为何现在开车最安全

为何现在开车最安全 为何现在开车最安全 2009 10 29 18 17 33 作者 来源 华尔街日报 中文网 You may feel a sense of dread on the road these days watching other drivers gab on phones and fiddle with iPods But by one measure American motorists are safer than they ve been in decades though it s not clear exactly why The rate of fatalities per 100 million miles of vehicle travel on U S roads is at its lowest since the government began keeping such data in the mid 1970s according to the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration The NHTSA s recent projected decline in overall traffic deaths for the first half of 2009 was played as a silver lining to the lousy economy Fewer people driving to work fewer people dying on the road That could be true The raw number of highway deaths tends to drop during recessions according to government figures But more significant is the decline in the death rate or deaths spread across miles of driving long division that helps smooth out effects of economic cycles Based on the latest estimates there were 1 19 deaths for every 100 million vehicle miles traveled in the second quarter of 2009 That compares with an estimated rate of 1 1 for the first quarter By comparison the deaths over miles traveled ratio was 1 46 for all of 2005 a year in which 43 510 people died on the roads If current trends continue it s possible that fewer than 35 000 people will die on U S highways this year We are hitting fatality rate levels we couldn t have imagined a decade ago says NHTSA spokesman Rae Tyson Exactly why driving is less deadly isn t clear though the trend has been going on for several years The data don t explain the cause of every accident nor why accidents that could have been deadly weren t One factor may be better safety technology A decade ago 77 of vehicles sold had no side airbags according to Insurance Institute for Highway Safety data In 2009 only 10 3 of cars didn t offer side airbags and nearly 65 did offer head and torso protecting airbags as standard equipment Electronic stability control systems that use the car s brakes to prevent skids were available on just 9 of vehicles sold in the U S in 1999 For 2009 74 of cars and 100 of sport utility vehicles sold offered the technology as standard equipment and 85 of vehicles sold overall offered it as either a standard or optional feature Highways also have more safety features Rumble strips which alert drowsy drivers when they are drifting off the pavement are more common as are barriers that prevent vehicles from sliding across medians of divided highways And believe it or not drivers are behaving better too More U S motorists than ever are wearing seat belts 84 by the most recent government estimates up from about 60 in the mid 1990s Click It or Ticket campaigns annoy some people but they also apparently have motivated many seatbelt averse people to change their ways Tougher speed enforcement and campaigns against drinking and driving could be holding the fatality rate down as well 如今开车行驶在路上 看到其他司机对着手机喋喋不休或者是摆弄手里的 iPod 你或 许会感到一丝不安 不过从某一个方面来看 美国司机的驾驶安全系数却是数十年来 最高的 尽管个中缘由还不是很清楚 美国国家高速公路安全管理局 National Highway Transportation Safety Administration 的数据表明 自上世纪 70 年代中期有数据记录以来 美国每 1 亿英 里驾驶里程的事故死亡人数目前处于最低的水平上 高速公路安全管理局最近发布了 2009 年上半年交通事故死亡总数预计将出现下降的消息 这不啻于经济阴霾下的 一 丝光亮 开车上班的人少了 因此交通事故丧生的人也少了 这种说法可能没错 美国政府的数据表示 高速公路死亡人数在经济衰退期间有下降 的趋势 不过 死亡率的下降 也就是按英里数计算的死亡人数的下降更为重要 因为这种计 算方法有助于消除经济周期的影响 根据最新的预测数据 在 2009 年第二季度 每 1 亿英里驾驶里程的死亡人数为 1 19 人 而在第一季度 这个数字为 1 1 人 与之相比 2005 年全年的英里驾驶里程死亡人数为 1 46 人 当年共有 43 510 人死 于车祸 如果目前的这种趋势能够继续保持 那么今年高速公路死亡人数有望少于 3 5 万人 高速公路安全管理局的发言人泰森 Rae Tyson 表示 我们正在接近的这一交通事故死 亡比率在十年前是无法想象的 至于驾驶安全为什么会提高 没有人能够说得清 尽管这一趋势已经持续了数年之久 从美国政府的这一数据没有提供交通事故的原因 以及为什么从前可能致死的事故如 今却没有那么可怕 一个原因或许是更先进的安全科技 美国高速公路安全保险协会 Insurance Institute for Highway Safety 的数据显示 十年前 在美国销售的车辆中有 77 没 有安装侧气囊 而在 2009 年 只有 10 3 的汽车没有配置侧气囊 而近乎 65 的汽车 将头部气囊和躯体固定气囊列为标准配置 安装了电子稳定控制系统的汽车在 1999 年时仅占在美销售车辆的 9 而在 2009 年 在美销售的 74 的轿车和全部运动型多功能轿车 SUV 将这一技术作为标准配置 而在 美销售的所有车辆中 有 85 将电子稳定控制系统作为标准配置或选择性配置 电子稳 定控制系统能够利用汽车的刹车装置防止打滑 高速公路也安装了更多的安全设施 振动带以及隔离带都更为普及 振动带能够在困 倦的司机偏离车道时起到提醒的作用 而隔离带能够防