双语新闻：谷歌无人驾驶汽车横空出世

2014-06-04 18:00:46来源：可可英语

　　Google pushed the commercialization of self-driving cars a giant step forward by announcing it is building a prototype vehicle – without steering wheel, brakes, or an accelerator – and will demonstrate it within a year.

　　谷歌(Google)宣布，公司正在研发一款没有方向盘、刹车和油门的原型车，并称这款车将于一年之内发布，此举使得无人驾驶汽车的商业化进程又向前迈进了一大步。

双语新闻：谷歌无人驾驶汽车横空出世

　　The company aims to prove that the means are within reach to allow passengers to travel safely to their destination in a self-driving vehicle – albeit at a speed not exceeding 25 miles per hour. Occupants will have no other role in the vehicle's operation beyond stating their destination.

　　这家公司打算证明，让乘客安全地通过无人驾驶汽车抵达目的地是可以实现的——尽管速度不会超过每小时25英里(约合每小时40.2公里)。汽车行驶期间，乘客只需要确定目的地，不需要做其他任何事情。

　　Chris Urmson, director of the project, hailed driverless technology's potential "to alleviate pain and to have a broad societal impact" by reducing the number of accidents, deaths, and injuries from accidents. He cited the roughly 32,000 automotive fatalities annually in the U.S. and 1.2 million worldwide. Another motivation for developing the technology, he said, during a phone press conference Wednesday morning, was to provide mobility to the elderly and disabled.

　　项目主管克里斯o厄姆森认为，无人驾驶技术通过降低车祸率，减少因此导致的伤亡事件，从而有可能“减轻痛苦，产生广泛的社会影响力”。厄姆森引用数据称，美国每年都会发生大约3.2万起车祸，而每年全世界会发生120万起。他在本周三的电话新闻发布会上表示，研发这项技术的另一个动机是让老年人和残疾人也拥有行动能力。

　　Auto industry executives have speculated about Google's business strategy for self-driving technology, which it has been developing since 2009 and demonstrating on specially adapted Toyota (TM) and Lexus vehicles. Though known mostly for Internet search and advertising, Google researchers have discussed the project with global automakers, raising the possibility that it was shooting for an alliance or collaboration.

　　汽车业的高管已经开始推测谷歌在无人驾驶技术上的商业策略。谷歌从2009年起开始研发这项技术，并在丰田(Toyota)和雷克萨斯(Lexus)的专用车型上进行了论证。尽管谷歌扬名立万主要是靠它的网络搜索和广告服务，但这家公司的研究人员已经与全球的汽车生产商探讨过无人驾驶项目，增加了它寻求同盟或合作的可能性。

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