 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) L( w# | r5 ]8 B, Z. k
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS2 b/ h$ ?# M2 ~6 P( ~5 c
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
/ l2 G. l5 M( |" }+ D+ a9 hoperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that0 g q$ S ^0 F% u
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
1 N8 _8 |4 p+ X$ L( zsolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
" m1 a& D. Y _- g K# k. o$ m"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential* g) z, x# O [0 [
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel./ c$ J; ?- p* j" \
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected0 A" X; p5 W7 m! W6 @% k3 N
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
) C* {0 D x; ttrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor. E/ s. g" o: _. E7 q6 @
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.' _0 a* o7 E3 n3 n
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
/ P: _7 J7 `/ s7 }1 f- k7 ~" {and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp8 A2 Z: F! o. |2 ^- M2 p
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be- y- ^/ T( k% v, U/ ?
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could; i9 K+ A1 m1 Q/ m. s: S8 P7 ^
not stop her runaway Lexus.
. V' d" `: `) m, {"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville, \$ B" q$ @6 J1 {2 d4 U v6 _
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second, r; B5 x% |, l! i1 i5 J
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
- p, ^; x1 A9 O: m1 X' D+ qTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues# |, e1 I& a6 v' K4 Z0 _4 j
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said* T! K, K0 i, e9 Z" y d
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has7 R! u5 M% F# d: j
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway* D6 z" E; ], ~5 P2 p3 \% o* Y
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's, K1 E* M; F- T+ @0 F
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."+ G& n# X9 n! Z" `
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an$ ^0 D$ k. z0 g
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of0 ^$ m6 ~9 s8 v3 q" M
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
" g0 ?* x, }2 gmalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
3 V6 e) d9 U5 u6 j/ ^4 ^ nsaid.' q" z. c9 Y J( ^
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what e% S7 t! R4 A; w; U, N
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
$ K3 M0 r* r2 M, f1 J5 Q7 \about driving our products," Lentz said.; k, k& g4 t4 U* }6 A, ]
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
0 t& k/ x4 b gproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has& ~8 f/ I) E s- G! f# i
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6( U' Z% [: t/ E1 l$ N
million in the United States -- since last fall because of* }! v3 T) y/ m% f1 W- i/ |
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking, X4 D$ S1 ^* [8 V R
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
5 }0 k* g9 ~0 xconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of* M+ {* l( l# f
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow% ]% l5 Q8 i, ]; U, f7 ~
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has2 M5 y/ N" }2 ^' i$ N4 [. R
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
9 m. g. F( }' G6 ?3 _0 l! N# Iof Toyota vehicles since 2000.
/ q9 B7 }# j5 K( O, l# `/ O: ?Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own0 b9 Y! d& z, \5 ~- K) |& k
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he! r/ J' C, z, H: b; W) W
understood the pain.
* z: z [" q" p7 [0 ?# V- z"I know what those families go through," he said.3 J0 K1 [* A( W/ e
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
. D" I1 i! T2 k% Kfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
, N$ V8 A2 m; kBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman. U2 f% ?& I) P3 ?% H
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
2 v6 U5 Z" m N+ y# Fin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,* r7 }) Q* j, e& i7 l
Lentz replied: "Not totally.") T0 d) C( C7 _6 Q- G0 ?
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
* V$ T) y f6 G. a1 o3 @& G2 D"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said% n+ W0 z/ t9 F q
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas: _: n, s) J0 ` p" b+ z" T
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
+ l2 U4 L0 _6 t: U! b) ] [vehicles already on the road.* i8 O- y- c) ?$ R' L
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
5 g! p9 j2 T8 B/ ?* kbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
1 Y! ~( `2 b" S j/ U* iresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and6 d0 x7 j4 W/ Z( j$ E
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were0 K0 \8 N/ o& N7 K8 b5 |
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.. ~) i* M7 a4 N# u
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
' ~- K: T' \. v1 Ctragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony" S, E: r; U+ G% j+ s* F
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
! V: y- J' _+ YCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
/ ~/ `& l* B. U- G) Lcommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
, a% B5 |4 N4 b" `restore the trust of our customers."
0 f# P( f8 }+ L3 `Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
2 T* n ]4 a8 B2 QSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
5 t" Y' R, q; Yzoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
: |6 |5 a6 T2 q& ^0 R2 P `" ?shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and: c* P- E, K# O' x: u
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
4 ?+ q8 s1 v7 ~that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
5 w* f \. Y' Z4 K. z( xturn off the engine.
T q! M$ z5 s( v, \Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of5 g* S0 f3 ?* | w5 b; I
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
. d$ q) U: M( Y$ G I& z9 k"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
) s9 _- ~) b: j% dsaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
1 Z4 f8 F8 f4 c( mto her complaints.0 P @+ Q7 l; S6 b; S# i1 q7 g
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers9 A$ C* o) V) q+ Q' G; y
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
8 X$ c5 _* ^1 L3 J8 Vmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.: i0 {: d$ P, J* ~! J2 l
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric( X& s5 V( B; G D! a! ?4 g' H
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
! e6 U0 E4 }: q; k" f"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
7 r* N0 A0 S" S8 U# h, |off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
4 R) }0 {4 T$ Z1 n, ETransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
3 p) Z% Y# i8 C7 J3 ]1 W" iprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
$ p5 s( z: k1 ~9 r7 U8 T6 h. Dbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
2 B5 O+ g5 ] g" r5 S6 Jwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
- B0 Z& w4 X% i! kevery question."$ `5 O6 R2 u( k$ f
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether) ^1 g: D: d7 O- Y. p V
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
1 y$ {4 Y$ ?% D+ R1 M: ?' lfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But& ?6 r7 x7 n% u( C) n
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small+ G; R( D" x( j. Y% w& P
number of vehicles
! T, _! M) q1 O- }7 c8 p; Q6 `Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more7 O2 l* \' Y" B. {* I
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
, a. l% L3 a/ n/ O3 A. T- Kmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
: l1 R! v7 \" M2 Hsource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
1 ^1 T0 m# p+ i( z! ]% W- W! V8 c9 {Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
2 E3 P0 u3 r% u' l( ]where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
3 p: ^9 H0 N. E: ?9 t( M' ctrace at all.8 r8 ~' N1 {- o% C
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call& Y: b# I/ Y/ O- u9 p& M
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden* e U8 B! n4 U* q# @
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
; Z6 h* m/ T4 i" f" Xrecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
9 G. z& k* A* u; B8 ^Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
: m' s* ~1 @9 o; lsaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and9 y( I$ I! r* i
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the/ w# h: H8 h& k8 U
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible Z9 Q4 Q' Q, t; j* F9 n0 a
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only ?. m& {. x4 h+ ^; Q2 d% Z
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained; }( O* j- J$ I C T& J4 A
by Toyota's lawyers."
+ d8 p* v% f; O$ ]4 R$ ]1 |+ OLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
$ B: Y9 R, h+ d6 f! wproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our2 J( ?3 ?" v9 H- N
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he& B% V' h" l0 g
said.8 Q. F# E4 m J6 X, k
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with0 Y+ D1 R# O& H; }
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
( W& K3 e& @2 k! j' ogood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating1 ^' _5 d' S% Q) S
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
; O: v- e% z, e' M8 aSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
2 h- j4 a5 I- y6 w nmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
7 e8 O$ |3 y* F+ A& b9 Erancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
5 M% X4 Z: v6 ]2 J& O9 dautomaker, at least in part because of the government's
5 f7 n" J3 D$ k& l. [" I; u" @investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and( ]" z) @4 ^9 `& \) M
Chrysler.
: ~% K5 R* u- i; ^4 S"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
( i: t% ^% @1 z* G3 w- g' l [dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
: ~* p7 X, Q6 z& N6 i l3 a' DHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
+ H, _3 o) Z$ h/ _3 G% Aserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete5 ]) G1 R& ? u$ Z/ r
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
4 H0 @9 g6 p. J0 a7 a5 H& Y9 c& qtough."0 l) G! x* M4 w6 [+ V
---
% Z/ y. g9 ~1 @! e! @Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
" _1 i, G2 g: l1 G" A; ~Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
* ?; c6 g0 u/ w2 n/ E7 Jthis story.; y7 W( G. C* T2 J0 ^
' w% N# B* f" O) T; y! b! u-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
|