 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 `6 w$ Q" M( q% E
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS! K& e+ C+ x. R) j% T5 _
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.8 V% z6 A1 w$ t1 m1 I" x; X
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
0 o) h; Q5 S* | P6 othe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
. ]; R7 p/ U6 Psolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.+ f, {/ I* E# N% W
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential: |4 S: Y) r. P1 A6 k, l. i& @" J
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.# D, T9 ], g! m: P- ^
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected. F3 ]+ d9 q/ F9 s& G
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
& L. @* s) o4 v( U& G% ~; k' ptrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
( m8 q% H2 F9 D; ]' N# Pmats and sticking accelerator pedals.6 q C) Q. W1 `" l( ^2 f
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal6 X! A" n+ y- t1 i5 J) W
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp2 }, D* c2 _2 x( f
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
2 o2 S4 c+ N. }4 zfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
* o/ u R4 d" ]$ }+ ?not stop her runaway Lexus." N6 g, ~4 w( _% e$ o4 X, h' C
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
, v- }5 V# [" H6 C BTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
; S- J3 Q! ^* H+ x" q6 U4 y3 z! `; q"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.0 A$ l$ X8 b+ l
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
1 ^ \0 Z% C1 K7 I% [early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said( j/ ~" m( R, }
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
: v* D+ B' z9 q( [4 jdone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway- Z8 Y6 A8 k+ T0 c' R y6 H
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's7 F) g6 ~1 m& r. ?% x
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
8 [% a! f% C! u/ D3 X j; GLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an/ @/ x" j4 r& r
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
- Z% a/ [) l6 `+ rthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a/ c: b8 g& V+ L9 u8 s; k1 Q" q+ x
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he' `! U% e/ {3 G3 S) ?
said.. K* r+ O: p; @9 _% P: X
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
0 _6 G' n# E4 d( x* U2 W0 xhappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
) A% [# w, `1 \" y5 d0 K; N$ \* Mabout driving our products," Lentz said.
# ]0 M$ t. f+ k3 DThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's1 b% V/ w; ~2 h
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
, V+ n* _8 q( c2 @2 h6 n. Jrecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6; c- ?/ Z, x$ @2 N7 y/ ^
million in the United States -- since last fall because of
9 }0 ~, D( _2 o$ runintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking# K* s$ w/ C7 y
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
. A. G8 D' K1 s* p! g2 Wconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
/ k0 {2 ?; D) a3 ^their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow* e; \4 `4 N* O9 C2 W7 v
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has+ V7 F! n2 L4 C _
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration& ~# x/ \$ m, C/ t6 o
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.
$ w9 K1 Y' b3 M! q9 OLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own C' `# c$ e: K5 A
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he9 c5 Y6 z' B4 P# I+ b. q
understood the pain.$ \8 Z5 b/ x' W: @
"I know what those families go through," he said. K6 S0 a. Y+ S) Q) d# }: y7 D
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
) E" ?$ R, i4 s1 r) `2 @7 dfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
+ P; A+ w# W3 h5 R8 g7 F' a ]# {+ }But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman* J0 C6 x4 n( J! {) i& Z# L3 k
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
) l+ _$ Z ^6 k% kin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,6 m$ D0 S7 K" o; {
Lentz replied: "Not totally."
+ l2 m' z5 a* H" {+ fStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
% X- x( p7 Z) G$ G% U"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said( q0 X+ h! i+ F0 E4 y
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
) U1 O; I5 d( H: d" B. V* a7 l" y3 Ipedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its) Y2 o* u3 b: s# a2 [0 ^4 p& B
vehicles already on the road.( h& a) l* d5 X' X( ~6 k
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify! U# |# C7 Y. @( }+ H6 H! n: E. }' z
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
, j2 D3 [9 R$ J8 m- p6 p" E3 hresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and; U- g5 x4 p: U
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
6 L( }/ V# r/ A/ j! j% I' t, fkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
S6 @4 u" j0 A! `0 J6 f"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
: ^2 W9 W& ^) a; D; Jtragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony- \4 f4 x9 [; Q4 u6 r* b, d# U& A
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight9 ]' z2 p0 @ X* M& P
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
# c0 W1 E" w( k: L! `1 bcommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to0 D; b' `- a2 L
restore the trust of our customers."( [5 l2 s8 G. |6 I/ |" \: Y! j9 p% T2 K
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
& s; k* S# O$ C0 _, C/ b/ dSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
5 Z- J: {0 {( R2 [zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --& B4 s2 H8 _ Y/ z: z
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
' L9 E2 [/ E/ d; v5 [hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
, S ~; O6 y. ]that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and t! [- n& n( I: g3 y i I
turn off the engine.
% e7 @' C- i4 R) u" aFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of4 W2 v Z! E3 ?3 X8 ` z. g$ g
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
$ C, x$ A; w* [1 h. `; E% p0 o"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
4 l8 M P0 ^: D+ Vsaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
6 i* [6 l2 z! _: Y; F2 p% }to her complaints.( V/ { V2 u& P
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
) W# {% G7 I1 a \; B/ {returned again and again to the question of whether electronic1 j2 _! ^1 \/ @1 t! i
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
) q5 Q1 c4 c r"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric R' M; _9 \' c: ]% e1 B
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited" ~. t# s) d- _/ D# @
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut, C/ m# k& ]" i& T( s
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
: f' l9 p& C" g) T, NTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in k5 i& J' a; q# V+ R( E% C2 W( C* k
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
6 V1 T6 |* D! {7 E3 u C2 tbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls$ n0 X% a7 I4 A9 a# ?) Z
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer. l- Q( P. F+ X
every question."
! ?, E( i+ q- t" E) p; p; s+ Z2 R1 nToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether: O9 i( |# Q/ r% J1 X
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The: j2 k. P# A8 R0 t1 i7 i0 `
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
+ {8 I$ G; [$ q8 O! Xcommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small3 G1 N9 Y, A& r7 T0 G0 T
number of vehicles/ @( E; W& ~! U! ]# b3 D) i0 E2 e7 e
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more
7 u2 a/ r8 K8 @difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a% {% W" I$ ]: f$ \' i8 i$ \ K: j
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one, \+ d |. z( Z% ? T* @' V
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.4 K& Q- n1 h( Z0 b% ^' H
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,, L( i, ^3 q* G1 ?
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
$ f8 R3 ^9 ^. _% `" [9 Rtrace at all.3 h! t$ Z. D r' o$ y, F- Z7 {
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
, _8 M6 u, w9 J6 g0 kdatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
' N+ C) c# s7 b; X9 macceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
$ v- P. P( R' l1 H( Hrecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.7 |) ]9 K8 ? | T6 D$ Y: t' e/ ~
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,9 l3 O: h3 k. k$ @2 m9 x4 U
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
2 O, [+ }1 D/ {, K+ Pother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the0 q+ _& _0 d5 j
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
1 B/ R. h6 d9 [1 Jcause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
5 n7 N5 u/ I, J: a: msuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained/ B. n) x) T* ^6 R; a% j$ i' q
by Toyota's lawyers."
8 `9 a+ N* n$ J7 z- XLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of+ E3 l% `. S7 @( _
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
; f, C4 q- ` Z* P& {2 Ecustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
- e$ g: s( l! b) Isaid.* W4 \/ f# f9 i; f6 k# @
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
5 T+ J+ C; }( Ka rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
" k) K; b J- p0 p2 Ygood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
. \8 y, v/ U1 p) d R/ Vofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.% L' o5 l- K7 f& m& s
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
% Z6 U* w0 Q8 H6 H% r% lmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
% s, S" {& B+ Yrancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the; e, ?% L3 W% j- v" d4 ^7 x
automaker, at least in part because of the government's
: h7 ^ `6 G! c/ [# U3 j. minvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and# c* ~% [2 Y# r' m# {$ V
Chrysler." p: ^+ ^& `( f5 l$ D
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
3 U z. x- T8 \' a. h; Kdollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a T" U5 |. @8 R: b3 ~. l% o" L
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
1 X0 D$ I9 O6 Y0 w6 ^! |- C- c- zserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
" q3 G+ f- @, F. T) `9 j/ Swith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
. C& F% E/ [! p" Ftough."
9 ^8 g G, n5 |( \) F---& ]( m5 t: W& m. x2 |0 }
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
( ^$ B/ C0 E8 J: N. hRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
- y7 k" s. a1 b, _/ N: ethis story.
7 J0 g0 p; A8 t5 w: L, I- B, C) S3 y4 H. l7 {8 _7 O/ e
-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
|