美国国家公共电台 NPR A Push To Have Cars Say 'No' To Drunk Drivers

A Push To Have Cars Say 'No' To Drunk Drivers

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Technology that would prevent you from driving if you have had too much to drink could become mandatory¹ in all new cars. That is if legislation now in Congress becomes law. NPR's Vanessa Romo reports on two bills to require automakers to build new cars and trucks with alcohol detection systems.

VANESSA ROMO, BYLINE²: Before Senator Tom Udall of New Mexico was Senator Tom Udall, he was that state's attorney general. And back then - we're talking the 1990s...

TOM UDALL: New Mexico was the No. 1 state in the country to have alcohol-related crashes per capita.

ROMO: He found it agonizing³.

UDALL: We kept trying to wonder - how do we get out of this?

ROMO: The answer, at least in part, was technology. New Mexico became one of the first states in the country to require convicted drunk drivers to use a Breathalyzer to start a car. Now Udall is turning to a much more advanced version of the technology to end the problem once and for all. Last week, he and Senator Rick Scott of Florida introduced a bill which Udall says...

UDALL: Seeks to put anti-drunk driving technology in new motor vehicles to help end drunk driving.

ROMO: There's a similar measure in the House. Both would continue funding research into devices that can instantly read a driver's blood alcohol level through their breath or touch, all without the driver doing anything. The goal, Udall says, is to require the device in all new vehicles as early as 2024. Helen Witty⁴, president of Mothers Against Drunk Driving, says car manufacturers have been pushing back on that deadline.

HELEN WITTY: I don't think the industry wanted to put an airbags or seatbelts. Think about how those were a fight to get through.

ROMO: Witty notes that automakers have a history of resisting new technologies. But now several companies have cameras that warn drivers if they appear impaired⁵ or have taken their eyes off the road. Those kinds of advances have given Witty hope that maybe automakers will be persuaded by consumers who want more safety features. But she is impatient. Her 16-year-old daughter was killed by another teen who'd had too many tequila shots and was driving 65 mph in a 30-mile zone. The young driver...

WITTY: Lost control of her car and spun⁶ off the road onto the bike path. And so my daughter Helen Marie was - looked up and saw the car coming toward her, and there was nothing she could do at all but die.

ROMO: Witty has been telling that tragic⁷ story for years to educate the public. She hopes the message will help spare other families the pain of her own.

WITTY: Not only did her life end, the life that we had as a family ended. My husband came home just shattered, and we had to figure out how to live again.

ROMO: Drunk driving fatalities⁸ have declined significantly since the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration first began tracking them in the '80s, but they still account for about a third of all traffic deaths. In 2017, more than 10,800 people were killed in drunk driving incidents.

Robert Strassburger, who heads the Automotive Coalition⁹ for Traffic Safety, expects a Breathalyzer-type product to be ready for licensing¹⁰ by next year. His group, which represents automakers, has partnered with the federal government to develop new anti-drunk driving technologies. They've been trying to create something that detects alcohol without the driver doing anything, but what they have now isn't there yet. It's more similar to a Breathalyzer, where the driver has to blow into a small hole near the driver's side window.

ROBERT STRASSBURGER: We are able to determine the presence of alcohol. So in other words, it's a yes-no decision.

ROMO: So it can't tell the difference between someone who's had one glass of wine and someone who's had four shots of whiskey. Still, Strassburger says there's already a market for the device, including trucking companies with a zero-tolerance policy for their drivers or parents with underage children. Strassburger says there is plenty of momentum¹¹ to make vehicles with technology that keeps dangerous drivers off the road. The question is - how will that happen and when?

Vanessa Romo, NPR News.

(SOUNDBITE OF DANNY BROWN'S "DANCE (INSTRUMENTAL)")

1 mandatory   

adj.命令的；强制的；义务的；n.受托者

参考例句：

• It's mandatory to pay taxes.缴税是义务性的。
• There is no mandatory paid annual leave in the U.S.美国没有强制带薪年假。

2 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

3 agonizing   

adj.痛苦难忍的；使人苦恼的v.使极度痛苦；折磨(agonize的ing形式)

参考例句：

• I spent days agonizing over whether to take the job or not. 我用了好些天苦苦思考是否接受这个工作。
• his father's agonizing death 他父亲极度痛苦的死

4 witty   

adj.机智的，风趣的

参考例句：

• Her witty remarks added a little salt to the conversation.她的妙语使谈话增添了一些风趣。
• He scored a bull's-eye in their argument with that witty retort.在他们的辩论中他那一句机智的反驳击中了要害。

5 impaired   

adj.受损的；出毛病的；有（身体或智力）缺陷的v.损害，削弱( impair的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Much reading has impaired his vision. 大量读书损害了他的视力。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• His hearing is somewhat impaired. 他的听觉已受到一定程度的损害。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

6 spun   

v.纺，杜撰，急转身

参考例句：

• His grandmother spun him a yarn at the fire.他奶奶在火炉边给他讲故事。
• Her skilful fingers spun the wool out to a fine thread.她那灵巧的手指把羊毛纺成了细毛线。

7 tragic   

adj.悲剧的，悲剧性的，悲惨的

参考例句：

• The effect of the pollution on the beaches is absolutely tragic.污染海滩后果可悲。
• Charles was a man doomed to tragic issues.查理是个注定不得善终的人。

8 fatalities   

n.恶性事故( fatality的名词复数 )；死亡；致命性；命运

参考例句：

• Several people were injured, but there were no fatalities. 有几个人受伤，但没有人死亡。
• The accident resulted in fatalities. 那宗意外道致多人死亡。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

10 licensing   

v.批准，许可，颁发执照( license的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• A large part of state regulation consists of occupational licensing. 大部分州的管理涉及行业的特许批准。 来自英汉非文学 - 行政法
• That licensing procedures for projects would move faster. 这样的工程批准程序一定会加快。 来自辞典例句

11 momentum   

n.动力，冲力，势头；动量

参考例句：

• We exploit the energy and momentum conservation laws in this way.我们就是这样利用能量和动量守恒定律的。
• The law of momentum conservation could supplant Newton's third law.动量守恒定律可以取代牛顿第三定律。