 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 i8 t9 Y
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
" y' `7 P! } t: vWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S./ U+ j! q4 Z! x, R; Z |. F+ T
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
+ k5 n) Z6 _* ^% e$ H. u2 J# Ythe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
6 R3 o4 t9 ^ |5 y5 M4 Lsolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.5 O7 O: J$ m( f1 }% m. v
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential+ e. F0 i* J8 j9 @ U4 r
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.' }% N$ \' h e$ r& o
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected4 ?, D8 c2 ^) _2 K1 V0 _6 c# N- G. [
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
: N' G! T4 r5 h- e. p* S8 [! Ctrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor1 k0 w R$ H5 n- j$ y+ ^ A: a
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.
7 I- ]1 u, D; KHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
. E* j5 u# A+ V8 {. Qand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp6 D. K' s' y3 L% u
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
' R0 I) ^: J# c$ }further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could/ U9 T; I; }2 V
not stop her runaway Lexus.
6 F0 R" R' e) @- P( T4 }"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,- h; y j- V* w+ {" h# B4 O+ V) I% p
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
0 X& }* O Z: a9 Q"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
% O. w7 U. x) K7 z# R8 cTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues' Q1 ]' s; A7 l
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
7 L/ D% h$ E5 K& w, P2 S9 U"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has6 p# S e2 [% v& E2 Q/ |% X" x+ r
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
4 x6 w: Q4 e# o5 Rthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
2 b) |+ \* t( D0 D1 Rinvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."5 t! Z9 |3 D" R; ~/ Z
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
, Z7 i% H9 E) Q2 ~ |$ f. n7 {8 q! zelectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
! n, {$ d* Z# P: v6 y) n& Sthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
1 ?- Q8 |! v3 i/ o4 a6 ymalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
7 S8 B z- r0 c2 d6 ]said.
4 g" [6 h2 o; y& ~As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what6 M( [( @ C2 k; [3 {) Q
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
) ]$ {( o: U( Mabout driving our products," Lentz said.
. q5 _6 d; W6 }8 K9 [- a3 w, D' JThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
: y' ~3 C" h2 H8 S; C$ E: x& U% nproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has. D4 |5 `# u* R# ?
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
; z4 J) d$ ?& }" j, ]3 Z' zmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of
( \. ]" o: f/ p& Y* uunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
& Y; Y" R( [8 Z8 T j( q0 Z8 iissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering- ~; ^2 H/ \; O; z' i- B& W. k
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
8 q; O) `1 d7 [7 ?their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow- |4 ?- ^/ M; B
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has. H2 o& E, K6 L+ y
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
# ^; t# ~' C1 u* \4 Rof Toyota vehicles since 2000.# @1 D3 |* C- e; q! y
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own% |2 _* [+ u ~4 V. S$ e
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
% @. \' E; X. ]) A% l, Gunderstood the pain.
; T. C7 {# j) W) U/ n, {"I know what those families go through," he said.% e# V X* W& ?% D% @) ]
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's8 F7 A8 ] s8 M9 A* a- e; U
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
6 Y/ Y6 @; ]& p9 a' P" qBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
" _* } n/ C$ B; q% Z% EHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put3 e; r. |- q% d) O
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,4 I% J" E3 i' S8 ^) b
Lentz replied: "Not totally."( t. v+ j7 h6 \8 F+ X/ D8 e
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
+ r$ t: N" Z& u6 i9 [0 j"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said0 H5 l2 |. U# p
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas. e/ l+ V, q$ |+ Q$ H6 i: `6 `
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
+ B5 J9 \3 G2 Q3 }' ivehicles already on the road.4 ]' W! [9 d4 X4 a1 T: p" b/ h) m4 e
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify, p: P7 X! q; O6 X* a8 X
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full% G/ m; v- e1 R# q
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
% B+ N& n' c1 N" T( Soffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were, T2 @/ C& P& ]* ^9 C
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.) x3 [! o0 q. x7 P: y
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a' G+ h. y& ~5 d
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony4 {9 }; [- `9 L( R. x7 J3 Z7 j; Q
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
1 @+ P* I0 P7 ^+ l0 ?/ g8 oCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal8 e- e$ @; b) c* V+ L
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to/ `7 a) C! U& D* J, ^ U+ z0 p
restore the trust of our customers."$ ^: T9 [) o. z; q8 }
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from) b6 o% G, j, C7 [# U: n4 w
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly& Z, @- o( V$ u2 B) Q$ `
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
: s3 f$ n9 ^3 c2 fshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
, p: \# T7 n- Lhitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
4 `7 N4 d9 ?! V5 O! q" dthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and: R( m0 [) \' U4 |2 ^0 y
turn off the engine.
7 A- D8 }0 }8 _) d1 O; m0 cFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of Z! | w( z3 ?" D
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
0 H* e4 W+ o. o"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she+ `1 ~2 `- w5 A
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
0 v: E; m, Q* _& p5 _to her complaints.
& V5 X# }2 P* c4 g& M7 B) wIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers1 K4 E! O# a' |
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
) b M m& S, I* C# N& M! zmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
+ W; X7 J9 y# O) v"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
" [+ a/ u/ T" L0 o. [' cthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
6 I ^9 {, O( M! n"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
4 G3 \$ h9 h$ d4 d2 ?6 moff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."1 P+ C3 l; i7 J
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in' Q4 m) v6 x8 v+ J- T
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
+ h& \; Y! c, ^' K! z6 Lbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
" I, r `6 S' }: M$ j4 h& Ewere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer8 U7 n1 J3 v8 Z, P
every question."1 e7 w2 ~4 y- Q5 w( [
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
0 D- [$ d3 {5 M; E3 r. `7 Zelectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The/ F6 C j, H& l/ ^" Z6 g0 l* t
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But0 A2 o: K- k5 \9 o9 b% o5 C+ I5 S
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small- c( J& d& @( q9 t( _% E( W
number of vehicles( i' ^# `: b, _" k4 [2 w( T
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more. p: g& T, T* d0 F
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
: {7 F& x6 [3 Hmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
0 ]/ V! f' N$ i( Vsource, and they can come from inside or outside the car./ @" y, k' ?" f. u
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,; A7 S$ c' c3 l4 F
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no2 }' _8 A6 w* L3 u& B
trace at all.
+ M9 N; S( O/ @2 ~; CHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call! {, B' P+ P1 z6 |
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden4 ^6 w2 Z/ V g* Y8 D+ X
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
" ]5 ~4 X% _" Y r7 M$ Rrecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
. L. F0 X, t* v' j* @5 q. a/ zRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
1 K9 l) Z3 X# m7 t$ s! q8 A* _said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
; I$ n( r; L r/ j/ kother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
( S2 k, F3 [2 D. celectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
0 E9 j; U( B( C2 ~+ \cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only7 ]8 E% x) o+ u
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained m. U, o1 `# D( A! ?' E; R- @& I: B
by Toyota's lawyers."
& ^0 E1 ~$ T. R8 hLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of' E, N+ B: d. |, _ o3 V }/ Z* h
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our* ?' H& G. B- X* X
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
0 d: F w% c" m) Z* z8 [said.
^6 G N8 R$ {"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
6 [: O- s/ Z* [2 a' D' \a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
0 x# h, a, U) ~" O, Sgood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating/ [+ H1 p6 p5 ` q
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
. N* W% r4 D5 @, z, }( ~Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying- X+ e7 |! o% q( C* G
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread$ ]: S1 x4 W0 s" T
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
: D- e- h7 G5 W3 }automaker, at least in part because of the government's9 w; }, v) N+ I4 g1 M' h1 X2 u. m
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
3 i% w1 ]/ ?5 g0 E: p" z! _( O# UChrysler.5 d. h" n* S4 Q, N; Q0 x5 j
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax. B- V) ]- G' o- h& ^- |
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a S7 H: f$ I0 c O0 r+ K
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
- }: D7 W# d1 |3 j7 n; f: r# w" Qserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete8 B1 J, M$ ~, \9 e: U8 E! V" c5 N
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
( w C/ W! c' [7 O, Jtough."
0 [* R2 M. ?: F" A: a" J" ^---4 }& P, D) E, _" E
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom/ ]3 {2 m% `0 D) D, [
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
$ b% a G, ?# I2 b$ }; `/ h/ Ithis story.6 R. G# B: |3 b# ]3 V$ \
/ G/ V: }& O, ~. d-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
|