 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
- M2 |: X# e' e# c+ U0 | d6 FBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS- b/ h. p. h- a6 s
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
; `% z- g2 Y+ z) L& H* Moperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that8 g' W- e0 G! u! H: O
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
; |+ |% Z" t8 N* A5 ssolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
, Y$ U* }& c9 ~: b"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential8 X$ s' c' h5 F0 X' }, A& [) i
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.3 |/ K- C8 X0 v& \2 A' w8 L" }7 R
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected- u9 E$ j0 ]8 v& |
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
) M1 X6 h, s! k2 p# P8 d% ztrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
. z" ]% ?2 v9 Kmats and sticking accelerator pedals./ K9 E7 u9 n$ A* [' {, u$ N
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal$ }0 l) T/ @5 _
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp) M( O" z# M# Y+ k- \
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be' k" @ }4 I: E. S$ e9 |
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
' E3 z3 I) t/ `( X4 ^not stop her runaway Lexus.
7 S+ Y3 ]$ r' n+ }9 j9 z$ Q. I6 ^& Y"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,) X+ N4 D% k% f7 E( g' R) Z
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
! Y! b5 ]5 Y$ U7 C: z"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
- i/ Q5 A0 K4 Q2 i+ U4 \Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
+ j+ Q" N' O0 U7 @+ g3 iearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
- p4 [3 K% h ~1 d# g& U! U"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has1 g1 o" C" x6 {" P& O& v8 m
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
' J1 E( N! {2 g3 dthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
t* i; @! y5 U& v0 B1 p" Finvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham.") R6 M8 }6 _3 ^4 C, i- t% p
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an1 K/ \7 ]) w" b; j; V2 a
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
0 I3 F4 _! w4 w( ]9 \4 z( Jthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a. l' s6 j" r P5 c/ ~
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
9 ]$ q7 L5 x3 l5 i1 `! Jsaid. w; d6 g2 k& i
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
! c" s; d3 ~% Zhappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe3 K$ G# J% M! ?4 b5 v6 p, G
about driving our products," Lentz said.
$ I0 Q% w. p& e! TThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
3 e1 _0 Y/ t- Z% h4 h; D& P+ c6 w+ wproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
: r. s5 | i1 b8 W* Urecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6! H3 C- f: @& q! U
million in the United States -- since last fall because of% Z/ o8 i4 J( G" Y9 D
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
r, J9 C1 @( `' S, z( i2 }issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
6 J1 D5 z* _. ?2 mconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
. t) o$ y' ?$ K7 etheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow" `0 e3 s) z. g- y9 O' O2 i
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
4 Y0 l4 h7 u( breceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration. }. m, K/ w3 a, P# v
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.
) o$ A1 c: D7 K( t7 l1 pLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own. |. M9 L8 g% d1 i
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he8 M( Z/ d+ t1 @
understood the pain., x& w6 k# |8 L, P4 U8 a* R
"I know what those families go through," he said.
! e v V3 B, w" r6 a1 ]2 i: w# S( DLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
. X$ d3 d* ]8 y: O1 Efixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
. V9 b$ Z- E+ ?! u4 {6 ZBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
2 a, Y+ R* s% [1 J# T! V6 ^Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
5 u( i0 t6 ` b$ ain place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
( t* {1 N: c2 [% ? c; q8 ~Lentz replied: "Not totally."+ |0 g6 V& C( Z: ~
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were( d1 u/ T4 h( d# a) _* V% C
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said7 G1 [) q8 c# d0 t7 B
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
$ o* u* L7 ^0 i, p4 C. G- xpedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its& ^, F+ ]& ?2 Q- c9 Z( E
vehicles already on the road.
/ Y! s: w& j8 {% nMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify8 I5 W0 w2 r- I
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
. g$ P# ]/ G4 D! `( E nresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
/ ?% v$ [7 j5 c9 l6 c4 f. Woffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
3 E* I6 p6 X1 t+ Vkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
1 M% J' g9 B4 C( a9 A( b"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a6 ~ X: q) Q7 R4 d: j
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony) _. |* C" F$ e. ?5 L$ p9 [
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
+ w, h& y/ L t& \& ICommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
0 _6 @& e3 a1 Z! L# G" gcommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
- E0 t; n0 ~* A1 a) b/ |( S+ d- G4 p! frestore the trust of our customers."7 p# b; v2 V+ _. C
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
+ c C. y; O1 w/ V6 H% g9 N( ]Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly+ y. W" D' K4 n
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --2 ^, o6 q) `. G
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
/ k7 F( A# Z, p R, `: X, W9 i7 whitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
$ p& A% {3 L2 j' v# u8 Lthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
+ s0 W r. z) @( R* F" _turn off the engine.0 R4 ]) r" ^4 u# e r
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of! g8 B; D& {( D( d4 R2 h# O" e! ^
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience.") ~1 ?: N, n' c& Y
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
# x. o1 W4 U8 J5 p- s8 ]1 }said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
5 }. _: M' r& `3 A5 l; ]/ Rto her complaints.# h% Q+ ^( ^% g5 A' K# U( H6 X
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
4 |6 q& i1 x8 [/ ~returned again and again to the question of whether electronic- ~% `: z( ~6 V# D! L* b1 ]. G! Q
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
6 P) B. H/ C, u- o( _"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
' t6 B( p' u6 n* F( }0 f+ m7 ythrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
5 q- c7 G/ t4 |2 f" S"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut, [- o5 g$ I6 {7 B6 o
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."8 _$ `3 i' `! P4 @
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in5 s# ?! ?: W4 i: ]" ], k4 N
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
. X; _3 C' i% s9 H" Gbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
* {% g Q4 ~5 B6 s$ Y) jwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer8 A* H$ {: C3 T+ u" f
every question."* U4 W" }& o/ u1 O# q1 i
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether0 z5 {9 m5 q Q3 Q
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The) d' R4 X9 }5 T9 F) V
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
9 e/ M _7 B7 N3 U! A( A+ R) Jcommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small) U3 _7 {& R0 a1 V
number of vehicles7 f2 D5 v: K1 e0 a& k. r! B& |
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more$ e8 ]* D P2 l
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
2 I- J; Y( n8 o+ i! j$ j7 imechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
( H1 P9 j7 s' {. b1 e0 Ysource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.; t. U( A, s, T2 P8 v4 I% \( _8 H4 Q
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
+ B p; }" L& f* @6 V; ^8 pwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
- x! B- X O; |2 I0 xtrace at all.5 x& t% ^! p* {, V% {
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
( o9 }3 E1 p/ K# H: _+ Z3 Ddatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden) ~2 |' p M3 C6 _$ L1 K
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
% v" z) d6 d. t* V; F% k3 Y& |recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.( k: M" C. F0 K! t7 M. ]) w
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,/ U, k+ Q$ }! B8 T; O7 S
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
( d: G, ?' d+ Y8 K, D5 Cother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
. h9 \+ U( s( l$ y' U, _electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
9 I9 g" _4 m; H5 {( Hcause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
% m4 E1 k0 d9 esuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
( k* ^% e: E8 D4 dby Toyota's lawyers."
/ V* A j! d2 OLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
8 c5 S A6 J& L& V( @ @problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our/ ]; H; _ d- T7 R; z5 N
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
7 M8 O$ @7 L4 Ysaid.
/ S3 @' u' J) ?+ e"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
l; o: ?1 m( sa rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
% _6 B6 {# B- @' f# Egood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
* L- \$ z- H. `& ]5 Gofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.5 X! `) Y5 o0 I
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
: c! F. ]3 Z% q- I" b1 J: p: w; amembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
8 E5 @% \1 E- d/ t: s9 erancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the) c+ x4 p+ F$ s; H9 m7 {4 g& o2 Y
automaker, at least in part because of the government's- S3 p! ?! E( I. l
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
- M/ w7 {) _% X& cChrysler.4 j3 P1 s: D, S k0 k l+ ?9 f/ h1 ^
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax. H( u5 }" D6 J0 X( b
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
! C( \ y T$ cHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
* Z* r$ D$ E- N9 Q9 ^2 K# y1 Userved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
( T! z4 y: e P6 uwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty- u% K8 b. l1 O3 `/ O% l! X1 X
tough.") J1 Q7 D3 {8 b0 i! o
---
* ?, R$ S+ n+ f# _) M, y, |4 WAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom( B8 f, h" k! v" F
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
8 C, p5 j* O1 d2 n. j7 |this story.7 p# T3 {: q7 D0 z& Z9 A
# u' h9 x/ p. h2 _/ K0 Y# w4 |0 \
-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
|