 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
f8 D5 j7 m8 @# v4 F. w$ aBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS: W' \" U0 U8 p
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
' u; d8 p9 p. c2 O% x6 G# soperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
# H% F* I% O: p; r# athe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
% V. H* j! o8 Y k7 }solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.$ ^$ k9 ?5 I8 z z; R
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential. j- E O2 ~1 t: K% m/ @' I: i
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.0 N( { M& t5 u& N5 U
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected; B4 [! P. x3 }3 Z0 \
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and: T9 d, s5 |- b; t e* F$ N0 G. _: x
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
, l. \1 v5 B" ] [& S& z8 L. lmats and sticking accelerator pedals.
. E9 L. c% o/ r% [) M# jHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal2 e7 c5 w; L; I( V( i. o4 J: m
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
0 q$ L2 y9 {* t- u! V$ ucriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
4 A* B: f7 @+ |further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
, b9 ?1 l9 Q4 j7 V& g* F# Nnot stop her runaway Lexus.: l1 t. s; d8 W- X- J5 m3 E' n8 o
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,' j$ X, ^8 r4 m7 X; @/ T( K
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
7 |! z0 Z% V2 V4 P"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
' z! e$ @/ @3 X& p4 P- VTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
; C) {7 [+ s. l: f! x, f6 Hearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
' r; `7 q4 ?! h4 s7 `7 Z) t"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has, c' h3 e: h4 i) B/ ]7 X* q6 C$ Y
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
1 p C8 b, J7 s2 q% d0 [4 \through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's) b: F# @5 @& @3 c
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
; ^; s' l# ^. C, ^& F# uLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an% a5 M5 |5 |4 I" F+ k+ J; Q: u; p
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
: y3 M. D& G7 s8 D: }the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
4 t. e( ]6 R, Dmalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
; V, U- A$ W9 \8 Psaid.' ]4 {" D$ `% z6 Q2 `
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
" t9 s( h y2 p, ?# m! s' P- ohappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe3 q$ c/ t3 F+ t. G/ O+ M0 x
about driving our products," Lentz said.
# h# u6 t8 W6 u9 k5 }9 a! {6 RThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
1 u, N# q/ K3 [( u L5 gproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
2 g( I' Z( L+ H9 G0 jrecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 63 D+ o% n T6 |2 R
million in the United States -- since last fall because of) j: o5 L: I+ @: E: R8 W! w
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
; a# o5 S' r- D5 D4 J% Lissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering4 M2 A* {" G; Z9 V7 b( |) k
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of9 `4 Z# f0 H! |$ T3 C- S
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
. b# _: g, v$ v7 Udown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
# r k' |; _# J+ E8 R b3 V0 y0 qreceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration* x+ q/ |: J+ r! R3 i; l
of Toyota vehicles since 2000. w3 Z h7 a6 f
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
9 W; s Y/ ?. \! r( w7 {brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he9 O2 Z7 H% N9 c8 a, f T1 @) k0 V
understood the pain.
( i. o0 d1 N" ?6 v- s, C"I know what those families go through," he said.; G; N. s2 D2 F) m# |4 M$ o
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
% S7 k9 H2 [' R! R- }4 Ofixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
1 |9 ~" C3 X6 F" m/ fBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman: C5 K' |; n" f, t+ s
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put) I& {/ n6 |. T0 c
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
! y/ N2 [. I* j2 ~5 o* ]Lentz replied: "Not totally."5 U5 z+ p, h. t' H7 ^
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were# S* L) ~! S1 T% B; _* T
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
- p/ A; T/ W) G% w% Q& BToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
% \+ j5 L: n6 @# r8 Q) ], W/ |pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its, D( a/ g0 [/ |+ Q+ t
vehicles already on the road.2 D# Y' t1 v$ Z! ?
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
3 x7 r$ t7 U! m2 X3 |8 w) K2 Nbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full5 A- }1 @& f" E
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
( Q: M0 l9 z) Y0 _1 b* yoffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
* `# U6 q# V* b+ a4 o: \9 ]: ~killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.1 ~; H% W# K7 ]4 |% @, t0 J7 H
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a0 ^3 Q2 r' J. g
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony9 e) d: H# [$ l) Q
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight% U+ f0 I, C1 L5 Q" N* g& c4 z
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal' B4 J) G0 ] D7 v
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
4 }* N' ?1 p/ T3 V1 @restore the trust of our customers."3 Y% z* S% E; x* ^% h& r
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
( J1 b! h5 F% d2 `8 d3 TSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
1 @7 R) @" D& h/ v) _7 t+ Z, A* {3 wzoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
# z ]9 V5 i V) U8 U! w: ]& cshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
1 H8 H" v) J+ j( I$ w6 B) Whitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough5 t6 P$ d$ X+ w* Y7 E+ Q
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
3 z1 E3 Q9 |) I7 z. X$ n8 K7 nturn off the engine.
' ] [+ u0 h8 Y% ^* O* XFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
+ l6 w1 o7 S& b+ ]2 i0 J4 yOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."# m4 N [/ z+ d8 o: B5 ]) g! z
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
5 S7 z) ~( y: U7 Jsaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
# ]% A1 n- h% Qto her complaints.- {0 z, |8 i7 R! R: g
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
+ _( T4 C" u. k1 J% D5 U2 yreturned again and again to the question of whether electronic, d' l" H0 M) W0 ^4 M! {( D
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars./ S! c1 C' ?) L* z
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
' R0 _- B, z; A3 d- X4 hthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
' D& {6 |% Q- N/ r; U! z, U"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut. o. G. ^' b) h# t8 J) n6 v
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
: f( V# m3 `! m/ dTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in2 u0 S" R; y2 z1 K5 b
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were4 W! P$ C+ ]/ U3 }0 L7 e
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls: }# Y- q9 Z6 X/ ~' l
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer9 x0 k4 F% Q- j8 N! J
every question."4 G# a; S# b: L/ W1 d1 _$ X
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
9 m, J* Z7 A, V( l) Relectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
# b4 ?( z& O o% J' A) L+ I7 ]6 Gfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
9 A* e% t7 C* l/ \committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
& R' [) E7 O N2 v( Fnumber of vehicles
) w' V9 y. ?. i+ i1 _Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more
& l* n/ M0 L' ]. b4 x Q- G3 Hdifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a! q' l2 t8 x, s: `
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
* t& s# a8 S5 C) Z7 G2 wsource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
6 O" @+ l+ d9 M( h! KMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
) U7 D7 S/ ?5 {where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
* K- c. I2 r! K$ f, E/ V) Ltrace at all.# W* n" S! @" Z$ [1 ^1 ^7 _- ?" X
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
7 Z2 u* O& v8 h- | K! x/ q- tdatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden) Y* e) V% K y" l" \0 r
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the7 l. A* K3 j$ z: ^2 q
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.9 ?: [: E2 P9 z
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
: q& [ Y' M) u7 p, @- n$ T: Ssaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and6 Y$ q# m; V0 {4 }+ c
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the2 l. l0 S e+ z
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
6 h3 h: J( j2 n" }" p2 p- ecause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only" s5 F6 Q- K" T G
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
( S8 q* G& |# S Xby Toyota's lawyers."
# i9 ?4 U& U3 d% f8 Q" f' }2 eLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
: \ Y; a: h6 p% h I- g; J7 Bproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
. V+ k& N. t% Pcustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
; g6 O/ j4 @& V" `# Y7 }* }said.
& j7 C& L, }' [! D"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with8 V+ s# _! B% f5 E& [5 J
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
7 J; C s, _ K0 \- K$ vgood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating9 `" e9 E1 X1 H6 I
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.; h2 Y3 Y p3 H
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
7 M3 r1 {( z1 C' _4 _' o; imembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
7 @& r, f8 \& B" V& ~rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the" k' p& X+ i% D, F/ c
automaker, at least in part because of the government's" c$ V" O1 X! ]; J' i
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and0 B& B! `# v# A5 W" D" k; o6 X
Chrysler.
7 h) z+ H; y2 j& ]"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
% J2 ^5 r! C" y) ydollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
; R' e0 ~* Z7 a& L2 m/ n+ oHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
+ V( @9 h. F0 S: S; vserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete9 Y7 _3 ?# W2 ?# E2 F
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
: G7 u+ n/ {% ~( M8 \9 Ptough."
7 T, T4 H0 g, W8 B4 P---
, n1 a$ T% t* |5 z) g% z3 LAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
% ?6 o; _* {3 \Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
+ a7 }, `; r+ M! r) [. y/ ?5 ^this story.- w/ M! M7 ~& W7 L9 b
- `/ k- w- Y. J
-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
|