 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) s- e( Q8 b- [* q y
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS+ P! k/ m" U3 A9 R) `1 a
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.9 E" ~: |1 T8 | k6 i
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that/ y8 t3 T5 t2 b K# Q6 I. |+ a5 v* A
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
$ v C/ z1 M% I, L O0 Bsolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.5 P7 b* n3 A0 V0 m3 ^
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential" v. ]& y$ ]+ {- M$ _! s/ a. w
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
& n. _/ F/ i7 OHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected' h- j2 D: m! H1 I5 s, Z( ^
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
& {* g# d+ G) a1 jtrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor9 F& i% E) u9 Z) i
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.
d% b7 X* l* s* kHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
8 P# ~7 L* a: w# Q( R9 uand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp! @) h6 s: r* E$ ^
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
' {9 D+ J- p: Z; Y" gfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
: ^+ f! H% |6 z9 t8 J( I7 B2 Knot stop her runaway Lexus.! E6 B0 F4 r' N+ R1 m- ~9 b6 o9 t
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville," Y- @ C! R) H& Y1 @8 g
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
. ]( ^: v/ e: T1 A$ o8 k: R"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
, g# @8 D% I7 n ITexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
3 i, K1 @/ T/ r3 ? T* P( |" n7 uearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said; ^, W* u9 Z8 }8 ?' [9 _
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has9 u9 e8 M. U3 p9 h
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway9 @3 }; `3 F. y1 r$ {7 J
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
' R" d) e( F+ _9 f" X9 minvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."$ b* A+ H0 ^4 k# @) }- N% M- g
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
' W* h1 H$ R. qelectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
0 i! l/ m" s& ]; ?3 W" z4 d) s8 H2 hthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
6 f5 L7 T; h0 q8 m6 O" Emalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he8 z7 V6 l, J% Y4 ~/ ^% p
said.% }2 H1 w% N: o A$ L; N
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what* |0 d- I$ k+ J# ], v1 ]
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe8 [+ `9 `2 G" v2 r2 [
about driving our products," Lentz said.
) r# H$ c y; X, j% m/ v( ^Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's7 d* i' ~. p) x8 I8 s& x
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
& o) H( h+ P2 _recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
" k# I" u4 I9 R% R* [% j5 d( t+ Bmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of! {9 [6 \* r5 `
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking8 m2 }5 E; s( V2 @
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
& q" D Z8 i6 [& zconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
+ q$ c! x1 ?$ A6 ~+ F- mtheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
4 I0 F' ?* F* Z1 C" x# p4 G# Pdown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
' d/ u. d; T b+ @$ mreceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
# j) F3 u( F( s! n- G, Sof Toyota vehicles since 2000.5 x( p( D. M5 K* v, v7 i
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own8 K& U# f) C& ]. k% X+ x
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
/ A' v0 E3 v9 M- O7 zunderstood the pain.
`, m! W: n; P"I know what those families go through," he said.
+ D J. s0 Q9 g6 E' U2 u5 k9 T. RLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's( x$ C" b/ C* J
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.% l1 b+ |' `; |: F8 ?
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman$ j- G5 w9 m4 c5 l: g6 [6 s
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
4 L6 x3 I/ C- \0 k2 S" yin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
. X, [7 l; r/ B7 iLentz replied: "Not totally."2 m' P0 t' t2 Y
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
) d2 ]# K0 X. |# t9 I$ \"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
7 [* C5 z: C5 d; A0 \0 @. C% _, T+ aToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
# I6 U0 ?6 ^2 m2 f+ j' Z! `$ |: Xpedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
9 N% N: Z) G( z2 uvehicles already on the road.
3 M- u% `8 A7 |5 p$ G) s) P0 y' VMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify7 |3 ^) e/ b V9 F& m7 D
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full' ~7 _) y# U: V$ n
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and% z- b5 v. x1 @
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
' m& C t& Q; z8 N. R5 E* c( G& @( ]/ okilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
. m' S m6 I& T* Z9 H"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
* F* f K) c7 I c4 Htragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony3 T6 o K# ~$ ^8 D S/ N, R
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight! `+ q0 |: D! I- z
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal: w; ~4 e4 u/ J/ E& [+ D2 N
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
" i5 r2 m8 o! M: N, m. P2 vrestore the trust of our customers."2 Y/ n( Z% C* W F
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from/ c4 Y6 ] C2 p1 l/ v, m' `' c
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly3 b; D2 k6 s/ B
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --4 V, ?' ]' b. e8 |* ^7 J. O3 ]
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
6 n8 w' ]9 F. N# yhitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
- w' ]1 `+ X: X+ s9 h" Q. K/ @that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
7 V* O+ z" C, fturn off the engine.
4 p8 l- n# R& D9 gFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of. m; \1 S6 Y) i3 o, z L7 \
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
% G: v+ D$ }5 b4 X% `1 P5 I"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she2 f/ v7 x3 h7 d% |3 G. U
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond( }# J: X7 x! }' Z8 E
to her complaints.
/ q, j- }% o0 q9 IIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
" F' n) _! ]/ I9 h- xreturned again and again to the question of whether electronic
2 Z6 L4 S/ d3 O& Mmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
7 p' w# J/ a4 {* C"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
7 H+ Q, A) s* M( e. {throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
- O( D2 {0 F$ {+ @0 A2 @"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
. t$ k( A9 S9 B* u% [/ ~! {off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."3 e" R7 T; Y9 S! Z0 J w p; a
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
9 C* d& L! q8 q7 ]& ~* e' n' Xprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
. J6 Y# H+ V/ L7 _being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
! P- c$ n. |6 J r5 O* p6 mwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer2 c- C3 [" B: Y( Y
every question."
7 ~( t1 ~0 I4 a; l* j( O9 F6 k# eToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether5 N& c7 X9 X; F
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The! C9 H( ~% @; m, D. K/ _ A
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
6 D6 v; n1 w, J3 J4 x+ ]# B4 s) @committee investigators said the testing studied only a small' @) S. U) `7 X) }# L `7 L
number of vehicles
. i+ b# Z5 Q/ [/ h; YTracking down an electrical problem can be far more
9 o: O5 U0 Q% z' L& Hdifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
- [- j, s8 V- g5 }, E! r# Rmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
* n0 Z/ D2 P5 a4 N7 ksource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
H7 Q S' a2 y$ v) |6 u7 T9 {+ [8 i* AMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
, f% D/ g* G$ v3 F e9 Uwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no" h. a( {+ m* C- B) Q
trace at all.5 Q; o: t* k* w9 F/ e
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call9 Z4 y# o1 B9 ]
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden* l6 j9 H/ c- x) ]. [
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the- K B: q$ ? a" {
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals. }9 n8 t ?% {
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,3 P0 N Y6 A' S, n. Z
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and; n! M) h0 ~" M g
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
! p* [' d3 b7 ^- ?! P$ j0 Delectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible$ {5 a [: L4 \: F& y
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
- I3 C$ V. d8 [* U4 usuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
0 j% K+ T% `- s4 g" k6 Uby Toyota's lawyers."# z, d9 \- f' T: \6 ^
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of* e# P2 m5 I3 O i/ s k$ H+ y( C
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our, q L" r6 j7 P1 [; A; c: @
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he! W& v) e) j. o" [9 Q. C& A: |
said.
& z- Z+ o0 o2 x. R1 J" ]) J$ n"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with9 m$ \3 F9 v) u
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our4 {. O! M2 M- b. ?9 n1 n; R
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating1 W9 F& G6 F5 U& |
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.0 @ Z4 m- A3 \: n( z# T4 k* H" {8 k
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
8 ~/ U V% {1 H- rmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread+ @1 J( c% e% q4 \+ ^
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the9 N3 c% q2 L6 ]1 d
automaker, at least in part because of the government's- d; `8 X8 f) d: {
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
+ C) X5 |: a4 bChrysler./ t3 w8 w. }8 F
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
( _, i' ?( G. G; b- _4 H% rdollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a. `' ]5 ^* Y& w' j, r
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also% O# L( C- g* ]% Q- Q- F
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
5 Z, K' { U% F& Hwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
7 N' g( a, N9 I$ O+ j! a, E! k: r2 Mtough."
3 y/ \4 m' ]7 ]$ s7 k6 C) _0 @---
: a8 Z; J5 C, o# O% iAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
& [4 N& z9 o q- L1 \, CRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to5 {* ^: v2 v8 z: ^! _6 a
this story.! y$ z3 P, P6 z1 A1 p
' D' Y9 O' d* Q: ~/ o-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
|