VOA常速英语:Strides Made in Self-driving Cars, But Much Work Remains

The self-driving car is a truly 21st century machine. Even though the idea has been around since 1930s, only the sharp rise of computing power and corresponding dropping in the price of sophisticated hardware have allowed the researchers to start building experimental vehicles.
自动驾驶汽车绝对是21世纪的机器。尽管从20世纪30年代起，这一想法就已经出现，但是只有在计算机能力急剧发展，相应的一些复杂硬件价格下降时，才让研究者开始制造试验汽车。

Experts agree it is no longer a question of if but when self-driving cars will become available and affordable.
专家们都同意，现在的问题已经不再是自动驾驶汽车是否可行而且可为人所购买，而是什么时候自动驾驶汽车能够可行而且可为人所购买。

However, there still are a few hurdles.
然而，仍然存在着一些阻碍。

The researchers at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh have been testing the experimental Cadillac SUV on the road from suburban home to the city’s airport. The vehicle performed flawlessly.
匹兹堡卡内基·梅隆大学的研究者从郊区的家到城市机场这段路上一直在测试凯迪拉克多功能车。这辆车的表现完美无缺。

But the lead researcher, professor Raj Rajkumar, says driving through the inner city is another matter.
但是研究领头人，拉杰·拉杰库马尔教授说要在城市中行驶又是另外一回事。

“The traffic around the inner city can be very dense — different kinds of vehicles, pedestrians, bicyclists and pedestrians that particularly jaywalk across the streets and location outside in the sections and so on.”
“城市内部的交通十分密集，各种不同车辆，行人还有骑自行车的人，特别是行人横穿马路在其他地方乱跑等等。”

Each year, more than 1 million people die and 15 million are injured in car accidents, 90% of which are caused by humans. Experts say self-driving cars will reduce those numbers dramatically. Because they obey speed limits, observe road signs and never run a red light.
每年，超过100万人在车祸中丧生，1500万人因车祸受伤，90%的车祸都是人为造成的。专家说自动驾驶汽车将会大幅度减少这些数字。因为这些汽车能够遵守限速标准，遵守路标而且不会闯红灯。

Audi, Tesla, Mercedes and others already offer models with capabilities for self-steering and rear-end collision avoidance, reducing the tediousness and stress of long highway drives.
奥迪、特斯拉、梅赛德斯以及其他汽车公司已经提供了一些汽车模型，这些模型能够自动操控，防止追尾发生，从而减少长时间高速公路驾驶的沉闷和紧张。

A bigger hurdle may be getting people to trust a car enough to let go of the wheel. But Rajkumar says it actually does not take that long.
更大的阻碍可能是让人们足够信任一辆汽车让它的轮子自己跑。但是拉杰库马尔说这实际上不会花那么久时间。

“They begin to see that the vehicle is exactly very rational, drives safely and then they begin to relax.”
“他们开始看到这种汽车是真的特别合理，可以安全行驶而且他们可以开始放松。”

So most of the technology is already there. What is required is the drop in the price and more sophistication in the computer programs that will control the car.
因此大多数技术已经具备。现在需要的是价格下降以及控制汽车的计算程序更为先进。

“To me, it will take about 10 years, maybe more than 10 years, for a vehicle to be able to drive itself everywhere that you and I can drive today, from any point A to any point B that a lot of consumers can drive.”
“对于我来说，要花上10年，可能比10年更多，让汽车就像你和我现在驾驶汽车一样，能自动驾驶到任何地方，像很多用户驾驶汽车一样，从任何一个A点到任何一个B点。”

But Google, Uber and some others say they are already preparing for the more distant future, experimenting with cars with no pedals and steering wheels that may fundamentally change the way we use cars today.
但是谷歌、优步以及一些其他的公司称他们已经在准备更为先进的未来，试验没有踏板和方向盘的汽车，这可能根本上改变我们今天使用汽车的方式。

George Putic VOA NEWS Washington.
VOA新闻，乔治·普迪克华盛顿报道。