 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4 `- P4 z0 p" }) [3 N1 p
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS7 f& M: J7 o( S6 c! u6 @3 N# [; L
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.; i' w+ q+ T9 K, A" d
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
t& |& M' ~, U1 D6 x: fthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally") R2 D) @9 m7 z0 X6 t* W t
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
* N+ \5 ^/ ~2 y2 l( G& V c( M"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential/ i! N; I* Z7 U) o
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
* M+ z' I( o6 E) W3 Q' OHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
( h w" ]2 a) P; ]# xacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and6 r6 L0 g& a' J9 c( \, k$ r
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
' m1 a9 @* s0 z8 @4 T1 j1 f0 D: Gmats and sticking accelerator pedals.
6 Q4 H3 X; x- {4 }' tHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal; B6 Q8 D4 C6 @
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
/ `$ t ^% U- C) C& D; zcriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
7 Q! g( F* q9 p1 c& f& |5 N* Sfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could& F, b0 {( I$ ^4 b+ {1 r
not stop her runaway Lexus.# q$ ?* d2 N6 M) U) R( b
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,0 n6 m, ?8 F' l" S% X" T3 Q
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
, O+ n! C6 H6 [; D2 U$ y+ M"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.+ ]% ^/ b8 l8 y% w
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
6 a" f& }( C5 q) K9 ]early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said1 f0 N& C+ c; ` {3 X; q
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
/ a5 `" S3 O% Z9 M' c! b- udone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway- R' ?. u* A# l2 W
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's4 R, \% N* j& `) C* q& Q2 N
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
+ v- n- E& p) M1 xLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
5 S; V: Y6 L; s' j relectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of( C2 D$ q9 z: i
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
& f) `" m& b% S! Q* O/ u+ k8 D, X/ emalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he9 \2 D1 O' L. @9 }
said.
0 v: n9 a0 q/ I( p: I' T! KAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what6 x! o w" T; }2 @
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe4 k% t' j, a4 r, g, w1 F
about driving our products," Lentz said.
5 k) {8 d3 L) ^ [+ u0 `Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's& F/ O* w8 S- A4 G" X2 J
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
: w5 S9 ? l" Q7 j. nrecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 68 S* |' M* a/ z8 u) h9 Q; I
million in the United States -- since last fall because of) D6 R7 q) D( A$ H5 Z
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking: Q9 N& }, A o& f5 h$ G, m
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
* M5 p4 L1 j1 K" ~( g2 T c% Yconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of- u7 x5 d$ n& Q% ~9 O
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow1 t: a7 g _ _) R& E! n$ q
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
5 x, _+ q, ?1 `/ L% F; g& jreceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
; t4 v/ y2 ~5 G4 e' @of Toyota vehicles since 2000.: ?/ D* S$ L" l3 z5 d/ Z
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own+ i" [" l6 l5 F5 `3 Y, U% m7 G# a# S
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
5 r$ F; r8 ~4 o4 |) X: {, `3 vunderstood the pain.) r; G5 W" X. K) Q2 }1 X. \( G
"I know what those families go through," he said., n. S$ u: B0 L6 }" I6 s
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's3 X' @; s! U% B, U
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.( b. I% G& H k8 J
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman( p( l: _; h/ Y. e
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
( U3 _% m/ B! s% d4 N) Ein place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,5 f+ ^" B, Q4 a
Lentz replied: "Not totally."
+ G& U0 D0 {' H. A' q2 E% o8 D5 bStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were# A4 o3 f/ R& K, t2 D
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said% v" o+ l5 o% Z& F; Z
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas E9 D: D0 q/ k/ `& v
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its/ F# m. D1 H- \! D. ]: ~
vehicles already on the road.% U! k+ u1 }2 ~# C& k; \$ g
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify# p/ U5 u4 c6 F0 h9 ]! |) ?9 ~
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full% n+ |0 T- J6 b5 b9 n3 W4 L4 z
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
3 d5 E$ N+ U1 F$ W* m' H3 ^' Ooffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
7 r! p' K5 _) W7 |) [killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
5 D2 k7 N% P" V1 n6 i" z+ X/ H"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a" u5 e2 G- H, D1 W, ?* N7 _
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony. u5 y( S' Z8 j3 ^9 C9 T' o- z
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
4 R! |2 c; w8 Q, J$ I/ T1 KCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
, G& H5 B3 m( t2 t4 t: jcommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
+ U3 I4 ?9 d1 G* i& H+ Vrestore the trust of our customers."( [1 }2 k" j2 M* T/ [. s
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
$ g5 X8 Y& a# TSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly) t, N: s/ E2 n Y
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --" f* g; f" a1 E/ Q
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and/ ?0 N) y: a( ]) Q8 J+ ~+ q
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
( H- i6 `) [% |, r) S Y8 Uthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and. |4 l* i) }' s7 R, C
turn off the engine.
. g2 u: W5 m! e+ e8 D. pFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
2 y; Y1 Z! K( f [6 t% W/ }& ?, KOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
. J# n1 S. P2 Y/ o2 z3 h/ s"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
$ J# `$ R4 U& M$ m* bsaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
$ N( t$ w+ o1 l) Ato her complaints." U* B% t5 U- M* j Q/ Q* @
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers: e5 e! `7 F, c9 j( I# f$ K
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
& c2 h4 o# h: c3 ~5 w$ l7 K6 _malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
& `! r; t. b$ B4 K* t: ?"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
- v+ i6 s8 H" Q/ i1 A3 R! h, sthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited- A% D# Q! _# C' T8 l) [6 O
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
4 |6 [" a6 S& D$ C& A# q Woff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."9 j# U0 F+ W; F! a# S" D: Y
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
/ t- F4 A9 t/ h! y+ a ~0 w+ zprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were; r' b& G, [. F6 R; |# V
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
; P" j( @3 M' z' L; {. `" D5 G& Lwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer* y- O$ s% g" Q4 ^/ h9 u- @4 v
every question."$ @3 K+ n+ A+ H; O8 X& S% o! K
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether, h+ f ?! W3 t! Q
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The% o1 u) \: G8 w0 v' T- d0 r u
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
. |! B6 M% |. u, A; f3 g6 Ecommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small
" V$ |1 }! R" n+ ?number of vehicles
, e% t4 {0 R) C; @, n0 ATracking down an electrical problem can be far more6 ~. ?, B. o% \ ?& h; ]
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
% g0 L' ~, X4 o! x" Imechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one6 I6 K; N- _- t6 j6 l
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
3 X4 a) q* l& j/ A+ Y0 z1 LMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
: L3 t, o* A7 awhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no/ `# K' C8 s) y5 [+ K( u
trace at all.& ?' S/ z7 }7 b- i( B
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call, G( R/ b& x$ {" J; L
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden# @% }, _1 q' r" @
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the# E5 }: A' \: D; R: M
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
0 z+ u+ I6 h+ z9 W. URep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
; C8 ]% }5 ^2 T9 \ q( {8 v& tsaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
6 G0 E5 h" P/ S! G! eother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
. e9 P7 S2 h3 [* N1 Pelectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible, H9 g [2 m5 y
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
5 B9 j7 v8 q7 z: e) h' n/ D0 L( ksuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
% |- U+ d( [$ G, o& N: ~by Toyota's lawyers."- G# n% Y" B0 X5 _$ w& C
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
5 L8 ]6 t( {! }8 nproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our& H; U* R6 p/ s6 a! H; W/ z
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
* R5 R9 N% C4 H+ e; Dsaid.5 H# z2 R8 x& G* W
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
( s K9 |' o* |4 x& i5 R- O* T; _5 Sa rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
0 T) i$ b! H+ F: {0 e; ygood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
3 | K. Q L) k: t. ?! K& rofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
; c3 v( q9 V! r, q9 {# B1 |' }; RSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying0 q8 K0 k' E, G/ L: J
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
- b( y. \9 G$ h$ X3 x/ Y. jrancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
% A* t/ a* }4 ?& C/ Z; W! hautomaker, at least in part because of the government's- [7 v8 ?3 X9 o- b. ?
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
" |- L) L8 A9 c; j/ ^Chrysler.
+ I+ j |2 R: E* O8 v"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
1 n+ l. h6 G. s. Jdollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
6 v! X3 ?' `( Q( fHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
- w3 F# @0 |) d- z' bserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
+ u+ r7 r: g6 n/ W" l* Twith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty+ n1 J2 _3 u+ T6 l$ S- Y# n
tough."! `9 R5 j: t0 v- o7 n
---3 ~+ [! B$ k. f& W8 @
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom) Z, S2 C Z9 n% S, S7 p8 T+ ?* z6 o
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
. Y- p) w' z# Zthis story.
0 {& d" g. j2 T: v3 x4 e; w q# I4 s: g4 `1 p2 z
-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
|