 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 \% D6 {7 w7 M8 SBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
) N; \- T' w1 i- |+ WWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
J5 g7 A0 @4 g$ Soperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that; M. q; k+ x9 |( @( c
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"' r" p' l5 x" k9 H1 ~
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.; H6 G h1 a9 K
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential- Q" f1 d0 U! H1 [6 v: S/ V
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
- C# E7 Q! Q! p0 q4 H" cHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected: e; g4 z7 K" _: w! [
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and: q- C! q; W8 W* ?- {! S, s2 M
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
5 [! r* n. R6 c- }( p4 }mats and sticking accelerator pedals.& Y9 A- m! b4 J1 h% [* b( v
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
- M& ~# o6 `2 t0 |and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp# g- \- o) E$ L; u
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be% Y/ a' `5 C2 `
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
; |- p* @+ [, m, \" qnot stop her runaway Lexus.
( L/ x& x& h4 {! I"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,) l8 e+ B |* @$ Y4 C& O
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second* r$ b, S! C7 A7 Z R; F5 u. i
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
$ G/ \6 w# P5 c- s, s) oTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
, k* U5 [ ~; R: yearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said/ |4 g* X" Y4 E( M) C& D0 W
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has, |7 n2 K) k' `9 ~; `( z
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
2 E) R6 b& ]/ b8 dthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's: n5 d. M4 }. F j
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
( I$ ~' |2 p) l5 q1 z4 ILentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
& N" n& q( \" y) P5 @electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of* X, J4 M7 r/ t; ^
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
% L& A# r5 [$ `( L% Pmalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he' p4 x# m3 r; K& c
said.9 P$ f/ v; Y5 R& x* S
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what) X: W6 Q+ i! K. T% |4 _6 d( R
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
8 C! {$ }6 ?/ M$ I4 @about driving our products," Lentz said.
: F2 G m! p8 z3 i- V) \4 x" [0 [0 x: JThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's1 y! R3 t- i: e( _7 d2 I( S
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
/ x0 Q6 q5 G* [7 e; x2 zrecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6' R, b% p- t. Y1 U) j
million in the United States -- since last fall because of; B7 q. l# l( M: l' R( o, L2 `
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
; h+ d' \% P! ]2 C& `issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
7 {. O6 C8 ^! ]( `concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
, s1 m/ |5 p$ J6 H9 xtheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow* S% f* j* a! z
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has" i7 p6 ?0 v+ @0 p$ A% X6 r
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration! f9 @; v/ j& _ R8 K2 T5 H
of Toyota vehicles since 2000., \4 b; Q6 _2 [8 M
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
* T- s5 r3 y5 k5 t& ^brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he% T0 r( B- [- v
understood the pain.( R# j8 T( c6 o2 j9 T* ], I
"I know what those families go through," he said.; U. P9 t" Y( h7 E3 E
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
* x }* _5 H; C& _( zfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
/ t1 a+ l" @& C0 GBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
; D5 k. V3 Q/ e# H% k* cHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
# Z+ ]5 Y4 B8 V) G( rin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,* t0 j" ?0 M2 t3 [* r
Lentz replied: "Not totally."3 F, c! K2 K. o6 z0 w+ {
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
' w9 y- @: b: e: p, R. E"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
. [- r4 ?9 e, P" O+ {! V. z1 FToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas. z V6 M1 k; I) |3 L, a
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its2 d* `3 Q3 M( J* y4 X. e
vehicles already on the road.
/ ?4 ]% F' o+ g/ h! P# r9 cMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
/ U/ ^0 h8 A! ~8 ]2 }! B# Wbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full$ @7 v8 M; v& L: s% @/ I
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and8 ~7 s! g1 U+ V. l
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
5 Z6 I- S* J) W8 }. ^9 `% p9 O Akilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
1 G' j6 `7 h7 |5 W0 u# R: i"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
2 \( G4 a1 P3 @) a: wtragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
% B6 P( Y, q- {, D+ l; z$ Jfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight3 f# ]2 a% F- v4 M7 V# z
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal$ }, C4 t# p: i, h
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
# J9 I, U$ G( z$ {restore the trust of our customers."
1 |+ |9 V' p/ @8 B8 nLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
8 |5 L$ w1 \/ l( o0 @Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly U+ ]- i' }9 g" p7 g {
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --2 X6 R( q* f+ f
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
) q( S$ D! s6 d0 }3 d; M5 Fhitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
9 W4 Y& [, x( S3 P6 wthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
) O8 T3 {$ A- Q6 j$ l# K- Xturn off the engine.& l, K1 i6 w% ?' E9 }; a5 R0 n
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
( ~# k2 M: ]7 h! G4 t, bOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."& ~( i" H L0 L. O9 {( }! j5 r I
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she& @7 m( n- h% P8 O) q) t
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
2 y) K, N h5 s% l$ R- Z5 Gto her complaints.
/ L1 L* r2 I/ i1 nIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
' {8 I) ^) Q. X" c$ d5 V/ v) vreturned again and again to the question of whether electronic
' T+ \( L$ h4 D* Q+ Q% T& fmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.1 S+ @) p# a0 | Z) o0 q
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric) d1 V7 D* r6 P9 N1 D' \
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
8 e2 V2 {+ `: m"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
! u3 p, T" \0 ?off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
|+ }( P: l) |( R! sTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
! a# Q9 q. d5 j4 @8 }prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
7 `4 x1 Q" b5 h2 c9 \being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
8 p5 f( ]. V- u* F$ z" F8 xwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer& e" t2 M2 a; K6 C: Z
every question."
: o0 u+ Q7 q% y3 K! zToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
# O/ P- r( ^% d& C5 R+ M+ ?" n Zelectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
4 ?4 @- I: L) a( Z$ z9 Zfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But& u! o E7 d: n0 w
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
: O' }; M5 J5 |6 q0 D+ Jnumber of vehicles
& s' f4 K, y1 f* LTracking down an electrical problem can be far more
+ F. H8 k: P' @difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a; I7 N% u; U/ M: m, Q8 W4 z
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one# j7 b: K4 D z
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
7 _& n" o% g4 h, X4 Y7 JMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,% v5 [' _3 I7 i. v' E. b
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
0 V. j1 F0 s1 N/ vtrace at all.
; T1 R F6 c) q+ A' C7 I+ [2 cHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call5 e& |' E( r# x7 l$ f* Y
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
1 J; V$ |7 w8 h3 ^1 N' J; macceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the$ r! g- s. @# \7 W, ~% z. a
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
7 ]) R( ^ C: _Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
; Q F) T4 {( z2 |5 |3 ]) zsaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and% v F; }6 m; q! A
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the( k9 L5 @5 t" {/ D9 c2 Y
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
% O: M4 @! m; fcause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
! h6 g* i$ l& M7 l$ Msuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained3 A; l* \: |# g, Y1 b& F) E& v8 T
by Toyota's lawyers."0 \+ z7 M, ?% _8 A% |% B8 ?
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
& { S8 s$ U% J$ Lproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our( @' y6 l/ ?4 Y v( Z( g J" _
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he9 a& `5 j$ o# M$ J( @( H
said.6 q5 F6 f3 I+ a2 h( G# ^4 L
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
( S( o! ^ P/ ]8 N, ]8 Z @a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our, [$ z& v0 `' j4 H9 A
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating$ i% H+ h( r! O* X0 ^$ F0 d. e5 U
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
0 @. q0 F: h5 U9 k QSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying7 d+ o. k9 s' n3 x- ]
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
" K! |0 O& S3 ^/ \rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the/ u( i: V6 `8 Z* R! A4 u
automaker, at least in part because of the government's% D9 j& ]2 D6 {: C
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and3 w, s/ E, _6 f" B& K E2 ^
Chrysler. D. @; ~* r; Z+ _7 w! \; ]/ n
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
% I0 T4 g0 [" }2 ~6 zdollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
7 ?( J. R, u' h* `6 }' g( t9 ~Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also0 I+ K1 |% R5 p" ?/ z# d
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
# w" K* N7 K3 V8 f! Ywith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty' Y" P: K" W: z7 C7 g* O3 p9 V
tough."
1 V; M/ H7 M6 d1 S3 C---
, H& m. i! w, g: T+ rAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom5 r% p+ [$ K2 f" d4 m8 _7 d& e
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to5 }8 ]$ N- x# U% @5 @0 [2 L% }& Q
this story.
3 @' K$ x' C- |# ?! W. G+ U
- w" T2 T. _" X" U) `# [4 B0 @1 E-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
|