时代周刊:无人驾驶汽车公司对事故应负多大责任?

How liable should driverless-car companies be for accidents?

无人驾驶汽车公司对事故应负多大责任?

By Mark Geistfeld

文/马克·盖斯菲尔德

There is a paradox¹ in the ascension of autonomous² vehicles (AVs).

自动驾驶车辆(AVs)的崛起存在着一个悖论。

By eliminating the human driver, AVs can greatly reduce the number of crashes.

通过淘汰人工驾驶，自动驾驶汽车可以大大降低交通事故的发生率。

But to reach this level of performance, driverless cars will first kill some of us.

但要达到这种性能水平，无人驾驶汽车会先要了我们部分驾驶员的性命。

In fact, they must be allowed to do so.

事实上，我们也必须允许出现这样的情况。

As we begin to see the first deaths from crashes caused by AV testing on public roads,

随着第一批在公共道路上进行自动驾驶测试导致的车祸的发生，

we will need to balance encouraging companies to develop these technologies by not making the costs prohibitively high

如何权衡鼓励企业开发这些技术，不让成本变得过高，

and also protecting the rights of those forced into harm’s way during testing.

和保护那些被迫在测试过程中利益受到伤害的人的权利的问题也就摆在了我们的面前。

A bill pending³ in the U.S. Senate fails this standard.

美国参议院正在审议的一项法案不仅未能达到这一标准，

Instead, it eliminates individuals’ abilities to sue AV companies until the vehicles are governed by federal standards—likely years from now.

还裁撤了个人在这些公司受到联邦标准的监管——很可能是几年以后的事情了——之前起诉自动驾驶汽车制造公司的能力。

There is a better model: the National Childhood Vaccine⁴ Injury Act of 1986,

其实，自动驾驶还有一个更好的榜样：1986年的《国家儿童疫苗伤害法案》，

which compensates⁵ (through a tax on vaccines) those injured, who in exchange waive⁶ their tort rights.

该法案(通过对疫苗征税)对那些利益受损的人群予以补偿，作为交换，这些人要放弃他们为自己的权利受到侵犯申诉的机会。

The streamlined process reduces litigation costs and insurance premiums⁷ for manufacturers while protecting people.

简化后的流程不仅能保护了大家，还能降低制造商的诉讼成本和保险费。

It proves we can encourage the development of a lifesaving tech without devaluing the well-being⁸ of those risking their lives to help make that better world a reality.

也证明了我们可以在不损害那些冒着生命危险帮助建设美好世界的人的福祉的情况下，鼓励开发能够挽救生命的技术。

1 paradox   

n.似乎矛盾却正确的说法；自相矛盾的人(物)

参考例句：

• The story contains many levels of paradox.这个故事存在多重悖论。
• The paradox is that Japan does need serious education reform.矛盾的地方是日本确实需要教育改革。

2 autonomous   

adj.自治的；独立的

参考例句：

• They proudly declared themselves part of a new autonomous province.他们自豪地宣布成为新自治省的一部分。
• This is a matter that comes within the jurisdiction of the autonomous region.这件事是属于自治区权限以内的事务。

3 pending   

prep.直到，等待…期间；adj.待定的；迫近的

参考例句：

• The lawsuit is still pending in the state court.这案子仍在州法庭等待定夺。
• He knew my examination was pending.他知道我就要考试了。

4 vaccine   

n.牛痘苗，疫苗；adj.牛痘的，疫苗的

参考例句：

• The polio vaccine has saved millions of lives.脊髓灰质炎疫苗挽救了数以百万计的生命。
• She takes a vaccine against influenza every fall.她每年秋季接种流感疫苗。

5 compensates   

补偿，报酬( compensate的第三人称单数 )； 给（某人）赔偿（或赔款）

参考例句：

• The company compensates her for extra work. 公司因她的额外工作而给她报酬。
• A vertical spring compensates for the weight of the sensing element. 用一根垂直弹簧补偿敏感元件的负荷。

6 waive   

vt.放弃，不坚持(规定、要求、权力等)

参考例句：

• I'll record to our habitat office waive our claim immediately.我立即写信给咱们的总公司提出放弃索赔。
• In view of the unusual circumstances,they agree to waive their requirement.鉴于特殊情况，他们同意放弃他们的要求。

7 premiums   

n.费用( premium的名词复数 )；保险费；额外费用；（商品定价、贷款利息等以外的）加价

参考例句：

• He paid premiums on his life insurance last year. 他去年付了人寿保险费。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Moves are afoot to increase car insurance premiums. 现正在酝酿提高汽车的保险费。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 well-being   

n.安康，安乐，幸福

参考例句：

• He always has the well-being of the masses at heart.他总是把群众的疾苦挂在心上。
• My concern for their well-being was misunderstood as interference.我关心他们的幸福，却被误解为多管闲事。