VOA慢速英语2019 开车发短信危险却明知故犯（在线收听）

Americans Believe Texting while Driving Is Dangerous, Yet Still Do It

Many people cannot live without modern technology products, especially their mobile phones. They use the devices to stay in contact with family and friends. The most common method of communication is by sending written text messages, a custom known as texting.

很多人离不开现代科技产品，尤其是手机。他们使用这些设备跟亲朋好友保持联系，最常见的沟通方式是发短信。

A new study suggests that more than half of U.S. parents believe texting while driving a car or other vehicle is unsafe. Yet most of those questioned said they do it anyway.

一项新的研究表明，美国一半以上的父母认为在开车时发短信不安全，然而大多数受访者表示他们还是会那样做。

The finding was reported earlier this month in the scientific publication JAMA Pediatrics.

本月早些时候的科学出版物《美国医学会期刊小儿科》报告了这一发现。

Researchers questioned 435 parents from across the United States. These men and women lived in 45 of the 50 states.

研究人员对美国各地的435名父母进行了调查，这些人生活在美国50个州中的45个州。

Regan Bergmark led the survey. Bergmark is a medical doctor with Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston, Massachusetts. She told the Reuters news agency that many people believe texting while driving is unsafe but have also likely done it. She said that this then creates a false sense of security. It strengthens their beliefs that they personally are in no danger.

里根·伯格马克（Regan Bergmark）主导了这项研究。伯格马克是马萨诸塞州波士顿市布莱根妇女医院以及哈佛大学医学院的医学博士。她对路透社表示，很多人认为开车时发短信是不安全的，但是可能又这样做了。她说这样会造成一种虚假的安全感，这会加深他们的观点，认为他们个人没有危险。

In fact, the survey found that 52 percent of millennial parents said they thought it was “never” safe to text and drive. The same goes for 58 percent of older parents. But almost two-thirds of parents reported reading texts while driving, and more than half of them have also written texts, the researchers found.

实际上调查发现，52%的千禧父母表示他们认为开车发短信不安全，58%的更年长的父母也这样认为。但研究人员发现，近2/3的父母称他们在开车时看短信，其中还有一半以上的父母还发短信。

For the survey, millennials were defined as individuals being from 22 to 37 years of age. The millennial generation includes many digital natives, meaning they grew up with smartphones and other mobile devices. The survey also found millennial parents were more likely to have many other dangerous habits while driving than older parents. They were more likely to use email while driving and drive faster than the speed limit.

在这项调查中，千禧一代被定义为22岁到37岁的个体。千禧一代里包括很多数字原生代，意思是他们跟智能设备和其它移动设备一起长大的。调查还发现，和更年长的父母相比，千禧一代的父母在开车时更容易出现很多其它危险习惯，他们更有可能在开车时使用电子邮件，并且开车超速。

“The problem with smartphones is that they have become an unavoidable part of daily life for most people,” Bergmark said.

伯格马克表示：“智能手机的问题在于它们已经成为了大多数人日常生活中不可或缺的一部分。”

“Many people are expected to be reachable by phone or email immediately, to be reachable for their children or work,” she added. “Being a responsible adult therefore often means always being reachable - yet we also know that while driving, being reachable carries with it the risk of a crash.”

她还说：“很多人被期望可以通过手机或电子邮件让孩子或公司随时联系上。因此作为一个负责任的成年人，通常意味着始终保持能被联系上，但是我们也知道，在开车时保持能被联系上会带来车祸风险。”

Almost 16 percent of millennial parents and 10 percent of older parents in the survey said they had been in at least one crash over the past year.

在这项调查中，16%的千禧一代父母和10%更年长父母表示，过去一年他们至少发生过一次撞车事故。

Compared to people who did not experience a crash, those who did were much more likely to have a number of unsafe driving habits. These include driving over the speed limit, texting, emailing, and doing other things on their phones, the survey found.

该调查发现，与没出过车祸的人相比，出过车祸的人更有可能有一些不安全的驾驶习惯，其中包括超速、发短信、发电子邮件以及在手机上做其它事情。

About three in four parents said they did not remember their child’s doctor speaking to them about distracted driving or the dangers of texting while driving.

大约3/4的父母表示，他们不记得他们孩子的医生跟他们说分心驾驶或开车发短信的危险。

Only about one in four millennials and about one in six older parents had used computer application software or smartphone programs aimed at reducing distracted driving.

只有大约1/4的千禧一代父母和大约1/6更年长的父母使用过旨在减少分心驾驶的计算机软件或智能手机程序。

The study was not a controlled experiment designed to prove whether or how texting or other activities might cause crashes. It was also not designed to prove if any given interventions might help reduce this risk.

该研究并非旨在证明发短信或其它活动是否可能会导致车祸的对照实验，它也不是为了证明任何给定的干预措施是否有助于降低这种风险。

“In general, it is never safe to use a smartphone while driving,” said Despina Stavrinos. She is the director of the Translational Research for Injury Prevention Laboratory at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. She was not involved in the study.

Despina Stavrinos表示：“一般来说，在开车时使用智能手机肯定不安全。”她是阿拉巴马大学伯明翰分校伤害预防转化研究实验室主任。她没有参与这项研究。

“There are a number of apps that can help to limit distracted driving, by disabling cell phone features when the vehicle is in motion,” Stavrinos said. “The simplest thing to do is to put the phone out of sight and out of reach to reduce the temptation to drive distracted.”

Stavrinos表示：“有很多应用程序可以通过在车辆运动时禁用手机功能，来帮助限制分心驾驶。最简单的事情就是把手机放在视线以外，手够不着，以减少诱惑不要驾驶分心。”

"However, they are not the only dangerous source of distraction," she added.

她还说：“但是，它们并不是分心的唯一危险因素。”

I’m Dorothy Gundy.

Words in This Story

mobile – adj. able to be moved

millennial – adj. relating to a millennium a period of a thousand years

digital – adj. using or characterized by computer technology

smartphone(s) – n. a mobile telephone that can be used to send and receive e-mail, connect to the Internet and take photographs

habit(s) – n. something that a person does often in a regular and repeated way

distracted – adj. unable to think about or pay attention to something

application – n. a formal and usually written request for something (such as a job, admission to a school, a loan

feature(s) – n. an interesting or important part, quality or ability

temptation – n. a strong urge or desire to have or do something