VOA新闻杂志2022--美国报告一年发生近400起自动科技车辆碰撞事故

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US: Nearly 400 Crashes of Driver-assist Vehicles

A U.S. highway safety agency says Wednesday that automakers reported nearly 400 crashes of vehicles with driver-assist systems. Of those accidents, 273 involved vehicles from Tesla.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, or NHTSA, said the numbers should not be used to compare automakers. The agency said it did not measure them by the number of vehicles from each manufacturer that uses the systems, or how many kilometers those vehicles traveled.

Automakers reported crashes from July of last year through May 15 under an order from the agency. It is examining such crashes overall for the first time.

Steven Cliff is head of the agency. He said, "As we gather more data, NHTSA will be able to better identify any emerging risks or trends and learn more about how these technologies are performing in the real world."

Tesla's crashes happened while vehicles were using driver-assist systems that have some control over speed and steering³. The company has about 830,000 vehicles with the systems on the road.

The next closest of the more than ten automakers that reported crashes was Honda, with 90. Honda says it has about six million vehicles on U.S. roads with such systems. The automaker Subaru followed with 10, and all other automakers reported five or fewer.

In a June 2021 order, NHTSA told more than 100 automakers and automated⁵ vehicle tech companies to report serious crashes within one day of learning about them. They also told them to share information about less-serious crashes by the 15th day of the following month. The agency is examining how the systems perform and whether new measures may be needed.

NHTSA also said that six people were killed in the crashes involving driver-assist systems, and five were seriously hurt.

Of the deaths, five occurred in Teslas and one was reported by Ford⁶. Three of the serious injuries were in Teslas, while Honda and Ford each reported one.

Tesla's crash number may appear higher because it uses technology to follow its vehicles and gets real-time crash reports. Other makers¹ do not have such systems, so their reports may come slower, or crashes may not be reported at all, NHTSA said.

Tesla has not answered a message from The Associated Press seeking comment.

Although Tesla calls it driver-assist systems "Autopilot" and "Full Self-Driving," the company says the vehicles cannot drive themselves and the drivers must always be ready to take over.

Manufacturers were not required to report how many vehicles they have on the road that have the systems, NHTSA said. The agency added they do not have to report how far those vehicles traveled, or when the systems are in use. An agency official said at present, those numbers are not known.

However, NHTSA may seek such information later. In the meantime, the new data has enabled it to find out about crashes much faster than before. At present, it is using the crash data to look for trends and discuss them with the companies, the agency said.

Already, NHTSA has used the data to seek a recall, open investigations⁷ and provide information for existing studies, officials said. Also, they said it is difficult to find out how many drivers actually use the technology.

The Alliance for Automotive Innovation represents most automakers. It said the data collected by NHTSA is not enough by itself to evaluate the safety of automated vehicle systems.

NHTSA's order also covered companies that are running fully⁸ automated driving systems. Vehicles with fully automated driving systems are only running in limited areas. And they are not available for purchase.

Alphabet's self-driving car unit Waymo reported 62 crashes involving vehicles with fully automated driving systems. And General Motors' Cruise had 23. Overall, the companies reported 130 crashes involving their fully automated vehicles.

In 108 of the crashes involving such vehicles, no injuries were reported, and there was only one serious injury. In most of the crashes, vehicles were hit from behind.

Words in This Story

automate⁴ – v. to run or operate (something, such as a factory or system) by using machines or computers instead of people to do the work

emerging – adj. newly created or noticed and growing in strength or popularity: becoming widely known or established

trend – n. a general direction of change: a way of behaving or proceeding⁹ that is developing and becoming more common

steer² – v. to control the direction in which something (such as a ship, car, or airplane) moves

recall – v. to ask people to return (a product with a defect or problem)

1 makers   

n.制造者，制造商（maker的复数形式）

参考例句：

• The makers of the product assured us that there had been no sacrifice of quality. 这一产品的制造商向我们保证说他们没有牺牲质量。
• The makers are about to launch out a new product. 制造商们马上要生产一种新产品。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 steer   

vt.驾驶，为…操舵；引导；vi.驾驶

参考例句：

• If you push the car, I'll steer it.如果你来推车，我就来驾车。
• It's no use trying to steer the boy into a course of action that suits you.想说服这孩子按你的方式行事是徒劳的。

3 steering   

n.操舵装置

参考例句：

• He beat his hands on the steering wheel in frustration. 他沮丧地用手打了几下方向盘。
• Steering according to the wind, he also framed his words more amicably. 他真会看风使舵，口吻也马上变得温和了。

4 automate   

v.自动化；使自动化

参考例句：

• Many banks have begun to automate.许多银行已开始采用自动化技术。
• To automate the control process of the lathes has become very easy today.使机床的控制过程自动化现已变得很容易了。

5 automated   

a.自动化的

参考例句：

• The entire manufacturing process has been automated. 整个生产过程已自动化。
• Automated Highway System (AHS) is recently regarded as one subsystem of Intelligent Transport System (ITS). 近年来自动公路系统(Automated Highway System,AHS)，作为智能运输系统的子系统之一越来越受到重视。

6 Ford   

n.浅滩，水浅可涉处；v.涉水，涉过

参考例句：

• They were guarding the bridge,so we forded the river.他们驻守在那座桥上，所以我们只能涉水过河。
• If you decide to ford a stream,be extremely careful.如果已决定要涉过小溪，必须极度小心。

7 investigations   

（正式的）调查( investigation的名词复数 )； 侦查； 科学研究； 学术研究

参考例句：

• His investigations were intensive and thorough but revealed nothing. 他进行了深入彻底的调查，但没有发现什么。
• He often sent them out to make investigations. 他常常派他们出去作调查。

8 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

9 proceeding   

n.行动，进行，(pl.)会议录，学报

参考例句：

• This train is now proceeding from Paris to London.这次列车从巴黎开往伦敦。
• The work is proceeding briskly.工作很有生气地进展着。