VOA科学技术2024--Driverless Trucks Set to Hit US Highways

An American company is preparing to launch a series of driverless trucks to transport goods on a major public highway.

Aurora¹ Innovation says it plans to begin the service later this year in Texas with 20 tractor-trailers. The trucks will drive back and forth² to transport goods between the cities of Dallas and Houston.

The Pittsburgh-based company says it hopes to expand the service to thousands of tractor-trailers within three to four years. Aurora says the transportation method could operate 24 hours a day. It aims to speed up the process and possibly save on transportation costs.

Aurora will continue testing for the next nine months. If all goes well, the driverless program will begin after that. At first, the trucks will be carrying loads for FedEx and other transportation partners between the companies' processing centers.

Since 2021, Aurora trucks have autonomously⁴ carried goods over 1 million kilometers on public roads. But those vehicles all had human safety drivers sitting inside.

The company said there have been three crashes involving those trucks. And, it said all of the crashes were the result of mistakes by human drivers of other vehicles. The crashes were minor⁵ and no one was hurt in them. And in each case, the company said, the Aurora truck was able to safely pull off to the side of the road.

Federal records that began in June 2021 show at least 13 crashes with other vehicles involving autonomous³ tractor-trailers. In all those cases, the crashes were caused by other vehicles changing lanes or hitting trucks from behind. Sometimes, human safety drivers took over just before the crash.

Progress in the U.S. on driverless, or autonomous, technology has slowed in recent years. Several companies had already made plans to launch self-driving taxi services in major cities. But those efforts have repeatedly faced delays.

A "robotaxi" service developed by General Motors, called Cruise, has struggled after one of its vehicles suffered a serious crash. And Alphabet's Waymo is facing opposition⁶ to expanding its autonomous rider service in California.

Safety groups have warned that with almost no federal rules covering autonomous vehicles, it will largely be up to companies themselves to decide when their vehicles are safe enough to operate without humans.

Critics say government agencies, including the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, could be doing more to ensure the safety of such programs. They point out that often, safety is only examined and new rules enacted⁷ after crashes happen.

But Aurora and other companies argue that years of testing demonstrate that their trucks will actually be safer than human-driven ones. They note that the vehicles' laser and radar⁸ sensors⁹ can "see" farther than any human eyes can. And the trucks never get tired like humans do. They also are not affected¹⁰ by alcohol or drugs.

"We want to be out there with thousands or tens of thousands of trucks on the road," said Aurora chief Chris Urmson. "And to do that, we have to be safe, he said. "It's the only way that the public will accept it." Urmson, who spoke¹¹ to The Associated Press, is the former head of Google's autonomous vehicle operations.

Phil Koopman is a professor at Carnegie Mellon University who studies driverless vehicle safety. He told the AP he agrees that self-driving trucks can theoretically be safer than human-driven ones. But he warned that the vehicles' computers will at times make errors. Koopman said the trucks' actual performance will depend on the quality of their safety engineering.

With billions of dollars in investments, Koopman said he wonders how autonomous transportation companies will balance safety decisions against cost concerns. "Everything I see indicates they're trying to do the right thing, but the devil is in the details," he said.

Words in This Story

autonomous - adj. the ability to operate independently without the help of humans

lane - n. part of a road or track that is separated from the other parts

laser - n. a strong beam of light that has medical and technical uses

radar - n. a system that uses radio waves to find out the position of something you cannot see

1 aurora   

n.极光

参考例句：

• The aurora is one of nature's most awesome spectacles.极光是自然界最可畏的奇观之一。
• Over the polar regions we should see aurora.在极地高空,我们会看到极光。

2 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

3 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。

4 autonomously   

adv. 自律地，自治地

参考例句：

• To learn autonomously in the network environment is totally new to students. 基于网络环境下的自主学习对学生来说，是一种全新的学习方式。
• The QC-RS can operate autonomously or by remote control. QC-RS能实现自动操作或通过遥控来操作。

5 minor   

adj.较小(少)的，较次要的；n.辅修学科；vi.辅修

参考例句：

• The young actor was given a minor part in the new play.年轻的男演员在这出新戏里被分派担任一个小角色。
• I gave him a minor share of my wealth.我把小部分财产给了他。

6 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

7 enacted   

制定（法律），通过（法案）( enact的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• legislation enacted by parliament 由议会通过的法律
• Outside in the little lobby another scene was begin enacted. 外面的小休息室里又是另一番景象。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

8 radar   

n.雷达，无线电探测器

参考例句：

• They are following the flight of an aircraft by radar.他们正在用雷达追踪一架飞机的飞行。
• Enemy ships were detected on the radar.敌舰的影像已显现在雷达上。

9 sensors   

n.传感器，灵敏元件( sensor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• There were more than 2000 sensors here. 这里装有两千多个灵敏元件。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Significant changes have been noted where sensors were exposed to trichloride. 当传感器暴露在三氯化物中时，有很大变化。 来自辞典例句

10 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

11 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。