 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
- Y) f" N8 k t* D9 U( IBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
% o6 }6 f% z2 m& g4 }& _8 U4 OWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
/ |0 [; h! U1 c7 Coperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that( S/ Y4 }7 n6 H
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"! W$ Y5 [+ K- }% D* I3 t
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.* y) W' R1 q& ?& Y$ E
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential! {" K6 B* ]1 u
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
9 V/ X: G/ ?" L2 _$ o0 B. KHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected/ E5 T/ n9 n8 C
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and+ v: }+ v( a9 B3 k, V7 H" Z* _& K
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor; R' x: ?! R' N9 W
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.
: r7 s3 }/ e; ?1 J/ THe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal1 X |, ^% G4 |( R7 s) G
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
+ y" s3 q: E( ccriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
1 b* ?/ b+ z" K& rfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could0 ]; P4 O- H" W2 w! H: C0 X+ N; C
not stop her runaway Lexus.
- R0 P7 i/ w+ B$ a: ?& _, x3 A* _"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
: X2 Q c8 \- k/ a/ U! T( zTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
' {5 {! f& M' x* ]( h( j( D"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.* h$ C8 x, `) o3 d% M E1 Q7 g
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
1 |0 x$ ]' o9 u0 vearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
, @, v( v( H) A# X9 _"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
3 x! V6 k: C% n* k% I5 Mdone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
- d# t6 A! y+ ~# O, r0 s& J1 kthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
, h% N: e# E+ L8 Uinvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham.": ~4 p' @* V7 x( _7 ^
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
5 \4 r$ ^* i# c4 Helectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of/ X/ y# K4 n H+ U2 A' X5 i( t+ B6 X
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a, D7 B; s/ e' c) \/ h. x3 H* c" s
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he( H: k" w. @+ f& A& O4 k9 z) g
said.
7 ~) @9 k8 h% X( d6 D& qAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what5 f" c# ~* ?1 K1 C* c& I0 q' _
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
6 j/ ]) D7 F) k+ Uabout driving our products," Lentz said.- \+ r# k3 H1 t# {' A
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's' y5 S- V5 y2 k" ^
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
; Z" w' D( z0 q: o- B/ E- orecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
( Q8 A( w% d) y: V2 C; qmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of
" e6 Q! }$ o/ ?# aunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
# o& d, s* z* f, }issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
: r; D! z: W/ i* A Wconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
* O3 ?( U8 x: M* w/ Q$ [5 ~ ?4 Ctheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
: o% g N Q9 ydown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
A' X9 I# G J% }' A4 c: p! Z, E2 Wreceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration3 t- ^1 t3 F. W! A$ {
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.% i# S7 M" D3 d; v
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
& m8 ~, i# i: s' a$ H2 a% ibrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he4 d/ h& X; F& Q; K6 c4 ]
understood the pain.
W8 h f% I" G/ J- D$ ]5 O+ I"I know what those families go through," he said.
6 ?0 C1 l; X7 I% j+ R) V& B5 RLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's4 ^ r( Y- F4 r8 F7 V& z
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
& B! G# `' i1 r- f0 TBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
% L/ e3 k1 f4 O4 _$ Y0 y4 J+ NHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put6 i8 e# h0 A, Y W
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,3 n% h& s5 R. K# G
Lentz replied: "Not totally."' _2 I+ R( c" l1 E1 |1 d! }
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
5 ~! ], s! ?5 @! Y+ i/ F) Q"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said3 V5 \8 Y1 r/ i; s3 a
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
y# Z: G! \' {2 z4 Zpedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
2 [ E( n5 ^0 F3 f! Fvehicles already on the road.3 q4 F8 z1 q& C) v$ g5 Z
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify% g" o, N$ { u8 i) }6 A2 h
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full1 S' Y1 X' O+ D& u1 X! }2 ]
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and$ G3 g6 G a) w1 c
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were& H% z/ Z# w4 A
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.: _! @: B2 M' r; B! `- e
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
- z* P0 ]7 ?" {8 ^& s3 @4 j: q' gtragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
. l; _$ L5 [1 l9 {7 } R( U: Lfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight' h: w* d8 e: y4 f6 E$ J0 n1 C
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal- s: s9 I1 h! c1 l- G
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to0 X6 n; f- Q9 q$ e4 c8 b
restore the trust of our customers."$ E( }' w! z, k1 \- @
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
' _6 k- n J' `Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly* s( e' u2 G0 l
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --$ u) F- }- w3 w0 Z# `
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and c- u5 _& T0 d5 ]: _
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
- z3 \! G: ~4 k6 x+ P/ {that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
4 H R5 a/ G+ a" A- k; n" m+ Sturn off the engine.
/ B& F# D2 @- D0 R- H5 cFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
9 |0 I% ^, w j( d9 [, j3 p0 f9 LOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
( g$ y0 @6 W }! f* w$ h"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
, o ^6 f( [' f3 bsaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
5 V0 e+ f! q8 W4 Y+ ]2 Eto her complaints.
! f& _2 `, D. ?& aIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
1 j# }2 t% a. W+ _8 K7 }returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
* x8 X" R. a# P emalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
4 h: H* w9 z9 L. j1 M1 E* o+ N"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric5 c) `9 E( ^/ N, s- R' z/ z ~6 h
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
Z; z" K& D4 `"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut! j; B+ a5 Z( i
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."% A! X' y7 X6 B# ~3 s. z
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
& `5 y A9 ? O2 [0 P! G! fprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were$ n; d0 N5 H/ N7 W6 b( M
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls( [0 {8 s! k6 N2 a. ]) b# v
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
3 V0 G) E4 j( tevery question." R6 w' }( J6 k% o" z/ r9 H h
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether Z- [/ @4 `0 C+ R4 A6 f
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
+ |9 m% t$ ^ J4 x9 i- U1 kfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But; c; ]8 n, ^" T9 W1 ^1 Q% }
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
, q, W& S8 Z2 O) c, M/ p& bnumber of vehicles
) R- p2 f4 q) s2 wTracking down an electrical problem can be far more2 W; w `" F3 E) K) Z
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a$ ~' R- i' x, R6 \
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
6 ?5 ~4 P; m t- _source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
; A# M- S9 R& UMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,4 j$ U7 b, q. d' H/ l2 J; T
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
, D% h. P; J) u4 t7 `+ z1 ctrace at all.7 w5 m$ k, h1 I v+ `
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call0 I( k9 W3 |. P, ^- p
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
. Y d* y4 U' e2 X( j/ Vacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
1 Y* b& N8 O) w+ ^9 Srecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals." O" S! m. C) k6 U& b/ O8 Y
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
; s9 x# f6 T3 i0 S3 v. H- C: d% Zsaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and, e ~7 b3 R4 J
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the* W3 k% [* U: l C7 r8 F6 w
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible1 B5 |1 L1 G/ ?, m( M
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only( v d! x$ c6 v- k d: J: ~; J& J
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained' z9 H5 t) p4 w H6 }$ T
by Toyota's lawyers."* F, j7 m" z/ F/ ~, H# I% Z
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
, A' X0 ? | y9 f- A |problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our, u# K9 G' C; W3 s
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
; E+ v" o8 u& y3 ssaid.( E, ~0 p5 L2 V$ e4 `$ p. X
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
+ ^& k$ O9 x0 k4 q; xa rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our, M3 V% `; K2 O! i1 r9 l+ L
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
" c- ~& O8 R% Uofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc., s5 E: K0 h. `* J
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying& i% X& r4 ~8 H* V D8 Y$ v2 j& s
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
; L% D5 w! D0 o; b# w1 ^rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
# u, o8 p5 `- U( n- v3 f2 sautomaker, at least in part because of the government's
# O$ z5 d$ F; W; j: u% M1 o- minvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
$ \. H2 `7 e: T6 A% YChrysler.
' D# G: q7 h7 V+ E# j% T"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
7 c- n) `# f1 N7 N: ] @- F) `dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a5 B! h" A0 N* y7 i# i. H2 q* q! v
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also! j' ]2 t4 ?. [. n6 Z
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete+ E- h3 Z( x( A6 S
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
9 t9 J" m+ L0 B/ Y" {tough."0 i1 Z: r! K% `( @/ l- i
---
, o+ A+ z2 j3 u x( f" \Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
7 Y9 _+ }) G e( x$ t$ E( S" iRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
$ @" A6 c v! a4 n) sthis story.
2 C0 S' i6 l: b
: U6 Y* I3 P* o- @4 g* w% r2 h5 \-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
|