美國批准戴姆勒自動駕駛卡車上路

Germany’s Daimler unveiled the first self-driving truck to be licensed for commercial use on Tuesday, citing a deal with Nevada’s governor as the first step towards its goal of transforming the safety and efficiency of freight transport.

週二，德國戴姆勒(Daimler)公佈了首款將被批准用於商業用途的自動駕駛卡車。戴姆勒提到，該公司已經和內華達州州長達成協議，並表示這是實現其改變貨運安全性和有效性目標的第一步。

Daimler said it had brought the new self-driving technology to the desert, southwestern state after European governments were slower to approve regulations for autonomous trucks. Nevada was also one of the first states to allow autonomous passenger cars.

戴姆勒表示，由於歐洲各國政府在自動駕駛卡車的監管批准方面動作較慢，該公司已將這種新的自動駕駛技術引入位於美國西南部的人煙稀少的內華達州。內華達州也是美國首批批准自動駕駛小轎車的州之一。

However, the company said it would require far more states to accept the technology before it could show its potential by handling road freight deliveries “from coast to coast”. The vehicle will be able to operate autonomously only in Nevada — when it crosses state lines the driver will have to take the wheel.

不過，戴姆勒表示，該公司需要更多的州接受這種技術，才能通過完成“東西海岸間”的貨運，顯示這種技術的發展潛力。目前，這種卡車將只允許在內華達州自動駕駛。一旦跨越州境，駕駛員就必須拿回方向盤。

Wolfgang Bernhard, chief executive of Daimler’s bus and truck division, said autonomous driving would sharply reduce crashes from driver error. Driver error — often a result of fatigue or distraction — leads to around 90 per cent of crashes involving trucks.

戴姆勒公共汽車和卡車部門的首席執行官貝瀚德(Wolfgang Bernhard)表示，自動駕駛技術會極大程度地減少因駕駛員誤操作導致的事故。大約90%的卡車事故源自駕駛員的誤操作，這種誤操作往往是疲勞駕駛和分神導致的。