 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4 y6 U$ r# l, |4 n3 S% U
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS6 |4 c5 v2 u1 j: `! N- ^+ r) ]" m" D
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.7 Y8 e' X$ ~# c( ]- a+ O
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that* M( }/ I; a1 [' [
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
6 [2 z; y' O4 o+ u9 V4 Qsolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
. u, z$ ?( h. |5 i"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
' B1 Q9 ^5 `) ocauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel./ ^$ t* i1 f3 r/ |
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected, X. ^0 ]0 |4 ^- d$ J/ v
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and! y" N, _( U0 \' | G! G$ [
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor9 Z/ s+ |5 O9 x6 H# _
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.
D- M% \1 p4 g0 \2 b$ ^' eHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal( q* V* q3 t. w0 [+ ~
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
: E2 v! r! z- u+ k k0 E! acriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
( p9 t- n: A* r0 Pfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
& D% m1 N0 @+ N }not stop her runaway Lexus.
% h: R( N6 z2 l% S- v"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
9 g" u3 Y% E% |Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second. @ J9 {% V3 {& z5 I
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
, T; A6 Z0 j1 M- x4 w/ C$ PTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
* O. t: V7 d( O! jearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said5 O; Y% _! J, t o! n9 O9 ?6 h
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has4 [! y4 U" F3 O( x: a. j
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway; d, t/ [' F0 ~- O' N9 I
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's* E2 {$ l$ G2 q8 B h4 |
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
' g$ p. t ?# R8 }& _Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
; w/ Y; f$ S$ z+ C$ m. y4 S1 gelectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
3 H: D6 O( z7 r6 ^the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a$ Z' Z. b( D; n3 P; v$ r' o2 ] j
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
8 A4 ?, x4 f6 l4 L" n6 n3 b; f4 qsaid.
' ^5 P& V' K* o2 K' H2 M: x# D. I; cAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
" t6 p% e) X4 ~happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
5 f3 t9 G z3 H2 j6 R5 t( Sabout driving our products," Lentz said.
7 [- l4 W" t" H: eThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
0 q3 @: a: d% y$ v: jproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has D- b6 w8 Y6 e, C( {
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6# w: ~6 r. ^$ t
million in the United States -- since last fall because of6 `2 b" r: T! O- z$ Z4 N Z
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking9 D5 c3 v X1 y! f9 }' e+ } R9 T A
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering- b& d) q9 @4 n& z+ [8 ~. ]; e: M7 f
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
( g, e/ h( H4 c6 C0 J4 wtheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow" K. U9 ^! ]- Z; v7 L+ v
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
9 Y* y; C: L, R& d8 `5 `7 r# _received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
$ |! U5 w! F" g7 A9 f) lof Toyota vehicles since 2000.9 T: Y( K% n( T# m' |; R
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own% [7 |4 u A2 R, q! F0 f& O+ I' T
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he/ g. C2 F" R9 s8 C5 ^
understood the pain.' k% \ j* n: i/ |
"I know what those families go through," he said., j n F8 {7 O% K1 f$ K) r2 P
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's7 S7 y3 r: r% p9 O. o
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.8 m7 q) N$ [! A+ _1 R9 j% C W* d$ V
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
5 l* W6 D( v1 o5 `7 v& X2 ^( GHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put) q) S* z- d% m
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,0 h. f6 a/ R8 n* Y8 a
Lentz replied: "Not totally."6 T- R- A# }; O* w* H8 e Z
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were( }& Y3 D$ m$ a& k
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
$ g6 z! m6 x4 V5 I7 {# }+ x, J* EToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
4 [0 L( t4 `% o! J) Mpedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
: b L% N3 v6 _* Fvehicles already on the road.
. V |* C+ {* a& Y: c) o b% TMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
* B5 S% p0 ^) T6 Z, Fbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full+ ^1 ]9 v( v1 P
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
* t1 J, B t5 x. @* Koffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were# d/ A2 O, f; c5 H5 q
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.. q7 ^# G6 G& Q$ X$ x5 {
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
: \' m4 J9 N3 ~9 i7 j4 X7 }- x2 n1 htragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony, R8 A, f' a' W5 V" i i
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
; ~- g1 S l- J4 m C2 t& |Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal7 V" O% w7 |, ]2 }1 I/ x% C& t8 T3 M# p% y
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to9 E- L1 N6 A# O
restore the trust of our customers."
) s2 h. ]% I& ~3 G* H2 q0 ]! ALawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from K; n# v' y: h
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
3 S& j. x n. `. N# G2 dzoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
6 ~$ ]" X+ i. Y1 ~0 \2 |7 n$ ^shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and1 t" A9 j' |4 i1 f" o% [
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough" \5 k3 Z4 g: v* \; z; z
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and, k; L# d5 y9 N
turn off the engine.
5 { K' t1 _1 i6 D% \Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
( j `5 Z& P+ H6 w; lOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience.") |: ~: [" |" `- v2 v5 r m! e
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she! {) |: r/ a: `8 |" W( d# H3 f
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond7 Z8 ]4 Q+ i3 o% o+ p/ ]
to her complaints.
f6 H# X& |, s' {" ]In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers$ S4 P$ A5 P6 I- O; ^$ a. |
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
* E" K8 j B. J" u0 Vmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.. @/ }. `& }4 i* ?+ J
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
( H& M0 U9 u8 r" ~throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited2 q' b Y0 \+ M
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut0 I! G( h: t+ o6 M- m" G' T
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."+ a! b; r0 x1 L2 [+ {& I1 [2 W3 F2 }5 ^
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
3 U* J; i" w7 n1 ^& W X0 Q1 X. qprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were$ ?& E1 a4 q6 t; q1 ]# p
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls j( {6 w, P$ x7 J' O; J
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
4 W1 [/ p3 _0 }& O5 R2 K5 X& M) j2 fevery question."
& S. ~9 K! \, ~1 x" T1 s+ eToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
& i9 k: i. U8 J- v' V. V' f1 w2 W" S, q+ xelectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
% C3 |% a& n3 \0 [4 i5 D* d: n" Dfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But/ Q. F% o6 z, q7 f/ I
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
# P" I' b! u7 ~$ h6 v) ~number of vehicles
' K" I$ w( G# o' ~Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more |/ t' f, P* V p. v. R6 u3 g
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
$ S g# P1 G: X* u+ b$ tmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one- P) w. ~5 d0 f5 N: B6 {$ m
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
; D& X' C! G* E& W& m( j" R WMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
2 F g% A# X1 v6 U) c( N ?$ Gwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
( `1 p7 Y( g ~) O- ~$ n; s n& Ltrace at all.
! {$ W* i" |, pHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
# d5 i$ A: H2 r5 @database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden/ [# f" @% n* J. h; U
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
/ E E, \8 i9 o+ B: G# |recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.( W8 {2 ?. d% y/ j/ }1 P7 S# h
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
, c( A2 n* e0 F1 Ksaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
{3 F% {/ }. q4 Vother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the) c' b0 I) q$ W% {' Y
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
, F4 C+ j- {1 x( N4 X: }) m, Hcause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only9 i5 ~% X' a! t! X
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
, {0 q$ n" S" xby Toyota's lawyers."
4 q" f3 X' U$ P5 @# E* YLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of# [- }0 c$ @8 n0 Q8 I
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
/ @8 G+ H" q* ~* Ecustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
/ v D1 N7 L) I/ E' S/ m/ Xsaid.
; c: ^1 t, ]( q! i* E0 n"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
& `) \0 j' {! ?9 c% L* P- aa rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
+ Z( i+ X$ a7 g) W- g5 Xgood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
/ g; L- e: n4 }- B& T; X2 Nofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
- A v/ ?; d! i. s! O. _' L' GSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
7 c8 Y- p% G" L6 X& ~/ H+ _: n& `members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread3 P( n3 p, a( H) O) F
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the. k. f0 s) K( r: G6 O% g9 E
automaker, at least in part because of the government's8 j7 ^" Z3 u+ C" T. c7 K, G, _
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and& r+ r% P3 Z4 t4 }7 s, s/ }- M; E
Chrysler.
3 _9 P% m7 y3 p$ x1 U"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
0 g* O! Y# F. A7 ^dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
3 x6 ]- _, I+ X1 e/ i: N1 @, w7 ?Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
8 P1 d r, ^: ?) F+ Sserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
- ]2 G' A: g2 H/ D! W" @5 qwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty/ W: R; |( I1 A' Q: f
tough."
4 S& Y2 a! g3 E---+ u% [' z- H1 x3 Z
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom. A3 }5 n- ]9 G0 @" H, S, \
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to0 ]8 t3 q+ D. S" X
this story.
" u* h. G! p% E
& A9 u! a7 ]5 D6 H-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
|