電動(dòng)自行車成為馬路"較大"殺手 -新概念英語(yǔ)

　　

 

　　Bundled against the cold beneath a highway overpass on a busy Beijing intersection, traffic warden Zhao Delong waved his colored flag in frustration at the new silent killer stalking city streets.

　　隆冬時(shí)節(jié)的北京，在一處立交橋下繁忙的路口旁，穿得嚴(yán)嚴(yán)實(shí)實(shí)的交通協(xié)管員趙德龍(音)正徒勞無(wú)功地?fù)]舞著手中的彩旗，試圖讓電動(dòng)自行車這種新型馬路殺手在路上行駛得規(guī)矩些。

　　'Those electric bikes just don't listen! The problem is they go too fast. They can't stop like bikes. I saw an accident just over there the other day where someone on an e-bike rushed through the intersection and plowed over someone on a regular bike,' Mr. Zhao said as he tried to keep China's newest road hazard in check.

　　趙德龍說，這些電動(dòng)自行車根本不聽管!問題是他們的速度太快了，沒法向普通自行車那樣說停就停。我前幾天還看到那邊發(fā)生了一起事故，一輛電動(dòng)自行車沖出路口，掛倒了一輛普通自行車。趙德龍一邊說，還在一邊試著努力控制電動(dòng)自行車這一新型交通危險(xiǎn)因素。

　　Powerful battery-powered bicycles are crowding out their push-pedal brethren, delivering a jolt to the Bicycle Kingdom.

　　擁有電池強(qiáng)勁驅(qū)動(dòng)的電動(dòng)自行車正在將普通腳踏自行車擠出市場(chǎng)，改變了整個(gè)自行車王國(guó)的格局。

　　By some estimates there are 120 million e-bikes on China's roads-up from just 50,000 a decade ago, making it the fastest growing form of transportation in China. Cities at first embraced them as a quieter and cleaner alternative to gasoline-powered scooters.

　　據(jù)估算，十年前中國(guó)僅有5萬(wàn)輛電動(dòng)自行車，現(xiàn)在則激增到了1.2億輛，它已成為了中國(guó)增長(zhǎng)最快的交通工具類型。中國(guó)的城市最初之所以接受電動(dòng)自行車，是因?yàn)樗劝察o又清潔，可以用作燃?xì)怛?qū)動(dòng)型輕便摩托車的替代品。

　　Officials were caught off guard when that environmentally appealing solution turned out to be deadly on the streets. In 2007, there were 2,469 deaths from electric-bicycle accidents nationwide, up from just 34 in 2001, according to government statistics.

　　中國(guó)政府官員顯然沒有料想到這種環(huán)保車輛最終會(huì)演變成馬路殺手。官方統(tǒng)計(jì)數(shù)據(jù)顯示，2007年電動(dòng)自行車事故造成2469人死亡，遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)高于2001年時(shí)的34人。

　　That's roughly 3% of China's annual 90,000 traffic accident deaths. Still technically bicycles, they're operating in a legal gray zone. Drivers of electric bikes don't need to pass stringent driving tests to get licensed, and courts are struggling to sort out lawsuits.

　　這一數(shù)據(jù)在中國(guó)當(dāng)年9萬(wàn)交通事故死亡總?cè)藬?shù)中約占3%。雖然電動(dòng)自行車從技術(shù)上來(lái)講仍屬于自行車，但它們卻處于法律監(jiān)管的灰色地帶。駕駛電動(dòng)自行車無(wú)需通過嚴(yán)格的駕照考試，同時(shí)法庭也在努力對(duì)相關(guān)肇事者進(jìn)行懲罰。

　　Pedestrians complain that e-bike riders pay little heed to the rules of the road. Drivers of electric bikes are 'totally devoid of conscience and respect for the law,' complained Wang Mingyue, a blogger on the popular Beijing News Web site.

　　路上的行人抱怨騎電動(dòng)自行車的人無(wú)視交通法規(guī)?！缎戮﹫?bào)》博主王明月撰文譴責(zé)道，電動(dòng)自行車駕駛員完全是“無(wú)法無(wú)天”。

　　China's e-bike industry started under the planned economy of the Maoist 1960s. Primitive battery and engine technology doomed early efforts. After China liberalized its economy in the 1980s, a handful of entrepreneurs tried to revive e-bikes just as city planners were casting a worried eye on the explosive growth of exhaust-spewing mopeds and scooters. By the 1990s, cities were starting to ban motor scooters, creating an opening for electric bicycles. Electric bikes had government backing: inclusion as one of 10 key scientific-development priority projects in the Ninth Five-Year Plan. They had the personal endorsement of former Premier Li Peng, according to an academic paper on the history of e-bikes in China by Jonathan Weinert, Ma Chaktan and Chris Cherry.

　　中國(guó)的電動(dòng)自行車產(chǎn)業(yè)可以追溯至上世紀(jì)60年代的計(jì)劃經(jīng)濟(jì)時(shí)代。粗糙的電池和引擎技術(shù)導(dǎo)致了最初的努力以失敗收?qǐng)?。在上世紀(jì)80年代中國(guó)經(jīng)濟(jì)開放之后，一些企業(yè)家努力讓電動(dòng)自行車產(chǎn)業(yè)實(shí)現(xiàn)復(fù)蘇，正值城市規(guī)劃者對(duì)高污染的機(jī)動(dòng)腳踏車和輕便摩托車的爆炸性增長(zhǎng)感到了擔(dān)憂。到了上世紀(jì)90年代，中國(guó)城市開始限制摩托車，為電動(dòng)自行車的登場(chǎng)創(chuàng)造了條件。這一行業(yè)的發(fā)展曾經(jīng)得到政府扶持：在中國(guó)的“九五”計(jì)劃期間，電動(dòng)自行車曾經(jīng)在十大優(yōu)先發(fā)展的關(guān)鍵科學(xué)項(xiàng)目中占有一席之地。由威納特(Jonathan Weinert)、馬澤丹(Ma Chaktan)和查瑞(Chris Cherry)聯(lián)合撰寫的、講述中國(guó)電動(dòng)自行車發(fā)展歷史的論文透露，中國(guó)前總理李鵬還對(duì)該行業(yè)的發(fā)展表示了個(gè)人的支持。

　　By 1998, regulators realized they had to limit the speed and size of e-bikes, too. The rules were loosely enforced and left a loophole. If it's got a pedal, it's a bicycle. The original standards put the maximum speed of an electric bike at 20 kilometers per hour (a little more than 12 mph). But e-bikes' power soon outpaced that. Some are capable of 25 mph or more.

　　到1998年時(shí)，監(jiān)管部門也意識(shí)到了他們必須限制電動(dòng)自行車的速度和大小?？墒钱?dāng)時(shí)的規(guī)定執(zhí)行乏力并且存在漏洞。如果車輛裝有腳踏板，那么它就算是自行車。最初，電動(dòng)自行車的速度上限是每小時(shí)20公里(約合每小時(shí)12英里)。但是電動(dòng)自行車的馬力很快就超過了這一規(guī)定，有的車輛時(shí)速能達(dá)到每小時(shí)40公里(約合每小時(shí)25英里)，甚至更快。

　　The market grew slowly at first. That changed after China was hit by severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS, in 2003. National e-bike sales jumped from 1.5 million in 2002 to 4 million in 2003 as commuters sought an alternative to crowded public transport, where germs spread quickly.

　　電動(dòng)自行車的市場(chǎng)發(fā)展一開始有所放緩。但在中國(guó)2003年爆發(fā)了嚴(yán)重的非典(SARS)疫情后，情況出現(xiàn)了改變。2003年中國(guó)的電動(dòng)自行車總銷量從上年的150萬(wàn)輛激增至400萬(wàn)輛，因?yàn)槿藗冊(cè)噲D在病菌傳播迅速的公交系統(tǒng)之外給自己找到其他代步工具。

　　Electric-bike fatalities rose, too. In 2003, 87 people were killed in e-bike accidents. A year later, 589 died.

　　電動(dòng)自行車造成的重大交通事故也在增多。2003年87人因?yàn)殡妱?dòng)自行車事故死于非命，第二年，這一人數(shù)就猛增至589人。

　　The deaths led to a backlash. Beijing and Fuzhou banned electric bikes in 2002. Beijing lifted its ban in 2006.

　　這些死亡事件引發(fā)了對(duì)電動(dòng)自行車的反對(duì)聲音。北京和福州在2002年禁止了電動(dòng)自行車。北京于2006年又取消了禁令。

[page]

　　

 

　　More cities decided they'd had enough. The northeast industrial town of Shenyang banned e-bikes in 2009 after their numbers spiked in the wake of a motorcycle ban.

　　有更多城市認(rèn)為它們已經(jīng)無(wú)法容忍電動(dòng)自行車。東北工業(yè)城市沈陽(yáng)在2009年禁止了電動(dòng)自行車，此前該市的電動(dòng)自行車數(shù)量在摩托車被禁后出現(xiàn)了大幅增長(zhǎng)。

　　Over the summer, Changsha city traffic police set up checkpoints and handed out 60,000 tickets in five days for e-bikes that violated weight and speed restrictions, or didn't have proper registration.

　　去年夏天，長(zhǎng)沙市的交通警察設(shè)立了一系列電動(dòng)自行車檢查點(diǎn)，并在五天時(shí)間內(nèi)給電動(dòng)自行車開出了60,000張罰單，被罰車或是違反了載重和車速方面的限制，或是沒有按有關(guān)規(guī)定登記。

　　In Zhejiang province, Hangzhou banned out-of-town e-bikes; in Wenzhou, police confiscated 5,000 electric bikes in half a month for being too fast and large.

　　在浙江省，杭州市禁止外地牌照的電動(dòng)自行車上路;溫州市警方在半個(gè)月時(shí)間內(nèi)沒收了5,000輛電動(dòng)自行車，這些車被沒收的原因是速度太快或體積太大。

[page]

　　

 

　　Riders like Yu Dejiang were caught in the legal crossfire. Mr Yu, a 30-year-old air-conditioner repairman in Wenzhou, splurged this summer and spent half a month's salary on a new electric scooter to replace a secondhand one that got stolen. Two weeks later, police dusted off old regulations on the books, confiscated his bike and fined him 700 yuan-about $100.

　　像余德江(音)這樣騎電動(dòng)自行車的人就因?yàn)榉ㄒ?guī)變動(dòng)而遭了殃?，F(xiàn)年30歲的他是溫州一名空調(diào)修理工，他去年夏天花半個(gè)月的工資買了一輛新電動(dòng)自行車，以取代那輛被偷的二手電動(dòng)自行車。兩周后，警方又開始重新禁止電動(dòng)自行車上路，他的電動(dòng)車被沒收，還被罰款人民幣700元。

　　'The e-bike is a necessity for my work. The fastest and cheapest traffic vehicle I can afford. It's the same for most riders here. I can finish my work on the bike. There are no buses in many places and I can't afford to buy a car. What do you expect me to do?' said Mr. Yu. A few weeks later, he was back on the streets with another electric bike, looking over his shoulder in case city authorities crack down again.

　　余德江說，他的工作離不開電動(dòng)自行車，這是他能負(fù)擔(dān)的最快捷也最廉價(jià)的交通工具，對(duì)溫州大多數(shù)騎車者來(lái)說同樣如此。他說，自己能靠電動(dòng)自行車完成工作，許多地方都不通公共汽車，而自己又買不起汽車，還能怎么辦?幾周后，余德江又騎著另一輛電動(dòng)自行車上路了。現(xiàn)在他騎車時(shí)不時(shí)要回頭張望一下，以防相關(guān)部門再次沒收他的車。

　　But there's another problem. E-bikes may not be so clean after all. Because 95% of China's e-bikes use lead batteries, they emit more lead into the atmosphere than other forms of transportation, according to some studies. They also rely on electricity that's mostly made by coal-burning power plants.

　　但也存在另外一個(gè)問題。電動(dòng)自行車可能并非那么清潔。由于中國(guó)95%的電動(dòng)自行車使用鉛電池，一些研究結(jié)果顯示，電動(dòng)自行車向大氣中排放的鉛要高于其他類型的交通工具。電動(dòng)自行車顧名思義要用電，而中國(guó)的電大多數(shù)來(lái)自燃煤發(fā)電廠。

　　Then suddenly, in December, the central government dropped a bombshell: tough new nationwide restrictions. There was heated debate. Sales at Luyuan Group, one of China's biggest e-bike makers, dropped 50% in December from November.

　　中央政府去年12月突然丟下一枚重磅炸彈：對(duì)電動(dòng)自行車采取了新的全國(guó)性嚴(yán)厲限制措施。此舉在社會(huì)上引發(fā)了激烈爭(zhēng)論。中國(guó)最大電動(dòng)自行車生產(chǎn)商之一綠源集團(tuán)(Luyuan Group)去年12月份的電動(dòng)自行車銷量比前月下降了50%。

　　'Officials are getting the statistics wrong, they're not looking at them scientifically,' said Ni Jie, Luyuan's founder. A former economics professor and electrical engineer, Mr. Ni has given his wife the company reins so he can focus more on industry lobbying. He argues electric bicycles are safer than bicycles or motorcycles and will soon start using cleaner, lithium batteries.

　　綠源集團(tuán)創(chuàng)辦人倪捷說，官員們誤解了統(tǒng)計(jì)數(shù)據(jù)，他們沒有科學(xué)地看待這些數(shù)據(jù)。曾擔(dān)任經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)教授和電子工程師的倪捷已經(jīng)將公司的管理權(quán)交給了妻子，以便自己能將更多精力放在行業(yè)游說上。他聲稱，電動(dòng)自行車比普通自行車或摩托車都要安全，而且不久就將開始使用更清潔的鋰電池。

　　After intense public outcry in the media, the government backed down just weeks later. 'In essence, a lack of respect for public opinion and for the reasonable and scientific decision-making process was to blame,' for the government's behavior, said an opinion piece in China Daily, the state-backed English language newspaper.

　　在媒體密集報(bào)導(dǎo)公眾對(duì)政府這一決定的不同意見后，政府放棄了出臺(tái)僅幾周的這項(xiàng)決定。官方英文報(bào)紙《中國(guó)日?qǐng)?bào)》(China Daily)的一則評(píng)論說，事實(shí)上，缺乏對(duì)公眾意見以及合理、科學(xué)決策程序的尊重是政府出臺(tái)這一政策的問題所在。

　　Now, the industry associations are trying to figure out new guidelines before the central government steps back in. In the meantime, people are back in the shops.

　　現(xiàn)在，電動(dòng)自行車的行業(yè)組織正趕在政府再度插手之前努力制定出新的行業(yè)指導(dǎo)原則。與此同時(shí)，人們也開始重新購(gòu)買電動(dòng)自行車。

　　He Chenyan, a 23-year-old telecommunications engineer, offered this advice as he tested out different electric bikes in Hangzhou. 'These limits don't matter,' he said. 'The traffic police won't bother with us. They'll focus on real motor vehicles like cars and motorcycles.'

　　23歲的電信工程師何臣巖(音)在杭州挑選電動(dòng)自行車時(shí)說，這些限制措施無(wú)關(guān)緊要，交通警才不會(huì)注意我們呢，他們關(guān)注的是汽車和摩托車等真正的機(jī)動(dòng)車。他身旁的一位女銷售人員則提供了另一個(gè)解決辦法：在給新買的電動(dòng)自行車上牌后，只需調(diào)一下電動(dòng)機(jī)，就能將車子的最大時(shí)速恢復(fù)到20公里。她說，要是低于這一時(shí)速，你最好還是騎自行車算了。