The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is recommending that all new vehicles in the United States have blood alcohol monitoring systems.
美国国家运输安全委员会建议美国所有新车都安装血液酒精监测系统。
The systems are designed to stop people who have had too much to drink from driving.
该系统旨在阻止那些喝太多酒的人开车。
If the recommendation is approved by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), it could reduce the number of alcohol-related crashes, one of the biggest causes of highway deaths in the United States.
如果这项建议得到美国国家公路交通安全管理局的批准,它可能会减少与酒精相关的撞车事故的数量,酒后驾驶是美国高速公路交通事故的主要死亡原因之一。
NHTSA said this week that road deaths in the U.S. are at crisis levels.
美国国家公路交通安全管理局本周表示,美国的道路死亡人数处于危机水平。
Nearly 40,000 people were killed last year, the greatest number in 16 years, as Americans returned to the roads after pandemic stay-at-home orders.
去年有近4万人死亡,这是16年来死亡人数最多的一年,因为美国人在疫情居家令解除后重新回到路上。
The agency says 11,654 people died in 2020 from alcohol-related crashes.
该机构表示,2020年有11654人死于与酒精有关的撞车事故。
That is the most recent year the data is available.
这是可获得的最近一年的数据。
That number represents about 30 percent of all U.S. traffic deaths.
这一数字约占美国交通事故死亡人数的30%。
The NTSB, which has no legal power and can only ask other agencies to act, said the recommendation is designed to put pressure on NHTSA to take action.
美国国家运输安全委员会没有法律权力,只能要求其他机构采取行动,该委员会表示,这一建议旨在向美国国家公路交通安全管理局施压,要求其采取行动。
It could be effective as early as three years from now.
它最早可能会在三年后生效。
“We need NHTSA to act. We see the numbers,” NTSB Chairman Jennifer Homendy said.
美国国家运输安全委员会主席詹妮弗·霍曼迪说:“我们需要美国国家公路交通安全管理局采取行动。我们看到了数字。”
“We need to make sure that we’re doing all we can to save lives.”
“我们需要确保尽我们所能拯救生命。”
The NTSB, she said, has been pushing NHTSA to explore alcohol monitoring technology since 2012.
她说,自2012年以来,美国国家运输安全委员会一直在说服美国国家公路交通安全管理局探索酒精监测技术。
“The faster the technology is implemented the more lives that will be saved,” she said.
她说:“这项技术实施得越快,拯救的生命就越多”。
The recommendation also calls for systems to monitor a driver’s behavior, making sure they are paying attention, or alert.
该建议还要求系统监控司机的行为,确保他们集中注意力或保持警觉。
She said many cars now have cameras pointed at the driver, which could possibly limit drunk driving.
她说,现在许多汽车都安装了对准司机的摄像头,这可能会限制酒后驾车。
But Homendy says she also understands that perfecting the alcohol tests will take time.
但霍曼迪说,她也明白完善酒精检测需要时间。
“We also know that it’s going to take time for NHTSA to evaluate what technologies are available and how to develop a standard,” she said.
她说:“我们也知道,美国国家公路交通安全管理局需要时间来评估可用的技术以及如何制定标准。”
The agency and a group of 16 automakers have been supporting research on alcohol monitoring since 2008.
自2008年以来,该机构和16家汽车制造商一直在支持酒精监测的研究。
They formed a group called Driver Alcohol Detection System for Safety.
他们成立了一个名为“驾驶员酒精检测安全系统”的组织。
The group has hired a Swedish company to research technology that would automatically test a driver’s breath for alcohol and stop a vehicle from moving if the driver has had too much to drink, said Jake McCook, spokesman for the group.
该组织的发言人杰克·麦克库克表示,该组织已经请了一家瑞典公司来研究一项技术,该技术可以自动检测司机呼气中的酒精含量,并在司机饮酒过量时阻止汽车行驶。
The driver would not have to blow into a tube.
司机不必对着管子吹气。
Instead, a sensor would check the driver’s breath, McCook said.
麦克库克说,相反,传感器会检测司机的呼气。
Another company is working on light technology that could test for blood alcohol in a person’s finger, he said.
他说,另一家公司正在研究可以检测人手指血液酒精含量的光技术。
Breath technology could be ready by the end of 2024, while touch technology would come about a year later.
酒精呼气检测技术可能会在2024年底准备就绪,而触摸技术将会在大约一年后问世。
It could take one or two more model years after carmakers get the technology for it to be in new vehicles, McCook said.
麦克库克说,汽车制造商获得技术并将其应用于新车可能还需要一到两年。
Once the technology is ready, it will take years for it to be in most of the cars on U.S. roads.
一旦这项技术准备就绪,它将需要数年时间才能应用于美国道路上的大多数汽车。
Under last year’s law to rebuild highways, the U.S. Congress required NHTSA to make automakers install alcohol monitoring systems within three years.
根据去年重建高速公路的法律,美国国会要求美国国家公路交通安全管理局在三年内让汽车制造商安装酒精监测系统。
The law does not name the exact technology, only that it must “passively monitor” a driver to see if they are affected by alcohol.
这项法律并没有给出具体的技术名称,只是说它必须“被动监测”司机,看看他们是否受到酒精的影响。
I’m Ashley Thompson.
阿什利·汤普森为您播报。
译文为可可英语翻译,未经授权请勿转载!