 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3 ~1 ?( T( h' H
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
, x% F3 z3 c" dWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.1 \3 y5 Y, z* T4 F
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
, ~# O$ a9 D2 w& t' zthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
! i! Q" q7 S' h$ Lsolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
" g0 H6 x# m* f"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential6 K* G! R9 k1 G1 k( |8 p6 {& v
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.1 [ H, R$ z. A6 l7 y2 w
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
7 m& R) |" k; Q+ I1 d, uacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and/ X/ T# P& P0 Q
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
6 N. m8 i6 C, z! q# R% I+ K7 nmats and sticking accelerator pedals.
" H% X$ W0 e6 N7 p3 UHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
* m- ]1 F v4 Q3 _0 b( Gand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp' U* r `0 m; n' x; `+ }
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
7 Z4 R4 c1 ]4 l; z2 M. \4 ffurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
* ?, d7 F8 P: a3 ^" Unot stop her runaway Lexus.
' \% s( Q; E0 X2 a"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,0 \5 n8 U* D, y& P( s+ R; R5 v& @
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second+ Y0 T* H& A1 f( u' {7 E
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.0 c) F2 j# L, D# L7 ?" \7 V
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
( D3 I9 i" t. \1 aearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said0 P! j$ F& j+ A: i; r
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
$ F5 y/ T5 n# P# k4 a+ \done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
1 b' ], e+ X8 h Y% T5 } K; mthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's7 T) }# q* U `$ Z
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
5 [1 m7 F3 ]% K: QLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an. d* K, c0 H' i# w& j: }, }0 {
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
6 _! ]2 u A) d2 q) Q) T% a+ z; Vthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
4 W' H) M- g7 W) Zmalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
9 }4 ^6 Y, q' Lsaid.
4 ?; u7 P0 \8 ~& xAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what4 g; [$ P7 G B& a
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
+ X% {' V9 h) ~' t( f9 K9 C/ |about driving our products," Lentz said.3 m( v8 S5 q4 ^: v8 r9 }
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's( J/ I( h: X, N: u- Z' n
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has# a8 B O) o. Q7 C4 Z3 n1 Q0 t) T
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
" @: e5 b( v1 C) s+ }' rmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of
9 u2 z; ?" t& O5 Ounintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
" q9 a9 b5 v9 }, }/ z: [issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
0 h8 o1 X8 A3 C1 Y8 Kconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
1 @2 X/ f/ O1 P `their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow5 K+ I# ]/ L0 G E9 R5 J' O2 I1 [
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has( e, K5 o0 o8 t' E, ~1 Z3 y! m* o
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration9 n5 f2 { K7 g2 H. n: U5 t0 S
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.2 c# a8 _8 w, S$ l% h( Z" ]" e
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own/ |% F! Q( |* A. K" D* ^3 i$ y" i
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
' K$ p2 h& u6 I# o" C& @% p$ punderstood the pain.
# u/ \6 w) _: j p0 S" r" `"I know what those families go through," he said.
/ L9 u$ d$ x9 `$ XLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's' m l2 `& }" q4 q
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.: j6 G/ w8 A. [0 x
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman# t4 u, o' \2 y9 T- K0 Y' _6 Y
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put/ P9 @' H$ ~ v9 _2 H
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
% o1 c @& ]% tLentz replied: "Not totally."
" A0 g! L2 b* K5 [* M( DStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
+ b; t3 s( A4 f! k# }3 e"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
' r8 w( q# N9 I0 [' p5 i J- LToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
1 d7 o' b/ \' Q( }: J+ spedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
# O, N! Z" E0 j7 d( E& Xvehicles already on the road.
: a) V& X9 R, Y R& [; L: GMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify6 g6 ]6 ]0 e8 k" l$ Y, ]$ m
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
x' D) X0 F$ |, Y7 cresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and, x7 H0 I+ I0 A) A
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were: ^' E, _; g' ~
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
+ w5 M) [. Z* A! l% R: T3 b# w, }/ Y"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a( w% n* a% W3 T6 [
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
! M: h- l3 d' U, k- w4 k Gfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
+ J& a2 b e, q6 ~# G& H) W2 QCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
* c! v. J; b/ ?1 Qcommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to9 A: E9 m2 H- t2 |2 r
restore the trust of our customers."
; ^8 X: n) f1 t! aLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from9 n, ]* j* a" }& \( k' m
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly/ k f4 H+ H# d, v. W
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
/ F3 E$ S% q6 Y; a. Fshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and9 R8 T; A8 r: n2 _& r
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
$ t6 N9 j" t/ S, xthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
/ F8 K% d' T( q! gturn off the engine.
* G- {; N5 ~, Y: q, h; p0 R" Z; SFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of1 B. t. D# G, _% j6 [: e
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."8 N" U' t; U* j% x" |; R, x! c2 s
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she# w2 M# x# X+ A7 E9 z, D9 B
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
3 {* }7 Q! o. n% ?& B$ M4 zto her complaints.
) d$ C* H: F& { VIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
3 U% q2 b$ f/ q& M$ `returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
7 t S, a9 l7 y. F0 K; D) p( S8 M7 p0 Wmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
1 E+ f0 D* [- C$ N% [: n P' `"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric6 n1 z: x" u R% x: k
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited4 E8 X6 B' G% L) `
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
3 H( Z5 Y/ g& h# }off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."4 @- V$ i8 Q' z5 b8 _
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in8 }& \2 A% W- V9 r
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were E: a7 x G5 A% n+ X4 l
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
3 t: R- m" ?! B% c$ Bwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
- t4 {) f% \1 r l. {2 ]# y1 ~every question."
2 k) i2 N/ y! U8 a5 D" i" mToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
. y& x7 F& ^ i4 S% ]& Felectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The0 v# o% I+ Q) p9 M/ I* y8 l; ~
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But7 X9 n* j+ D& m5 a
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small+ M, d$ v [: D# R1 `
number of vehicles
: x+ L3 X" U$ V. F( }9 U0 ETracking down an electrical problem can be far more
$ E2 C8 w: m, t0 p4 c7 mdifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a0 e; B2 H. I/ { k! B6 ?5 b
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
0 y+ I- `; J4 \% w0 g5 Dsource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
+ m# K: Q! y$ N! }7 ?Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,& y( [' Q/ K7 i: q! X+ s; ^
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no+ `5 ? u) ~/ f, l- Z* ~
trace at all.8 R2 X4 Z- z0 \2 }( R" ~
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
3 |& J- o( u: K" Tdatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden: o5 s' K, J% u9 @ A" _
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
0 G( \+ Z% Z9 L1 u, y$ x( w! Orecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.8 Q' N4 Y; g, [; P; q
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
8 u# K- R) l* ~- `; Xsaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
: z& O. b& E" S& v* F' n7 \other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the& B& F+ |5 {( C; r. w
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible) _: X& R* A! U# j3 B) {
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
) R: p' X, E9 Z8 c; c; [such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
* X R5 X* {* C; Cby Toyota's lawyers."5 H9 i. }# U' ^4 f- B7 N( p
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
5 Z; c# `, k1 d3 nproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
3 ]% ?+ N! A: h Ycustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
5 ]* ^1 j. ~1 K0 e6 K* osaid.0 R! l1 T/ N/ q y( o
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with1 Q9 A2 ?( N4 G% }7 f8 y
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our" k* d7 H0 p5 ]* q* i4 _0 }% Y
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating7 _9 U' g" n# s, m
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
: I. w I' m; oSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
$ `. n- k, b% c( R% ?members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
+ Y: G `. C8 C/ Lrancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the- p K- B4 c$ J$ e' B o8 H
automaker, at least in part because of the government's, K0 f8 |: D+ A8 W: w
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
5 A# V1 y0 b7 K& G( JChrysler.
% _9 i5 F6 k: V; r( _% K$ P"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
8 m6 R4 o5 B6 }) i, z2 gdollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
- I2 ?, b9 f v/ r0 ?: r) h# }Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also, @/ s/ x- M y3 m; a, d
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
* E" c( X/ L. p5 Z" owith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
$ d# c2 a, O h% ^5 j5 ?tough."4 i1 _1 _; ^( ^
---' h& n; m1 O7 k2 J# |9 D
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom) ^5 _" K5 F5 J% I: Y& D4 z
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to6 O; H( N5 s6 p
this story.
% G; h z: p% O/ w9 \7 c/ {1 M
! t4 r/ J- j. m$ c/ g-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
|