阅读理解
You know how much your telephone has changed
over the past 10 years? Your car will change even more than that in the next 10
years. One of the biggest changes is that cars will drive themselves.
"We certainly have the technology
for it now." says Andrew Poliak of automotive(机动车辆的)technology supplier
QNX." We expect self-driving cars to be a mainstream thing between 2020 and
2025."
The American company Google has been working
on self-driving cars for years. These cars are already on the roads in the United
States and are truly self-driving. They have to steering wheels(方向盘）or pedals(踏板). Last week, the police ordered one of Google's cars to stop for driving
too slowly on a public road. The car was not breaking any law, so no one was punished.
Another American company, Tesla, added an "Autopilot" feature to
its cars last month. With the Autopilot turned on, the vehicle drives itself. The
car will speed up, slow down, brake
and drive by itself. You can take over driving any time by turning the steering
wheel or touching a pedal. The car uses sensors to know when driveway changing is
safe and whether it should speed up or slow down.
Tesla Autopilot is made for cross-country
driving. It keeps you in the driveway and helps you avoid hitting other cars. It
does not work well on local roads, for it will not stop at a red light or stop sign.
Reporter Carolyn Nicander Mohr tried the
Autopilot feature of a Tesla earlier this month. She had a hard time trusting the
car to do what it should do. She thought about disabling the Autopilot feature many
times during her trip. She wanted to take control at every bend in the road and
hit the brake when the car in front of her slowed down. Yet the car drove perfectly.
Other companies are working on self-driving
cars, too. Marcedes-Benz, Audi, BMW. Volvo and Toyota all have plans for such vehicles.
