 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$ e) n- A `; C0 F9 O- c. J% _0 ^
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
$ x: [& f5 g* p3 x( _& w2 |& kWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.$ Y8 J0 w1 i, H" s6 ~
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
+ h9 k& ]$ {6 G2 @: M9 e: U& hthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
$ T' @2 s; Z: t# G6 bsolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.- M/ C- z- R0 X
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential+ z! {) y+ Q6 s& V. }$ t8 D' V
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.# |$ @/ z, ]4 c0 Y: u
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
6 s( P' i+ s! i! L/ g0 ]acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and; x. h8 i; c* W @4 |: Q: V, L9 |& i
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
0 q. P; n$ c0 V$ p$ t; v% Xmats and sticking accelerator pedals., g" S: L: h: Q6 j$ E* {/ p
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
' ~4 P4 N8 x9 Mand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
7 ~5 T1 Q5 y" N6 bcriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
$ Q9 q' b$ G5 dfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
% c+ r' t" m; Nnot stop her runaway Lexus.
% R! t8 `! _) U" F* V) W) e3 Q"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,0 [6 j5 @ D. d5 \4 D' k5 q; |' p
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
* w0 v X9 I7 C; Q3 F"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.+ C6 F, d; m, r u
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues7 ^' E( b' P* V, Q" e
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
" J% `- a, r$ E: ?"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has; Y8 v g7 |( G- t" q% }8 [: P
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
* ?8 L( A, B, I! r4 U. [) c* L {through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
( ?+ v" N( U) V. F5 Kinvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."% u9 t/ R5 _% d! L' O6 v
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an4 @# }) e. H- k! f! K" f
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
8 i; f6 f X R9 T. p! E- lthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a# l* F/ P) Q6 e- b$ U" A6 @
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
: C# e2 L7 B* j+ B# Osaid.' L- M* N* R; H( t' s
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what$ G/ D- b+ _" v: e# m9 ~
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
, z! [# ?' E: E& t2 Y& U r5 babout driving our products," Lentz said.; ^" t5 Q. ?1 z+ k
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's8 o! Z; l* P+ K6 B0 S4 T9 N, I- ` H& o
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has; Z4 O6 ^4 [! A- T g' _% Y2 T0 ]
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
/ k! j) h" o+ xmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of! j& |- Q: j% W1 Q/ z1 X* T2 l4 `* j
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
. y# Y# a' X4 |: z! \issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering8 w3 D1 |2 \( b
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
* L) G( n; f. @$ g* L% R5 Ftheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
2 o# M4 e2 u! h1 i; L& v6 S# A! V" rdown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
a7 r; T4 {+ P8 e+ {" C- @+ ^ dreceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration& o' w% i) ] s5 D* o0 S0 v; x
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.
5 I' q8 p( w! Q- |Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own# C1 E3 ^2 Y) T* i
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
" Y. J7 K$ A: [+ [% Vunderstood the pain.: _( x' a, W# D& d
"I know what those families go through," he said.) ?- |4 s8 `7 |/ G
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's& M2 J1 B! y" S# S
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.$ S5 V2 P; N) h/ w
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman7 l8 m% k* l5 y0 D6 v3 u
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put. {' q! F S' r
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,3 D% b4 |3 ?' v G+ Z) S3 X
Lentz replied: "Not totally."
8 b; ?- h+ e" cStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
5 k! g9 _2 H3 ? V2 y"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said3 I- N% X1 k& f4 P6 F" A3 o
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
+ ?6 e8 q6 V8 b8 S1 fpedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its& |4 G0 H3 M. T4 K; y
vehicles already on the road.
7 u K) F! k* bMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify- F$ n+ y4 z4 p$ Z3 e: Z
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full7 H1 A4 g, s* Q. s0 d7 |
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and: [2 `+ ~5 X) V `
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
- z2 q$ a) v; S9 y. a+ ]8 }1 a# m* Gkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
8 K) N/ \2 X P K- m: x1 i"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
+ R: W# @0 s3 |" S0 e$ U8 ntragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
. x8 q% f* c* C; [! j/ b0 S( X Rfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight! M$ K* z- Y0 V1 m7 t
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
1 z5 p- D( h% Z1 h- z K: u. a* Q# Ycommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to1 W7 J8 v1 i2 s, s0 f2 T
restore the trust of our customers."
: i5 m9 S. j$ |9 \, B4 ZLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from0 @8 r: h) q) k$ ?6 ~" o: n
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly1 o1 K0 V% B: B9 j& }
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
( e1 ? N& g) S1 Wshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
* f8 y/ G; D' T7 z0 ~8 dhitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
" F5 ]6 e' p: u6 cthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
) j4 ^9 K6 b+ j) r/ f0 _turn off the engine.1 P9 a. M1 d) C/ l6 L& X, b8 `! f0 g" I
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
4 Z {, L+ R2 J: o2 s+ MOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
" d0 g$ q5 w# o7 X2 C* W9 T9 t2 \"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
9 m$ e$ u% z( l, A5 h: jsaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond$ p3 f; M# F# D8 a8 G1 Y7 u
to her complaints.3 p* Y N8 _- @; g4 j- |: ?! V
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
3 g: f& ^/ _ B- xreturned again and again to the question of whether electronic" e' A; f O5 Q G: _6 R* V& i
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
: o) O$ W4 }& ]9 Y"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
& z# n8 Z0 Z! S/ s ?& K) G- Hthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
/ i$ r% T6 _$ A) B"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut. g3 ~; {% I/ K" |& N5 q. W
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."9 L( S8 w5 t& T6 [6 A6 ?
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
( O3 V* o' `8 e7 ~prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were! u7 I/ e( g( D. V# p& Q
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
& f, _% `) F* g- [" X! Kwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
1 i+ ?5 K7 d9 B3 Fevery question."1 Q2 C# h3 Q0 ]2 D' o ^& v- g
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
# M- q* Y7 g4 Helectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
$ C0 R3 |& W* E S2 rfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But. r& m9 U6 o3 E* W* t8 A6 j
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small% l6 f* F' _) B7 K. z
number of vehicles
4 a/ D$ D2 C' `$ z5 Q& D m iTracking down an electrical problem can be far more7 _! d* `9 T+ s+ U9 t' j
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a9 V3 G: e5 e5 w% \6 t
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one9 _- u! b U6 q/ Y7 x4 E( x
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.1 u4 b% F9 C- E: T f* h+ b4 A
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,9 |1 [3 S8 [) p5 `6 ], H
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
8 O$ Q. k: [$ o/ a' W- e ^7 d# _trace at all.
$ v# B1 h& Y; Z# E1 AHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call6 j, t! ~/ z$ p
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden! @2 h, ~5 W# p& U9 O" I
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
8 A; Y' e0 Z' @4 |) i4 B9 ?recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
; |4 i- M2 N- l% K" k6 HRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
, G' x6 s/ M$ Z/ L# Msaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
/ W$ r4 {5 {4 b8 g) W/ N" y7 ]other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the) c7 K5 {, h0 w, w- p. F+ f
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
, z3 f" H1 d _9 @1 D* O0 ]cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
7 J$ J3 Z5 W6 K# K2 Y# Ysuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained# v# r3 ]9 C6 _/ E+ A- |
by Toyota's lawyers."- {, j! m6 s3 R: B- S
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of% u% a, l/ n2 ?8 @- c/ C0 B
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
8 D* ]( [9 V. ~7 Gcustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he" {- Y% x# p4 Q- Y: C6 C
said.
1 p6 `% D0 t/ q! f) S"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with# b+ G9 ~% M6 l+ W- D* Q5 x
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our, p: I6 Z7 D% K) e* @: g3 v: |+ c
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
0 ^: j! p* m$ I! L0 i9 w7 u! Lofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.. _' i. b6 m6 M
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying& A- u6 B! B% B( p8 q
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
. X6 L- c! x1 W$ y' irancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
3 W5 W. G" O: M: F9 G7 z! lautomaker, at least in part because of the government's6 z, [) m1 O1 D6 s4 w% t5 ~
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and. D2 a% x* `- q+ Y2 k
Chrysler.
6 T7 O7 D& a$ X, y/ W"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
. D& L6 L! Q5 Kdollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a! r7 Q8 E, ~, u9 |+ s i- R4 M
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also7 u X2 R" o2 Q# c5 M! ^
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
6 g' u" ^- K0 [3 h! h/ J5 gwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty. r8 S7 z0 v! ]) N \6 a
tough."% [/ C: J* R. O& ~/ j" l
---+ M! h# m% K3 ?( F/ M9 ~
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
5 d' q+ L9 ]' F* Y- [8 uRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
- q$ I+ h: o" r2 c! W5 I+ Othis story.
$ p8 D$ s' z% S; y! f2 B7 i
! |) B6 m+ }) q: i! p6 }-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
|