 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
* j6 g4 Y: ?; @) u+ J8 hBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
5 o. @0 x6 J. `Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.2 [1 ?; e& \5 _2 I
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
6 k: R# P2 E# b/ _+ dthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
) o2 v/ u. V) @, d, x$ Z! B" l. P; Q7 Osolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
4 D a2 b4 e. C+ `3 P"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
6 Z; q" }! f* `9 \ Zcauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.5 R9 {. q$ q0 c+ N3 f
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
0 E$ r) e: \% ]" g2 n* a( U$ S- }1 `acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and: n* q' f/ i, s; h4 m- Z4 ^
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor7 F8 h! g, l; b
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.
r- v8 T* n8 m9 Y; D6 Y# EHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
7 h, s" d4 Z' \and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
; t4 e) U6 {2 k0 |; ~criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
0 U. q5 @ l- sfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could; J6 {& r$ H& @! M; I
not stop her runaway Lexus.. m* ]4 t) {/ @, T
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,. l6 q* N+ e. Z" z" N
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second. `; M0 |1 ^/ W# L4 \* [! G
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.' I1 p$ O- g+ c
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
+ h& S# ^9 H. ~6 Pearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said! E8 g8 E. t/ C8 Y4 V! a, d' H4 T
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
0 n* E6 l$ j' u Fdone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
( [& n2 y# G' {3 P% Ithrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
0 T( q" C- N2 Qinvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
8 ^5 @+ h6 ~: g4 x5 vLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an, P: m+ z2 h: O4 h, B" D$ R
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
& s4 W2 c+ @" h: Nthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a$ p9 |/ b% R( U9 D% n' H+ N
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
7 D2 D8 l$ p. rsaid.
8 }. I7 ?) e: OAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
( x' w% {4 ~/ H4 K/ A. I7 \happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
' V. s, J& u7 t( P {about driving our products," Lentz said.
8 {+ J; e( f% Y8 Z5 \2 Q# m; tThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
, X0 m* G3 z3 A3 z5 ?$ tproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has3 F4 V f3 L3 D4 e, S1 p8 j+ [
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 64 W. y! J% G5 y! U0 S' M
million in the United States -- since last fall because of
6 }2 K& g* u4 m4 C0 Aunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
' e; l0 o. Z/ o* |$ c# C7 X) Nissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering5 W" j* C+ k6 f+ a. O! O
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
& }$ ^% X; Q2 Q% ~0 l1 _5 [2 ztheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow0 g: S8 X% h5 n3 u" l0 s
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has' |- D7 d( c$ x$ ~" k! P7 ~$ ?6 }
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration/ }7 g1 Y7 |/ B; p `
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.
% e T) e2 E+ tLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own$ Y1 ]/ i* a! F0 o
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he& r) \" Z1 o% _
understood the pain.
: c6 t7 e) G1 K A; a# s. Q- ^"I know what those families go through," he said.; c& F- L! `7 \* `$ m h6 i
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's2 z! u4 M, g9 p) ^
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
( s! x6 P9 q1 r: QBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
6 m8 e7 t8 \( S+ d8 ^- LHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put* T3 r6 r+ V; }# }
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,* b# k# `( V, h+ \
Lentz replied: "Not totally."" I, Z) R% ]1 f+ S6 g# k5 s5 ^
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
7 j: v3 b) ?& D, j$ g"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said: @) v1 A, @) G# S: F
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
$ B. A o3 N8 H6 M' @( mpedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its" v: C# A8 O. _5 N% ~1 m+ w7 O
vehicles already on the road.3 _) b% n" w% Y- P A- O/ \
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
1 m9 T# { H, }, W3 K4 I+ y& d. Cbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full1 R$ R7 ^4 \0 [* `* C4 n
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and$ k) L- x6 o( L7 h- C
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were' g P! h& C- @. b
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
K- v0 r2 u& D. a; O4 {# A"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a6 a$ N9 F2 x' ?1 V
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony9 ?5 ]: y* o/ e" E& l; i0 X
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight6 c6 u' L/ \. o; q
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
* m8 D1 z7 g# X7 j- M, z" Y* Rcommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
2 z+ y5 H* y6 X2 n' _4 d6 irestore the trust of our customers."
6 T$ a9 c' ^' T( y3 h; PLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from8 X# I$ d! ^$ }' F; |
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
1 p# O N1 e9 K# g! \. `# Tzoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
, _5 c1 z. U! {/ R& M$ l2 Wshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
, q/ }" X3 Y% z2 lhitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
: \8 S H( O3 [" cthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and% o3 n; K8 r7 ~7 }: |5 B
turn off the engine.( Y1 h4 `! I3 K- @2 Q
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
0 |6 ]; S2 d, x7 M, ^October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
3 \, Q; ~% {& f# T0 o" I3 C"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
, }" o! O7 ]: \* P* k% m" ^: Msaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
2 I' Z( p0 i6 T y) dto her complaints.0 @. P5 _3 ^0 `* I
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
7 Q- a4 C2 `. Y. ereturned again and again to the question of whether electronic
( m; E5 @# w* [ J( n% n5 amalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.& i' I. D& ]- M. q- W/ P
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
4 v, h4 J# Y \/ `6 w4 H% H- sthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
( S( ?2 O% a+ o1 F' u+ E"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
7 \0 X$ m. v# z2 Hoff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
6 y+ o$ o& M, @0 {( {Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in/ W6 K7 X" J5 u6 A3 y! c0 s* D- R
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
1 r4 |, ?) d& C2 d6 Z, x, D$ [being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
' S D& E0 }: \1 awere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
u8 H# y/ |; v) S, ?/ c. f+ Severy question."
9 ?. M% p1 I# ?6 Z0 qToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
0 k. R" ~' o% Qelectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
9 r7 D" u& Y$ vfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But; Q" e- A: c, A8 N6 i3 v9 _
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small ^ d# a6 }3 `: c; W
number of vehicles% a! B4 \+ g J) M8 J) ?; ]
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more+ I5 s+ p$ B: V2 n F1 x! ?! t
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a4 Y. W/ V) {- B9 u( H8 G2 T$ j" Z/ L
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
* o- U _/ e% w' j3 g0 R% Q- vsource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.( E8 {# D Q$ u( `- U& F( P* |
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,, Q v. D0 d) w) _* H" Y8 n2 q
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no8 ?$ z/ ?1 K; s8 w
trace at all.; I3 {* i/ B/ O- Y' K
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call. u. O7 g) ?& B: z( {& `
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden0 @5 m5 q! ^. L/ f2 V+ W
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the6 i4 ?6 S) l" u) Q8 S8 n# ^
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
4 t6 m5 u5 ~, d `Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
3 q6 [ p+ |: G9 ?( F$ V. g* ^said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and! L) z5 h) u) a I
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the% T2 y; r. F$ p! ^2 M
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
5 u2 o6 d6 z: g9 _cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only) @) ]- f1 ?7 H; k
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained& s: a7 j) F' g2 ?, y
by Toyota's lawyers."
. z; ?: [* G1 a' u. MLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
6 X( ^( B a. n# n: dproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
) @% A( G5 V& ]# N4 c" [6 ^5 \9 Hcustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he3 h+ N- C3 t; @/ q: {
said.0 l3 T u; @. P& J# ~$ K2 y: n" b5 ?
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with5 b) v, U5 U) b) h/ z: m; `
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
+ u% A; ^6 N+ ^0 D2 \ n: _# L/ J/ Jgood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating' t' r% P, a3 W2 n3 _5 n& u6 \$ R3 J' _
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
0 l7 @, A& J* R" JSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
: Y5 J& t" i' V" f- x0 f9 Cmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
9 r- p/ j$ a4 y6 Qrancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the2 K& D4 ^) P; Y
automaker, at least in part because of the government's
" ^7 D0 w5 j, g4 X0 Tinvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and' c4 Q l ^8 o% y2 q1 I( f+ H& v) X
Chrysler.% ^. Q% X; y* ?+ v, N
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax6 y& w) O. I' y8 J
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
# }& Z5 U$ D } g, @6 W, Q! d. rHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
, B8 m( ^: A: p8 ?* yserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
& Y3 q- O* |; h9 N6 W ywith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty0 |. r3 w- F( l9 h- J" z
tough.": f6 M% c6 ~+ Y) `
---% b. O2 b% M; S: [$ x
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom/ [$ `- n. e; ?$ F p3 l
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
* t& r' }1 l+ e* g* z {: ^this story.* ^$ | F% M N
3 W- G! G! a( \0 Z9 Z8 |) `0 }-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
|