 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
- J$ O& y! r& g6 ]! p# B% m# qBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS ^6 |/ u' ]& E* u$ m8 l' c
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
9 A: k7 m! t. |9 U) voperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
2 `. w7 p# H8 m0 w, nthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
; @2 S6 w& a5 E5 X! T3 }/ y# Rsolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration. {# H; n! }! t6 v7 L
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential* {/ A: X5 o8 s8 Y5 r
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
D( R( m% S& L# qHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
- w0 `& v' p( _- T- p% ~acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and* S9 h( s2 u% e7 I# V7 W9 x
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor* r1 A7 p8 D" k
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.
" D9 q( H# r( ~- lHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
! W# Q7 Y! U0 Z0 C$ _and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
! k) B1 Z+ l) n7 h6 Qcriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
# @5 E& d9 j( Mfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could3 \* }! _2 } J* e& j* s7 E( a* s
not stop her runaway Lexus.' s+ v/ R# r7 i: ~, `$ @8 x
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,1 i' H. N7 |- |' b
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
7 z5 {6 k; z" M( d/ D3 g* k"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
( q5 ]$ d6 G3 b! q+ I, ^3 YTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
$ L8 M9 V p- g* Z5 yearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
% @' P; h Y0 z: a4 F"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
9 |; b$ I$ Y4 b( D3 t. rdone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway8 { L4 J: P1 B+ E9 W$ p. E
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's$ n- ~) M3 @8 g7 I
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."; B$ ^/ d( B4 H0 o6 u! f
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an8 X' j# n! D5 \& T/ F: Z8 y
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
; @! |4 ], ?9 S( h8 X9 Tthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
# [( w5 z7 a4 H9 G2 l% o dmalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
( A) a. Y/ j4 M& v; lsaid.# D5 R/ d# w2 }, N2 }
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
6 X0 s6 l8 t3 Fhappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe+ f% N5 F* [( c3 ]1 _, f
about driving our products," Lentz said.
6 j7 x' s" f) R' ]Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
" B! G2 w' s) H" z7 D" H$ oproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
- S$ q/ [# s0 L1 Zrecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
# u$ @6 S M, y; y- Wmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of. V- [# U8 L z& H: ]$ z& Z
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
1 O: z0 e5 k2 o) j1 Wissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
# u/ O) O5 Q( f! S# _( N) Xconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
! X9 G2 e9 X8 C4 G7 qtheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
7 x( R! J' p) p6 V; K F! T B; hdown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
/ h' n, [2 N) N4 j! Q- y% r5 Breceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
3 O& L) B2 d( W E' [of Toyota vehicles since 2000.
9 s5 E/ L# W& o/ F4 E4 P4 LLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own( l. A5 F6 |2 X4 Z5 z( `, R
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
) c9 G* L0 I5 @' v- cunderstood the pain." ^; D/ @9 k" b' ^. l0 L
"I know what those families go through," he said.
% w7 a$ x8 N7 R+ M, a- dLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's/ p6 m+ x* N, l$ z! j
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
- J9 a& u/ i; B' YBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman: ~) z0 y5 Z# P8 j
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
' O2 ], {$ R5 `in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,: X" Q0 b; d1 y; I( C1 J9 M
Lentz replied: "Not totally."
; ]# p& |6 c6 Z: U9 C! N: Q0 gStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were% F& O% `; W( V" I U% v
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said, ?# D1 {( X* j6 b
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas1 l) k7 l' E* x+ `7 L' p9 @
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its: Y; a8 J& d, t( n& L X
vehicles already on the road.
) J3 I+ [! x7 \( E+ m/ B) AMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify v5 v: R! q. D+ f, m
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
$ g& c* m3 D1 I/ W* I: D4 ]4 uresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and* n+ C+ R; j8 }& @& m
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
7 W y4 u# f. _" Hkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.* D: o, B: Q3 N9 G
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a- S+ u' C, `4 p: }4 E+ P
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony7 j3 l, G! B8 P9 I6 X6 j; v/ p" y* |
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight& O3 G) v+ l- W; y. M
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
1 n' N `' t, C4 T" r$ w# Y3 Scommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
8 S' o+ y: p0 trestore the trust of our customers."
2 `# y4 d6 Y$ a' ?Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from, a3 N, w6 P7 S
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly) m+ f9 C/ q) Q/ Q
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --. ]9 |) p0 ]- ^
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and. t7 y& C3 k6 M5 |* F
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
9 t, o8 ?+ f- z4 @1 l" @that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and: E+ j+ q2 v, G, R
turn off the engine.
- y6 H" O* B+ |& s w5 |+ d- hFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
( C. G% V, ^" O2 t! f: ]6 aOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience." J5 N% R( M# @ B2 O% J6 p
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
$ E6 ?) @4 T& L7 _, E/ Q k; Lsaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond- X: H! t. t% z) v& c
to her complaints.0 U( z# f% @$ w. x* a" A7 ?
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
) n- N2 M- L4 S: |) @returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
U2 M p9 W P/ D6 `malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
1 K9 b3 z4 ?2 r! ~, N# s"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric9 [* g& b1 Y9 `7 p
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited: E' |% ]/ Y9 X- ~8 G4 e
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut' `; G3 z/ i% q5 A3 Z+ v a
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."' l+ J, X" |/ y4 r+ J& _/ q4 s' L" N
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in- M, E/ ?4 l# B' p) P4 E1 {
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
, |) [" Z& E# x$ \( B9 c+ |' Dbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
P5 z2 R% g6 Bwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
- j, w2 W/ _* }/ Eevery question."
5 ?6 o9 d* r- S' a$ cToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether+ O1 F0 z) [3 y/ q% p% M6 g
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
( j. M8 c i& s [; `" nfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But4 f# _2 N: a6 p
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
( ` y X B7 H2 D) enumber of vehicles
& m" d+ u s( iTracking down an electrical problem can be far more# w, X+ R( g6 k# X" q
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
1 M0 z# t. l. ~7 I" R: nmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one4 c, E# f, `) }
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.2 C5 ^) b1 Q6 a. U5 i' T% J
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
3 K. h6 w" B; c: K9 b. Z! V7 A+ t) awhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
# K$ K# ~0 _ I+ i0 g, u2 \4 ttrace at all." g( A* Q* I4 Z$ O# Q; T$ A
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
, o* I5 P0 j1 `7 c2 idatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
) c. J |6 |7 V7 Jacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
& g% a3 R7 k6 q' m3 [recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
: q) }* p3 G9 ]( O3 T0 V) nRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,% r+ A! k/ R& c: H! g1 D" \5 x, Y
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
) [2 V( D' H2 h! q o+ nother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
; J! z- I6 L7 B8 ]/ w/ G" T8 H4 yelectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
2 \1 x1 A. }4 M! }& \" r$ e( Fcause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only) M2 b9 o( E, L' D5 X1 l, {
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
6 A! U/ n$ d( M aby Toyota's lawyers."
|- O% j, A, M' q: z+ bLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of! q L0 j# P! \4 m+ W& m3 }- T& G
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
! G Q+ b2 a% r- C# r- fcustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
9 @( }3 `# r: [said.3 W! W, Q; `; C6 \
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with {7 K0 n& b# ~1 [
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
, _+ ~6 ]+ P0 m3 ~, C! G& Fgood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
5 Z/ [+ E- R, uofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.7 Y2 U1 e; A5 }6 t, Q& a1 v; X
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
+ @0 W. H; P. z8 wmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread2 C- Q0 _& r: ]& Y0 h
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the1 }, p# v3 r2 D" b8 G# Z$ B' X
automaker, at least in part because of the government's$ a0 }6 ~( C* p
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and* l6 i% C9 W" V& ~4 I+ v8 q
Chrysler.1 o9 }7 I o8 t' z3 S4 o
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax% s! S1 Q% ? _7 T
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
5 T) R, q9 t7 ]1 f, Q9 BHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also! T) @* J C7 ?
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
2 b8 t7 T" _! o3 ^9 mwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty$ K1 f+ u. O9 @' W( K
tough."
& Q5 n7 d$ G9 a* ~- _8 n" Z2 G6 b$ f--- F5 y# \7 C/ f* I' ^2 X
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom" Z( _# R" Y/ B3 z9 o& X
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to/ A. S v6 U0 ]3 L! _( |
this story.
+ y9 j# R$ W2 a9 q' v h0 Y/ Z
/ [$ S5 W5 {- B' s" C/ L1 i-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
|