 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$ [* ~- e8 O6 O
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS1 t3 ~( d& {& r+ D& R
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
8 j! j8 n- N8 N1 J5 G3 D& Moperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that7 h: _" v! C- K" |! x6 x; W! a
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
& ^! N' J+ Y* w0 }' Z: {solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.* _, M5 R" s* }5 G$ ^+ ^8 ?5 ]- F) a
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
_1 C% w! j2 ~6 e' ycauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
3 ^8 M! L+ w/ A3 X7 n- N1 J2 r4 }However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected7 k, l7 b$ I9 ?! s( s0 ]
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and+ g4 Z& g1 B3 r% K ?) d
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
3 M p( j. H8 \" Lmats and sticking accelerator pedals.
. {% `5 Q1 h$ n: yHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal0 K1 N7 }5 Q1 D
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp8 Z* _* P. A. G P3 P6 o5 X
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
8 J, E% ?1 J" L: gfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could4 K* P7 g8 F+ }
not stop her runaway Lexus.( i( g' n$ B7 c q- z
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
' s) v7 b8 z4 q3 d: M t: MTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
2 O+ G" C8 I3 K' y$ M"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.* A; U6 q. y; }/ h
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues+ n& E4 F* R* r6 S3 [
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said9 T. d" k+ b1 w4 o/ e4 w
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
+ Q: O( q i( Y& c% g hdone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway4 ?, G* Q, e& I7 G: U
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's8 E3 ~, r+ b. r0 j+ v: Q- m7 I
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."0 K+ B/ R( C9 R! s
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an- o; _: }: T) g0 |( r
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of X* I: d2 R2 h' a: s, U- R
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
+ H8 L7 Y9 @) _) X2 w2 O# x+ V- b2 }malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he! T7 l# t3 ]6 D/ o
said.
/ q, H- n# v& X; I0 } N/ F rAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what' r9 m+ c9 D& {5 g6 {3 c8 J6 C) `
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
( Z$ y5 G8 ?# `6 C8 ^& i- h1 ^about driving our products," Lentz said.' [1 D0 ~% z8 D, D
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's A6 p/ H+ ^3 N0 w* t8 f3 _! }) n
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has) U2 `7 j8 c% P! i3 P2 Y3 R
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
2 b7 l5 [3 H3 [8 o2 Smillion in the United States -- since last fall because of
# i! ~) j8 F4 n/ R4 J2 dunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking3 e$ l) S4 N" \5 U F0 O
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering# e) x6 ]' k/ S, @# E7 l
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
- r3 Z+ b U0 U, z; wtheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
; z9 r- h2 ~# f1 ^2 q, Bdown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
% b, ^1 ~2 i& y" A4 r) Zreceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
) w# l8 o! Q# ]! b: w0 m" qof Toyota vehicles since 2000.
0 l, \8 r5 ]/ L1 D* e( WLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
/ f$ ?- [% A, y2 v& c9 N' u6 `brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
. L; P% a9 b3 d# {# p" junderstood the pain.. P$ W! S: q7 f) Y/ j. H- A
"I know what those families go through," he said.& X- l! m4 C: I. a, r7 x
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
5 w6 k. D; w/ s. ?4 m0 n! `fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.. b/ b# l4 W, c: l p& ^
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
, `: ]" x' s; U+ F: KHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put$ ]$ {; L; t8 v' v1 u C- U
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,& d3 V5 y' `1 v6 @
Lentz replied: "Not totally."
! _% w5 s8 k8 s& r- }7 wStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
, a. j9 K: Z$ q, v0 N$ b"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said T8 r. j0 Y& w1 I! `) J: P
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas3 i: M" o- m$ m2 |2 n& Y
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
) V, ]& T0 o0 U0 S& ^5 P+ ?vehicles already on the road.
' R2 M* F6 |* hMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify3 _& I. b. |$ t& x6 r9 y% d* Y( T
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full0 z. ?. O8 b7 o2 r8 {6 ~
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and: ?% a3 t- r3 `8 Z
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
$ `/ b1 G: z& O7 x& x2 _1 v# v4 w* Skilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.$ k. U1 D: o/ y4 u2 _
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
2 G& H6 E; m4 C6 ^ jtragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
0 b8 F0 Z! i8 W( ~for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight& @1 c7 f3 X, m/ ?8 \
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal: Z- W2 G, ~' g9 ]1 C0 {' S+ b. K
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
& n. B5 H8 f% y- e: R' H% hrestore the trust of our customers."! Q' C0 {/ [3 L$ l, f
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
5 c \* j! H- F; G1 V- Y7 b/ ^, |Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
: k$ T" l5 q) ~zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
( v9 w" B# [ _8 z! }. q% ushifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
& x2 c4 [/ C) z6 |hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
; l" p. I; `. t0 f `, \# i$ K( ethat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and& Q7 D \# c7 T- I* A% \% X
turn off the engine.6 w, M: \; `8 W" o9 J
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
+ z/ H$ L0 s$ q/ \9 k5 SOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."( U- I) h! Y# \. F! Q2 A
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she9 D7 G, ^5 K% i
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond! B# Q$ h. ?/ Q! Y' R& C% z6 m
to her complaints.* ^* j, E1 T- L9 K8 K, H+ w
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
5 a+ w% j0 f( `+ p; q o, l& Ireturned again and again to the question of whether electronic
3 u% J! M8 H1 \4 pmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.* j+ { G9 P9 y- |% d
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
7 A" X& P7 y9 ^throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited$ Z% M2 Q8 ^1 e. d6 U
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
9 T9 }. i) l/ ]3 Y+ hoff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."4 R1 ~" T1 J1 H& [
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in3 q* C$ l" M9 _. D7 ^4 m) w! G
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were3 i, N: m- s) Q+ F% I& J
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
+ U0 \5 u5 z. {5 a2 N+ U5 jwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
4 u+ r _( d m! E% y3 Yevery question."
$ p o' P; i& k$ |9 mToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
% d/ x; ^) D; u; Kelectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
4 n7 o4 v5 O# x- k" M) n6 vfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But) A( l- t) W6 y0 O1 A8 p
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small5 J. ~$ T7 z. R) D0 [3 Z& A
number of vehicles6 j$ F' q) N. X
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more1 ~* L# ^& m. m* S: K
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
5 [, d5 Z- A# o1 u# U* emechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one& U/ X( i% `% G$ n" R
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
1 d1 R9 m) A% s3 TMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,- L, }; L! {& h# P/ [
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no1 P5 n7 D* ~! L
trace at all./ p9 m7 y, J a$ U3 X- B) B
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call* T. K8 s7 d" |+ d, |( n
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
. t0 u3 I5 F S0 E$ R, [ uacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the* P3 Z6 N2 r) z E) v- p0 {
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.0 M7 q0 G; S; I2 l H7 m
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,5 h# E& K3 q# _
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and! q) }; J# A4 m) ^; ]; G. y
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the0 d4 H! A5 V9 K/ H2 d6 t. E
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible8 D' ~, l1 I' H. }- `7 V
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only1 |9 A" [# q1 f/ O5 ~: Y
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained0 Y% a, a! x5 m+ ]4 m
by Toyota's lawyers."
" c k. J3 A* u3 P7 d7 RLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of2 I' ?8 H; c O" X1 A1 t
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our4 f. U- v& O* ~6 d: n1 @) a% ^
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
. |4 J7 W- e" osaid./ |) |& Z; C0 {0 {2 u# O3 H
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
" j0 ^2 R. U0 ~- P& p! za rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
( J2 r; O7 j3 F8 ugood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating! \8 @* v) _; z* i% q: y$ n
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc./ a( _% e$ d1 g E+ @% b
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
" z7 ?8 k7 b0 Gmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread! \) A7 I9 t Z9 m* S$ f5 `
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
3 O2 G- _6 K) V: T/ Vautomaker, at least in part because of the government's& \( Y2 J+ K& t- l8 ^
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and5 @; I) A9 Z% i1 `4 [
Chrysler.2 t8 s$ x2 I; J' m$ p7 n4 x! [
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
( X5 N+ |& d. t' `& z# K7 wdollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a. t! S# k2 v! C$ I) k
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also. y3 m; o. v0 V6 _" _
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete" }! Q$ a. {4 W- Q5 ]6 N9 a2 P a
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty3 \* {4 d" r2 g! }
tough."1 j! E% X6 @$ d5 B; f
---
8 Q9 N$ B) [* o" N+ q: W! P8 |% G# eAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom7 G* o, v4 ^ K/ z( F
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
4 `7 {' G& a, r; g- W( d# G, athis story.
5 m' K8 \; \' k2 ^/ l; W0 d" c" `& N/ Z
-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
|