Crashed Cars to Text Message for Help
There is no good place to have a car crash—but some places are worse than others. In a foreign country, for instance, __C__1____ to explain via cellphone that you are upside down1 in a ditch when you cannot speak the local language can fatally delay the arrival of the emergency services.
But an answer may be at hand. Researchers funded by the European Commission2 are beginning tests of a system called E-merge that__A__2_____ senses when a car has crashed and sends a text message3 telling emergency services4 in the local language that the accident has taken place.
The system was __C_3___ by ERTICO, a transport research organization based in Brussels, Belgium5. Cars are fitted with a cellphone-sized device attached __D_4___the underside of the dashboard which is activated by the same sensor that triggers the airbag in a crash. The device__D__5____a cellphone circuit, a GPS6 positioning unit, and a microphone and loudspeaker.
It registers the severity of the crash7 by _B__6____ the deceleration data from the airbag’s sensor. Using GPS information, it works out which country the car is in, and from this it determines _B___7____ which language to compose an alert message detailing precise location of the accident.
The device then automatically makes a call to the local emergency services __D__8___. If the car’s occupants are conscious, they can communicate with the operator___A__9____ the speaker and microphone.
E-merge also transmits the vehicles make8, color and license number, and its heading9 when it crashed, which in turn indicates on which side of a multi-lane highway it ended up.
This ___D__10____ the emergency services find the vehicle as soon as they arrive on the scene. “We can waste a large _C___11_____ time searching for an incident,” says Jim Hammond, a(an)__C___12____ in vehicle technology at the Association of Chief Police Officers in the UK. Tests will begin soon with police car fleets in the UK. Trials have already started in Germany, Sweden, Spain, the Netherlands and Italy.
In-car systems10 that summon the emergency services after a crash have ___13__A___ been fitted in some premium cars11. ERTICO says that __D__14____ EU states12 are willing to fund the necessary infrastructure, E-merge could be working by 2008.
A study by French car maker Renault13 concluded that the system could save up to14 6000 of the 40,000 lives lost each year on Europe’s roads, and prevent a similar number of serious injuries.
The Renault study estimates that fitting E-merge to every car in Europe would eventually save around 150 billion per __B_15___ in terms of15 reduced costs to health services and insurance companies, and fewer lost working days.
1. A) try B) tried C) trying D) having tried
2. A) automatically B) accidentally C) tremendously D) usually
3. A) changed B) located C) developed D) copied
4. A) by B) up C) about D) to
5. A) forms B) is consisted of C) composes of D) includes
6. A) read B) reading C) reads D) being read
7. A) on B) in C) of D) at
8. A) car maker B) policeman C) doctor D) operator
9. A) via B) near C) by D) beside
10. A) assists B) causes C) makes D) helps
11. A) number of B) deal of C) amount of D) volume of
12. A) writer B) reporter C) expert D) leader
13. A) already B) long ago C) long before D) shortly
14. A) although B) nevertheless C) however D) if
15. A) city B) year C) person D) country
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