新奇事件簿 男子自制“禁止停车”标志

A man in New Zealand has taken road traffic safety into his own hands. For the past 20 years, Russell Taylor has been illegally painting yellow parking-restriction lines on the road outside his house. Mr Taylor told the BBC news agency that the reason for his actions was to improve traffic safety in his neighborhood in the capital, Wellington. He also wanted to protest against gentrification. Mr Taylor said he initially¹ painted the yellow lines after becoming fed up with the local council's lack of interest in following up residents' complaints about road safety. He explained that he had seen numerous accidents and near-collisions on his narrow street and that his actions have made the road safer.

新西兰一名男子自己执行道路交通安全规则。过去20年，Russell Taylor一直非法在他家门外的道路上喷写黄色的禁止停车线。Taylor告诉BBC新闻机构，他这样做的目的是改善首都惠灵顿他居住的社区的交通安全状况。他还想要抗议贵族化。Taylor表示，最初，居民投诉了道路安全问题之后当地市政委员会毫不关心，他非常厌倦，所以喷洒了黄色的禁止停车线。他解释说，他亲眼目睹了他这条狭窄的街道上发生了几起交通事故和近距离撞击，他的行为让道路更加安全。

Wellington City Council confirmed it was aware of the road markings and that they would be removed. It pointed² out that it was illegal to install "fake traffic devices," such as Taylor's homemade yellow lines. It said: "We're aware of problems and complaints about parking in Holloway Road, and that the fire service had trouble getting to a house fire there in the past year because of parked vehicles." It also said it would be meeting residents to discuss the idea of installing no parking signs. The council added that Mr Taylor would not be prosecuted³ for his illegal road markings. It said: "Given the glorious and healthy history of civic⁴ activism in Holloway Road, we would rather not pick an unnecessary fight."

惠灵顿市政委员会证实，他们已经获悉这些道路标志的存在，即将拆除。该部门指出，设置“虚假的交通设备”是非法的，比如Taylor家自制的黄线。“我们意识到了问题的存在，也收到了关于霍洛韦大街上乱停车问题的投诉，过去一年，由于乱停车的问题，消防车前往事发地点处理火灾问题经常遇到障碍。”市政委员会还表示，他们会跟居民面谈，讨论安装禁止停车标志的措施。委员会补充说，Taylor先生不会因为喷写非法道路标志受到检控。“鉴于霍洛韦大街的公民活动一向比较积极而健康，我们选择避免不必要的争斗。”

1 initially   

adv.最初，开始

参考例句：

• The ban was initially opposed by the US.这一禁令首先遭到美国的反对。
• Feathers initially developed from insect scales.羽毛最初由昆虫的翅瓣演化而来。

2 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

3 prosecuted   

a.被起诉的

参考例句：

• The editors are being prosecuted for obscenity. 编辑因刊载污秽文字而被起诉。
• The company was prosecuted for breaching the Health and Safety Act. 这家公司被控违反《卫生安全条例》。

4 civic   

adj.城市的，都市的，市民的，公民的

参考例句：

• I feel it is my civic duty to vote.我认为投票选举是我作为公民的义务。
• The civic leaders helped to forward the project.市政府领导者协助促进工程的进展。