 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* b3 |3 ~5 V7 w3 N9 }
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
. x7 ?) Z$ T- a, @( hWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.) }: p+ @. \$ v @& K
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
3 u% p2 r D c7 u0 Lthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
( s. O/ A0 ?; Asolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.3 W5 {* D1 d" f) X* R
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
$ c3 L- `! f7 ecauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.8 t. ~/ f# ~! {5 n( M! o
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
( w1 h* }! B+ o; ]acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and- V8 [6 v. ?4 x7 u k
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
' d/ ~7 p; o6 Z6 a7 B1 W( }: Dmats and sticking accelerator pedals.
) f; G/ F( \3 R6 v& cHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
1 ~% h9 ^0 y6 y0 F0 oand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
/ A7 o4 n* e0 G9 Vcriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
) v: ~4 o$ C$ R G/ Qfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could' ]! q' p" E) ?7 J8 U" E; E
not stop her runaway Lexus.% p5 K/ q* {% [: w" w, e
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
3 e+ z% d% P' E- N' P3 DTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
1 I+ R# `; P8 V& L"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
, g- x4 y$ T! n( h# }1 QTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
! A0 b% k4 {1 t! i3 H( f8 c' xearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said7 \- m: ~ r Y# q/ j
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
1 K v9 }8 `1 |7 hdone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway2 {: N6 j6 w# e5 h+ B/ X/ N6 _% y
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's" N/ z& M4 e* b- ^# ?
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
2 [$ k, h' I+ x2 i8 Z% P1 TLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an( ]! {5 G1 ]0 L T2 W9 L
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
% E0 Z2 V+ ]- p1 M! u' f% C" uthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a o) M9 Q- y( O, K2 O! d. E: p
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he) m6 p- f, W% M/ j! H' g/ R/ g/ W
said.
' ?& S1 _2 \4 z* xAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what @/ h2 [' T& v9 t, l
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe$ O4 ^! P0 f3 V7 C+ [
about driving our products," Lentz said.
w1 N8 |( f5 [# }- [& l3 N1 vThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's5 O) j) ~7 X5 e4 i2 D4 m$ P
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
" k! J& o8 j$ q2 Brecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
% P4 A3 l! y t8 Fmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of1 d5 Z% G, r( r8 j: K' i( l! p* Z
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
( j5 j) H2 s$ Vissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
1 W: }4 J. K6 J' V6 P. \concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of \% m* N J+ k/ |8 |, o
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow. z3 l+ w9 Y( @+ ?+ A
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
0 c* s7 h2 P% K( G* b, }% D) \received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration; g/ o# h1 b! C5 [2 L
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.
7 f- i) a9 o5 F! }3 h" s( ZLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own2 Q7 ~0 a! u1 R0 H$ r. O( `7 ^
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
8 ]' Z! p j; h) r" funderstood the pain.) a S/ E- f& v& i0 m
"I know what those families go through," he said. A t* A+ s; m& ?% F& |
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's O4 J) |+ {& W% w0 C
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.$ A9 K" ^" U; y5 Z# m; M
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman6 \, e) [% ^: L, H( t7 z
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
0 C) o' I' O* n0 f+ fin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
. e/ Y7 _; i! j6 p. F4 y8 gLentz replied: "Not totally."3 a7 s5 L; i3 R+ B/ }/ V; u1 v( p
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were+ B; p; F9 Z! Q: d4 S
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
* n9 F8 W( V2 L$ ]! P4 t" P! [Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
& y5 V. ^1 @4 kpedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
j+ f+ ]1 q* r$ f4 Fvehicles already on the road.
% t) d4 n; X0 `2 B2 J3 h) mMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
0 v0 e+ V. X4 R# Obefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
% |9 b6 B' k8 d& X; Z6 m; presponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and P; Q! Q% S: Z$ l: h
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were+ u, d. a9 _. p( {
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
0 b$ Y* c7 r' q, ?: J( K# M) b"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a4 P7 w1 {* w8 g% h! @
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony. a- n8 b& g( k. j( l
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight! d9 E+ f7 ~8 y% U2 H" T$ n
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
' }% R% p+ u& l9 ^8 m8 Ycommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
6 W; J8 X) R a& hrestore the trust of our customers."
+ Q, e$ I% M) oLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from; B) K ~* ?9 i$ Q4 n
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
' w4 Z, T1 t/ [0 S8 V0 [% j, b, B% mzoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --- S' u* |9 H2 \2 u) c
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
7 V6 O9 E" J' T* C: @/ dhitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough% v# A! C, c1 j6 H' ?) T6 Q
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
. u6 \# K" E; k5 P9 _- }( Nturn off the engine., h; B' d- s1 y/ \ g6 J6 f
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of) g( g. M) @9 \& h
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
2 g8 I5 k# K5 b) T1 ^"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
4 C8 G+ l- R B$ ^said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond, J6 C9 J% G, ^% }' X) Z. Y7 @, q
to her complaints.9 J# F* E' j: Z7 V4 a3 d, g
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
, R) t# r, P1 [4 c+ r2 Wreturned again and again to the question of whether electronic
3 L: g" H0 Q( ]: R0 ?; Y _8 Bmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.5 {; P5 U) ^. z' O
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
$ h# ~0 N" u/ E3 Wthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited7 g- h2 w8 k+ e, X5 u" c
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut- r1 v& w" }/ j1 A J7 f
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
- h5 x* j% i& HTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
# C t5 s& Q& s6 o, s/ |7 hprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
# J) n# D8 z+ i( R# ibeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls* W. `& j N/ n
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer) \! v, o7 c! [7 ]3 B8 d
every question."
: W8 {4 V U, X/ z2 k( GToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
& J, p7 _5 X& W! b velectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The1 K' s: U( G, A# j, u
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
Y; A! g6 b/ P9 Fcommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small% ~* o$ c# ]3 w0 Z% }
number of vehicles7 N* A8 p0 y1 K& x
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more& `4 x( J! E( u$ E
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
/ X: ?( Z X. i2 kmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one% R2 `4 a) h+ y( }# C, y
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
/ o! d( k# O3 e$ X1 BMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
! u6 W& \# Y/ t- Y5 S) M2 P1 Mwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
: b* N. G9 |! I2 Mtrace at all.) i0 E8 B9 \' n* }# i" b) w
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
1 B9 C L) c" C( l) ~# U8 Pdatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
. f, x, G* o1 s) i/ b zacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the" b; d2 N, N! {$ {! P
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
) X! W, a2 W! y5 F J1 aRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
1 |5 s, j7 ^- f5 j3 g3 y- A0 S$ vsaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and/ E% h# |/ j: M/ V( \" J
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the6 H( a1 A% i1 M) x) {$ s* r) N
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible7 @" U" N3 \3 z
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only5 ^7 I2 `( t3 Q. s4 S# H
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
7 t3 J5 s8 P: n# n, Gby Toyota's lawyers."4 W, p5 ?+ N2 p
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of( S3 t% Z" b" @8 t4 w
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our! w! s' H8 N& p, ~2 x: ~
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he$ @! X5 `0 m5 \. O0 g9 R
said.: y4 r! T6 u; i2 s+ b0 R' ~
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with# O$ M# s ^! u0 s' }
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our! g" j6 h1 e% P6 [
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating0 Z+ f+ f5 d) E8 S& j9 p+ h
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
) ]/ X" K8 s+ S# Y# D! \/ kSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying+ t0 d# y; P- v
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread' a2 K0 Y+ V! z% [5 G8 @9 P8 D) @5 [
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
& P3 p. \9 n, I. y2 J4 Y# @: Kautomaker, at least in part because of the government's
3 x) Z( g0 q$ v/ }& t) j0 Q% \investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and& o. D [* f/ f; L- X
Chrysler.! f; a3 I2 X8 v& Z4 A" i5 m# h
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax- x6 S/ k& F. w8 ]; i7 _, r: d! W" u
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
. t. x7 K' A I8 H' h0 }Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also' d/ Y" G% W0 o0 H8 g3 u8 z7 ]
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete+ J: `7 L' m' j0 R
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
1 m$ w! y y# C( mtough."
; k5 z% f" Z4 W6 S) j6 Z& I1 c8 S---6 o+ O2 l& O Y' V# Z% c
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
2 }# B* Y n2 M5 V# y$ g, `( sRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
0 G3 P0 U+ U7 k9 r/ xthis story.
; e T8 { s# ]$ Z8 C
" I9 ^! u' r' p6 ]- L9 f-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
|