 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
, R; G$ @% p C4 K ]4 @By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS6 ]" g3 G: Y& u% r: o
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S. X5 R/ M" L' M8 L N4 s, m! U# x
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
, W9 @% t6 }3 o9 g% Zthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally": o- m- P0 R& h2 {1 {
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
& w& K- X; s$ K; M7 A/ l7 d0 ?"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
! [& J4 \+ u% }9 B) E$ |causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
1 F; @! L% W) v# }( F2 wHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected( T1 l$ Y2 |' C7 `
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
, L/ ^! _$ X' o {, j* |trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
. ~# E! U: t% xmats and sticking accelerator pedals.
# P6 n/ @. j4 R9 |. A! P jHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal0 B: w; D6 m1 K |$ h
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp2 i5 m s* A6 ]: V, N3 G9 A
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be% E: d9 k; c H7 W6 O
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could, n" I6 E3 a+ E K1 f3 B
not stop her runaway Lexus.
% H. a' N& c. v"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
" \7 T( {$ P: P; [ L S- MTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second* D6 G9 H7 G3 z& X; F$ i- g
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.* j) m2 x7 ~8 ~+ z6 C: k# q" h& B
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
8 Q. u( v& F9 Wearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
: c6 L) b! i9 _"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has9 y* x% x4 R$ {! b
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
[; D4 X1 F2 E3 ?8 [' othrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's$ H, x8 W0 K+ ]/ }. }5 Z4 ]
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."$ w" f; k5 U4 ~4 A; V% ^
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
' |, e% { w! K4 e" L" v4 v$ M! eelectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of$ J$ G) C; K, z
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
6 k0 ^' Y- d, M2 u( M+ ]malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he8 T _9 l1 H N# V. o. ?
said.
3 x! a* x$ @( W) g2 y+ ~' IAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what4 p5 z9 x- m- v# ?" K0 g
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
9 S) `/ V9 k% ~" F# ?4 N1 Jabout driving our products," Lentz said.( P$ p) P( d' p7 {( Z# P
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's" G& D0 p; }$ ?9 B/ T/ u
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has7 Y R4 X: J5 \/ _( O3 W
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 61 U" K8 I6 L: \1 A
million in the United States -- since last fall because of
9 F! k7 n* D. t3 `& j9 \unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking0 v( }6 I4 a7 J1 e$ V4 l" m
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
; i3 f9 }% Z( U, O6 [ J: yconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
, i" ?& V' T4 p. i& y; k5 B+ y* A4 ^their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow6 p4 H: w$ k2 o; k0 O; g
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
2 j* M, I C# P, o, f1 ]$ ^received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration& ~ M+ f" c; I* K, t( \" Z9 g
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.
" Q' s$ }2 e: p1 {( ~: ^Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own+ }) I6 I0 G3 t- O- b. d8 Y; x
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he. `) N8 l" H, f0 j) V+ F6 m8 o
understood the pain.* T6 H2 e- E' ?' l
"I know what those families go through," he said.
/ X# T# x: m0 l4 g [4 }' ILentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
9 N |! N2 @/ r! o. s1 a5 Jfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.- ^! k9 [5 N4 ^. Q
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman, m0 R' Q$ S- W$ p
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put$ y6 Y5 t7 D8 r% z8 g' { X6 ]
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,8 T* L' M( a$ x) h
Lentz replied: "Not totally."8 \. |; L0 q) p* Y& H: m9 }
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
) s+ N) S+ F! ]+ ]3 n& z$ r9 x- y"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
8 X. c, X' u7 s2 _Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
( `8 |+ I+ k4 ^( L2 x8 ~pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its) ^& V1 i% c6 ^' Q& n5 r5 l3 {' _
vehicles already on the road.
0 V0 @, J7 M5 O, F+ y. N& ^Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
, k7 x2 w+ [0 [- q1 {8 r4 R( S9 t" Zbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
* k$ O* j. b) _( Oresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
Y" o: R! ~8 v% Q0 M3 Ioffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
" \! e' H& t3 ^: T# h6 U, N. S, gkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
: Z% |0 N/ ^0 _1 j7 A( n8 P4 J"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
; A; W" l& c. ~tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
' `6 G V7 ?% J8 B9 Ofor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight4 X& X) z" d0 [+ [! M
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
1 F/ ?7 t) }; Q1 d/ [" xcommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
( ]0 X) ~4 |2 {" m! Qrestore the trust of our customers."! e' M! G$ N& b9 c3 I. O
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
6 p2 n# V1 n. q" `Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
3 m* `8 ?" x4 A5 L6 V& dzoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
$ C h( S- e$ X( l& \1 Sshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
( d( s9 r( O4 o8 j6 uhitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough: u# h3 q# i( O! u/ M
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
8 }( q6 `! o- ?3 }) A" d6 m' }9 I0 uturn off the engine.
" C$ `1 N B- d& P- r: a; l& rFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
3 ], m! M) H( {: F5 @0 @October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
7 ^! U* f' A* N! j5 [+ B"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she/ G! z9 R; v8 \
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond/ p' Z5 z+ B3 z. m! [0 k g7 N
to her complaints.
% f \" d* o% f0 ?. e+ oIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers( [$ Z8 B' e+ m
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
9 W3 d5 _# f8 @0 ~) Smalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
* {& r9 N2 _: `4 g"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
5 L- Z& B) z5 K) o: Sthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
6 \) W# c8 W- A( Z1 V [: F9 \" {/ G! r"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
' G7 c0 ]# c" eoff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
7 T" p4 ^ b0 c8 j; y! kTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in5 l( o5 q. ~0 J
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
- Q( z* I' f$ K3 R, gbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls. K. u0 L0 V' p. v
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
) C5 Q; s8 [) O. A& U/ Qevery question."
) x' k6 q2 u$ m* B" BToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether8 d1 K# K" o! V B4 K: E/ U4 _6 [
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The p# l3 N" n& B' w
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But' B* {. ~+ s. Q: b% y
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small# q! [. |" x+ h4 m4 Y
number of vehicles& w! R6 w5 Z- e
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more
8 X% i% x% i) y6 D. n8 K6 wdifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a! x+ y9 z3 {' m+ d3 c( `' v
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
! f* V9 o3 f- P* k# z' r" G0 \source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.9 c$ J; b) y- ^! }6 K8 z
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
+ D7 q& z; F3 p9 dwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
- I0 n0 Q7 u! h+ j+ x7 dtrace at all.3 L( u0 Q3 e' W6 u/ j
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call" T- U8 K& T! Y [! }8 t0 g
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
6 t, P1 L% s8 B- Nacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the/ a% o, F+ C Q( H( k& S% z! u
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
. ?+ H: I q/ X0 wRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,) P0 J- ^+ ? Z4 L
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
! x' t; x7 f% H0 ^+ Zother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the3 e e" z$ I1 B: _4 f3 C6 _
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
) K+ i. U+ x. @0 Kcause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
: e3 S4 _! H. Z/ t; y5 isuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
/ o3 W# C1 E5 ?0 A3 i+ C3 D: J$ qby Toyota's lawyers."
/ I( x( @; i6 O0 W/ LLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
L, }6 n% t6 \ q; ~$ D* Q& I5 K8 Rproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our: j. s \. l+ z- Z4 z9 v
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
9 O& h# C# q; D( E( [/ T- Y- Bsaid.
3 Y# ]* e \( V% m4 o1 P"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
0 p, }2 r" _# y9 M( m8 ^a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
4 \1 S+ g5 H' @ R- o$ {* Lgood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating7 z0 D* e( }7 h& E+ A! ]
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.4 h+ n$ r, v0 c3 N6 o
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying( r9 k5 d+ u; X# N* l" h
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread, @. M) a6 Z- e" }( ^
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
' L3 @& T5 N) C6 {. r: jautomaker, at least in part because of the government's
: v0 c3 z8 a- _; S F- l1 q finvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and; |& g' s( P) w% r& C1 A
Chrysler.
4 Q" M8 h8 N1 H"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax& c/ i4 o) W# X. e
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a1 V$ h; F/ B5 g- |* j
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
8 O6 U2 b. b1 ~% `served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
2 F* ] s5 I6 n% _1 m4 bwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
/ P, ^9 N. c2 x- Ytough.": O1 _5 D8 ?' ?1 b. x7 j. i
---8 Y7 b3 s# ~; O C+ ]
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
1 ~' i- e" s. D) N2 i; ^Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to+ N/ V& ]4 b& f- `
this story.
; r9 p* x+ w# q# [6 M! @9 `2 |: v# t9 A: j2 `# y9 u) n
-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
|