 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
' O) o7 s/ A0 A9 T% {: `' LBy LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
0 D; ?" ?) e- k W8 _3 l( n) bWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
, f$ d, M* C' {6 Ioperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
5 a/ w9 N2 y7 t. Hthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"- J& z7 l# p+ N
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.( A* n( [4 `. y# S5 @' X
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential& `- V# G) q: J4 H& c5 I" S
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
) k! v3 j9 a+ X/ h7 @ R+ p4 U" XHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected) M: R) z7 q( Y B3 x
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
! A+ z& Q, k1 R; Rtrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
+ O7 d+ f( g/ ?. F ~: xmats and sticking accelerator pedals.) D3 G( E8 I7 J( | ~# I5 `* F
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
! C0 E4 ?# v$ s1 z4 X8 c/ F7 xand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
5 i4 _: K- y* q- O: R( l6 ccriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
. q6 i/ @) i6 a. j2 z" @further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could9 A/ L @- C" `( J x2 O; K- W
not stop her runaway Lexus.) i/ D1 m: w3 G9 I2 v
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,' V9 Y, g- X3 @9 b, H
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second: l" P9 A$ Y- i2 }
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
! B% ]/ M0 f: q. uTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues2 v" b8 }& x7 O( {* d- h: m. b
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
1 p7 r; G; o- g3 i& M"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has) M/ q3 e; G6 e3 g
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway1 c' I- F& ~7 t& f$ |2 s+ K, k; |
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
+ F$ |, _% Q8 B9 V# P' cinvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
) @# s, S" s$ o' q% QLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an7 G1 W- U$ k- S5 X; h
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of. A3 v1 J2 R& s& V1 q7 R# n
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a# m& |0 O, ?# ^' l( G5 `6 Z
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
8 i, T1 A% L- T1 v1 Q0 wsaid.* e/ d# M% q* I+ m& J, v9 V H
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what$ t6 N9 \' C- d o
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe2 G5 }% ]5 u% d3 G; u
about driving our products," Lentz said.
% X1 j- [% W, s- n/ b6 PThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
* I+ y, ^. Y1 R% h# u' P pproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
/ B- y. x! s0 Y7 F- m. w! l4 orecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
% \ B, v0 u: d( omillion in the United States -- since last fall because of
3 ~5 u8 P+ `4 f0 A5 |4 r) }unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking7 F1 w) {/ X- ?9 \ i+ N
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering( ]7 F M# c1 o) s- q i+ ?
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
4 {) {% ?6 k; rtheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
5 v9 E; D2 I, r! x$ U* S0 idown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has1 B5 `) \4 M) V0 q4 y2 U, b4 L
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration, M( A* ` Y* {6 q; C. t/ }
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.! @ z( X6 b/ C: a$ d p6 H
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
1 ~6 E: Y8 y* L' s8 `brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he a! O; Q8 ^& x. n% B% U
understood the pain.3 i6 a4 }! |* G6 z+ t7 C* F3 I
"I know what those families go through," he said.3 `+ @1 y9 |4 X0 t3 I" o
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
( w4 t+ c4 w: t: }' Yfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.# z, {1 c9 u7 L# j
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
2 b8 K* \' n3 W8 }Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put3 O9 {& P0 U# n6 l! Z5 Z& m& ^2 z7 |
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
0 g7 P0 u! ?1 c, y0 V4 \4 E7 m* ILentz replied: "Not totally."# T' Y" X- T( J/ ?: ^
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
8 X' p7 k& i+ l/ M" }6 T: y! W, v"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
+ B8 J3 e# R. L q& o5 b0 tToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
' P" L3 o5 T0 ^: B8 y# ^# D+ j- rpedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its7 n, |. Z t+ g0 G' t& A! X
vehicles already on the road.5 d( d9 `4 Q3 O' b
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
9 p4 z; d' u: N. U9 r( cbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
; z: W5 g& e+ M/ D; cresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
0 j$ y7 B5 Q! \6 L: Loffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
: ?2 x/ [ Z; R& D5 D: W/ [7 r% a! K4 lkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.% P, v3 a0 ]- N I
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a1 p! A" i6 A$ Y8 j
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
, p, d% U( s6 w. |1 G/ @for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
5 G8 B2 H# i' w" r% r! gCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal. D7 b2 S8 V# y3 p1 [
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
0 q7 {7 H6 {( P% u( A$ rrestore the trust of our customers."& O( K$ X2 d. `) v8 m. ?5 s6 [
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from+ s0 A+ `% l8 k, ^2 `$ U& B
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
3 ? e7 p* ]5 q* @zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
( Z3 _2 ~! y" }; s, p. [0 `shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
9 o* g$ K7 T( @9 \+ d1 xhitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough. I0 L1 M1 U) t2 T0 X
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and9 a* U9 E/ B* C! Z; A* I# k
turn off the engine. \' Y8 v) H, J" a
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of5 D; D0 v$ o+ W; R
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
2 d! g4 K- E- l4 G2 }7 z"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she4 u6 h& E- i' K6 D- o
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond$ K2 H* r- q0 N Q! c; E! }
to her complaints.
! y. Q8 u5 X6 S" qIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
. }' d" b* @8 x6 freturned again and again to the question of whether electronic
$ Z3 K: D# Y* ^. vmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.+ _6 d g$ I: J) W6 d) F
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
5 o, K7 ?- w2 s4 H( `- qthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited- J* g% |" T) H! K7 I
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut f" M: _& D" a1 P8 E! g0 y% x
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
" S# \1 w* D. J( f# i% \4 tTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
0 x5 @, m' q% v! b/ z/ H; |6 Bprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were+ u2 D! B. w$ B# `9 v% g7 h9 g
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
9 E$ f9 V! I2 C& g d( E- i0 `were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer0 F2 [2 I5 q% O+ ?
every question."
" [/ Q! {! V7 m4 y, SToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether% _; S; g! ~+ x. s7 y
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The0 Z5 V! Y2 O* F" Y% ?
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But9 y$ {( O8 j2 y; z" b
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small* |8 \' C+ n! O6 G6 T
number of vehicles
E# \. Q! f ?& N0 PTracking down an electrical problem can be far more
$ T. r8 T, n" I. z. wdifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a M, \* _( L3 A* }* t5 B- n4 s
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one! J, \6 I; J" `3 |5 A, O
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.% C! [2 `9 O/ c7 D9 ?. u( W
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,/ F5 y! i: i! w. M
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no9 [* F4 _8 a6 p7 g3 j$ Z
trace at all.) @" B; n: }% b' t) O0 K! O1 ~' I, D
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
6 Z# P3 H/ D+ K9 ^& T- b s F* G" Ydatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
% Q0 Q N' i- s" a$ Qacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the+ a7 G" y& p" a; d1 U# o; N
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
: v) r5 |, r. w; C+ BRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
Y! o- J0 _% k7 H/ p! J. zsaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
4 t( S: T" O) R* Gother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
/ _& P) z* I$ D7 n' M- R8 melectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
) ]! Z$ U& Z. t) e& U* q' s6 u4 Vcause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only+ E- a. I I4 U3 s! k
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
& v ^& s6 k* ^; a0 W+ R! }6 xby Toyota's lawyers.": t' G$ z( c* t$ g$ [; r1 x8 y0 U
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
1 ^( Q. P( M fproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our/ ? E k# Z& T4 n5 f/ x2 M
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
0 ?3 N4 O# M2 u Csaid.9 n+ v* T i' t6 D
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
! b% M/ _8 X6 a' R4 a- ` Za rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our8 F. |. k+ l6 g8 W/ X1 a
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
& N( @& o7 l3 _1 bofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.. }6 M& p: a/ H2 v. @% Q7 p" _
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying: Y- g; x: `" _$ g8 o
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
- R" \. v3 `# z2 zrancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the& a1 ^7 [% F- W Z
automaker, at least in part because of the government's
9 x8 g, j' Y$ [# Minvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and. S1 _# A8 K/ ]0 h/ v
Chrysler.( E" U2 S; `/ e; j" b' |* e: b4 s
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax8 S( R; a/ {) w4 `
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
1 `* ?6 b; ~, {5 N- X7 \Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also; Z/ g* @( y% z& G0 Z; E8 f3 `% B P
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
# s0 K$ i( S9 _7 ?& u- n: Dwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty; r3 @% P4 P3 B
tough."4 @9 |$ M" x, z4 F N; J7 }* K
---
+ F# n# ?" g2 \5 tAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
0 R4 D& |' c, H3 M/ ]Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
$ K7 f% x9 I0 d) o9 Y* Ythis story.
4 z* p8 D* j/ C% J/ v8 [% y* C' G+ L: D' C
-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
|