Observing preceding vehicles

8 The distances and closing rates to preceding vehicles can be measured by a radar or a laser rangefinder. Both technologies have already been implemented in commercially available systems in Japan and Europe. The laser systems are currently less expensive, but the radar systems are more effective at detecting dirty vehicles and operating in adverse weather conditions. As production volumes increase and unit costs decrease, the radars are likely to find increasing favor.
留意前行车辆

与前行车辆的车距及接近时的速度可用雷达或激光测距仪测定。这两项技术已经在日本和欧洲投入商业运用。目前激光系统比较便宜，但雷达系统能更加有效地测知野蛮行驶的车辆，能更加安全地在天气恶劣时操作。随着产量的提高，成本的降低，雷达系统将会越来越受欢迎。

Steering, accelerating and braking

9 The equivalents of these driver muscle functions are electromechanical devices installed in the automated vehicle. They receive electronic commands from the onboard control computer and then apply the appropriate steering angle, throttle angle, and brake pressure by means of small electric motors. Early versions of these devices are already being introduced into production of vehicles, where they receive their commands directly from the driver's inputs to the steering wheel and pedals. These decisions are being made for reasons largely unrelated to automation. Rather they are associated with reduced energy consumption, simplification of vehicle design, enhanced ease of vehicle assembly, improved ability to adjust performance to match driver preferences, and cost savings compared to traditional direct mechanical control devices.
掌握方向、加速和刹车

相当于车辆驾驶者肌功能的是安置在自动车辆上的电动机械装置。它们接收车上计算机控制台发出的电子指令，再凭借小型电力发动机恰当地控制方向、油门大小以及刹车紧急程度。车辆生产已经采用这类装置的最初样本，它们通过驾驶者给方向盘和踏板的输入信息直接获得指令。决定开发这类产品大都与自动化无关。与之有关的因素有降低能耗、简化车辆设计、进一步提高车辆装配效率、改善根据车辆驾驶者的喜好调节性能的能力，以及低于传统的机械直控装置的成本等。

Deciding when and where to change course

10 Computers in the vehicles and those at the roadside have different functions. Roadside computers are better suited for traffic management, setting the target speed for each segment and lane of roadway, and allocating vehicles to different lanes of a multilane automated facility. The aim is to maintain balanced flow among the lanes and to avoid obstacles or incidents that might block a lane. The vehicle's onboard computers are better suited to handling decisions about exactly when and where to change lanes to avoid interference with other vehicles.
决定何时何处变道

车用计算机与路边装置的计算机功能不同。路边设置的计算机更适用于交通管理，如为不同路段和车道设定限速，通过多车道自动化设施为车辆安排不同的车道。其目的是使各车道的车流量保持平衡，避免可能堵塞车道的障碍或事故。车用计算机更适用于精确地判断在什么时间和位置改变车道，以避免与其他车辆碰撞。

Remaining challenges

11 There remain a number of difficulties to be overcome. These are mainly technical, but there are in addition a number of nontechnical challenges that need to be addressed. These involve issues of liability, costs, and perceptions.
尚存的挑战

尚有许多困难有待克服。主要是技术性难题，但此外也有不少非技术性的挑战需要面对，其中包括行车责任、成本以及观念等问题。

12 Automated control of vehicles shifts liability for most crashes from the individual driver (and his or her insurance company) to the designer, developer, and vendor of the vehicle and roadway control systems. Provided the system is indeed safer than today's driver-vehicle-highway system, overall liability exposure should be reduced. But its costs will be shifted from automobile insurance premiums to the purchase or lease price of the automated vehicle and toll for use of the automated highway facility.
车辆的自动控制把大多数事故的责任从车辆驾驶者个人（及其保险公司）转移到设计者、研制者以及车辆和道路控制系统的经销商身上。如果这一系统的确比当今的车辆驾驶者—车辆—公路系统安全，总体责任风险就会减少。但其成本会从汽车保险金转移到自动车辆的售价或租金，以及自动公路设施的使用费上来。

13 All new technologies tend to be costly when they first become available in small quantities, then their costs decline as production volumes increase and the technologies mature. We should expect vehicle automation technologies to follow the same pattern. They may initially be economically viable only for heavy vehicles (transit buses, commercial trucks) and high-end passenger cars. However, it should not take long for the costs to become affordable to a wide range of vehicle owners and operators, especially with many of the enabling technologies already being commercialized for volume production today.
任何新技术在最初小批量供应时都相对昂贵，以后随着产量的增长与技术的完善，成本就会降低。我们相信车辆自动控制技术也将遵循这一模式。从经济角度考虑，这类技术在最初阶段或许只能应用于重型车辆（如公交车、货运卡车）和高级客车。然而，不用多久，其成本就能为广大车辆拥有者和驾驶者所接受，尤其是目前不少可以应用的技术已经走向市场，开始了批量生产。

14 The largest impediment to introduction of electronic chauffeuring may turn out to be the general perception that it's more difficult and expensive to implement than it really is. If political and industrial decision makers perceive automated driving to be too futuristic, they will not pay it the attention it deserves and will not invest their resources toward accelerating its deployment. The perception could thus become a self-fulfilling prophecy.
电子驾驶应用的最大障碍可能在于一种普遍的观念，认为这一技术的应用比实际情况更困难，更昂贵。如果政治决策者和企业决策者认为自动驾驶过于超前，他们就不会予以应有的关注，就不会投入资源，促使其早日为人们利用。这样的话，这一观念就可能成为一种终将实现的预言。

15 It is important to recognize that automated vehicles are already carrying millions of passengers every day. Most major airports have automated people movers that transfer passengers among terminal buildings. Urban transit lines in Paris, London, Vancouver, Lyon, and Lille, among others, are operating with completely automated, driverless vehicles; some have been doing so for more than a decade. Modern commercial aircraft operate on autopilot for much of the time, and they also land under automatic control at suitably equipped airports on a regular basis.
重要的是，要看到，每天已有千百万人乘坐自动化车辆。大多数颇具规模的机场都有自动控制的客车把乘客从一个航站楼转到另一个航站楼。不少城市公交线路，如巴黎、伦敦、温哥华、里昂和里尔等，都是由全自动控制的无人驾驶车辆运行的，有些已运行了十多年。现代商用飞机大多时间是由自动驾驶仪操纵的，在装备完善的机场，这些飞机一向在自动控制指挥下着陆。

16 Given all of this experience in implementing safe automated transportation systems, it is not such a large leap to develop road vehicles that can operate under automatic control. That should be a realistic goal for the next decade. The transportation system will thus gain substantial benefits from the revolution in information technology.
考虑到所有这些安全运用自动化交通运输系统的经验，开发由自动控制操纵的公路车辆算不上什么大的飞跃。这应该是未来十年中的一个现实目标，交通运输系统也就会大大得益于信息技术革命。