 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
) Q& j& |4 G; l- hBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
# Q/ L9 r- ]: s3 U( z6 P% vWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
2 p# [' y K8 v" Y4 [6 ~0 g; hoperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that* w0 _' w" u0 }1 @2 Y
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
% L) z# G8 H7 psolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.; R% {1 ]" a; i0 g: O) {
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
/ L- y- Y/ L) s) ]4 H( _causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.8 B# w& F7 a. C0 q
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected9 Z# p+ L J+ j% W$ P
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and* a' d6 z1 \6 O" S5 s/ B( M5 ~: ^' E
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor0 D& ~3 R9 u" D0 {$ V' T! K
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.3 i- m n. o7 A3 j O, ^
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal& j$ k/ A0 i/ Q
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
$ [ \2 }9 V: V8 y. Q0 ~( Tcriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be( Z; r0 O; B6 n" c
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
7 C4 j* ^& Z5 G1 l! Xnot stop her runaway Lexus.' R- r+ F5 s4 c$ f
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,0 q; C* R; o2 Y: K+ z/ D
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
/ A" L1 r( e+ v/ N! L# ^"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.& C4 C; }" d7 m3 q* \) I
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues$ H, S5 Z6 R) ?! }+ K$ N- H% Q
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
j3 J% b" W6 g+ n- K# d+ J& D4 |"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has! A& N: s c, Q6 n! }- J
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
' Z2 {2 m& \4 jthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
7 ^6 d: f1 I9 K& _( t2 Vinvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
+ l1 D! M& U+ k" j# `9 lLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
) o9 ?9 F+ q0 N- s% ]# felectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
+ ^: I9 T1 p4 V$ O; ]# Sthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
3 L- l! v4 G$ ^malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
6 _& {" A: g. G _+ N' l0 h6 }said.) K4 w. F9 u5 z! O7 [0 J! _
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what& I+ K% h/ `5 s: \( {( U! e% |5 @
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe, k) w+ \ ?) w# j P! E
about driving our products," Lentz said.
0 g; S2 H! Y" V' _- y2 OThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's" ]1 }6 f% u0 z. O1 E8 ]
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has6 r2 o) K. P' z+ m0 P& V7 ^- V
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
& J, n% z7 {" L3 y ^$ [+ tmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of4 W" B L. [ P% c7 i+ a6 h
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
' b9 p: x( m( B4 U4 iissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering* v' D4 f/ r0 U* f" {3 w
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of1 U. x2 `' G% H- N* O! O
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow& e& R; r' L( t) a; N: Z; P
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has& M9 `9 {6 V0 S+ K
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration. o/ u) p5 l& y g
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.' p3 P9 C! C" I& }3 y
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
9 C1 _5 k$ h3 A: }9 qbrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
! l* T( S# ~/ g6 d1 @5 v; \understood the pain.
! X8 w% z6 `+ w+ ?"I know what those families go through," he said.
9 ?+ l- }2 v0 C+ K4 k; }. oLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's+ d4 @# r. ?: i- I& s, h. p
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems./ c; W1 L* g" ]. Y! j% X! J
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
, _; x, W0 N- u* [0 n" YHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
7 h$ N0 T) \5 r$ Cin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,/ H# I; R4 B( U3 b" I2 ?
Lentz replied: "Not totally."7 _5 C& L5 r, w; F
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
# D( b, s6 ]+ L8 B( [. f3 h8 V"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
) D3 ^* z3 v3 _, ]/ k$ qToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas( X1 _/ u) C0 Q6 C: C2 I: h
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
+ R$ }* d/ e$ W6 I( N# b2 s! Hvehicles already on the road.
& y& Q. ?* {& r% i3 V0 d8 QMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
) z* G* ?! ^8 k5 Y- v- T! _, wbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
" P% H& w- J8 |: g( V. h* G' ?responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and: T: N1 u- i. Y1 z
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
. `: J& [2 @( q: Wkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
* i* |4 P5 U" Y; I$ Z"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a! D* \; U( _: X b
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony# q& i# o0 J! O! M$ v/ Y7 q7 J
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight- G- ]$ o% j1 s! a( R/ n1 y* o
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal4 t; n7 V9 }. e0 m
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to; I4 Z% h w6 Y$ W) [
restore the trust of our customers."* H/ e7 Q" q; a& [9 R
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
/ U4 j) W2 Q+ U/ d* ]Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
& l! S! r$ o9 c3 c8 v; @, bzoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --, m8 W6 Y! H& @; G0 V! M# k( k
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and# ~5 l7 Y6 u1 g' K' i- m
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
) L2 R9 h: L5 e3 W9 G" b9 sthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
6 ~1 ]! l* w# N* Sturn off the engine.! d* P1 Q n9 w! g O- a0 ~
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of. {, s* v) r# k; T6 |4 }% q' F$ ^
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
# q- U* v* z, [: s3 O"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she" ~; m# R3 m. _! d+ ~
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
9 p( X" ^1 F3 b, Y7 t F1 d4 }to her complaints.- y0 b S9 N) n
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
) D9 o v) i9 h& G- Ireturned again and again to the question of whether electronic
9 e. \6 Z9 m( p; m3 E% d* m2 Ymalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.8 y; {9 ?' ^8 v5 W( U0 e$ W6 ]
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric/ e) d4 Z9 k' Y# e
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
9 L7 s: ^2 U$ Q: z a"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
8 O* l4 D8 x2 goff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."5 R7 s0 |5 \+ z5 F6 {6 r
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in) i: _- d3 }" I: a
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were6 h! J" j0 y' Q' M; K; @8 U; l
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls+ L, Z l# F, P4 Z4 ?
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer! K4 [& e$ F% ^/ `6 z6 s e; @$ m
every question."
+ L4 W8 w+ i. f5 y3 v. b/ }2 ~Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether; C) k5 j. M' R
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
3 p% r0 a' s8 b5 [: n/ k, Q, _firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But, t: c; g% b: p l* U6 f
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small8 S2 U7 N9 `4 [* O3 T& g
number of vehicles5 K7 d% c0 O+ p, g$ w
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more
) d/ F, p8 Z. s( ]- Vdifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
2 @" j% S6 f1 Q- K6 Hmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one. d0 ~0 ^; O* D% s) z2 `7 Z6 }7 \3 {
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.5 O$ n) K) i, e
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,; B) k3 H$ k* ?6 x: }) f% z
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no% j( O/ A- p7 w- F8 q
trace at all.
0 D6 Z) r3 P9 h" X. u4 U$ XHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
+ X) l, H# \) `. ndatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden; c2 z8 R9 _5 L
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
/ P- A3 t6 ^9 k" u! S6 M7 Crecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.; ^0 C6 f3 h7 \6 g+ T; G7 R
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
9 H1 V; A4 [- q7 C$ gsaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and$ E3 v' S. M- C
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the- Q% {4 q! _' W! O" r9 C
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
" b8 d5 u) g9 k2 }cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
% X8 K, |! v6 {/ r4 d) Osuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
6 G3 X8 b1 j% eby Toyota's lawyers."
5 |% A- X2 E3 WLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
+ S# q4 M: r! L1 D8 Q3 P" ~problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our( u. F3 H: a# c4 r) @
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he) P9 e2 N# S% \# J
said.& J& |- p$ K6 ?% i) m
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
! A# f0 R3 V1 E9 o1 ba rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
& R8 s5 e3 Y/ Q4 |2 r. |good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
8 d$ `2 `! g; P! m$ h' _+ Qofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
' }! `0 s* E2 ^+ w, CSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
8 M4 j* n4 T" s8 M {8 @: qmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread. G/ h8 u3 h+ `9 ]9 _) o
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the9 ]& ?. G2 {, M% A3 d: r* b1 L
automaker, at least in part because of the government's
4 U# ]* B# d5 ^- i0 p: b" }; D" finvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
+ D' N+ H- d7 O7 {* B- HChrysler.
. g9 h6 B3 x4 | ["That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax7 ~; @# G/ {8 r! K' j" }( Y* e
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
6 E) s2 b( \1 H! ]7 [" ?6 iHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
, |; U4 W& T# vserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
1 V9 H% c2 Q2 ^: l' q' ? mwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
+ B5 R1 b4 Z" t& Y# q& Xtough."% z6 |3 b1 S$ _) W" p
---
- {2 I+ _/ G- d B; r$ HAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
8 o A1 E, I# M7 g3 P/ M$ dRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to6 y! k7 z e5 c$ n/ v1 S; v; ]
this story. e( F- b, g1 S
3 r, i! [ O% r/ ^4 b; F
-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
|