 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
6 f& {: b1 m& r' sBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
" _2 P( d8 D+ lWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.1 R) t, F; F# S0 @
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
0 j: g a! `$ t6 ethe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
3 g8 K: o3 G3 p6 D1 ~/ lsolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
0 t# I4 j/ y' T5 H"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
2 t x! k7 M! @+ @& G. u. s- m- @causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.4 Y& O1 r$ d" C) [3 z
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected, V& y& Y2 e& n
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and3 u# C1 l4 z/ r3 c8 k* C; f- i; }
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor7 k: g" @5 H$ ^( q
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.
2 p) }0 e, @: V# h: M p4 ZHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
8 |5 @: ]% X2 p, s3 hand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp" |4 ^# n9 `. D" ?$ j/ m9 B8 j# J( }% L
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be% i$ L% P7 _4 |" n: Y/ N
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
0 I8 K& p. \% j# A0 Q ~not stop her runaway Lexus.
+ p5 d& b: A- U/ V# q"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
( H5 x# p$ m& Y$ x% H, E9 [6 J& u0 DTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
4 ~7 b7 d: O2 c4 G* {"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators. V% a P" t, D# c) @
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
& Z9 m$ x8 g8 Q k2 ~early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
- Q) S2 Z+ ]% ?"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
5 ^. Y: p$ |+ G. b& q/ I6 {done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway3 c% i7 e# X1 k8 ^1 Z( G
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
2 r6 }; {& W$ R9 J4 R) _investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."6 K2 q G: ]. F5 y. w
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
o7 y3 |5 X6 u4 p7 ]electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
) a: |1 h0 e, ?. H! q; \3 F7 s+ wthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
% S; @$ B; w$ fmalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he- I( g8 K C6 i; C& b& e- O
said.* g# D8 g3 g3 ~* d+ r* i9 b
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what1 `# @3 c0 n' Z% s% W+ U
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe4 U/ I0 _: A. [9 _; w3 ^
about driving our products," Lentz said.
3 ` Y2 ^, _1 e1 fThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's7 y! x" k' C6 V, Q1 N
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has2 s% I d# Q$ m- }3 l5 Z
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
4 K4 X- |; v- |. Y8 T7 @million in the United States -- since last fall because of
9 y$ ?( \3 f6 s9 t' x4 g1 vunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking* ?/ Z% \# @8 f/ U
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
. P) A6 O& S& b& p" N4 h! i& H/ b# Hconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of% f! u) J0 @/ L2 ~+ A7 s
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow6 a7 G& ]# t! E* g+ x3 x
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
+ M {+ N" Y- o9 {$ {$ xreceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration, `- q) N/ O4 I5 E
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.
2 q! \( v* a2 |) d4 ^! T2 ~( tLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own1 f" _- X: d& Z, r5 F
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
# M& n. a Q) ^0 Y8 junderstood the pain.
3 f4 X% [! ]2 V"I know what those families go through," he said./ W; M1 | V( M0 Z4 d. S: V
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's) {7 w- U, B' I, }
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
& u8 B% F9 G; g- R2 [4 c( yBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman5 q% r3 P8 X/ A" W
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
$ D# a" W4 a8 ]in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
% g/ u; s* r1 I0 H+ t0 m; M) h1 a1 nLentz replied: "Not totally."5 b4 Y+ t4 n& Y- X3 J
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
* w- _. Z' E/ y6 ~8 O2 L8 c3 X"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said8 p3 H w L3 V& I/ m. C
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
) _! E) e* I" A! W; Q ~6 @pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
0 a1 y% M" m" B3 o1 B" nvehicles already on the road.
. E$ S: K, f4 v7 [" L# V) K# uMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify* S4 A( {; g3 X6 G
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full' h& L- N6 ^4 ]% o
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and& h$ z3 _* f5 @2 k+ q: C( O
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
) B% f1 s9 o4 | _" e Akilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
* F2 l+ K" f! `! l1 B# Q"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a3 g w; p8 }- Z0 _8 i
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony3 J1 L7 p8 R l
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
4 U7 v2 j0 Z% J" P2 O2 E( c1 @Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
# i1 ^7 v- Q$ j) u A$ Pcommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
/ r9 I! F. N. S" Krestore the trust of our customers."
& L* [; p: c3 x$ W% ~- n4 iLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
; O- J8 e( y- P9 G& j8 F8 I' g- b) I# NSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly* Q7 g. T4 J, n' U- {8 G
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
0 A8 c3 b0 t; x2 F. x: oshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and2 \2 {* Z1 v1 a' X8 R8 I2 B/ i4 T
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough0 m1 V5 J) O6 K& R- F
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and7 Z) z9 g. [ _4 `: U
turn off the engine.8 }" g ?! h4 ~! o
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of$ y+ z7 k4 @' t; f4 r7 h6 \# E
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."0 f, k0 V& y9 a# q& r; ~) X! H- l0 k
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she* m& E% f3 h& j' z4 G* r7 L, Y
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond3 @1 ^2 y3 K' I
to her complaints.! j7 y5 R- J( p" P, d3 ^) B5 ]
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers& e3 y) ~5 l# R
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic' j' `% j- r0 ]8 z5 B! T
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.8 K' l& {- P/ j4 V) D0 C
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric% P& T* u. N+ ]# g
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
0 {+ X8 l/ e: G$ D6 D"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut$ z7 ^; @9 ?0 l5 a( m: @6 \
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
, n7 M! t2 R' |. ~Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
8 z. N; B2 J1 P2 g% H: }7 wprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
2 W5 h6 T7 {' r" Pbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls6 ~9 I; ^: h" a; |& @) \* R2 }
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer7 I4 p7 ~0 R! g; U8 K
every question.") V0 ^. j b' d w8 i
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
, C- l9 k- s8 A) H- S8 W% Delectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
- @- e" G$ X% t& Q; h& Ofirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
! m8 t7 N4 c7 [committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
$ F O" e' V) N4 L% E( a3 tnumber of vehicles
" A4 e; y0 t5 R1 @Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more
# l+ _+ \$ D) B; _4 @# @/ x3 O# Xdifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a+ M! k' t& e x6 T! D
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one+ _! |* F" u C
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
2 I2 U1 g8 }: K4 w+ l" DMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,: _+ g7 B- v8 K0 \
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no% K2 n1 R8 K4 F( U5 w4 ^$ m/ [
trace at all.
& G! _" G( f: U6 I9 mHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
2 J7 y1 N- a' b3 T" Bdatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
9 J' Z0 p0 ~% @1 V- h; R1 Hacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
1 x; s- G" I; q: u/ T$ z* n1 grecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
4 n* M. X3 R. V4 O7 u. KRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
& e7 _0 D e% r4 j8 A" T4 Dsaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
. y: Q# {6 H4 h' r' F6 cother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
7 Q- J" K% g8 ?1 z( |electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
. P$ [! @4 ~) Z& p( [/ Pcause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only+ V X9 O% G0 Q
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
3 J# S% a( \5 `4 Wby Toyota's lawyers."
9 q+ A( h* G! i9 M- m3 W CLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of& |/ m; A( c8 K4 i# D( [
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our7 q5 E, b9 ~# D; h& s
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he: j; x( s/ q5 w* H. i/ J* J
said.$ W2 q% A# M0 Y! Y4 A# P
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
f/ R* r5 _7 A& k" Y' I7 [a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
( @; I3 \& h/ F0 |7 A! `good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
M' t6 n) T% j5 \+ U9 Uofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc./ t& W! k7 F0 H7 N- Q& S
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
# n5 |8 z5 [# d/ Dmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
5 h, x: q( {* p W% b4 ^rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
O. e7 P3 b& R) t2 a q+ hautomaker, at least in part because of the government's
. R$ {* \) n) ?investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and7 B- X! d; J6 Y* ]. v' x
Chrysler.
3 X. }; D9 u' d) l3 M"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
$ ]. n. T7 R$ a+ E& Zdollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a+ N. T8 Q3 x. I2 R V
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
. Q3 v( F: c! v3 A/ E( |7 U2 oserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
& y! O9 T, t" n( j. wwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty7 F2 M+ A8 f n2 @% ~
tough."
j# k m( B# r9 x! W `! L---3 r! U- t3 D6 ^, B( K7 u
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom5 c* G8 A8 y: ~0 `$ r
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to- W' H3 B N$ p$ R
this story.& m/ {6 t4 x; g* U" W z! j
- N0 i5 g$ o. r B- Y& h0 {
-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
|