自动驾驶出租车扩张背后：监管通过了，争议还在

英语流利说
当自动驾驶技术从实验室驶入现实街头，它所带来的不仅是便利，也悄然改变了美国城市生活的纹理。Waymo 作为行业代表，在旧金山运营多年后正积极向更多城市扩张。然而，一系列新的挑战也随之浮现。Waymo 正面临着什么样的考验？它又将如何保持竞争力？我们马上和 Lala 一起走进今天的文章。

讲解人 · Lala

职业双语播音员 资深美音口语培训师

原文


        

        



** Waymo runs into safety concerns and competition in the US **

The sidewalk outside Majed Zeidan's grocery store in San Francisco's Mission District has stayed filled with flowers,  candles,  memorials and pictures since his cat was crushed under a Waymo in late October.


Amid the pictures of the cat,  a visitor had placed a poster that said,  “save the cat,  kill the car”.


That’s when Zeidan knew Kit Kat,  his bodega cat,  had become the face of the simmering discontent over San Francisco’s growing number of self-driving cars.


Two years since it got approved to ply its driverless cars,  Waymo,  owned by Google parent company Alphabet,  has become a part of San Francisco’s landscape.


Residents became increasingly comfortable riding one,  costumed Halloween parade goers clambered on its rooftops and danced,  and pedestrians occasionally banged its bonnet to get it to give way to them.


Waymo also started,  or is about to start,  services in Dallas,  Houston,  Orlando,  Miami and Washington,  DC,  in the last few weeks.


But the expansion comes with heightened safety concerns and new competition.


Scott Moura,  professor and director of the Energy,  Controls,  & Applications Lab at the University of California,  Berkeley,  expects perception and prediction issues to come up more as more autonomous vehicles come onto city streets and freeways and more cities with different weather.


Brauer of iSeeCars.com says that while Waymo has been in San Francisco and expanded mostly to warmer cities such as Dallas and Miami,  being in cities with snow could clog its sensors and make perception hard.


“Weather will be a big factor for Waymo sensors and its expansion plans, “ he says.


As for prediction,  “driving is social”,  Moura says,  noting,  “we want cars to anticipate and act accordingly”.





带着问题听讲解
    

  • 文中马吉德·泽丹（Majed Zeidan）的猫发生了什么意外？
    • 

  • 如何理解 simmering 这个词？
    • 

  • 如果你在旧金山，很可能看见居民如何对待 Waymo？
    • 





讲解

        

            

        

        

** 自动驾驶出租车扩张背后：监管通过了，争议还在 **


The sidewalk outside Majed Zeidan's grocery store in San Francisco's Mission District has stayed filled with flowers, candles, memorials and pictures since his cat was crushed under a Waymo in late October.
自从马吉德·泽丹（Majed Zeidan）的猫在 10 月下旬被一辆 Waymo 无人驾驶汽车碾压身亡以来，他在旧金山教会区杂货店外的人行道上就一直摆满了鲜花、蜡烛、纪念品和照片。
Amid the pictures of the cat, a visitor had placed a poster that said, "save the cat, kill the car". That's when Zeidan knew Kit Kat, his bodega cat, had become the face of the simmering discontent over San Francisco's growing number of self-driving cars.
在猫的照片丛中，一位访客放了一张海报，上面写着：“救救猫咪，消灭汽车”。就是在那时泽丹意识到，他的“社区杂货店猫”奇巧（Kit Kat）已经成为了旧金山市民对日益增多的自动驾驶汽车积怨的象征。
Two years since it got approved to ply its driverless cars, Waymo, owned by Google parent company Alphabet, has become a part of San Francisco's landscape.
谷歌母公司 Alphabet 旗下的 Waymo 获准运营无人驾驶汽车已有两年，如今已成为旧金山城市景观的一部分。
Residents became increasingly comfortable riding one, costumed Halloween parade goers clambered on its rooftops and danced, and pedestrians occasionally banged its bonnet to get it to give way to them.
居民们对乘坐这种车越来越习以为常，身着万圣节游行盛装的人们曾爬上车顶跳舞，行人偶尔也会拍打引擎盖让车给自己让路。
Waymo also started, or is about to start, services in Dallas, Houston, Orlando, Miami and Washington, DC, in the last few weeks.
在过去的几周里，Waymo 还在达拉斯、休斯顿、奥兰多、迈阿密和华盛顿特区启动或即将启动服务。
But the expansion comes with heightened safety concerns and new competition. 
但这种扩张也伴随着加剧的安全隐患和新的竞争。
Scott Moura, professor and director of the Energy, Controls, & Applications Lab at the University of California, Berkeley, expects perception and prediction issues to come up more as more autonomous vehicles come onto city streets and freeways and more cities with different weather.
加州大学伯克利分校能源、控制与应用实验室主任斯科特·莫拉（Scott Moura）教授预计，随着更多自动驾驶汽车进入城市道路和高速公路，以及进入更多天气各异的城市，感知和预测问题将会更加频繁地出现。
Brauer of iSeeCars.com says that while Waymo has been in San Francisco and expanded mostly to warmer cities such as Dallas and Miami, being in cities with snow could clog its sensors and make perception hard. "Weather will be a big factor for Waymo sensors and its expansion plans," he says.
iSeeCars.com 的布劳尔（Brauer）表示，虽然 Waymo 一直在旧金山运营，且主要向达拉斯和迈阿密等较温暖的城市扩张，但如果进入有雪的城市，积雪可能会堵塞传感器，导致感知困难。“天气将是影响 Waymo 传感器及其扩张计划的一大因素，”他说。
As for prediction, "driving is social", Moura says, noting, "we want cars to anticipate and act accordingly".
至于预测方面，“驾驶是一种社交行为”，莫拉指出，“我们希望汽车能够预判情况并采取相应的行动”。



重点词汇
 run into 
遇到；偶然碰见；遭遇问题


    

  • 例句：We ran into some technical difficulties.
    例句：I ran into an old friend at the supermarket.
    近义短语：meet by chance
    • 



 memorial 




/məˈmɔːr.i.əl/




n. 纪念物；纪念活动


    

  • 搭配短语：a war memorial
    • 



 crush 




/krʌʃ/




v. 挤压；猛烈撞击；极度伤心


    

  • 搭配短语：crushed ice
    例句：I was crushed by the news.
    搭配短语：a crushing moment
    • 



 amid 




/əˈmɪd/




prep. 在……之中；在……背景下


    

  • 例句：He finished his speech amid tremendous applause.
    例句：The firm collapsed amid allegations of fraud.
    • 



 bodega 




/boʊˈdeɪ.ɡə/




n. 小杂货店；社区便利店


    

  • 例句：The neighbourhood grocery store, or bodega, is the centre of the community.
    • 



 simmer 




/ˈsɪm.ɚ/




v. 慢慢加剧；暗中酝酿


    

  • 例句：There is simmering anger in the community.
    • 



 ply 




/plaɪ/




v. 频繁使用；往返运送


    

  • 搭配短语：ply a route
    搭配短语：ply a trade
    英文释义：When a boat, train, bus, etc. plies a particular route, it makes that journey regularly.
    例句：Ferries ply the straits.
    • 



 landscape 




/ˈlænd.skeɪp/




n. 景观；整体环境


    

  • 搭配短语：political landscape
    • 



 clamber 




/ˈklæm.bɚ/




v. 手脚并用地攀爬


    

  • 例句：The children clambered over the rocks.
    例句：She clambered into bed.
    • 



 bonnet 




/ˈbɑː.nɪt/




n.（英式）汽车引擎盖；老式女帽


    

  • 同义词：hood（美式英语）
    例句：I looked under the bonnet and clouds of smoke poured out.
    • 



 give way to 
让位于


    

  • 例句：You have to give way to traffic coming from the right.
    同义词：yield（美式英语）
    • 



 heightened 




/ˈhaɪ.tənd/




adj. 提高的；加剧的


    

  • 搭配短语：heightened awareness
    搭配短语：heightened tension
    • 



 perception 




/pɚˈsep.ʃən/




n. 感知；看法


    

  • 搭配短语：visual perception
    搭配短语：auditory perception
    • 



 autonomous 




/ɔːˈtɑː.nə.məs/




adj. 自动的；自主的


    

  • 词根词缀：auto-（自己）
    词根词缀：-nomous（法律、规则）
    搭配短语：fully autonomous
    搭配短语：autonomous region
    例句：an autonomous individual
    • 



 clog 




/klɑːɡ/




v. 堵塞；阻碍


    

  • 例句：The drain is clogged with hair.
    例句：Eating too much fat can clog your arteries.
    • 



 sensor 




/ˈsen.sɚ/




n. 传感器


    

  • 搭配短语：a heat sensor
    • 



 social 




/ˈsoʊ.ʃəl/




adj. 社会的；与人互动有关的


    

  • 搭配短语：social media
    搭配短语：social cues
    搭配短语：social norm
    • 



 anticipate 




/ænˈtɪs.ə.peɪt/




v. 预期；预判


    

  • 例句：A good general anticipates the enemy's movements.
    • 



 accordingly 




/əˈkɔːr.dɪŋ.li/




adv. 相应地；因此


    

  • 例句：The weather is changing, so please dress accordingly.
    • 



拓展阅读
非法超越校车 19 次，Waymo 被美国监管机构调查
据路透社报道，由于非法超越校车的问题，美国监管机构正在加大对 Robotaxi 公司 Waymo 的审查力度。此前，美国得克萨斯州的官员报告称，自新学年开学以来，Waymo 的无人驾驶车辆已 19 次非法超越校车。
根据美国交规，只要校车亮起红色警示灯并伸出停车臂，所有车辆必须立即停车、禁止超车。这是一条全国范围最严格、处罚最重的交通法规之一，目的就是确保儿童在上下校车时的绝对安全。因此，当 Waymo 的无人车多次在德州违规超越校车时，引发了监管部门和学区的强烈关注与调查。
据悉，美国国家公路交通安全管理局（NHTSA）早在今年 10 月就已对 Waymo 立案调查，起因正是一辆 Waymo 在乔治亚州遇到红灯闪烁、停车臂伸出的校车时，未按规定停车。
从目前来看，Waymo 在被调查后并没有很好解决这个问题。根据 NHTSA 公布的一封信件，奥斯汀独立学区表示，虽然 Waymo 声称已进行软件更新以解决此类问题，但 11 月内仍发生了 5 起类似的违规行为。学区因此要求 Waymo 在上下学时段暂停校园周边区域的运营，直到该公司能够确保不再违法。
学区律师在信中直言：“在问题完全解决前，我们不能允许 Waymo 的车辆继续给学生带来风险。”他举例称，在一起案例中，Waymo 的 Robotaxi 从停着的校车旁边开了过去。而就在这之前，一名学生刚从校车上下来，并且还没完全离开马路。
Waymo 在声明中没有解释为何拒绝暂停运营，也未回应是否会发布召回。该公司表示：“我们非常重视与校车的安全交互。我们已经快速上线了相关软件更新，并会持续改进。”
以上内容原载于网络，由流利说®阅读团队修改编辑。


英语流利说Lala 
Related posts
音乐里的悲伤，AI永远复制不了
瑞典试点带薪“友谊时间”，应对员工孤独感
精选外刊｜眼神交流，一门被遗忘的艺术