汽車內(nèi)日益增加的電子零件內(nèi)容，無(wú)疑提升了車輛的安全性，而更多新興科技只會(huì)助長(zhǎng)此一趨勢(shì)；根據(jù)一份由 IEEE 專家所提出的聲明，事實(shí)上，幾乎所有因駕駛?cè)耸韬鲈斐傻慕煌ㄊ鹿?約占據(jù)所有車禍?zhǔn)录木懦梢陨?，都可藉由建置于車輛與道路的現(xiàn)有智能型運(yùn)輸技術(shù)(intelligent transportation technologies)而避免。
IEEE的新聞稿指出，那些所謂的智能型運(yùn)輸技術(shù)包括各種電子與運(yùn)算方案，例如可偵測(cè)疲勞駕駛的車內(nèi)機(jī)器視覺(jué)與傳感器，車道偏離警報(bào)系統(tǒng)，以及車輛對(duì)車輛、車輛對(duì)基礎(chǔ)設(shè)施的通訊設(shè)備等安全性應(yīng)用。能避免九成以上的交通事故著實(shí)令人驚訝；而根據(jù)IEEE與產(chǎn)業(yè)界專家的說(shuō)法，上述那些技術(shù)在獲得廣泛采用之后，價(jià)格也會(huì)降低，在接下來(lái)十年我們就可看到它們現(xiàn)身于車輛中。
但這樣的未來(lái)還是讓我有些憂慮…別誤會(huì)，與車輛安全性無(wú)關(guān)；我的顧慮是在駕駛?cè)松砩?，我?dān)心駕駛?cè)藭?huì)變得越來(lái)越懶惰。如果你的車會(huì)幫忙叫醒你、換車道甚至停車，那干嘛不打個(gè)盹或是花力氣打方向燈、找車位？反正車子自己都會(huì)處理好。
幸好有個(gè)事實(shí)打破我這種悲觀想法：據(jù)了解，雖然汽車內(nèi)有安全氣囊與其它各種安全系統(tǒng)的加持，駕駛?cè)瞬](méi)有因此不系安全帶，而且主動(dòng)系好安全帶的人越來(lái)越多；所以看來(lái)，額外的安全功能并沒(méi)有讓駕駛?cè)说粢暂p心。
但在另一方面，根據(jù)我在美國(guó)波士頓開(kāi)車的經(jīng)驗(yàn)，有部分汽車駕駛?cè)艘驗(yàn)樘鲑囆驴萍迹炊鴮?dǎo)致某種程度的危險(xiǎn)。例如我總是能猜到我前方的汽車駕駛?cè)苏谟?GPS (無(wú)論是否有語(yǔ)音輔助)，因?yàn)樗麜?huì)猛然偏向跨越幾個(gè)車道，好從某個(gè)交流道出口或是街口轉(zhuǎn)出去，連打方向燈都沒(méi)有；或者有些人是在某個(gè)十字路口干脆停住，思考該往哪走。
以上這些狀況在波士頓原本就很常見(jiàn)，有了GPS裝置之后更加嚴(yán)重；這里的人很不耐煩打方向燈，就連簡(jiǎn)單的變換車道也一樣，他們可能只會(huì)先看看后照鏡之類的。我很擔(dān)心一旦車子有了傳感器能偵測(cè)其它車輛，這些駕駛?cè)藗兛赡苓B后照鏡都不看了，會(huì)讓車子自己來(lái)就好。
還有正在發(fā)展中的車輛對(duì)車輛無(wú)線通訊技術(shù)，能協(xié)助偵測(cè)道路上的危險(xiǎn)車輛，例如接近一個(gè)不易分辨之十字路口(blind intersection)的車輛，并提醒鄰近的駕駛?cè)恕Ｎ遗氯藗儠?huì)因此較忽略停止號(hào)志或紅綠燈等信號(hào)，因?yàn)轳{駛?cè)薃可能會(huì)假設(shè)駕駛?cè)薆知道他的存在，然后駕駛?cè)薆又自以為駕駛?cè)薃會(huì)知道保持安全距離。反正，車子會(huì)自己注意？
好吧…為了讓你不認(rèn)為我是個(gè)反科技者(我真的不是)，我還是贊同智能型運(yùn)輸技術(shù)的一大優(yōu)點(diǎn)，那就是可減少能源消耗與二氧化碳排放量。IEEE的專家表示，在未來(lái)五年，藉由采用諸如“最省油路線規(guī)劃(eco-routing)”等訴求環(huán)保的智能型運(yùn)輸系統(tǒng)(ITS)，將可降低全球20~30%的能源消耗與汽車排放量。
當(dāng)科技能讓汽車比開(kāi)車的人更聰明，你的看法如何？未來(lái)的駕駛?cè)耸欠駮?huì)仍然遵守交通規(guī)則，還是把那些工作全權(quán)交給車子負(fù)責(zé)？歡迎分享你的意見(jiàn)！
編譯：Judith Cheng
本文授權(quán)編譯自EBN Online，版權(quán)所有，謝絕轉(zhuǎn)載
參考英文原文：Cars That Are Smarter Than Their Drivers，by Barbara Jorgensen；本文作者為EBN 社群編輯
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Cars That Are Smarter Than Their Drivers
Barbara Jorgensen
Increased electronics content in cars has undisputedly made cars safer, and additional technologies will only augment that trend. In fact, nearly every traffic accident caused by driver error -- up to 90 percent of all crashes -- could be eliminated if existing intelligent transportation technologies were implemented in our vehicles and roads, say experts at IEEE in a press release.
These include electronics and computing technologies such as in-vehicle machine vision and sensors to detect drowsy drivers, lane departure warning systems, and vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-infrastructure communications for safety applications, the release says.
That's an amazing number -- 90 percent. These technologies have to come down in price before they will be widely adopted, the IEEE and industry experts say, but we may see some of them in automobiles within the next 10 years. However, some of this has me worried.
Don't misunderstand: there is no downside to safer vehicles. My concern is and always will be drivers. I'm afraid drivers will get lazy. If your car can wake you up, change lanes, and even parallel park for you, why sleep, signal, or find a garage? The car will take care of it.
There is one fact that disputes this cynical conclusion: the addition of airbags and other safety systems in cars has not resulted in drivers failing to use seat belts. If anything, more drivers wear seat belts than ever. So the addition of safety features such as airbags hasn't made drivers any more complacent.
On the other hand -- and let me preface this by saying I drive in Boston -- some drivers are relying on technology to a degree that is dangerous. I can always tell when someone in front of me is using his GPS (voice-activated or not) because he suddenly swerves across lanes to take an exit or turn onto a street. No signal, nothing. Or someone abruptly stops in an intersection to decide what to do. That's typical of Boston already; GPS just makes it worse. Most folks around here don't bother to signal a simple lane change, either. They might check their rear-view mirrors or look over their shoulders first, but I'm worried that if cars have sensors that detect other vehicles, even that might not happen. Let the car do it.
Another technology in the works is wireless networking technology for vehicle-to-vehicle communication that will help detect dangerous vehicles on the road, such as a car approaching a blind intersection, and warn nearby drivers. I'm afraid people will pay less attention than they do already to stop signs and other traffic signals. Driver A will just assume Driver B knows A is coming. Driver B assumes Driver A's car knows enough to stop. Either way, let the car deal with it.
Lest you think I'm anti-technology (and I'm not), here's a big upside: Intelligent transportation technologies can reduced fuel consumption and emissions. The IEEE says that fuel use and vehicle emissions can be reduced by 20 percent to 30 percent worldwide over the next five years using environmentally-friendly ITS technology such as "eco-routing." This vehicle GPS system capability will allow drivers to select destination routes according to fuel efficiency.
So technology is enabling cars that are smarter than the people driving them. What do you think? Will drivers still obey the rules of the road or let their car figures things out? Let me know on the message board below.
