 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) e6 {! k1 k7 g- y8 y' a9 Z: t9 j" h
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS8 W. x# y" x% y4 j: W+ A
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.5 ?0 o# N/ {& f3 p; f
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
4 U4 Q$ l: d: j4 {the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"' J) z* }: r5 H S* ~! ?* u
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.7 x$ H9 A, |- D" W9 e# S: K
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential4 r- X& H8 ]! ^" E% W. E/ w: O: y; W
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.: l, s& g$ I$ ]4 M5 n% Z
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
; f6 M2 G9 E% k4 X6 h. z/ D8 Facceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and) A; _0 |% g/ W( R( s7 X( g: i
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor9 [1 r2 n# Q/ W, f& g0 X4 Z
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.
- y1 m% J2 M5 ?8 UHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
8 r' B3 s2 I) oand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp% g! [, p# s' w4 J% \+ @
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
5 `! s& V9 i3 h8 d2 H0 Nfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could: N: w& z- g5 c1 J6 o9 L
not stop her runaway Lexus.
2 A! Y1 n/ k- J% \8 B6 h"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,7 |, {) P2 M2 t
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
$ u5 y1 U& [0 H: h, Q y"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
. ^1 c* S2 {* R! I: d: ~6 vTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues1 v+ M+ `0 c, L3 Q( T/ i0 X& U- N
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said# Q0 n: r6 ^6 ?: C* v# j
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
* R. Y, n! M* Z) A" jdone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway% c( q6 {0 N5 J
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's6 p9 j* ?% K" T: ]4 G+ q
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
0 R9 n$ K& y& Y+ f2 G8 y/ fLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
* k. ^" v3 \" {7 E7 relectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of1 D1 b+ P0 n, ^. W8 r4 N
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a$ L. ^2 \( N' i
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
. ~; Y: Y9 h4 t( ?# Fsaid.
2 M* D2 a$ Z5 x1 ~2 C9 cAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
, ]! v2 S) X) H& O4 Phappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe4 f7 z, @6 q7 h5 Y
about driving our products," Lentz said.5 H( B# d' ]( y
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's d& i, l0 b) e9 ^6 [, ?+ j+ B
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has( X" o3 [/ c( |* L5 J5 K5 u! Z7 @4 k
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6- W3 L! T" Y' q: \
million in the United States -- since last fall because of' H4 I4 ]' O% g* {6 P" W9 A4 ~& K
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
! R+ ]( [; Y2 Jissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering' _! A! r, D9 y4 q' t) z7 O7 {
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
4 T+ r6 z' e Q- C! d+ |- W7 I, `their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow3 v6 T/ B/ j- Y2 A/ p ~
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
0 C: \; B& ?- C& n6 ]received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration: }, M4 L4 j/ z$ H% v- | c
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.5 O, c0 L @' {7 r; x
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own( }5 g" k: n0 x& {$ e7 e) X
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he- r) ]1 }% P$ x' v. z+ B
understood the pain.. K: u) t/ a4 q6 U4 i0 k9 T
"I know what those families go through," he said.# ^# b1 ~& i; c( _# {
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's, }# }' r7 `, f: b/ f% v' a
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
2 N z/ X3 Z# \2 J" K( S0 i7 O; pBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman# ?* e6 H7 \& A( P; E
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put- `1 K4 r% `" k/ O' u! U0 ^
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,$ L0 G& }6 ^% _
Lentz replied: "Not totally."4 h/ q0 A4 P1 O3 N& Y Q
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
9 A% S3 j# s6 v! w% \"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
. h% v1 A! D3 gToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas( J8 W3 u6 j3 h; z/ G- Q
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
7 [0 ?+ I& S7 L0 avehicles already on the road. p4 x0 ~6 |+ h _
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
$ r( U/ M% K4 o/ ^# wbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
& |2 I* v9 U: N, L7 ]responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
/ a$ @8 Z7 I6 h- d' L" z, G a: \offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were4 G3 h/ ~6 T9 }6 _/ o0 @7 J' I
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
& D0 M& e0 F, D8 S8 c( F4 e"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a7 s; j ]( L0 w6 ~3 [5 T
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
# K* Z% P1 k: }" a/ p0 zfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight4 [& E) {5 Q( ^ K4 ]/ H; w9 V
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
: D& R, k9 a& V/ E. p8 ?0 Xcommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
{8 X' K) v7 |2 P3 lrestore the trust of our customers."
J! b, j m& M8 pLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
3 s# k* S' H8 |9 z- s! f/ T. OSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
0 ? Z' c! s+ n- L& i8 V" E$ i( wzoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop -- W; V* i- b3 l" w' {
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and- `: H, [5 c( \) [- f+ w
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
% p% Z }2 q, [) c3 l/ y8 Wthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and& [+ ~" R% N$ L, J( ?3 y
turn off the engine.
( J2 B8 Y& R0 D* N$ L: T+ _: N* @Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
7 `" `- [1 u2 I9 J6 VOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."; J( f; C4 ?* |
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
: `7 _; h# }/ S. @said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond$ e: G* N l; o5 T, R
to her complaints.
" [4 |* l* c5 p3 X2 M& a$ ]In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers$ ^) w) A- N1 e6 Q
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic4 T. n F4 @2 \+ B- n7 A
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
% ?* F+ c5 D: B2 F1 n"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric4 M1 @& m4 o s) `) D/ I
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
1 T4 {/ h* S1 }# e"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
* n2 Y& _# F4 H' J' i M: E& O+ Soff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
4 r. q6 X: J3 _" H2 [5 C: CTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in6 c9 G6 v$ |% |" v+ R7 e/ z V
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were5 s" R1 P; c1 `3 h, f+ `
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls: i/ H/ Q3 k/ W; R9 H0 K+ V8 Z
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
4 `' }- t7 v- s: a# r) B/ uevery question."0 T+ N: m4 X, W
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
2 x3 e7 h# ~( uelectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
+ `4 D8 ~7 K1 F. d! V. wfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But9 `) j& Q- i" e8 \! `5 g
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small4 f& b0 h! }8 f: a
number of vehicles
- S$ ?5 g1 T* J7 x' p1 D' nTracking down an electrical problem can be far more
5 D# u; R( ?3 O @difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a. Q8 g P0 u$ o
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
/ j3 [3 o* c h' g8 Isource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.# w$ q% K# [, T" `
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
: F4 W& _ k ]( G; Kwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no2 P$ q2 s8 \( z4 d, q$ p* p" M
trace at all.
: b |: e, Q: a1 [# ?House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
/ j# h$ D* s) ^7 S- K( v& x* Adatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
I4 d2 T* c8 k! ~1 h! Qacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
' A R6 w* S5 o/ d0 d' J( ^recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals. o6 [6 C& q, l8 l2 e
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
& X6 q' T. v% P* P3 ^/ Nsaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
4 y1 k# ]6 n1 l. o( Mother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the% \) s1 Q% E0 c5 W
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
3 n+ n4 }# N3 G; n- G& @5 ocause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only5 Z; A0 }& ~% J
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
8 R6 {; A. I: u. ^7 v9 c2 gby Toyota's lawyers."( z! m) d% _3 ^, q
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
5 e" } R" q( Tproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
- t; z" E+ h# } X0 d7 rcustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he( R8 b7 d& ^+ a9 f; ?6 o" N+ w
said.
; K# ^# @) J" Q0 R# ?& o" H8 L8 V, u& Q"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
+ q9 X7 D2 C- {) r/ y$ c: h: Z2 g. Y Q1 Xa rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our# q$ G7 R0 q7 m2 Z) Y2 w
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
3 V* x$ i$ j! O4 | s7 lofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
) }! L. `0 F0 M4 rSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
X4 A6 n. u+ Q2 e' Rmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread! S6 _" O! G) y4 q- t
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
/ A4 j: c+ ]1 g8 p% [automaker, at least in part because of the government's
% n/ K" P$ x- e4 q; o. Binvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and6 f3 o( Z9 S0 y! d/ G6 L( {! @* X
Chrysler.. h/ |5 @1 a6 ~6 ]0 e1 J; p& d0 q2 k5 u
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax- u! j% }' A$ F
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
' y+ V; \9 |* M0 @0 THouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also/ i) |, z% |/ v8 W8 J, e6 z' Q
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete! G8 R( f: W5 \$ O. V
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
# l, `1 U/ j" d; X; B9 }1 }6 M" ttough."
$ n5 S: z; [6 e+ K2 k---
/ V5 b; O" R3 F% \4 h7 N& `& M wAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom1 q( m% w3 [" E8 k; D
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to8 X* |, d( d( }7 y8 e2 g
this story.
3 W5 F& V9 i9 z- M; F
9 Q1 X. p( X2 O6 U/ s0 y-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
|