考研英语真题|2024年英语阅读理解3:道路上老年驾驶员安全的问题

One big challenge in keeping unsafe aging drivers off the road is convincing them that it is time to turn over the key. It is a complete life-changer when someone stops- or is forced to stop - driving, said former risk manager Anne M. Menke.

The American Medical Association advises physicians that in situation where clear evidence of substantial driving impairment implies a strong threat to patient and public safety, and where the physician’s advice to discontinue driving privileges is ignored, it is desirable and ethical to notify the Department of Motor Vehicles, Menke wrote. “Some states require physicians to report, others allow but do not mandate reports, while a few consider a report breach of confidentiality. There could be liability and penalties if a physician does not act in accordance with state laws on reporting and confidentiality ” she counseled.

Part of the problem in keeping older drivers safe is that the difficulties are addressed piecemeal by different professions with different focuses, including gerontologists, highway administration officials, automotive engineers and others, said gerontologist Elizabeth Dugan. "There's not a National Institute of Older Driver Studies," she said. "We need better evidence on what makes drivers unsafe" and what can help, said Dugan.

One thing that does seem to work is requiring drivers to report in person for license renewal. Mandatory in-person renewal was associated with a 31 percent reduction in fatal crashes involving drivers 85 or older, according to one study. Passing vision tests also produced a similar decline in fatal crashes for those drivers, although there appeared to be no benefit from combining the two.

Many old drivers don't see eye doctors or can't afford to. Primary care providers have their hands full and may not be able to follow through with patients who have trouble driving because they can't turn their heads or remember where they are going—or have gotten shorter and haven't changed their seat settings sufficiently to reach car pedals easily,

As long as there are other cars on the roads, self-driving cars won't solve the problems of crashes, said Dugan. Avoiding dangers posed by all those human drivers would require to many algorithms, she said. But we need to do more to improve safety, said Dugan. "If we're going to have 100-year lives, we need cars that a 90-year-old can drive comfortably."

翻译

让存在安全隐患的老年驾驶员不再上路，一大难题就是说服他们到了该交出车钥匙的时候。前风险经理安妮・M・门克说：一旦一个人不再开车，或是被迫停止驾车，生活将会发生翻天覆地的变化。

门克写道：美国医学会给医生提出建议，如果有确凿证据表明患者驾驶能力严重受损，会对患者自身和公众安全构成重大威胁，并且医生劝其停止驾车的建议被无视时，向车管所报备是可取且合乎道德的。“有些州要求医生必须上报；有些州允许上报但不作强制；还有少数州认为上报行为属于泄露隐私。如果医生没有遵守各州关于上报义务与隐私保护的法律规定，可能会面临法律责任与处罚。” 她提醒道。

老年驾驶员安全管理存在一部分难题：相关问题由不同领域、不同工作重心的从业者零散处理，包括老年病学家、公路管理部门工作人员、汽车工程师等。老年病学家伊丽莎白・杜根表示：“目前还没有全国老年驾驶员研究机构。” 杜根称，我们需要更多可靠依据，来判断哪些因素会让驾驶员失去安全驾驶能力，以及哪些办法能够改善现状。

有一项措施被证实确实有效：要求驾驶员本人到场办理驾照换证手续。一项研究显示，强制本人到场换证，可使 85 岁及以上驾驶员涉及的致死车祸减少 31%。通过视力检测同样能让该群体的致死车祸出现类似降幅；不过，把两项措施结合起来，并没有显现出额外效果。

很多老年驾驶员不去看眼科医生，或是负担不起眼科检查费用。全科医生本身已经事务缠身，很难持续跟进那些驾驶存在障碍的患者 —— 有的人转头困难、容易迷路，还有的人身高变矮，却没有调整座椅，导致难以够到汽车踏板。

杜根提出：只要道路上还有其他人类驾驶的车辆，自动驾驶汽车就无法杜绝车祸问题。想要规避所有人类驾驶员带来的风险，需要的算法数量多到不现实。但我们仍要采取更多举措提升安全水平。“如果人类寿命能达到百岁，我们就需要一款 90 岁老人也能舒适驾驶的汽车。”

单词

1. aging /ˈeɪdʒɪŋ/adj. 年老的；老龄化的

2. convince /kənˈvɪns/v. 说服，使确信

3. substantial /səbˈstænʃl/adj. 大量的；严重的；实质性的

4. impairment /ɪmˈpeəmənt/n. 损害，损伤，能力缺陷

5. ethical /ˈeθɪkl/adj. 合乎道德的，伦理的

6. notify /ˈnəʊtɪfaɪ/v. 通知，报备

7. mandate /ˈmændeɪt/v. 强制要求；授权  n. 指令

8. confidentiality /ˌkɒnfɪˌdenʃiˈæləti/n. 保密；隐私

9. liability /ˌlaɪəˈbɪləti/n. 法律责任；义务

10. penalty /ˈpenəlti/n. 处罚，罚金

11. piecemeal /ˈpiːsmiːl/adj./adv. 零散的（地）；逐步的（地）

12. gerontologist /ˌdʒerɒnˈtɒlədʒɪst/n. 老年病学家

13. mandatory /ˈmændətəri/adj. 强制的，法定的

14. fatal /ˈfeɪtl/adj. 致命的

15. pedal /ˈpedl/n. 踏板

16. algorithm /ˈælɡərɪðəm/n. 算法

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