【英语科技】数据显示丰田汽车事故多因司机自身失误所致

The U.S. Department of Transportation has analyzed dozens of data recorders from Toyota Motor Corp. vehicles involved in accidents blamed on sudden acceleration and found that at the time of the crashes, throttles were wide open and the brakes were not engaged, people familiar with the findings said.

The results suggest that some drivers who said their Toyota and Lexus vehicles surged out of control were mistakenly flooring the accelerator when they intended to jam on the brakes. But the findings don't exonerate Toyota from two known issues blamed for sudden acceleration in its vehicles: sticky accelerator pedals and floor mats that can trap accelerator pedals to the floor.

The findings by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration involve a sample of reports in which a driver of a Toyota vehicle said the brakes were depressed but failed to stop the car from accelerating and ultimately crashing.

A NHTSA spokeswoman declined to confirm the findings.

The data recorders analyzed by NHTSA were selected by the agency, not Toyota, based on complaints the drivers had filed with the government.

The findings are consistent with a 1989 government-sponsored study that blamed similar driver mistakes for a rash of sudden-acceleration reports involving Audi 5000 sedans.

The Toyota findings, which haven't been released by NHTSA, support Toyota's position that sudden-acceleration reports involving its vehicles weren't caused by electronic glitches in computer-controlled throttle systems, as some safety advocates and plaintiffs' attorneys have alleged. More than 100 people have sued the auto maker claiming crashes were the result of faulty electronics.

NHTSA has received more than 3,000 complaints of sudden acceleration in Toyotas, including some dating to early last decade, according to a report the agency compiled in March. The incidents include 75 fatal crashes involving 93 deaths.

However, NHTSA has been able to verify only one of those fatal crashes was caused by a problem with the vehicle, according to information the agency provided to the National Academy of Sciences. That accident last Aug. 28, which killed a California highway patrolman and three passengers in a Lexus, was traced to a floor mat that trapped the gas pedal in the depressed position.

Toyota has recalled more than eight million cars globally to fix floor mats and sticky accelerators.

The NHTSA spokeswman said the agency was continuing to investigate the Toyota accidents and wouldn't be prepared to comment fully on the probe until a broader study is completed in conjunction with NASA, which is expected to take months.

Transportation Department officials, however, have said publicly that they have yet to find any electronic problems in Toyota cars.

Toyota officials haven't been briefed on NHTSA's findings, but they corroborate its own tests, said Mike Michels, the chief spokesman for Toyota Motor Sales. Toyota's downloads of event data recorders have found evidence of sticky pedals and pedal entrapment as well as driver error, which is characterized by no evidence of the brakes being depressed during an impact.

Some company officials say they are informally aware of the NHTSA results. But Toyota President Akio Toyoda has said the company won't blame customers for its problems as part of its public-relations response.

Getty Images丰田汽车的事故调查员正给一起车祸中撞坏的普瑞斯轿车拍照美国交通部（U.S. Department of Transportation）分析了因突然加速而导致事故的丰田汽车（Toyota Motor Corp.）车辆的许多数据记录。了解调查结果的人士表示，调查发现在汽车撞车的时候，油门是开着的，没有踩刹车。

该结果显示，一些声称他们的丰田和雷克萨斯（Lexus）汽车失控的汽车司机在想踩刹车的时候，错误地踩上了加速器。但这并不能免除丰田在汽车突然加速方面存在的两个问题：油门踏板卡壳以及脚垫会使油门踏板卡在车厢底板上。

美国国家公路交通安全管理局（National Highway Traffic Safety Administration，NHTSA）的调查发现涉及一份报告样本，在该报告样本中，一位丰田汽车司机说，虽然踩下了刹车，但不能停止汽车加速，最终导致汽车撞毁。

国家公路交通安全管理局一位女发言人拒绝证实该发现。

国家公路交通安全管理局分析的数据记录是由该机构基于司机向政府提交的投诉而遴选的，而不是由丰田选择的。

这一发现与1989年政府支持的一项研究结果相同，在涉及奥迪5000轿车突然加速的一系列报告中，同样是由于类似的司机失误。

国家公路交通安全管理局的这项调查发现虽然还没有发布，但却支持了丰田的立场，即丰田汽车突然加速并不像一些安全倡议人士和原告律师所称的那样是由电脑控制的油门系统的电子元件故障导致。逾100人已起诉了丰田汽车，声称汽车撞毁是由于电子元件故障导致的。

根据国家公路交通安全管理局3月编纂的一份报告，该机构收到了超过3,000份针对丰田汽车突然加速问题的投诉，其中一些日期要回溯到2000年初。这些事故中包括导致93人死亡的75次致命性撞车。

根据国家公路交通安全管理局提交给美国国家科学院（National Academy of Sciences）的信息，该局只能证实这些致命性撞车里的一次事故是由丰田汽车的问题引起的。事故发生在去年8月28日，一辆雷克萨斯的脚垫在刹车时卡在油门踏板里，导致一名加州巡逻警察和雷克萨斯汽车里的三名乘客丧生。

丰田已在全球召回超过800万辆汽车，以修理汽车脚垫和卡壳的加速器。

国家公路交通安全管理局的女发言人说，该局仍在调查丰田汽车事故，在与美国宇航局（NASA）完成更广泛的研究后，才会就调查发表全面评论，预计二者的研究将花费数月时间。

但美国交通部官员公开表示，他们还没有发现丰田汽车的任何电子元件问题。

丰田汽车销售部首席发言人米歇尔斯（Mike Michels）说，公司高层人士尚未就国家公路交通安全管理局的发现得到简要的介绍，但他们证实了自己的测试。丰田下载的事故数据记录显示了油门踏板粘住和卡壳以及司机失误的证据，在汽车撞击的时候，没有证据显示司机踩下了刹车。

一些丰田汽车高管表示，他们在非正式的情况下知道了国家公路交通安全管理局的结果，但丰田总裁丰田章男说，公司不会就这些问题指责客户来作为公关应对的一部分。