 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. P4 V/ M. _- B
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
u7 c* h: W9 M) _5 g, V! UWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
( c8 T0 Q$ [& A7 }1 Poperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that- F2 ?* T; T* W4 p' X* V
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
$ H5 d0 `6 v0 w& a4 m' Jsolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
3 z9 [$ i# S5 Q Q2 N"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
- \6 Z' s% q3 C- {" ocauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.. E6 ^6 J5 G( L8 T. Y/ q& h
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
% l# K. i: j- {6 Y! O3 x4 Aacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and( V# J9 e( E& w3 U8 z* @
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
% A$ l8 Q2 U d: X F/ ymats and sticking accelerator pedals.
4 _$ O: k) Q4 j4 M, uHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
c' p$ h* w1 k1 l. N& }0 }and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp& R1 ]8 y5 s8 B* A2 Q) D! g- }; D
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
; t2 X" q# M, F* F1 S5 K) |1 Ffurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could( y9 F/ \3 L; B. e, [% g3 y
not stop her runaway Lexus./ o/ }8 a3 e- f0 a& R. @( ]6 `. o
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,# [1 a5 a1 E0 e Q% R; D
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second) `7 b+ b# F! P. Z9 z8 Q& a
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
^6 N# i# B8 X4 FTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues$ s! V$ c7 Q1 G
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said; f( M8 b4 d. B% f
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
% x& N* A) o& m w' z# Y! F7 ^done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway+ A% f' O% A- ?. ?' f2 U
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's; R$ K m2 B# _1 k E4 w T
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."! | A1 N/ C0 S$ H$ f9 m
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
+ O' X6 t ?. C; F( helectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of: i, X3 S2 Q& b9 Q& k
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a) D; {4 p) V" {' z1 _. f( D
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he) O, p) w( ?$ J/ r F, l$ b
said. t2 h" @. W* P. N: ]! B
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
) F+ ]! l0 ]/ U7 ^ l- k Shappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
* [9 ]9 h! a' {7 f. {about driving our products," Lentz said.% P; M, x* e5 W* G7 J
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's" O1 R/ x( g* }- ?( `$ A
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has# }7 |, q+ d. ^: m% P) R8 w* ]4 l
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6) i9 S8 N9 {. u' Z' [( R* [
million in the United States -- since last fall because of3 |7 c( ~0 d& W! a( R7 O
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking. c" D7 @) G% @4 k( z5 L1 B2 k
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering x/ k/ q1 Y; J# V3 i
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
7 Z6 B( H& g) _" D+ ?% Ctheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
' p. {: z! B! p& Ldown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
: j" S: v2 M1 j; Dreceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
8 u7 q- m6 a1 {; U8 w$ C% Zof Toyota vehicles since 2000.
- ~% m6 L0 q: a) x$ iLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
) n) Q# a$ L& M jbrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
( l& L/ u7 X3 w) y5 Runderstood the pain.
" o$ L* G& `( Y"I know what those families go through," he said.
& K* r4 w3 _# K5 k* zLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
0 _& s8 P0 B8 p6 ~& y6 hfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.% ~" w9 U6 w. \ G6 s% f( Y
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman% ?9 e1 y, D; f# p
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put5 b& J- _3 s. P5 r/ f1 z4 n
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,5 D4 ~0 s$ \# O* I
Lentz replied: "Not totally."
0 V: z) N" D$ w* W1 WStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were/ F f3 u. g/ i$ u
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said* b' Z' c1 A& j4 X& d, Q
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
* g7 R( Q0 b: e3 Y: V, l4 ppedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
* H9 ^& r( K5 {: ?vehicles already on the road.. }6 x( q) [0 M; W+ Y
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify- |* d) L% Q# t( S0 ^9 [
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
1 S. B8 z1 |1 h# P8 L9 I$ r& {responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
) A) J# a* \& _& y3 Foffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
4 G) W) P* o$ F- Y5 h' Lkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
6 {2 W8 D8 ~) u; V"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a& X- k. H; {3 I F6 Q0 s
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony5 U7 M9 f- }2 e* i1 e. S
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight5 R. d: n$ y4 Y6 }
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
: Q2 C% Z- z# C* F% ?/ Acommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
8 }) L- T: f4 \+ R% U; E5 c Vrestore the trust of our customers."4 _5 x$ t. c3 k4 {! B- [0 P
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from7 x% k1 d, ]3 _" Y
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly5 ^1 V3 W# }! W/ x
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --' b; W% D5 Y7 M
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
* _% C2 w8 w& [. [1 uhitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
! r: C) t# @0 |$ b* F- {that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and. A r1 g$ K; E* Z5 i+ m
turn off the engine." X1 t. x* w' d2 f
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of O, g; o" C/ P& N# X. g1 w
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
9 p1 @+ S' i; v' m# H u/ }7 A" v"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she, ?7 v3 O, G$ B$ ~4 Y% p; @# }& \( R' P
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
4 k2 P4 ]3 _4 f' r" _+ W2 bto her complaints.7 l- _! x/ t. x2 U$ B5 p
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
. d3 `# t/ f a* J, c* y! M. Greturned again and again to the question of whether electronic4 V; p& F+ l+ O/ ^
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
d2 ?" Q3 ~; w e' f$ x"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
& z+ O i% y' Q: ~5 nthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited! ` o5 f, j3 W! Z! _
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut: M$ `7 j* B D( o* P/ }
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure.": x( p( H7 e0 R! R$ k, E
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in- p6 i1 ~" y; j3 E9 {# G" y
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were3 q$ N" l0 D1 u, h7 o
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
' v& v+ |9 m- l ^9 s+ Lwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
- \$ J( L/ m7 q3 v1 k: Severy question."
) b' D3 t% \; m) c$ FToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether y, x$ s: _% `2 L- n$ p( w
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The- q: r* N7 U# @8 r' j
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
7 h* A. g1 h0 b# h9 Y: tcommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small) f* S/ P2 ?& ]3 W2 }( R
number of vehicles
" W8 M% a* o9 u! W: d* k* {0 yTracking down an electrical problem can be far more
+ ^) H2 O2 V# j; E: mdifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
' { l% f1 J. o/ dmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
- G) p" X9 B+ [7 C7 H3 a4 e7 Hsource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
1 W5 I+ T- y! \" t7 @Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,) y0 {( ^- a. O' h/ |
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
7 G3 A7 m4 M; r8 G; ~trace at all.* h/ R. \* }8 e: Q7 s/ d
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
0 c$ z! P1 d/ Z) z" C+ l# W8 Sdatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
8 {! r; X) N' v4 k# q( s+ u& yacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
; ]: z* Y& t! v) H: [# Precalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.' R% Y$ O- y* | }7 m
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
* i9 M5 t7 }. t. u, e* Jsaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
; X8 E8 s# K: t, jother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the4 r& X: P2 l9 |' t( n4 |
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
1 V( ~( B' I: ~2 Z0 Tcause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
! V4 e, k+ e" K8 U( }3 ~such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
6 u2 t" T( F( W0 Aby Toyota's lawyers."2 X U) ?- _. a2 @* Z
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
* q1 t4 e# Z$ R& r: H H. ?problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our: h( ^6 J+ k/ s% f
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
# _6 U4 a# G: x/ P4 Osaid.
, p+ P- A3 E: m% W"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
, h% A9 {* p# L) z S6 T' b( C+ N: ka rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our; i9 }8 [0 O- N- q Q5 ^) E
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating2 ~' [* j0 w6 b, k* Z; c
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.0 j8 ^- a; Y) t/ U0 } ]& B
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
; T1 i# K: d! u5 M/ e2 ~7 |members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread, N4 {9 X( k9 f. Z
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
$ Y }" W& P9 _9 |8 j, a& q0 Pautomaker, at least in part because of the government's, V- n) Q$ g$ X2 x; ~" d
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
1 f$ w4 b! `/ K$ UChrysler., i; A8 Q7 U! _9 s, @0 }
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax X9 m4 Z7 f a# ]6 L
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
( ^) |7 n' X% q( m6 r! s: x! s2 t9 tHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
: j. k9 Z0 a5 `7 g* vserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete: R+ h \& u8 P' P$ W
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty9 B: u% [ G+ E& c/ E6 D
tough."
0 y- F4 I! G; ~. Q9 J---
P+ `* o1 q4 f `* X" A- H! ~Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
' ~/ w$ o. ~: L: ^, A O: ?, IRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
5 z* j1 ^+ Q: ~this story.
& z5 ]6 o/ }' w+ Q
1 n# D8 p( t! @; P' H; x. |+ j-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
|