 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3 v3 ~5 T. x7 n" F
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
4 H- V+ E/ A2 S5 i" ?) pWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S., x4 m8 O6 n6 q+ e8 n* `+ d8 L
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
: H( H: \4 ?- s" g" b7 Mthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"% @) S% E) l+ }" o. }; Y7 n
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
% c8 c5 k9 ]7 |"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential6 h" @: i( H6 P( M* b# ~
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
/ {; a' F3 D s1 r- PHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected7 [$ }4 R) R( N c
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
% V7 \5 l- Q* ~$ }3 m4 `* Btrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
1 [6 R+ a% ~4 `+ u7 F A. ymats and sticking accelerator pedals.
+ \' y* G( C6 G+ ]7 [4 a5 i" }1 iHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal# c: Q! B* H" x$ e! a
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
! M' q, I) g, @criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be+ z) ?8 C; }* Z4 N7 r) r
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could$ d. u* \7 i2 `5 b! C9 T
not stop her runaway Lexus.
4 q( ^2 T+ W( R3 G9 \"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville," j6 ~" ^' Z7 l$ g* \. s7 v! N& w
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second- d8 y3 i! l$ o' @/ |' z
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
+ V) ^- @9 @0 r0 I- K9 DTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues2 q4 ^$ E' p" G9 \# y
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said3 l3 o5 S1 v v
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has# [8 p5 L: b7 j+ o* O7 [
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
& R2 c+ [: \# D [through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
q% g0 Q/ e; m4 R. \2 linvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
0 b: [; z2 ~0 \$ j' j$ LLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an& z$ M% Q/ x9 E2 W/ t. S9 p
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
3 C# b5 S6 T9 E9 N( u: _3 Pthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a c/ {! P% B: a% S* L
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
& K: @" z4 ?2 Esaid.
; `. M: p [8 I" ]! D8 [As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what2 z9 ~8 }# |6 M, p9 O& V5 a6 C
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe3 R+ B: O7 `/ V2 z1 B7 N( h. `
about driving our products," Lentz said.
+ A3 G9 ]4 A+ NThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's8 u% i. o: `1 j$ ?
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
3 v/ a: c8 |# x% @& B9 ?9 j' G% \recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
( d: w. M8 v) s- v* ^% L mmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of) ~1 r. K/ f/ \) k6 f, u; b
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking7 M/ K k& Q0 V3 Z+ f9 [
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
/ k5 _4 K' V1 C4 o2 ^8 J' a3 E: R/ ~ g/ qconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of! |- [2 i8 j# R" k
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
$ F& N% e m9 G, I5 n& z, Pdown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has. i! z5 s, E* _* @4 W- P
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration# c+ J4 l' f1 \1 M8 O) x
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.
# K" n2 V6 i- P1 XLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own7 P* t! }# Q- X# S
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
) O; M4 x; m9 nunderstood the pain.9 \8 @* t- L$ ] x: C4 T5 ]
"I know what those families go through," he said.) d" e8 I8 A+ s; {
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
0 {) v4 q. y) D/ A- x; p% K7 Nfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.: k( W+ @5 p n/ @- I6 L4 |+ _
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman6 G. b/ L0 S+ k& u( t" e$ }7 y
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put9 r9 g" Q, m& f) W
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,' }; D. b) ^2 t5 d2 E8 L, U
Lentz replied: "Not totally."; m+ Y% H/ h( y$ C1 q+ g
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
+ {2 w2 ]# k- @! u) @6 ]: D"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said" r$ Q, G% o2 F* e5 _) L
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas$ l" `. O/ c: {. z ^' p1 A7 {
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
4 m& M: W5 s9 o- F0 r3 bvehicles already on the road.
2 Z {! `& s& Y; kMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
5 Z y' A( t7 v4 f$ H; V4 F# ]" L# obefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full4 |2 g3 O3 X- I
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and+ F9 h) f7 S5 }! X3 O% [* j
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were3 }0 [5 I, _# Y& F. j6 q1 P8 u
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.$ k3 F' _; K0 b: ^5 v2 |2 f- ?
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
: [7 c1 r5 J3 x3 k$ }2 Q) Etragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony5 x, E% C1 t5 [$ u
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
6 z7 _5 E; |% {: U& `Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
' F' g) C% \$ r1 F9 Rcommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to! x0 j5 `( i9 K8 q' ?- \
restore the trust of our customers."
" f$ n+ F# o; a! A; ?% R% X3 k& Y- FLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from* x# z. [ g+ L9 B6 G- N, h1 m( m
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
" w3 G& o: \0 O6 \7 z! @zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --# p, m' ]) N8 a' t. S- U
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
. _, s, z# L) thitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough5 g4 ]* T |9 {
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and Q, Z- J2 u7 m
turn off the engine./ a! I/ ]1 L! S
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of8 A3 c0 E' z+ T+ a
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
7 g) F; a+ e- }: F8 b' M"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she, d2 n- p. y; V; p" s' r5 ^
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
0 J+ ` h* w% T; zto her complaints.( C+ N$ F3 @3 o( S) y1 W# D3 k
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers" c8 l* W4 ?" i9 A. V7 Z$ D# s! x% G" p
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic7 c" X0 D) s. T) A' r+ o: T
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
$ U7 W4 m G a$ u1 y) Q" t1 {+ \"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric9 w; k6 Y7 r, O9 T; V- z2 x% Q
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
& q6 S' Q1 L; |4 f1 m"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut$ q5 R6 l4 G3 e, O: K# ]
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."; t" W+ Q. M. N3 M
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
8 o+ Z/ d/ @0 X6 C" c" j8 tprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
/ @7 o( t% E) V& z" cbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls6 ~$ S# B! T" w5 c- d8 L
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer2 M2 [8 m/ `& \ I$ i X
every question."3 w2 D0 w: f3 L# e1 G7 u' W9 h
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether' }# q- e& B. @3 ]9 H
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The6 D- W: C. N' j& m; J
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
* F( W7 }; s& \0 y' J0 Zcommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small
& J) J* A0 h6 \number of vehicles
7 v+ O) \1 r' l. w/ jTracking down an electrical problem can be far more
- ~, t8 L) P4 }' a# Bdifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
! {0 J' \) } g7 ? W% E' s# Qmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
- _. i, ?9 v5 Z6 g' r; jsource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
. G" f, t# n/ M. M0 }# hMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,- N0 @: `: ~2 A# Y5 l
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
2 D; O/ w- ]5 O- C* Ktrace at all.8 I) o# }5 E1 k
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
2 ?0 ?8 O! k& D- L' sdatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
4 ]3 T' F+ a* Q: x- V; yacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the) s# A0 F0 L. ~8 m1 V2 q( N
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
0 L' I# t [( z8 k( J7 ~Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
5 d1 K8 l: w, _) r4 o& ksaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
% F- L P( l3 t& _2 Pother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the3 z5 x6 R+ b6 E2 \6 M% q2 Z9 }
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
0 D+ b: V, L7 U! J8 ?. Q4 [9 bcause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only4 m2 j) V' |4 s0 X: d
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
. c% O% s' q" D, Qby Toyota's lawyers."
7 B# L! [- N) ~* uLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
x; { G3 x2 j# p, m% e# d# Hproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our0 G" a0 o3 X6 M A3 T6 \
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
# v4 f0 D9 y. i) s$ ~said., Q) J' B1 A1 [! w
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with# a. v8 W7 P) T, n3 p# f( J
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our) A/ |, t( c. @! z, ?
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
" [5 m: g$ a( Z" t) [officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
; @0 A3 B9 Y( _0 S9 |! G: _4 eSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
9 r, p, Q3 L6 G- Q8 `members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
% S) Q! Q# j$ Y7 ?! ?* q7 o' @2 u+ w7 _rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
; T" F% a' @# I5 X, |3 N2 eautomaker, at least in part because of the government's4 a1 ^* `) @3 s D$ R4 P; F0 u
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and g6 Z4 d' G3 ? E
Chrysler.
2 ?* { y0 k6 ` w# v"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
" @% L F2 @0 i: \' p: Kdollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a6 G! S( w& E! u; r
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also+ h0 o/ K, L& w$ k b
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete4 U Y3 C7 d5 S: ~
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
" g: Q0 v) q8 B! x4 gtough."
) k. x2 \9 z$ t7 e) C; S. q2 Q, `---
0 h/ c5 {% a# I% }! O$ K: BAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom, K5 P1 D$ g4 x) e% N
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to4 [2 n$ }2 s8 x6 x
this story.2 ]& @ n1 i2 E% n& E" [4 r
5 {5 }( |4 f1 a6 l
-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
|