美文赏析 Not long ago,selfdriving cars seemed like science fiction①.But Google is now operating socalled autonomous② cars in California and Nevada. But one question is getting little attention:should selfdriving cars be legal?And if they are,how will the laws of driving have to adapt?At present all our rules about driving are based on having a human behind the wheel③. Car crashes are a leading cause of death for Americans ages 4 to 34.Supporters_believe_that_selfdriving_cars_can_make_driving_safer_by_eliminating_distracted(注意力分散的)driving_and_other_human_mistakes.Google's self driving cars have cameras on the top to look around them and computers to do the driving.In the first 300,000 miles,Google reported that its cars had not had a single accident. As selfdriving cars become more common,there will be many new legal questions.If a selfdriving car gets into an accident,the human who is“copiloting(副驾驶)”may not be fully at fault—he may even be an injured party.Who should be responsible for the traffic accident?The human in the selfdriving car or the car's manufacturer?New laws will have to be written to sort all this out. How involved are we going to expect the human copilot to be?Must the“drivers”remain vigilant④,their hands on the wheel and their eyes on the road?If not,what are they allowed to do inside or outside the car?Can the human in the car drink?Textmessage?Read a book? |