _, AChrysler./ |8 d$ q" `& t# b
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax/ w* E+ f r9 l4 L% z/ g
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
( ^3 ?3 O0 F7 Z1 n1 mHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also1 p* W, g. ]. x5 D* \8 Z
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete+ ~4 ]7 q# b$ @' h7 @0 P% N
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
( M* I+ x. R# [/ d6 ^. E! t. itough.". |* F/ p2 l: J8 V
---2 r! j) _" _" u: [. `6 P
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
) U3 @9 z. t( \4 E2 mRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to8 g/ P, T! G1 A9 S; |1 Q
this story., Y/ d: i5 Q& ]9 ]1 P+ |
6 l$ W/ w; D5 @1 x$ b- O" y
-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
|