交通安全工程專業英語 節選

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    隨著城市交通的不斷發展，交通安全已成為人們必須面對解決的新問題。縱觀
世界各國交通行業發展與交通安全局勢的關系，交通安全與交通行業的科技管理水
平、社會經濟發展水平、居民文化素質、出行習慣等密切相關。交通安全存在一個
生命周期，通常經歷起步發展階段一上升惡化階段一下降好轉階段一穩定階段四個
時期。歐美各國基本已經進入下降好轉階段或穩定階段。針對我國目前交通安全形
勢，時下我國仍然處于上升惡化階段，這與我國交通行業整體發展水平和社會經濟
水平密切相關，這是事物發展的必然規律，我們必須正確面對。
    2003年10月28日《中華人民共和國道路交通安全法》得以通過，并于2004
年5月1日起施行。《安全法》的頒布對我國交通行業的發展具有劃時代的意義，
對實現交通安全的科學、規范、高效管理有著重要意義。
    交通安全工程系列叢書正是在這一歷史背景情況下編篡的，將人的交通行為作
為安全研究的基礎與切入點，從交通行為學、交通安全工程、交通安全人機工程，
交通安全原理、交通安全管理與運營、運輸網絡可靠性，以及相關交通安全專業英
語等方面進行系統研究，在大量借鑒參考國外交通安全研究成果的同時，密切結合
我國混行交通特點，充分研究分析交通安全中人、車、環境之間的安全鏈關系，對
預防交通事故，提高交通安全管理的科學性、高效性具有較好的參考價值。

前  言
    交通安全工程專業英語(Traffic Safety Engineering English)是為了滿足高等
院校安全類及交通類專業英語課程教學的需要，根據高等院校培養目標的要求而編
寫的。希望通過本書的學習能夠幫助讀者掌握必要的專業詞匯、培養學生專業英語
閱讀能力及專業英語文獻翻譯的初步能力，使英語學習與專業知識有機結合在一
起。使用對象為已完成基礎英語課程學習的安全類或交通類本、專科學生和研究
生，也可供有關專業技術人員自學使用。本書在教學安排上可根據實際情況靈活掌
握，選擇全部或部分內容進行教學。
    本書題材選自近期國外正式出版物，如專業學術著作、期刊等，選題廣泛，涉
及安全原理、安全管理、安全運營、人機安全工程、交通心理、交通行為、事故機
理、事故診斷、事故調查、事故預防、人因分析、人的可靠性以及運輸網絡可靠性
等諸多方面。在編寫中吸取了我國相近學科其他專業英語教材的優點和基礎英語教
學的經驗。本書在符合專業英語教學需要的同時，試圖使讀者在有限的篇幅內了解
現代交通安全工程專業技術的主要內容。
    本書共分20個單元，每個單元包括精讀課文(Text)、單詞詞組(words and
Expressions)、練習(Exercises)、閱讀材料(Reading Material)、參考譯文(In-
terpretation)、詞匯表(Vocabulary)及參考文獻(References)。
    由于水平所限，加之時間倉促，本書難免存在缺點和錯誤，懇請讀者提出寶貴
的批評意見。

Unit 12 Text
     Human Errors in Road Accidents
     A comprehensive study of road safety (Treat et al. , 1977) found that human
error was the sole cause in 57% of all accidents and was a contributing factor in
over 90%. In contrast, only 2.4% were due solely to mechanical fault and only
4.7% were caused only by environmental factors. Other studies have reported simi-
lar results.
     Why do humans make so many driving errors? The answer to this question lies
in the inherent limitations of human information processing. In sum, humans must
rely on three fallible mental functions: perception, attention and memory.
     HUMAN INFORMATION PROCESSING OVERVIEW
     People driving down a highway are bombarded with a steady flow of informa-
tion. Most of the information is visual input, the road itself, other vehicles, pedes-
trians, signs, the passing scenery, etc. Moreover, the driver may be processing
other information sources such as auditory input (listening to the radio, talking on
a cell phone, carrying on a conversation with another passenger), or internal input
(remembering directions or planning what to make for dinner).
     If the visual information flow is low, there may be enough mental resource to
carry 'on all tasks simultaneously.  But attentional demands may exceed supply
when:
     1. The flow becomes a torrent (driving fast)
     2. The information is low quality (poor visibility)
     3. Resources must be focused on a particular subset of information (a car close
ahead)
     4. The driver's capacity is lowered by age, drugs, alcohol or fatigue.
     There may not be enough mental resource for all tasks. The driver then "at-
tends" only a subset of the available information, which is used to make decisions

and to respond. All other information goes unnoticed or slips from memory.
     In sum, information processing works like this: the information from the visu-
al and possibly auditory environment is detected by the senses ("preattentive
stage") while other information may be recalled from memory. If there is too much
to process, the driver attends an information subset and the rest is ignored ( "atten-
tive stage"). Lastly, the driver makes a decision and possibly a responses based on
the attended information.
     Research has shown that accidents occur for one of three principle reasons.
     The first is perceptual error. Sometimes information was below the threshold
for seeing-the light was too dim, the driver was blinded by glare, or the pedestrian's
clothes had low contrast. In other cases, the driver made a perceptual misjudgment
(a curve's radius or another car's speed or distance).
      The second is that the information was detectable but that the driver failed to
attend/notice because his mental resources were focused elsewhere. Often times, a
driver will claim that s/he did not "see" a plainly visible pedestrian or car. This is
entirely possible because much of our information processing occurs outside of
awareness. Mack and Rock (1998) have amazingly shown that we may be less likely
to perceive an object if we are looking directly at it than if it falls outside the center
of the visual field.  This "inattentional blindness" phenomenon is doubtless the
cause of many accidents.
      Lastly, the driver may correctly process the information but fail to choose the
correct response or make the correct decision yet fail to carry it out ("I meant to hit
the brake, but I hit the gas"),
      DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF INFORMATION PROCESSING STAGES
     Preattentive Stage and Attention
      The Figure 12-1 below schematically depicts the two information processing
stages, "preattentive" (or "ambient") and "attentive" (or "focal").
      This preattentive stage has four important properties:
       1. It is automatic and occurs without volition, so we are unaware that we are
doing it.
      2. Information remains in sensory memory for only a small fraction of a sec-
ond. If not penetrating the attention filter, it is then permanently lost.
      3. It only analyzes as are far as basic properties of color, size, location, etc.

4. It b, asa very large capacity. It can process the entire visual field simultane-
ously.
    This last property is criti-
cal, because the vast quantity of
information is too large for sub-
sequent  processing  stages  to
handle.  There needs to be a
mechanism for selecting an in-
formation subset for more de-
tailed analysis. This mechanism
is  called  "attention"  and  is
sometimes depicted as a spotlight that focuses processing on a selected part of the
visual field--it defines an area of 3-D for detailed examination. Attention is usually
viewed as a filter the driver uses to focus his limited mental resources to important
parts of the visual field and to exclude extraneous parts.
     Attentive Stage and Working Memory
     Sensory Information passed through the attention filter resides temporarily in a
processing stage called "working" or short-term memory. Working memory is like a
scratch pad where people collect the information (visual, auditory, knowledge
stored in the permanent long-term memory) needed to interpret sensory input and
to make decisions. Working memory, however, has two severe limits that often
play a role in accidents:
     1. Information remains in working memory for a short time, maybe 30 sec-
onds, if it is not used or refreshed. The driver could refresh working memory.
     2. Older Information may be flushed out at any time by newer input.
     Working memory has very low capacity, so new information may chase out
old. For example, several studies show that recall of road signs is remarkably poor.
The researchers stopped drivers a few hundred yards after a road sign and found
that recall was as low as 18%, although the signs had been seen only seconds be-
fore. Presumably, new information had pushed the signs out of working memory.
Since working memory records all sorts of information, a few words from radio or
cell phone, could also fill it up and cause other objects to be forgotten.