VOA常速英语2015--电子产品让驾车变得更容易（在线收听）

Electronics Make Driving Easier, Safer 电子产品让驾车变得更容易

LOS ANGELES—

New cars increasingly use connected technology, and incremental improvements in automotive electronics are making cars safer and smarter.

Some new models are flashy and others are fuel efficient, and embedded technology is at the heart of all of them.  

许多新款车型华丽炫酷，许多节能环保，而嵌入式系统技术则是它们的核心。

The new Ford Escape has a radar-enabled adaptive cruise control to avoid collisions, with sensors on the front and side of the car.  Ford's Mark Schirmer says the electronic system can be accessed through the dashboard or a smartphone.

全新福特翼虎拥有雷达巡航控制系统，避免汽车发生撞击，汽车前方和两侧配有传感器。仪表盘和智能手机能够与电子系统相连接。

“Where I am from, in Michigan, if it is a cold morning, I can have it start up right before I am scheduled to leave to go to the airport or go to work.  You can find your car or if one of your family members, a kid, borrowed the car, it will show you exactly where it is," said Schirmer.

比如说密歇根州的寒冷早上，我可以在计划前往机场或是上班之前启动汽车。比如家人要借车，你可以找到汽车的准确位置。

Third-party products now in development, like this emergency warning system, help drivers who fail to hear an approaching siren.  A near-miss with an ambulance inspired the product from the Chicago start-up HAAS, co-founded by Cory Hohs.  

第三方产品正在研发，就像这个紧急报警系统，提醒司机驶进的警笛。设计该产品的初衷是由于一起救护车险些撞车事故。

“It scared me enough that I started looking for a product that would alert me when they are coming," said Hohs.

这实在是太吓人了，我开始寻找一款能够提醒我警笛声的产品。

A sobriety detector from a Canadian company called Sober Steering is sold to companies with fleets of vehicles, such as buses.  Chief Operating Officer Catherine Carroll says a sensor on the steering wheel can detect alcohol vapors emitted from the skin.

像巴士等汽车都装载了清醒度检测器。它能够检测到皮肤上的酒精。

“If I am drinking and I have levels above a preset limit, it immobilizes the vehicle, so you can not move the vehicle that you are driving," said Carroll.

如果我饮酒，或是超过限定量，汽车将自动熄火，这样就会避免酒驾。

The system alerts the fleet manager that the vehicle and the driver have a problem.

司机能够通过互联网对系统进行控制。

One company founder says connected technology is changing our lives at home and on the highway.  Ashot Avetisyan is the chief executive of MiaLinkup, which makes a third-party application that monitors and controls a vehicle..

一家公司创始人称，连接技术改变了我们的日常生活，改变了道路状况。

“You can buy a washing machine, you can buy a microwave that has wifi and connects to a router.  There are [connected] thermostats. There are lights," said Avetisyan.

买一个能够与路由器相连接的洗衣机，或是微波炉。它们是恒温器，是灯光。

And increasingly cars, for which connected technology has become as important as performance and styling.

汽车的连接技术与性能款式同等重要。