 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1 t% x, D& Z! L3 g- q# a
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
: x. O1 O9 m4 F+ s* TWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.4 p; S4 M5 ]/ F A8 ~
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that' v" d/ Q. I1 |4 o6 d+ N
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"" J# |! @3 o* G; [
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration./ h& v7 v- `5 N' U. \$ o; `
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
o& J/ c% e% L! W4 P; b) icauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
9 ^0 c, v c6 }# i. ~/ EHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected; p) c5 n1 W2 V5 ~$ l! X1 r( P
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
- `$ i* A& X+ Q: Itrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
' b$ M: y# \2 d+ lmats and sticking accelerator pedals.
6 g9 T, N/ ]: A+ d- I: o( FHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal* h8 c; q" H) e2 F& x# Q
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
0 H! j% g, m/ y' t. jcriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
7 w; C3 u0 R% W* |8 Jfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could' w1 M0 D! [# |9 \; I) s" o
not stop her runaway Lexus.& Q. b9 M6 z9 q
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,# f2 H3 l) s, s; S2 Z( m F, E
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
& _, g- c! W1 |9 g# ^# k"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.' q# W. n) e1 P% Z9 x
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues" `" P; y* h! Y7 K
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said! S3 h% r2 y- H8 L
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has# V c8 _' `9 i& q% r/ Y. ]
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
& U' Q* z/ K7 x* _4 ~+ w4 k+ jthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's5 l4 V2 E7 C, ~6 ?
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham.") t: a- J% R" k% o, s7 ?- R
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an$ s. u5 d- O% z# P
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
7 I8 B+ W# x& T+ F. G0 Lthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a, y$ x3 V- f5 ?2 ?* S
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
& C {4 b$ v2 l4 {said.
4 K$ M9 a, w3 h; P kAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what q- a7 V8 i5 G- s
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
) c0 I6 |# W$ U3 ^about driving our products," Lentz said.$ ]" Z! [$ \- b% D& G# E
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's. ]6 D1 p$ x6 Y
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
. |0 M* G. ?6 @) erecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6. f! N; O2 M. j/ j2 L: o" s3 |
million in the United States -- since last fall because of
I! t6 A, V& Q0 P9 T4 m. u7 ~' p/ \unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
8 Y+ {+ ?# {% S4 k1 _issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering0 o8 O' B- W, D# R
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
3 K9 V- e! x; _- atheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
2 {) c4 L0 Z/ l; x! S* B9 U, Udown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has; R& s- E; j; s/ w7 `) o( V
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration% I, [, l! a6 I' C7 c* s
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.7 a% o5 F9 q0 }' Q' `/ V% ~5 T
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
! j: j" R! p I' ~! d. ibrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
7 W5 O5 q7 I6 j0 y( Junderstood the pain.0 \1 O8 w6 a! P0 ]( [3 A# a
"I know what those families go through," he said.
( O: w4 B. f0 r7 s3 OLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
1 n1 a$ B1 g9 H9 K" T6 sfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
. Y: a0 E3 Z2 |* k: yBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
+ P1 M7 F! K( oHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put/ x+ W* K( a' |4 S0 t& y" ~$ k
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,& Y: Z9 d/ n; W s+ D2 r
Lentz replied: "Not totally."
# X1 k8 F7 y2 I4 k4 _Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
/ w, T& x" s* K- u* C"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said' `+ O' b8 f c! P8 y
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
; L, y7 ~& j0 k- O7 G2 n* `# |$ Dpedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
/ s, l/ e( H/ B( I- H: K) Xvehicles already on the road.( }) |) ^3 Y& r
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify9 k0 a. y, c3 O, I5 q
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full* a- x" N" R0 O" C" k9 h# t
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
8 E3 U" B' |# D7 b* ^offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
* x2 n- e5 t3 G$ I0 w9 t9 i1 okilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
+ _9 q3 |- \8 L$ I5 P" n"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a3 Q; ~0 T6 M5 F" o2 X3 h
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
4 A) \3 z. K M0 ~3 E6 nfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
/ v c6 a% K/ m: b, N n" ]9 WCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal% o5 j I# l0 v; I. `
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to# N3 s* ]4 _! U4 \' J. P8 U
restore the trust of our customers.", f) l4 Y" s9 l9 `& j( ~6 w
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
& F r! o/ R3 DSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
) P; i9 |7 K! R+ Pzoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --+ B) [7 C# Y& k4 ~, T
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and, V* c* A. T: y3 I' T1 {5 ?
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough, R7 E, h: _6 h% c, j; ^! H
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
. A2 `4 m Z$ R4 q- E8 b0 S8 P- zturn off the engine.4 [' z2 X8 u5 Q. R+ r* u# C
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
/ q# f9 _% ^) g7 vOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
, a C* i& C6 C" _"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she) |' l7 |" D/ L7 u- |1 Q* E) Y' z
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
# g- q( k, @7 a1 c2 e' _to her complaints.' N" q2 l" j# F) ~& ?$ Z$ c) J
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
% t; K. U& Q( `! |& V Freturned again and again to the question of whether electronic
3 h# r1 J4 R# V: imalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars., T7 {: I0 a: N" E& _. D p
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
! @0 M3 l1 f7 {0 ]; pthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
* R! j) Y. r5 }# J- e"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
( W$ s/ p# c+ D% P& b* i( w9 _' f zoff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
& U9 ]7 }* f& h7 Q. q' H$ m% m5 b& WTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in! y/ n* e: Q |2 P( i. M1 c+ U
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were/ f9 |- K! Q& V/ a" N* ^
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls6 H. Y6 u5 A$ Y N3 k0 Z2 K) O
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer( g& w# W9 J7 M3 t+ F
every question."6 i9 F. g! w& p9 ]$ U
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
1 Y1 A- f$ x p3 Z+ Aelectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The9 x) a% }9 p3 X
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But' j4 H2 z6 m) U# o9 v1 h
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small, ?5 v# i( e- U' l
number of vehicles
7 i& H* H& y- \- u9 ?Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more
, r% n+ s8 K3 Q' w$ j s% z7 K; n; y$ Ldifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a- J- P" S* Y, y- Z! I
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
& B" r7 X$ r0 L4 S8 k% ~source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
$ f; A& d- i) O# C: Z9 BMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,: u7 A: I9 Y/ b' |3 k1 K e% [: i
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
/ i8 K/ ~$ h2 T8 Q1 s+ B& J6 ltrace at all.
1 \. Z3 h# ~ I" j9 s6 NHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
9 ~" e# ~* B" t6 V) }* _% gdatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
3 E& {, }0 [& Y% wacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the; }" d' \% T( b1 T0 P
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
! h1 e$ L6 i0 K6 U/ f% G( lRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,- }! y+ Z7 q" d* A9 T6 Q
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
# L, g0 ~ i" J( r8 Cother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
" N2 f6 N; P! D: Gelectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible$ ~6 `2 m- N! S( I0 `- h1 q! u
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only- v3 O/ Q2 _1 L& `8 _
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
4 g7 S1 P( a, c, \) t: t- N, aby Toyota's lawyers."
' L) Y$ ?4 \. p! _& P3 CLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of6 Z8 s! @1 @! k& h
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our+ e/ _: y) C0 P0 B w6 m" m
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
( S( R. i. M! T! t; q# fsaid.
- v( J) x( G9 m' M8 S"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with8 |; N! ]6 S2 B3 N7 x
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
" f) T# _' D/ Y2 J1 v" Y: Vgood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating$ E0 z" p, D! [0 c7 b
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
) K8 l! ^* Z3 S% d' M, cSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying1 s4 V# i) r: u2 N" S$ A3 J8 g
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
! B) M( o4 f& T* T2 [rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the9 O9 t% ]6 m4 b0 T' O/ g$ ~
automaker, at least in part because of the government's+ E9 A& L) T. V w- N: d0 B5 N
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and6 \' |- |' v( g% z4 l
Chrysler.0 e* \' e# Y& ]+ y- k
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
& _, a5 D2 k. J/ O9 ?2 C8 }dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
& @# G2 M" m' C* p6 RHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also q+ g2 }( W2 u2 f5 j& S1 U/ p
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete- A/ y# c; X* k' T& u' |
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty1 J1 c# _4 M v3 a0 M
tough."6 g* N: p8 q( f/ o3 C
---; I/ Y# d4 V: x% @- T1 r D
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom* W( a; F1 x2 Y3 U
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to( }) W. m( L( D% ?1 O2 [
this story.
' a; d+ _5 J* C0 E) A. Z: _' x5 C2 k5 _4 A1 j U( o8 F g
-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
|