中國致命車禍讓特斯拉自動駕駛系統再遭質疑
Tesla Motors came under renewed questioning about the safety of its Autopilot technology after news emerged on Wednesday of a fatal crash in China that may have occurred while the automated driver-assist system was operating.
週三，中國出現一起致命車禍的新聞，隨後，特斯拉汽車(Tesla Motors)自動駕駛技術的安全性再次受到質疑。事故可能是在自動的駕駛員輔助系統運行期間發生的。
The crash took place on Jan. 20 and killed Gao Yaning, 23, when the Tesla Model S he was driving slammed into a road sweeper on a highway near Handan, a city about 300 miles south of Beijing, according to a report broadcast on Wednesday by the Chinese government news channel CCTV.
中國政府的新聞機構中央電視臺週三報道，事故發生的時間是1月20日，地點在北京以南約480公里處的城市邯鄲附近的一段高速公路。報道稱，一輛特斯拉Model S撞向一輛道路清掃車，導致23歲的駕車人高雅寧死亡。
The report includes in-car video looking through the windshield as the car travels in the left lane at highway speed just before ramming into a parked or slow-moving orange truck.
央視的報道中出現了一段在車裏透過擋風玻璃拍攝到的視頻。視頻顯示，就在撞向一輛停着或正在緩慢移動的橘黃色卡車前，特斯拉汽車正在以高速公路的限速行駛在左側車道上。
The video, apparently shot by a camera mounted on the rearview mirror, recorded no images, sounds or jolts that would suggest the driver or the car hit the brakes before impact. At that point, the in-car video ends.
這段視頻似乎是由一個安放在後視鏡上的攝像頭拍攝的。視頻未記錄下任何畫面、聲音或震動能表明駕駛員或特斯拉汽車在撞車有剎車動作。視頻停在了撞車那一瞬間。
“When it was approaching the road sweeper, the car didn’t put on the brake or avoid it,” a police officer said in the CCTV report. “Instead, it crashed right into it.”
“白色特斯拉轎車在遇到前方正在施工作業的這個道路清掃作業車時，沒有采取任何緊急制動和躲避措施，”一名警察在央視的報道中說。“直接與其相撞。”
In an emailed statement, Tesla said on Wednesday that it had not been able to determine whether Autopilot was active at the time of the Handan accident. The company declined to say when it learned of the fatality in China, or whether it had reported the crash to United States safety officials, who are investigating a fatal accident in Florida on May 7 in which Autopilot was engaged.
週三當天，特斯拉在一份通過電子郵件發出的聲明中表示，尚無法斷定邯鄲那起事故發生時，自動駕駛系統是否處於激活狀態。該公司拒絕透露是何時得知發生在中國的這起致命事故的，以及公司是否已向美國的安全事務官員彙報此事。相關官員正在調查5月7日發生在佛羅里達州的一起致命事故。在那起事故中，自動駕駛系統處於使用狀態。
So far, that Florida accident is the only confirmed death involving a Tesla with Autopilot turned on. In that accident, there was no sign that the driver or Autopilot had applied the brakes before the car collided at high speed with a tractor-trailer that had turned in front of it.
迄今爲止，佛羅里達州那起事故是唯一一起得到證實的，涉及打開了自動駕駛系統的特斯拉汽車的致命案例。在那起事故中，沒有跡象表明在那輛特斯拉汽車與前方一輛轉彎的牽引式掛車高速相撞前，駕駛員或自動駕駛系統採取了剎車措施。
Although Tesla learned of the Florida accident a few weeks after it happened, it did not publicly disclose it until late June, when the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced it was investigating the crash.
特斯拉儘管在佛羅里達州那起事故發生幾周後便知道了事故情況，但直到6月末美國國家公路交通安全局(National Highway Traffic Safety Administration)宣佈正在進行調查時，才公開披露此事。
News of the Chinese crash will renew questions about when the company should disclose information about accidents in cars equipped with Autopilot and what information should be shared.
對於公司應該何時公佈配備自動駕駛系統的車輛的事故，以及具體應該分享哪些信息，此前早有質疑，此次中國的車禍消息傳出後，人們再次提出這一問題。
“Because of the damage caused by the collision, the car was physically incapable of transmitting log data to our servers, and we therefore have no way of knowing whether or not Autopilot was engaged at the time of the crash,” a Tesla spokeswoman, Alexis Georgeson, said in the company’s statement.
“碰撞給車身造成的損壞，會導致事故車輛無法將記錄下來的數據傳輸到我們的服務器上，因此我們無從得知事故發生時，是否使用了自動駕駛，”特斯拉的發言人亞歷克西絲•喬治森(Alexis Georgeson)在公司聲明中說。
“We have tried repeatedly to work with our customer to investigate the cause of the crash, but he has not provided us with any additional information that would allow us to do so,” she said of the car’s owner, Mr. Gao’s father.
“我們多次試圖與顧客合作，調查事故原因，但他未提供任何能允許我們這麼做的額外信息，”她說到那輛特斯拉的所有者，也就是高雅寧的父親時說。
She said Tesla was saddened to learn of the death of Mr. Gao. “We take any incident with our vehicles very seriously and immediately reached out to our customer when we learned of the crash,” she said.
喬治森表示，得知高雅寧的死訊，特斯拉感到悲傷。“我們非常重視和我們的車輛有關的任何事故，獲悉撞車事故後，我們立即與顧客取得了聯繫，”她說。
Tesla and Autopilot have been under scrutiny since the disclosure of the May fatality. That crash killed Joshua Brown, 40, whose 2015 Model S was traveling 74 miles per hour when it collided with a tractor-trailer that had turned left and was crossing a highway near Williston, Fla. Autopilot’s radar and cameras failed to recognize the white truck against a bright sky.
自從5月那起致人死亡的事故被公開後，特斯拉和自動駕駛一直備受關注。那起事故導致40歲的約書亞•布朗(Joshua Brown)死亡。與一輛牽引式掛車相撞時，布朗駕駛的2015年產Model S正以74英里的時速行駛。那輛掛車已完成左轉，正要穿過佛羅里達州威利斯頓附近的一條公路。在能見度很高的情況下，自動駕駛系統的雷達和攝像頭未能識別那輛白色的卡車。
News of the China crash comes just three days after Tesla’s chief executive, Elon Musk, outlined changes planned for Autopilot that he said would have prevented Mr. Brown’s accident and that he contended would make the Model S one of the safest cars on the road.
就在有關中國這起事故的新聞出現的三天前，特斯拉首席執行官埃隆•馬斯克(Elon Musk)簡要介紹了自動駕駛的調整計劃。他說相關變化能夠防止發生布朗遭遇的那一類事故，並宣稱它們會讓Model S成爲路面上最安全的汽車之一。
The changes include refinements in Autopilot’s radar that improve its ability to spot and identify obstacles down the road and additional warnings to force drivers to keep their hands on the steering wheel and eyes on the road while the system is active.
這些變化包括對自動駕駛系統的雷達進行多處改進。這些改進能夠提升雷達發現並識別路面障礙的能力，此外還會發出警告，迫使駕駛員在使用自動駕駛系統期間將雙手放在方向盤上，並注意路面情況。
Tesla has said Autopilot is not meant to take over completely for a human driver. When Autopilot is turned on, drivers are given audio and text warnings to remain alert and engaged while using it.
特斯拉表示，自動駕駛系統不是爲了徹底取代駕駛員。打開自動駕駛後，駕駛員會收到語音和文字警告，讓其在使用自動駕駛系統期間保持警惕，注意車輛行駛情況。
In August, Reuters reported that Tesla removed a Chinese term for “self-driving” from its China website after a driver in Beijing had a nonfatal crash while Autopilot was engaged. That driver later complained that the carmaker had oversold Autopilot’s capability.
路透社(Reuters)在8月報道，北京的一名駕駛員在使用自動駕駛系統期間發生車禍後，特斯拉在其中文網站中去掉了“自動駕駛”這個詞。那起事故未造成人員傷亡。後來，那名駕駛員抱怨稱特斯拉誇大了自動駕駛系統的能力。
The video of the January accident indicates the type of unexpected problem that can crop up at highway speeds. Critics of Autopilot say a driver can be lulled into complacency, leaving too little time to take back control of the vehicle.
在1月那起事故中保留下來的視頻，表明了汽車在高速公路上行駛時可能會出現的意想不到的問題。對自動駕駛持批評態度的人認爲，駕駛員可能會錯誤地產生一種自信，導致其幾乎沒有時間重新控制汽車。
Mr. Gao was traveling in the left lane of a three-lane highway with another car ahead of him. When the car ahead moved into the center lane, it revealed the orange truck, which was straddling the road’s left shoulder. Mr. Gao’s car never slowed before plowing into the truck.
邯鄲那起事故發生時，高雅寧正行駛在一段三車道高速路的左側車道上，另一輛車在他前面。前車併入中間車道後，那輛橘黃色的卡車顯露了出來。它的車身跨上了左側路肩。撞向那輛卡車時，高雅寧的車絲毫沒有減速。
Police investigators concluded that Mr. Gao was responsible for the accident, CCTV reported. But in July his family sued the dealer who had sold the Tesla.
央視報道稱，警方調查人員認定高雅寧對事故負主要責任。但7月，高雅寧的家人把賣出那輛特斯拉的經銷商告上了法庭。
The driver’s father, Gao Jubin, told CCTV he thought his son had been relying on Autopilot to drive the car and so was not watching the road when the crash took place.
高雅寧的父親高巨斌對央視表示，他認爲自己的兒子一直依賴自動駕駛，因此在事故發生時未觀察路面情況。
The lawsuit was filed “to let the public know that self-driving technology has some defects,” the family’s lawyer said in the report. “We are hoping Tesla, when marketing its products, will be more cautious. Don’t just use self-driving as a selling point for young people.”
高雅寧家人的代理律師在央視的報道中表示，提起訴訟是爲了“讓公衆知道，這種自動駕駛技術有缺陷”。他說，“希望特斯拉公司能夠在宣傳的過程中，在產品營銷過程中，要有一個慎重的態度。不要把自動駕駛作爲一個吸引年輕人的賣點。”
