 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, S8 S: h& {! k% T/ i, p' Q
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS0 u! b. W' W4 l$ x; X0 k! u& q
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
5 r. x" k7 E+ Q2 R& h1 x0 y1 }" Hoperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that& z7 e4 | n9 l6 ?% o: w! b
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"% [" x; Y# l' u8 T, ~) e
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.! Q; r3 F- @1 k3 N) F
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
$ X7 z% }8 u6 p( p& vcauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
4 A: [- A7 j) D9 {$ u! YHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
! |) |" D3 N6 ?* N7 O( t8 Macceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
. [+ a+ ? r+ A! S+ {; I% ktrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
: o! H7 L5 w3 C' q& K9 bmats and sticking accelerator pedals.
" t% ]6 s) q9 @# B9 k: W) jHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal7 G) s$ g- J) b" W# M
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
& M T+ d9 \) n( D, k# acriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be/ z' R6 L" ^: R: \; O* U
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
2 P+ ^8 u) h" v' r2 o( a( s) gnot stop her runaway Lexus.
4 r O+ R% G, S' B/ Z8 {6 C"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,! h5 R+ ~0 H5 a f' y8 f$ ^
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
8 U( o! n' [' ^8 M8 }$ L"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.+ u, k% @" \/ w% f- M7 F
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
4 u1 }: n* M9 F. D hearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
; F! n, q0 ^$ _9 c V# s1 l"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has, Y1 }3 ]+ `* h1 {" n/ O
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
) E) G' @4 Y. o# W9 G4 Gthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's( F! D' z$ u. s7 _+ F
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
4 e& u; d' h1 X3 _2 \7 NLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
: _1 r2 a( x( i4 \, Felectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of9 N8 ^, ~" _" i/ O$ J9 J
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a" V, h9 T: q! r
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
: d; f$ r+ s" b) k2 bsaid.
a) A5 a& D6 Z9 MAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
. b q- z# X/ rhappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
) n$ c0 Q! Q$ V) e' ~about driving our products," Lentz said.& w% Z6 e! H; d4 O! g% e, D+ U
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's3 _, `# z' G: @# F% m& Y" s; \
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has) J& I, E# y. E& V: P4 V1 q
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 69 T- b6 Z0 Y# l' j- M
million in the United States -- since last fall because of$ W& y! D, k# o5 M, A* Z) O8 b
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
& M3 R& s; p/ A$ C4 ^& ]issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
/ I( ^9 l$ {8 w p9 v7 D3 ?- Pconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
) s# m, z3 b. ], N K: d) r: ~their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
: m! M2 X5 }* {; ] O G/ p; Fdown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has G/ w/ a4 F4 I9 z
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration$ _7 R- p. X5 d" t5 B9 f( |
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.7 a& V: S+ U) u
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own1 }3 t: h2 O- M* U3 U6 V9 Z: Y* y4 W
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
" {: j' L0 p1 n/ G8 eunderstood the pain.
! S J4 g0 S6 B. l, z5 H1 N"I know what those families go through," he said.& G4 P/ H' p( m8 p, _6 H
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
: [/ B: c4 y( ~fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
% l& p6 i8 K. ABut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
8 z) D" M# I+ w( |& CHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
# v4 O9 t8 `% P+ Win place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
& u" f0 |& M8 `Lentz replied: "Not totally."
3 `9 S! {! J" _) j; lStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
0 D5 w8 T5 \8 U5 b$ Y) ^# v7 ^5 w"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
2 `1 [0 E7 {) u( }Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
( F" [* e2 a; E: N& G, upedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its( `, f8 A+ W- z! Q( \" ?5 O) d- Q
vehicles already on the road.
( G" H8 c8 ^3 Y6 V" BMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
' P( @0 k+ P6 c5 u# c# |7 wbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full I: q$ l8 y( _& `4 {" G% {
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and( U( b- v" W: m7 x4 d1 B7 O
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
. m4 K; Q5 Y+ T0 c% Y/ g, okilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
4 W2 O) {7 H7 I0 S! x3 S"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a1 L: L5 v! [/ M
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony9 D" s' g) v& ]/ g4 o" p
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight. v8 C/ H) n/ k1 q) l! w5 }
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal/ g5 U1 ]; P$ P6 C( X( M6 b
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
7 r9 B! j, a) X- w+ D* ?/ mrestore the trust of our customers."$ q+ e4 { \; i- _6 {# ]5 R
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
5 d& j! S" b/ Y, \1 }9 w9 Z% ISmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly% ?5 @! j+ C) B w+ X) o
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --/ w7 q$ s" v: }& N" T) P
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
1 J. h) Z/ w2 ohitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
" A% Z% u' |' `. g& H, C7 ythat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
# s$ R! o6 b- J; cturn off the engine.
0 N0 I) f7 } H/ w" Y* CFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
& |+ z6 m4 B" m$ _October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."% \9 Y$ U$ \: l7 |- `
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
& Q3 Q- ?+ I6 |9 B+ I! [9 isaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
1 A+ R" U* J: ?6 Tto her complaints.& O/ q7 [" ]* @( o( O# w+ K( c) c1 T
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
- i. z* U; b2 xreturned again and again to the question of whether electronic3 R% ]4 I3 e8 }8 J) }! k
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
* l c# [' Q, E7 }# G! C, y"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric9 S0 _/ j* b: d, f3 G
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited% i1 o! o9 M( _+ b1 L9 \
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut; b* M' m# q) _, N9 C" B$ D
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
* m% p8 q3 b7 H9 {Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in$ w) k8 l0 b9 t9 G& `- M3 W
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were* @. X+ w# l$ Z! C. u: k, H
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls; r9 @5 D4 a/ m% V, K# Z
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer8 q7 G' @% b; v, ` a3 x
every question."
( S) g! l8 V* t t T# mToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether6 w: a5 ?+ G' n3 d# L
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The- R7 ]6 P8 b5 S0 x% T# H
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
" @* m1 a) G! f! X+ O0 vcommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small
) ]" y7 J4 E- o9 a, W/ Z! Bnumber of vehicles' q3 i2 ^0 \) R6 F5 _3 p* a6 X6 e
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more3 V- ]$ { A. V' a
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
- w) A. X$ l! x4 H( Kmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one: D. C2 h1 [3 q1 ?
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.! ~# m8 h4 a7 Q+ n1 V. B, R0 [
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
3 { [, h. Q, Z0 \$ V2 l7 N% l. zwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no+ d/ x Y6 i1 V* m; I
trace at all.
6 d9 J; O5 h6 @6 y- H% b, [House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
! Z9 K( R5 f7 Y$ jdatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden, }: g1 F. F, I1 v
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the2 ]2 H8 I$ y) {5 h' d' C/ H
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
* f% h# r6 R' k7 }! _. g4 TRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
" h) i- P a- t) M3 e+ ~( V+ s, }4 @said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
# {' x8 J0 z* {, a& lother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
1 f( q9 i I) d f3 ~electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible0 C. `4 j/ X! Q+ Z
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only! }& v2 v- X+ E. g k
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
s0 z5 B2 s6 Q* e" Y. _) rby Toyota's lawyers."
/ d- \- M6 ]# P3 j7 y+ n. V8 WLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of2 G6 ^+ P9 n* N" Z
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our8 c6 n+ k4 W O" y# v- M
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he0 i( b" u1 Z" C y! u% f
said.
7 w5 @& H9 Z7 U# t"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with1 Y6 m' Z9 V% C6 L
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
g" e, g2 |! egood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating* ^5 W0 Z* z' H5 U* M6 l2 n
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.- k. p G! d' V! a: p1 @6 T
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
, [6 _. H+ X" W [members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
3 d( T& K) y1 p5 srancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the8 J' s' B2 {3 f* @/ ^+ K
automaker, at least in part because of the government's" o5 g* L- L# h* n/ `' F
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and+ }7 w' q+ ^' E( V" ]$ q; c/ ?
Chrysler.
! Z5 P; x, A& w% p8 R( x1 q"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
; A* U) Z& W. E) v& d- a( D5 Z6 Fdollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
1 L" t* U1 i% ?/ _! C( P3 THouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also" D3 d$ _0 A; h/ N
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
$ X$ l! U3 {6 K- z8 B1 Gwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
/ b0 ]) |' [6 ~& ?' n- o0 Rtough."6 }* F. l3 o- E: r2 a: `
---2 E1 y- C5 ]. [ \3 t, a( Q; T% P8 r7 C
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
t3 u, y; c% Z" V: RRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
/ l0 t8 `: C( l6 nthis story.
% |6 G* q+ k( h7 A4 n R& Z. B, S
' T6 c2 E3 e* _- z m2 c4 f0 Q-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
|