来源：《每日电讯报》
原文刊登日期：2021年2月22日
A Government that is determined to eliminate deaths from a disease is none the less prepared to countenance them on the roads. New figures show that fatalities on so-called “smart” motorways are at record levels. There were 14 people killed in 2019 on roads where the hard shoulders are used as traffic lanes, compared with 11 in 2018 and five in the year before that.
一个决心消除疾病造成的死亡的政府仍然准备在道路上支持死亡。新的数据显示，所谓的“智能”高速公路上的死亡人数达到了创纪录的水平。2019年，有14人在硬路肩用作车道的道路上丧生，而2018年为11人，2017年为5人。
People die on the roads all the time, with more than 1,700 fatalities in 2019. In fact, motorways are statistically much safer than other thoroughfares. But that is no reason to make them more dangerous and the toll is rising faster than the network is expanding.
一直都有人死于道路交通事故，2019年死亡人数超过1700人。事实上，从统计数据来看，高速公路比其他道路安全得多。但这并不是让高速公路变得更危险的理由，而且死亡增长的速度比路网扩张的速度还要快。
The Government recognises the problem but is not prepared to abandon the programme, which now accounts for more than 370 miles of road. Grant Shapps, the Transport Secretary, has instead announced a series of mitigation measures intended to reduce the gap between emergency lay-bys on roads where the hard shoulder has been removed or is being used as another lane. There is also to be a public information campaign to explain how they work.
政府认识到这个问题，但不准备放弃智能高速公路项目，该项目目前占用了370多英里的公路。交通部长格兰特·沙普斯宣布了一系列缓解措施，旨在硬路肩被移除或被用作另一条车道后，减小道路上紧急停车带之间的空隙。还需要开展一场公众宣传运动来解释智能高速公路是如何工作的。
This issue is not going to go away. Every fatality on a smart motorway involving a stationary vehicle will attract wide public attention because they are avoidable. Mr Shapps told MPs recently that scrapping the scheme would require the equivalent land for 700 Wembley-sized football pitches in order to replace the lost lanes. But he should consider that drivers might actually prefer to take longer to get somewhere on fewer lanes with a hard shoulder than risk being killed if they break down.
这个问题不会消失。智能高速公路上每一起涉及静止车辆的死亡事故都会引起公众的广泛关注，因为它们是可以避免的。沙普斯先生最近告诉国会议员，取消智能高速公路计划将需要相当于700个温布利大小的足球场的土地来取代失去的车道。但他应该考虑到，司机们实际上可能更愿意花更长的时间，使用车道少但有硬路肩的公路到达某个地方，而不是冒着车辆故障导致死亡的风险。