【每日翻译】Driverless cars 无人驾驶汽车

As the  relentless pace of technology continues to advance, companies must adapt or get left behind. One of the key areas of contention these days is the driverless car.Autonomous cars have long been featured in science fiction movies and books, but in recent years they have moved from a pipe dream to a reality.

随着科技的不断进步，公司必须去适应这种发展，否则会被淘汰。这一阵争议的重点领域之一是无人驾驶汽车。无人驾驶汽车很长时间内都只在科幻电影和小说里出现过，但是在最近几件，它已经从虚幻的世界里来到了现实的世界里。

The development of the autonomous car actually started in the 1920s, but it wasn't until the 1980s that the first prototypes  were successfully created, one of which was designed by Mercedes-Benz.

无人驾驶汽车实际上在20世纪20年代起步，但是直到20世纪80年代，第一辆无人驾驶汽车雏形才成功的发明出来。其中一辆是梅赛德斯奔驰公司设计的。

Since then the technology has gone from strength to strength and these days many companies are jumping on the bandwagon.Uber is the latest to announce its plan to unroll a fleet of driverless cars. It follows Apple and Ford, who have announced similar plans, and Google and Tesla, who already have autonomous cars on the road.

自从那时起，无人驾驶技术日益强大，最近很多公司跟风。Uber最近公开展示一队无人驾驶小车。紧接着苹果和福特宣布相似的计划，谷歌和特拉斯已经有无人驾驶汽车在路上了。

Two questions arise: Do we really need them? And are they really safe? Advocates of driverless cars would argue 'yes' to both.Vehicular autonomy, if perfected, could lead to much safer road conditions for all, lower insurance costs and enhance mobility for the elderly, the sick and those with disabilities. They would also allow roads to increase their capacity between 200 – 400%.

现在出现了两个问题：我们真的需要它们吗？它们真的安全吗？无人驾驶汽车的拥护者会回答说“是”。车辆自动驾驶技术如果完善了会使道路条件更加安全，降低保险成本，并且提高老弱病残者的行动能力。同时还可以使得公路提高200%-400%的负荷。

Perfection, though, seems to be just out of reach at the moment. To date Google's self-driving car, launched in 2012, has had 14 minor accidents. Even worse, Tesla's Autopilot has caused one fatality in 2015, where the vehicle simply did not see the obstacle.

诚然，此时此刻完美还是如此的遥不可及。追溯到2012年谷歌投入的自动驾驶汽车，已经发生了14起微小事故。更糟的是，特斯拉自动驾驶仪在2015年已经引发了一次死亡事故，车辆根本看不到障碍物。

While the technology exists, driverless cars and full vehicular autonomy is still embryonic. That said, you can rest assured that further development in the field is inevitable.And what’s the future? Well, George Marcus, co-founder of Geometric Intelligence – Uber's autonomous development department – imagines a world of flying cars taking us to work. He says "They're going to allow people to take long commutes at 75 or 150 mph where you'd otherwise get stuck in traffic. It's really, in a not-too-distant future, going to be something that is practical." Wouldn't that be fine?

既然这种技术存在，那么无人驾驶汽车以及车辆的自主性仍然没有成熟。也就是说，你可以放心，这个领域的发展是不可避免的。那么，未来会怎样？George Marcus，Uber无人驾驶开发部几何智能的创始人，他说，“想象一下，飞翔的汽车世界带着我们去上班，以每小时75或者150英里的速度上下班，否则我们会陷入交通堵塞中，在不久的将来，这就是很实用的技术”。这难道不好吗？