 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" D9 M. X2 }4 W3 W u8 A( N5 V
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS- S2 e& |2 n" D. j4 g% d7 O
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S." ? ?+ X0 G: s0 e: k7 f# a9 g
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
4 P6 K( G9 q+ ?0 jthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
) G4 X+ ]9 y! P( d6 E8 |solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.( q6 J! ?( K! t u( e5 r: V
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential8 ]) s' ]6 L( F4 B
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
& y" Q% l0 [# I8 \However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected" y" U! ]' Y- g" }+ Z
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
- I* Z7 g2 W) [# [trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor. E, |- H- P: D0 f" v* q
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.
8 e9 U; B3 r" p8 tHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal% E' S" o% n/ n7 k. z
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
' a6 V& V, {* K; V4 F* Y" Scriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
+ f+ N9 v8 t A6 b% n- w* u$ Jfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could x( l" p! ?- z! Z/ u
not stop her runaway Lexus.
, ^/ z4 z; p" D+ z* j8 P"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,0 G6 _, D5 T& M) W U
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second' c( l+ V# Q0 b/ s& M
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.( o/ Z4 f J s3 Z$ ^/ ]* f$ v
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues* J0 n, T( l/ X+ r& R, w
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said U$ t' t4 k$ H, f# S v: H" U
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
) a% F6 H: V" D2 u: n/ Z, Z) wdone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
3 c5 M, P, f* j/ [. ?* |' Qthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's# l! |6 {- t0 y( d4 A+ \
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
: x4 ^- {( W- b1 x+ [, o# xLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
5 t& [+ \: D: X1 L# Xelectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of; E! S0 V3 |) h" V$ b: l' H$ x
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
! O! z4 \( K6 u: t5 I9 P& Q) J# umalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he! h4 n2 ?' q9 A$ D5 e4 X
said.0 W; [8 Q& t, c
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
+ s) Z, T' }) z8 i) i, D, Mhappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe0 \8 E0 h$ c$ y- C( \* R! L
about driving our products," Lentz said.( E2 ~5 y' Y6 W+ C& E; p
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
$ f+ _* V# q) | y9 P3 l5 \problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
3 c5 k U7 p6 s5 t# {" W$ qrecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
: m2 I$ \: ]. Q. R9 k* mmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of7 F8 l- x" }6 s: @' u: O! |
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
e" W3 U8 z" O% r3 u; ?issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering" X3 ]" d4 C- p/ d$ J6 K. g0 D' e* w
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
; p" T) y$ W/ x! Qtheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow, h( \, q& w7 F3 w
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has/ a9 {( k6 A0 x$ X+ H: B/ u# r
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
- j+ Y% m5 r: P- j: @0 Zof Toyota vehicles since 2000.
6 t* m: I7 }8 `% ~$ ]2 gLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own0 w2 [9 e/ ?0 }9 ?4 k/ f- O$ N
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
3 r; x) P( S& }- wunderstood the pain.
) Y* L, p. t% W, x! ]"I know what those families go through," he said.
# u5 a' c1 h4 j) ]# \; ELentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's! R6 ?' K5 Q" m& [* I
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.+ D* q( A1 d/ B F' i
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
# a; ?4 \" P( Q/ ?" IHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
3 r! E8 g: u" G4 x5 e- xin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
/ e: @+ \6 v8 qLentz replied: "Not totally.". K0 x6 p# d4 C
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
( n* `" H O7 ]"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said g% e/ S: O: f X: D, U
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
% W" q1 Y, _2 K. g! }) |8 D; wpedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
8 b) h, J. p: N6 Pvehicles already on the road.
$ q# N* U0 { ]7 I% h- u! z `3 nMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
$ w. e5 h: c2 Gbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
7 A" O( ^* j0 E$ t9 {' Rresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
0 ?" x( {$ s" X( Aoffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
! F- ^* R" J6 h! K4 e# J/ D4 N1 d+ ^killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems. y! {# N9 }+ D$ U% R% N# {9 F
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a( ~, S% X4 u: z% M+ ]& s
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony, O' {& K; ^' ~5 w T3 E4 n
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight1 R& j$ f# ?/ z
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
3 h- ]& A! p ?commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to$ t- p& ^7 l. ^
restore the trust of our customers."& n7 B) }) n: C! o( l4 Y9 o) L) G
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from( e, G1 C" g& N& v1 J2 z; K8 G
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
8 m( r( ~7 \5 z: S' l1 Izoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --/ C- B) g+ c: P) r3 u6 e
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and% s$ E! N h# a) r6 Y/ t7 c5 i
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
8 X) b) t( h+ ?9 T qthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
- ?- A# x4 e1 \& a" _% s! }turn off the engine.
7 `2 P+ Y# P- C" }" |! {7 e6 LFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
. e2 L% K/ t+ P3 s+ ]" G4 n1 u% eOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."- z* B o/ V8 g+ A
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
( D' M" c( F2 s, xsaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond8 n* v- E* A1 P) m
to her complaints., [9 q, w! O% F0 ^4 @. ^
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
) R0 Q& a$ y, nreturned again and again to the question of whether electronic
1 k5 ?& D. y" v: |) {# Y* ?: Gmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
+ g- `( @0 R: C"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric, D2 @$ h* \2 ?2 d* i+ i- q
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
9 K; o. p( B% F9 D+ `+ j"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut1 N% r/ G2 ?' i7 x1 g
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure.", x* m( T0 o. e; h( p. M/ ^7 T
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
/ I9 S3 J# R3 d4 x& cprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were! o5 d* m+ F* ]1 Z: ]8 I: ?& y
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls4 U+ Z) s E: \8 V) f+ F. I2 @
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer& _: T" h5 D+ i: |
every question."/ k- w* f, n6 C) Z" L
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether- M8 f5 T: K3 s& I% ~1 }
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
- [7 H# i9 E! Y7 Nfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
R8 v X( t' e" C, [9 bcommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small
2 S- a5 R9 h; d* E: c6 j8 w9 enumber of vehicles
; M1 K+ c5 W. `8 R* Y3 iTracking down an electrical problem can be far more' _3 R+ i- J5 h9 B1 y, T
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
# Q7 z- ]4 I: q) D& E# M( Amechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
9 K/ ^" D4 \# }/ T B( |9 {source, and they can come from inside or outside the car., N( K$ k+ Z7 D) ^' e2 I& h" l
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,* d( [- T/ t& p1 ]
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
( p& S- C5 Y3 S" N3 [6 Ptrace at all.
8 V b* d' B6 b; D6 `# w; N2 w! mHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call) k1 u) z* q0 z A
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden! ^' l s' z( \3 R, V
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the A3 T: Q- }6 O! L- \: i
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.( ~0 q7 Q- e6 M3 a" k4 z
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
9 T# k( I3 {& _ U5 fsaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
( s4 V/ Q8 U9 m5 R2 A7 Mother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the3 Y% i; M+ p. _) @
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
f& Y+ P5 z& t( d! t, k7 p" D9 Lcause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
3 g5 |; n6 E' q4 @, J( U1 v1 Ksuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained. V! |& V( O9 U3 _
by Toyota's lawyers."5 ?) Z8 {5 P+ `+ |) A( D, @6 p. U
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
% q8 f) B) g, q: vproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
) U: q. i. w. d& Ycustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
9 K7 [2 |* B% H% n) U7 Nsaid.& O @. L& Z" e9 m6 p1 A
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with" g9 H1 b- c! c, w1 B% Z
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
0 f9 ]; z6 [! Z! r/ Sgood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
5 H( S5 _7 ]1 }, Gofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
; q+ n) P- w# j- f; V$ gSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
: |4 f3 y: W0 P" imembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread4 g ?) I- \' @4 E
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
! u# d- [7 N0 ~, L2 |: T" mautomaker, at least in part because of the government's
; I7 `1 c; z, k5 K% Hinvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
6 V6 i. }& I3 ^! y/ hChrysler.+ O! X! l1 n; x8 I' v8 v! Z
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
% O" |! H2 j" @8 a3 o3 U# Edollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a/ |5 D: u% M& D2 } o
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
8 p0 K) u3 R0 l" H0 z4 B+ Y/ Gserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
' `& m, C G1 x9 Y+ `/ R3 Ywith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
1 g, ~6 i/ o9 D: `( {tough."
% t- u- m% ~ s---
' c( d* Q6 \) }+ OAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom4 C: ^4 j. X0 a8 |& r
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to7 c4 m4 J) \7 x' n" s8 J) Z& E
this story.5 ^, y% v" D# H$ W0 E9 X, \
9 L4 L# B9 e6 k( y4 n-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
|