 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
0 `2 H" N7 F% |2 ^4 s2 L" gBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS, P+ y: Z0 C& f7 o4 x
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
9 ?( {, g7 b7 `; ]operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
* z* ~# _5 o1 P3 ?3 U- @the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
5 F1 |( }, o, xsolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
' x5 Y: Z6 V3 S+ n9 {) N"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
- B/ x, ^% `, B) Ucauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
# f. f8 {- K: q( R4 uHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected# L3 A7 r; A; ^, z
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
) a) S; q4 K1 {) d2 ?/ vtrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor. l( r6 }& u4 }: z; N
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.: u& e; s& n( `3 h2 O
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal; w h, ?. Q( k+ Z* Z
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
8 J" E7 d3 i1 f# Wcriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be0 g0 f) r3 r6 F$ y0 H6 h
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could% r5 |# C! f- E" _* N5 _: D
not stop her runaway Lexus.0 \2 U; S/ }2 f w N* b
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
! `; }! r8 y, C& m' XTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second6 p) i: A8 z8 ]1 R J
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.( V" E0 l% ]4 F* K: M
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
6 z0 H/ Q3 K" f& u: ~early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
& W, _8 d& m$ q6 H" m: Y5 z"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
2 X2 ^6 z; ~& E Bdone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway K3 L( m# Y/ B( Z8 S
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
+ V1 p) u8 _! ]' m' h* uinvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."2 A! l4 @( T- H: H$ t& o
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an" G1 m% F9 [* D9 z9 S
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of/ w# U. I8 b; K7 y& [, E. s
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a8 N' i" }2 I2 i, }2 |( J
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
9 h7 Z: P' M4 Y, j+ o# Y' wsaid.& f) Y) @9 h- A0 V$ H( V
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what% W' ] c% A# [! t; [
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe% x( B$ K# o$ }, P5 N
about driving our products," Lentz said.* e- u/ ^& ?/ t* U% b' ]
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's" ~6 _+ K; v: f: X4 R
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has4 {0 `: ?. I( h2 y: {8 B
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6" X$ T+ R z* z. A
million in the United States -- since last fall because of
. Y# T, i$ y9 n6 cunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking D& O" u B5 T/ J
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering W$ {+ d O. S/ R9 i# G
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of- Y4 ^& t# `; }) {4 J0 o
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow+ ]9 \$ z- D: w; j9 Y- o( v. R
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has Z4 G. Y" l* [3 V
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
" r2 ~6 `8 g% D) x, |# {of Toyota vehicles since 2000.# |9 G2 I8 R E0 l6 ~2 E" g- ^
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
* Z" M, r9 K$ O! M4 P% I0 Abrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he( w8 @( g/ J, I5 y; [
understood the pain.
1 {7 O7 y: P$ Q% o8 o) G5 p; ]! V; i"I know what those families go through," he said.
: \$ E4 x8 l4 I$ O0 c; z$ zLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
( ]. E D. B- p) bfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.$ {/ D5 C2 \& |# x
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
4 T! K5 z- |2 THenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
# F. Z& k. H4 @+ zin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
* ~. I' g4 P7 o! D/ lLentz replied: "Not totally."9 N8 Y5 i W/ F
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
/ C2 Q1 x* z. k& ?+ Y7 K"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said2 A& E, P# d- {4 t3 P
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
0 j2 O+ H- c9 k5 [. r* zpedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its$ I& s/ H! P) k4 \" H+ E1 w
vehicles already on the road.
/ k3 X% ^ y0 j* Q- @% X" |Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify; M( u* q s, r3 G
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
) _$ G9 b, k3 B1 v3 P8 |2 A, r; Yresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and$ U' P8 d2 f8 t$ j* r6 G% v
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
1 D, F1 V# J: \* G. Y% }6 ^killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
0 y9 X6 w+ \) e# Y$ H"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
, T$ @3 F, `0 S/ @8 gtragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony' Z- W$ D2 d) j8 X% A F
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
* A' r0 Z# O1 \: ~7 K" q8 m- |. HCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
' ^2 V c( _4 T1 pcommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
% z$ F+ v; k* X' Wrestore the trust of our customers."0 t7 K: Y( b E
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from X5 X9 T s6 n" z
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
$ f) B/ }8 D% _* ]zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
1 N6 S3 k: X) N% `" \ U! Qshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
2 l1 s( \2 O- L. z" Q, Zhitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
1 s2 b* ^0 p) D, w. M2 F/ qthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and& {1 ?/ }, b, A5 Q
turn off the engine.
3 c0 K- U k4 y( k. e; q6 H5 IFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of0 E3 O0 X# x7 l, Q# ]; x# w! {
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."- Y6 U9 I U7 O/ h3 I
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
v# f. f$ C* r' Lsaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond+ \/ K5 [# V4 d m+ |: I
to her complaints.+ r/ J7 Y' l7 q
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers4 k9 \- H0 k+ R1 k
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
6 n- P$ ], s0 \ a9 }. Qmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.+ C6 M5 N" y) N1 j( Q% a
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric2 n+ F7 W! H* k, n3 k1 U K2 c
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
# D$ j; G N" G5 p6 C8 t"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut+ g6 ^' v; e( f8 A( V
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
7 c1 v8 \) E. B3 G9 uTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in/ F- B* c t8 o, \, X
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were4 {$ t& ~ V& E1 t; L) |% ~
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
1 y; H( T/ D t$ R$ j. J) i1 Kwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
$ ~0 o' ?; c, f: Tevery question."/ O% k. l3 z& L" V
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
2 _7 H; y- G8 A$ g/ ~electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
/ k2 @ K7 t5 E/ Afirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But7 q) p6 d, k- ~* R O
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small- k# A7 X2 O( H: h8 i& c. N
number of vehicles
# h& ]9 b/ L; l5 K+ \/ ]Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more
3 v( @- Z B7 @) Zdifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a9 O4 S- k6 f! U$ j# R7 y0 r
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
5 L2 [9 d7 E% M2 K3 |source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.1 H- n- Z4 z$ x; T1 }0 O
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
- @3 C f: [6 Q) q5 T/ B7 X3 s( Hwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
: p+ h% j% M6 C" ptrace at all.
* U8 M) _ u/ v# T2 BHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call' J- @( K' {% T
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
* B' X! L( H* F6 @6 _, Iacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
' [- }& |" b3 U1 Y% lrecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
9 C2 j2 p! w7 O" ^' ]( ]7 ERep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
X( k+ W4 |0 ?7 a0 ]7 ^7 T( r9 S& Isaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and/ }. M, R }- v! N
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the9 B7 D5 H! D! A( a2 ]/ z9 o: f8 A
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
1 o/ \% |+ R6 j% a+ {cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only, B( B+ b% ?1 A' U. K" X
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained, Q; C! l6 t5 I7 M
by Toyota's lawyers."
" L) J. ?5 t. P# F* @Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of8 v) a# k- \( z Q
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
) _' y ]1 g Ecustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he' a2 U' k' D: A4 ]
said.! a+ w% B7 q! g" Y+ E, u
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with6 ?. | y- `) e) h6 Q. u
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
8 ~- L. O9 e* Ogood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating$ E# W! O1 A3 c/ O, l' x+ q
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.7 @# x$ r6 [' J+ F- @# f/ _( m
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying$ w4 j" M1 ~/ T& {! H, Z- y
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
* J" J3 m7 R: a* p0 srancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the% u; \: e- O/ B1 ^" ^1 n1 P
automaker, at least in part because of the government's2 |& G3 W0 F8 J! L" v
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
2 x/ g' d# v( K' `' a2 v3 Y$ Z. J/ WChrysler.
5 R8 \' e0 ?0 t- J- f( n"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
: i3 n! K2 U, v$ b5 Cdollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
0 ^3 {3 o+ K( E% yHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
& I% `! [3 C$ bserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
) ?3 C% `4 ~( z pwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
+ R. P. S/ @; j3 C+ xtough."/ d: S& O3 ]2 J( ^) e Q0 N H# j
---
3 ~1 T9 I. s! Q$ d1 k6 [Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom+ q- X. Q1 {5 Q+ _/ b9 W. g
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
8 `0 s! f5 ^; s/ K: [this story.+ v" q3 Y2 w5 |5 H
+ h, ?8 o) J9 U6 y1 t-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
|