 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/ ~; D* e6 W4 E. l' h |* I
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS) P; z' g9 O: H ^
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.+ W2 Y! _# L1 I# T1 U* o# p
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
! N- t$ N: {6 k$ bthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
$ \, m0 L V+ f/ i4 k" ^solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
! i# b. ^3 v) T! a6 H7 U+ D"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
" w4 B+ [% {6 O8 Pcauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.' w! ]2 w6 C' E* x; T
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
' Z* z: Y. E, ^2 M: ^% K9 cacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and8 I3 N1 N- n' o2 _1 ]) N% a8 v
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
3 R; I) o( P7 ~) zmats and sticking accelerator pedals.
# z* k2 |5 [) Z' D( o( t1 [$ _. G r' dHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
3 P; @* S: ^0 Q0 v8 [" [1 Mand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
2 c0 B) U6 _% Q+ L, G0 D- xcriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
# j/ N% c } v2 Z- I0 @* s4 Jfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
4 a7 M" _8 p8 p* P. @$ K9 wnot stop her runaway Lexus.# Q. |2 |' \6 ~
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,( k' p% M+ G4 T; [! \8 u7 t+ U6 q
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
+ i3 ~( R4 a! L, E. m& o& v"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
9 S% c, ^- z. Q7 j8 tTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues% y6 t! q; l" A! ]
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
M( L" H5 g9 \# K"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
$ | r- M6 n! y+ ndone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
' J8 X; u' q1 I4 ethrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's; m, a, P- u% Q: _. Y; E
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
1 D6 b5 L! t8 \9 Q/ S: a* B3 y9 ^% `Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
% f& o! T" T( ~9 a% ~electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
3 F% m1 R# }$ x3 W& l' dthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a5 C, `! @' X- f6 O9 p+ R
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he! I0 E8 D" b" x1 U
said.
9 O6 j( P- |4 P" N2 y* [As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what/ v* ?3 A0 }# V! j+ \ W) k7 l. o
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
5 q! t- b+ q9 O V: r& {6 Pabout driving our products," Lentz said.# F6 h1 s* ?. X& k W& L' n) r3 a
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's% T5 r! b! N7 E5 s. E
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
7 a2 d9 ^4 R( w% p$ Precalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6$ c W+ m/ h2 n2 j! T) N. e. n# a
million in the United States -- since last fall because of& D+ H# E7 h- m# h' O
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
`( K0 `# V% I0 Jissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering' {' T; z/ q- A9 A. U9 T6 I
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
) y2 g, @$ K6 h; S/ Q! V- Ptheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
+ I( ]( O6 v+ Z, Mdown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
: f, v9 M `' J7 C1 B7 creceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration! `! Z' T/ U# Q: X b/ ]; U1 ~
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.
5 \' \+ R: [) v! O+ U! ALentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
: y3 c" \ O' X& l+ K) \9 @% Tbrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he" l& n0 I) ~# S" H" Y n
understood the pain.
( k8 G' u, k7 ]) u! \, T"I know what those families go through," he said.
O% y# N7 J' S4 x1 S+ tLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's, f) V! y7 M( g" V8 n" U
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
! h+ x" Q0 e+ n* P! H1 Y' E2 t$ jBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
2 k% o$ g3 s& F$ O5 S# v$ ZHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put, l3 }/ p: t- v6 M4 n: o! _
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
+ R1 \) i: \) @9 v) |% TLentz replied: "Not totally."
& a+ N# ~' o9 Z+ y! C6 DStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
* v. h# T. U% x+ a y"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said% K/ t. A8 w6 {' k
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas8 G2 t, J3 y. S$ W2 F; ^8 t
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
. p" S- B8 B' O4 T& f Ivehicles already on the road.
5 s6 A S9 a2 ?# C9 F4 vMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify0 u n0 B. G1 h" b+ R! {
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full5 M6 T% x- A) S9 B X7 N; q$ ?
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and o, t2 Q, i6 V" T3 x4 }
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
% J7 n2 D$ W* C: v7 V7 U0 D" z# jkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.6 ?9 U: W2 }, T9 b
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a7 t$ G8 |; a( i; t. S
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony' C3 r# C8 r" w" {" P% {
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight& J' v( Q) |) @
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
) x) J, V* w' o2 j% M: Pcommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
- n& q+ I# G3 |/ ^5 e' U! rrestore the trust of our customers."
5 i( B" ]. A1 s2 s7 k( }Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
9 F1 A D/ D* OSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
$ H# P( W5 _8 q; e G1 Qzoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --+ c |; `: F6 A, T% W
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and+ `9 t4 E j0 s
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
$ T% ~# K+ k3 Z$ M, F1 h- w0 [that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
7 \0 ]0 ^" {$ G/ K- fturn off the engine.
9 R- H; U7 I; X" G" |6 KFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
% k1 b* i) W! i+ B& Y5 v3 vOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."1 u2 l1 _/ Z A( m
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she4 A, k# j! _6 H1 S' F
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
% X5 ~! X* N5 z4 w% Vto her complaints.( R. j6 x0 R/ ?6 `- F/ V0 L/ y8 I
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers$ f! N1 V& @8 H2 m( e' [
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic# w/ q8 t* e8 e- A3 v- e5 x
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
) a1 U# Q$ a f' X"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
4 i% n* q# Q" b0 |* [, z. Dthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
/ l2 n9 V: }; O2 d+ `"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
) r6 w' r4 ?9 x) |4 R, ]: F4 Goff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
( v7 ~( v" Q6 p' R' STransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
8 U+ L( {0 ]) C+ H7 r) d: u8 ] L9 jprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were" n: N+ F6 G" V5 a# G5 `7 W/ l
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls1 x/ |6 m4 g& O1 k
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
* N! e/ i8 \4 @; Y/ [- K; \every question."
! J+ ?( q# e& p1 I2 ]: vToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
" \$ {; @9 Z; K9 s6 Velectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
+ q' j$ [1 Y) W1 e y r6 ^# ^firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
8 V! _( [% p( A" c( O* |" ]7 Ocommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small5 V" m( r+ p8 O: \3 @2 z. c
number of vehicles
; u$ |) P4 q9 V: }# pTracking down an electrical problem can be far more
0 Z6 m+ N7 |: r t( ^$ K5 qdifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a* Z0 b+ C; s" R2 ~/ |" j- b
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
5 w6 ]& q; o7 X$ ?3 usource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
j: \) K, |& e" l3 w0 _& X1 a" oMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,% y1 Z* U8 T: y: j
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no5 @. ?% r6 t, H3 y& L4 \! n
trace at all.
0 _& y3 L. i% JHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call3 |7 K: i: R& _5 a8 K- p- k
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden9 y2 f, l m; I
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
* g; p( ]3 q/ X1 ^/ e$ @recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
, Q9 J8 ^8 \( Y. s3 H V" N( {Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,2 F6 q* A, {: d: x7 f
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and+ ]! u2 P6 b4 }
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
: S; i" Q8 H! e/ H2 N$ felectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible( D! S! p5 M, Y* \' L ^% j( J% R
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
6 G+ y, W; p; q( o! j. U* Ssuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained9 i, L0 o; y$ n/ c
by Toyota's lawyers."5 I0 c- \- P$ L
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of+ E" Y1 A+ r) K, ] [7 z+ G8 |9 v# a: |3 m
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our! C3 j2 V- o$ g; Y# T6 R0 V
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he w" L/ N; I! h' p/ z
said.) x2 L1 j2 s6 g/ n# h+ \* Z4 G
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with$ F2 O4 H3 E! F% s; t
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our/ g K4 J$ R4 F' o* S
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating# x; {5 N R# n/ G+ b& K5 Y# ^
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.# I& T" X3 ]. x. u3 M: z' ]: D
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying7 S- }0 Y, `4 b$ M
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
' s* P- @# [: F& g6 }" francor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
z# W- X! g, bautomaker, at least in part because of the government's
) c$ I7 E( D) h* A* kinvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
! G7 ~6 Z, F+ v7 CChrysler.& D9 s ~, a* r
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
/ ]- q- h% V; B6 |dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a0 R) n! @& ~6 ~$ h; g
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also% C1 k/ m7 ]# @
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete# w7 |9 T0 X I6 J* P. M
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty& A* P7 ^: T5 \3 p
tough."
$ p; z7 @+ [1 n, Q# g- h---
+ Y: n7 C. @. G* _2 Y1 qAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom# ^! A; D. L- P5 k
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to- V- V% ~! D- [, [4 O: t
this story.
$ b! B/ O5 M& W* X! x R- [% B
/ M6 }' s x7 F6 N" A; A-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
|