 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7 K; t3 V1 k5 j" ^1 l- ]
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS) J% d+ k' U( T: ]
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.$ ^- n- v. j/ Y" q0 I! q
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that% m3 I: d/ U: Y+ S' g
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
* J: D9 @9 U% g9 zsolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
0 Q& ~0 F0 o8 K"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
0 f! k" E6 |1 [( E, S7 X+ ]' Xcauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
) Z; M i3 [# WHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected- Y( ?, O4 t6 u
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
. h7 m5 e+ A5 M6 r: m A& B2 d. ]trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
1 G+ d! c7 \7 m/ S! z; ]mats and sticking accelerator pedals.
7 R j4 W4 B9 L2 lHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
" }' a& V' w: k" ?/ t7 C+ g+ [/ \and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
% d' f R' ~- W$ R9 l% hcriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be3 K3 }, k% u: \4 x& o, l
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could- `9 @' o+ _! K3 f! K1 a' _
not stop her runaway Lexus.
2 ?6 D# c: s; P% F5 P"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
: i4 j- R3 u5 I0 S6 O: g# pTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
) b8 k( g$ @8 y) i3 W"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
8 g! M4 O+ A* ~Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
+ E) m* H' W3 j+ R; jearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said/ M( E0 r. U$ k1 ?) l
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
) ~& A5 p( |8 I* gdone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
! K( W% _! w3 athrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
. @* D% u0 Z3 E* ]investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."5 `8 X+ v% g m% x
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
2 ] h# |) G6 h& U& Delectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
3 E* Q5 H6 A0 W1 l; _" j4 Athe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
% o8 Z0 E( o7 A% Y, Ymalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
' f T: y! i$ H$ S' E. `said.: P9 w ~; }# s. k+ V1 u- y
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what/ O3 ]- Y/ P& s4 A* T
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
4 i( y4 ^- t: s3 J2 nabout driving our products," Lentz said.
, T5 g4 I: M9 r' Q- jThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's, l0 h3 A( b& |' \* q% L3 U
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has3 o0 X8 D9 u P6 E( v
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6- x; Q* I, o1 Y2 R# Q; Z2 B! S
million in the United States -- since last fall because of1 b4 s7 N# a0 _: w7 L; M
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking1 O7 L/ a3 e% X0 k+ _+ }( {
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
" ]9 ^+ m4 h2 C uconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
% @: y0 u9 _9 ?: ztheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
5 k: K# x, y* Z$ {0 {down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has* ^# _1 M: l. n- d* E
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration# b: V* ~3 y& Q* \& K( q2 S# l
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.( H. D" t; i5 d0 F0 e# D# U
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
) O5 K8 g! ]* s& e3 ~brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he( k1 Z: U- [8 A+ ?* f
understood the pain.7 V# Z$ k6 i7 S2 H" j m/ l3 J
"I know what those families go through," he said.: V2 J- U* e& X7 r' \) W+ `( b
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's% j* r5 y8 b/ U+ W- @" O9 z$ Z% L, t
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
/ q; B! v: o) Q) c# i* [4 C4 |But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
7 w8 _# O4 q8 x, tHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put. ?2 [/ u3 J% x! g. I; ?8 M
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,% P W5 A+ W* M
Lentz replied: "Not totally."
3 x+ }& D9 Y( j( S2 U @$ c. L! GStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
% Y) {/ f& S) i+ \"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
$ ?" `- C; N% P5 rToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas; B0 v7 [" d: ?& Z- D/ p
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its5 b6 ~3 M" j3 h) Z; W" I5 I0 Z0 q
vehicles already on the road. l2 Z4 n6 K+ ^6 M
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify% p$ c' v% o* R8 y
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full. G9 L* J9 y7 G2 q4 W* `) ^
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
3 J& h: ^7 J* q+ @7 qoffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were' U$ E2 w9 H; t: s
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
e4 M& f6 m d# \"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a1 v, q, }3 f5 N
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
6 F$ W: Y3 Q0 R, U( ~% ? ufor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
4 y' \' R& `/ c7 B) b, [: d) eCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal9 v: b/ t" f9 C$ h f" {. W7 [
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to% q) G5 P) C) v5 k
restore the trust of our customers."# O) f2 Z3 k5 w% Z
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
. c/ M2 _% s3 P# `$ L' k- SSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly9 ~ w4 M% A4 S+ X
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
& S( i! c- d Q9 ~* i: L2 B4 ~1 E; ushifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
& u( w( d" y7 Yhitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough9 T2 R$ i) Y# A& l" @9 z2 W9 T! E! y
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
- S' L3 G8 O2 cturn off the engine.
& q4 ^: P- N4 T5 _( l$ j6 hFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of# {( a: f! |+ @8 ]: f
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."& x- G) p+ K8 }1 ~
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she4 Z7 h# x1 u$ t5 c
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond# P. b% H0 y" L
to her complaints.
?/ l4 Q# Y4 q- EIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers$ K O$ g# x# P9 t8 |$ ~
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
, {6 Q/ G; M7 h6 jmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.% f( V2 F# ]; _0 q q
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
# F8 e/ H5 u. b, Athrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
3 ?. M7 \2 T4 G"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut2 N+ d# \' W5 y8 w1 u; C# f
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
% y2 l( {- A9 U0 LTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
6 l: G4 Z1 v8 F0 A" Z4 W. hprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
, ^& E' B" a+ Z& B( Mbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
4 l. c9 B: _: c5 m' E4 d6 F. ~were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
* g, y! V- u! Z( severy question."
; |3 ^# N+ ?7 o; A3 P" Z% wToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
3 n: [8 r+ E h5 v! c+ m- l3 Felectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The2 M: B# |! ]$ X3 h& t: Q6 J6 H
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But0 l) m/ M8 v% p' h1 x
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
4 C5 X4 h! x: a' Knumber of vehicles
+ l( q2 K, b7 k+ w b1 ~! v4 H7 ?3 I sTracking down an electrical problem can be far more9 Q. n: M* Q6 [! l5 i
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
7 B8 G/ d, a! l7 L% Y7 B9 Vmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one5 R3 Z; @& W) C
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
# l8 N3 u' [: j. |* o: [Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
1 t" S- ~3 r3 W% p( lwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no6 B! o+ W6 x. m( @" X. N) O
trace at all.
3 z! W! n& [2 i/ vHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
2 I: |! ]. y& o. \" @database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden5 a! S! B& ~0 e) m- w
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the- f& U, F9 k ?$ f X, E% w7 f4 p
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals./ x: ]6 u2 \ ]6 B* u# a
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
$ Y4 s+ d' H7 D2 c$ P1 hsaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and6 I3 N* a% W0 e: B0 \$ Q6 v
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
* s" B' e% R* Eelectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible; h" E. n+ @4 O3 d2 h9 l/ \0 i
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
s7 Y6 i& E' B8 I: C$ h) u* W! Ksuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
" g+ P2 n. v& p' D& J: h# `4 B3 Rby Toyota's lawyers."9 x' M/ ~( y. F0 ]4 _( i' J
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
3 B: h( j; S: m. c/ z5 K6 z; x! H& Vproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
/ Y. K* q: N( [customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he. Q7 V# c; J( U$ h$ @4 ^
said./ K3 Y* x& L5 F9 T8 c: p4 q8 Y
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
7 `+ I+ `3 B% Wa rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
2 w! C* T& s4 P! Q; X' ]! |& ngood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating. e+ k" o$ n; |6 `
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
V8 \ X7 c3 c7 y; I" USeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying+ h6 \7 B) ?3 d$ T9 T4 \
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
" g9 Y1 W5 J: b9 jrancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
, y2 l$ {2 \( i' B, U5 i* eautomaker, at least in part because of the government's0 k6 A' {+ @) f& A- u* L
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
& |, C0 X- a- W. X2 IChrysler.- g+ d% u4 T2 A; s
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
+ Y( F7 {: ?: f" l- Bdollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a& c& |, b3 m6 `2 X4 Q& [! Z
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
8 O. R. B$ O# mserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete6 @) [! Q4 _& `" J1 q. n
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
7 B6 k; [* o4 u; F1 Etough."
6 J! S: v; \9 `# x' i; p! g---
5 ^# U$ l% ^+ W' m9 ~# Y; `9 XAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
8 n+ A% ?3 Y0 _! g! W! W' LRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
; ^. q# d3 C2 Y jthis story.
5 c+ \: F2 M5 u8 m+ F1 ?$ _ E" |& N' c
-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
|