 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+ i" E6 B8 V$ w, h( s3 y
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS; Y2 [# S0 g9 r3 K- \/ s- D
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
+ Y1 T8 j1 T; Q. F4 {7 Voperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that0 ?1 Z g! t- J) ~7 }
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
0 n! H5 y; C" |3 ?2 Q0 `! Hsolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
" y0 c5 g# i( d3 M5 n"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
8 @/ E* e7 K/ q/ dcauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.8 W' ]# ~$ i5 t9 Y- r2 ?
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected8 E; k. I. H7 V
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
# d; K: h: H% Y9 C+ Q `trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor+ g* `/ d# X2 E$ Y' u
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.4 B* [/ {2 e% d
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal ]- T6 v1 Z# o3 O6 V, G
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
# P. D6 j9 A4 _ }criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be8 m6 `% z2 F/ b+ \
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
7 b8 m, O8 U/ V# n* Rnot stop her runaway Lexus.
X' u! k8 J5 f" ^4 U"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,8 }9 c% ]9 G+ W
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second+ T: e( a: y2 {1 J$ I; O
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
6 R: O6 {9 [6 S6 LTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
" v# M5 o5 c5 o( Q" mearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
. T/ {* s2 ~& y, I" ^+ [" K"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has$ z+ k# e! Z* b' W3 O1 }8 ]& E
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway. _6 L" H3 B" p* Q4 F/ j
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's E/ `! T; k7 [3 {4 Q( n
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
* M6 k4 @4 @" ]% j3 aLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
; v( s% m* O7 g. kelectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
1 w5 r; q) P- Ythe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
0 M4 V6 ?- C. \7 Kmalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
5 K4 A2 W, L# g9 B+ T/ B- jsaid.$ \: A* C0 S) G. J' m4 E
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
7 Q0 A3 C& C3 M) Khappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe) I2 J4 _3 l/ A+ W. j
about driving our products," Lentz said.- }, u: e/ _& m* z- I* n8 g
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's; @/ ^: @9 [' \- G6 `/ O
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
/ Q2 b$ ?& s4 `# S+ `recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
, H0 T- j+ Q0 P! E& Bmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of) r% _7 @4 c: C E5 ~& t
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking: F) \+ ~! B" D U
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering1 w* P% S1 N) o) W' ]2 S, J
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
& p0 b- ^) C7 otheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
/ }; m3 W: }' h& q9 I# Rdown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has( U! v: N% N, Z1 N+ z6 m* a B
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration, x+ z9 f! g7 A9 V" v8 Z3 x
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.
& Z$ y' m0 g7 ALentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own9 S' H0 @' P% z) d8 `" |* n
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
@' ~# X9 Q( o% g* Z/ E1 dunderstood the pain.& F, z* i# n4 ?' Y. c
"I know what those families go through," he said.
6 w6 H5 d7 N% U: HLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's/ k- G ?$ g. y
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
6 l- W8 ?2 T Z( T! N* D _But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
- X' u$ a( q3 SHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
6 j" t1 I2 E. win place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
$ M8 i# U* K8 R0 ]/ RLentz replied: "Not totally."
6 K/ t8 L+ Y H" T, mStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
$ v: m3 y$ L/ ~; ^7 ^$ p"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
3 d8 r: I: j& d/ @Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
1 k: u" E+ D9 ipedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its3 p% R! }, I+ [. ^+ [. M
vehicles already on the road.
) O7 z ~3 P# g. V- y$ a# X+ DMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
2 E/ Q- w, o! n+ b( f6 Ubefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
5 O- p, k( w* n' fresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
$ H6 h- ]8 l8 I% ]offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
* m* c7 w2 x8 a! w+ S) Rkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.+ _3 O: _4 N- G3 w: f
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
P( m* k. q, }! H _tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
! u5 r( _- t* n& f8 o7 Jfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
+ q2 C" {# L3 f# m$ _( NCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal( c# C/ C" F3 t% K _- T# O
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to( T L } U6 c
restore the trust of our customers."' y f, C9 j3 B5 s' O0 I
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from1 c' D8 J( f/ e% v6 S" N
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly& Q# j! a( t' d; N) `) `+ |
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
5 `0 p/ U0 i' X% A" e& L, Y, Xshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
: ^, z" C( T/ f% i, f- H7 phitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough& h( w" M2 d; p
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and- a$ {: U2 E* |" J/ @
turn off the engine.& w8 s" l+ W' e) s# `$ O
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
" i" B/ a: M, u \% I: GOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
' L, G& w4 R; Y1 m"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
) k/ Y2 U( [; [4 Dsaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond2 Y1 s& Q7 n8 x$ v( I) \
to her complaints.
( l) P9 l; ?. H$ \, q: r! N: f# GIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
3 h1 n7 c8 @9 @/ J* B6 \0 _returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
4 i8 g4 W- q$ c6 wmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
m: a1 E! d" S" d5 s"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
) s. e' `9 W7 `! \. J; \throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited) \4 x% j/ j4 _" Q3 X, x
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut: l7 ]; b" m* O. S# t# C
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
+ Q0 }# J0 i- h9 {2 nTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
9 H7 P4 D6 ^9 G3 Nprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were9 C. P: k: G( V8 e- h, S% W
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls( O' Z% h% t5 A: A5 s
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
) c% Z T% g# ?3 x9 @every question."
( P: a/ b, I! C9 b# e: S! xToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether6 X& d C2 v+ I1 \! I$ j% Z# p9 @, e
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
8 {) r" a4 ]4 Afirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
8 ^: R7 i5 n6 Jcommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small
8 t( ~8 l/ v, l) H% ^" c, Onumber of vehicles
$ O5 s# b7 {/ U# b6 i2 u( e0 KTracking down an electrical problem can be far more; p. |2 w. z/ E& W
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a$ }5 |' k2 C) a8 Q |. P1 e% d d
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
3 z: t: `- x! Isource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
/ Q0 N/ ~! s$ T* ?Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,! f; X" O( h! t9 U- y5 e/ G" C2 [. l
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
0 G7 h3 i& b6 `# p0 u1 \trace at all.
& j0 h) T, V- l& H6 u9 e' m% h8 k+ ^House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call9 Z* Z4 w$ \1 J) _
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
3 |/ n/ h( s1 [* J- _+ ?acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
8 n" s# t' n. `$ rrecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
5 U4 D- `- y8 Z5 c! }1 T+ ^$ F2 |Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,- L$ I* A4 Z8 _. L% I
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and, p1 S. f0 Z G0 z) r
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the- d' `6 `. J5 M; c8 U
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible# m G0 o2 o. Z8 g* B( c3 |
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
9 w# h2 f0 q0 b+ fsuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
/ A* ~( Q1 a" \by Toyota's lawyers.": f2 u; h4 Q$ h# ~, K+ J
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of6 h$ t3 L, Q% s4 a3 v9 T, ]
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
I- a! t! `3 l& q0 @9 H0 r/ kcustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he0 i1 d9 Z. _' }& O
said.
) N1 @, B# B7 M( N0 B"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with8 Y d' W) p v5 w; x0 K( x
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
6 ]4 T+ \3 ~3 z! G+ I; cgood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating' U$ P' z9 A1 G5 |0 G! c7 {" x
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
+ j4 I% Y# y- ~) i2 z4 s9 DSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
! p: ~' p5 |3 c) z; [2 jmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread8 G- T/ K8 X4 F& D% u$ u( V
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the4 Q) o' s( G6 l
automaker, at least in part because of the government's" s5 ~% d; b! [2 ^+ U) |6 m0 k2 N
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
2 z- n, s3 h7 n& @Chrysler.% g' G6 t! x) u$ s% z
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
2 {5 d/ T7 @, c |! jdollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a% y$ L& W; p# z0 u) Y+ N) r3 N+ V8 C
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also4 z; P" v( {! i) C9 M
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete% ~9 H% B. |- \, H$ E8 X
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
2 @7 o& l X7 F) Itough."
3 ~: T5 y7 ~& f+ v. i---
2 K1 S) S: H: p, `6 R* I; W5 qAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom4 F! ]$ c# D, V3 \5 g% v
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to' P0 e7 X# E5 R6 f) V
this story.
. u% i2 |- c1 {( A! I' A) ^$ [
4 G3 ]- o& h% o) K7 A1 H-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
|