 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
. b: W/ Y* o4 w" KBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS" ~4 D! M/ l; s0 k) b
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
8 E/ G7 }4 P# n4 B9 O3 X# }% @operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
% e/ n- Q9 c. G; _) vthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"0 @7 T$ B) c; g$ N8 X5 ^; i# K, q% N
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
/ @7 i) ~$ ]5 z. U- e! Q"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential2 v. L0 }3 s+ T% T4 u
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
3 P6 u6 C1 [$ ~8 `4 [' yHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected. K# c) S6 P1 Y% _/ Y2 x1 I- `
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
8 h3 B- W& a5 B! \ a6 E; Q# utrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
) }0 [' @4 p o6 o9 G7 Y# P, u* Nmats and sticking accelerator pedals., ^+ `+ k% _. k% _ K" q d
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal$ W! [% D% ?8 m% U! B* \" r
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
2 n6 O6 A0 e6 r$ J3 Z0 Xcriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
6 p7 f' ?1 M& M1 o; K9 d' K" Cfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could+ V8 m+ D; N! p- Y
not stop her runaway Lexus.
7 X5 V4 V, F% \9 @* j"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
3 O5 l5 i: `, i: A# B! ETenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second6 S3 y. k" a2 q3 J! h( @
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
; j @- R1 b. _# b9 W$ LTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues8 J; Z" z1 z* b* E0 o- r
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said; L1 o+ k% u4 M! [" j+ N, ]+ p& {
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
a% z1 M7 s- O* v7 pdone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway. `. `" S- n+ p2 W# N4 V- C' W
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's& B7 r, s0 S( w8 X* E# C* }
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
! I- r$ O) {/ P1 {5 x9 ?5 ULentz said the company had not completely ruled out an2 X3 r8 ~9 `9 s7 C) r
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of9 n% K2 x: i8 u( r8 t8 e( T2 H) P
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a6 }) ^ z% p7 L% K$ V& J7 d
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he3 E( S& Q7 \4 T' z! `! T
said.
+ O+ Z4 j% w; bAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what$ ]) N* C" j9 D
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
; H- s$ B; q2 f2 [about driving our products," Lentz said.
) C. ? C, l! TThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's, `8 h3 e" S+ A# C D
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has4 j$ O( t7 U. F. j% Q! v" U
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
& ]) g5 L E/ R4 F6 N: Ymillion in the United States -- since last fall because of8 G2 _. N, H8 A3 M/ @( R z
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
) s1 q7 n% z: Hissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering0 Z- w" m3 ~; x5 @5 w
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of0 v- m" |/ v8 h
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
M+ O/ f" r& R! S* A# ~) Z2 ldown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
7 x3 u. e+ k3 T9 vreceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
& r8 r; J/ j, fof Toyota vehicles since 2000.
7 a; k/ j, j) \Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own6 ^- A' {$ J: |+ E. G3 `# }
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he9 [( u! @* i+ J/ e# _2 r
understood the pain.
( _1 a- x7 m l7 u! } l"I know what those families go through," he said.
& Z: _- l L% O ^/ }8 ?$ PLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's$ |! Q. O6 ]3 ]5 B
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
, J# |' E. X* w6 D4 {9 LBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
( i, E) z* q4 K# j/ XHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
* A2 B7 o2 |) B: qin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,0 f4 e/ Q) K/ G {" W
Lentz replied: "Not totally."% q* T' D# w; `0 S
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were1 N+ M2 q: L4 s: {6 H
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
0 _4 l- T( \4 Q( J( sToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
$ I2 d# k5 P; N' E8 u* c. k* D9 upedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its, O% ]8 N. C, f, z
vehicles already on the road.
" x' p0 n5 u9 _7 o, H0 o1 HMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
/ P* g2 G0 p, V. D3 Kbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full1 {$ N4 G$ W" t. v3 i
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and8 [( g+ v+ k! \
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were J Q' ~. R- U, P& |4 r5 c! w
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.6 ~* i; X$ Y7 g- y; J3 P1 y
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
1 _7 t$ u" Y4 X" }: X8 dtragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
1 y: Y; @9 Y9 A% Z0 S+ v! E# }for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight$ o& X6 B( z- c9 @$ K, `
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
- C0 c9 M2 Y+ t* h7 T3 ^) r0 acommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to/ W! [ `% X! Z' L" x& y5 }4 T
restore the trust of our customers."1 n" [3 `( F' S6 \
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from, F7 E5 [4 o$ X9 Y% \4 A3 D
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly5 @5 ?; O$ {/ D( K1 D
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --$ N6 ^( s! |! W* N
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and6 |( j& J2 G" f6 B; P% p) Q' S, |; r
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough. d6 N& Z o" L o. t
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and0 O! f3 {) G0 r x( z) g
turn off the engine.% W1 }- b+ J9 a: \7 j0 K
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
: s* n, c1 o# z* Y3 ?October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."6 p6 u v5 e# k' a# L8 E
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she( E/ _6 N0 A( V3 c# Y; x/ q
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
9 L6 W6 ^# o, oto her complaints.' P, ~2 i$ X+ [; I& F& q
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
! ^ b" v6 G- {: k5 g ?7 P# f' xreturned again and again to the question of whether electronic) A! ?* S- I, p9 z7 n
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
# l9 a3 S# z! z, F+ X! T% S"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric4 f$ h9 J; v! J7 e( {+ C$ \
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited& }6 d0 @$ u$ K# t7 v4 f8 D
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut7 K3 n3 X4 ^9 A6 F" r
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
7 c5 L: w8 j1 j' GTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in9 v; W% `& A4 c: v
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
& `( R6 P+ v% hbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls: ~# p- y/ ~/ N% A- X+ S9 [
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
1 j M, ^1 U3 R; J) l( pevery question."* r m" @# w5 ^
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
% f( M0 C/ X' A. B/ n- ^, z# H8 R eelectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
( r0 M* l( k" x% m$ g, efirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
; d5 f0 X" c- Z0 V1 q) Dcommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small" \& S' u# S5 T' p. t, i2 A0 z
number of vehicles
# i- [6 b4 E" |- J: qTracking down an electrical problem can be far more7 _" m% x A6 B+ p# I# \& j/ E6 y
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
" _2 @2 M# T$ x( B nmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one6 A7 C& p3 K/ R, C, p* K5 ?
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
2 {" g8 G4 ~ \/ ^- h0 m6 A: J# lMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,4 C7 j& t" x6 Z/ q# h
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
! e# t1 c% \4 Q1 c( ltrace at all.
5 {& P; p m# F3 ?4 Q& M. [House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
+ H' f+ e1 Q# I y$ v% Zdatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
% K ]9 ~& x& u9 D2 ]" uacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the0 a5 k2 h: F4 @( s1 \9 I# I1 y
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.; s7 t, ^" Q4 {0 |
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
# W3 p% z) M- M. j* usaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and" f3 J! h/ j& x* {
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the/ G$ F' B W0 R2 f
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
; J4 I: T7 N p# Z3 ?cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only8 E6 Q0 Z z5 }
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
. U, w# }' v" A* ]% o4 ]by Toyota's lawyers."/ O; ]0 Q; ^ y
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
' T2 L' ]4 v3 ?problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
2 N3 j) A! U- d( c1 l1 i* v/ a( ocustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he# x) v% U* H9 r3 l+ l6 \
said.
4 [& I8 V5 L' x+ A" k"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with" ^4 x. E: M3 F7 u. U, }: T
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
$ }" u& f/ N/ g! U; G+ Dgood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating' `5 Q2 x$ U0 T- Z
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
* k* _$ `" F9 _; P) x) h# WSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying+ Y- T7 W- M' ^# Y4 \1 A) L
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread7 _) S2 W# D8 W$ |; P
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
; i- D$ w) X0 b. W1 C1 Pautomaker, at least in part because of the government's
% b n2 F4 i8 V7 kinvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and; D3 v: |- q3 _% o
Chrysler.
; { @+ b6 o5 J5 [ }"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
$ s1 W# |7 l5 m. `dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a* m! |$ h( _6 i7 c9 t
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
7 k' J; a0 g* Userved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete" \, t; e9 j( M
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty A9 N* g! c) v
tough."" c0 j6 S# u# E2 P; B) \. s
---
; c' U* T1 s% c r3 V* }* e$ mAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom, Y& @ `4 d1 s+ F: W6 Q8 M9 p- I
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
" E8 s, v# \2 E/ I# w5 Bthis story.; G# R9 y& I" j: D; j
( u7 O4 t. U$ Z$ U& Y& r
-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
|