想必大家都感受过车刚停了几分钟就被贴上罚单或车被直接拖走的无奈。

You may have experienced the frustration of being slapped with a parking fine or finding your car clamped after leaving it parked precariously for a couple of minutes.

不过近日推出的一款高科技 TowStop 贴纸可提醒车主移车,让车子逃出警察的“魔掌”。这款贴纸可贴在挡风玻璃上。

But now a high-tech car sticker that’s designed to be stuck to a car’s windscreen, could help motorists avoid such a situation by allowing a traffic warden to get in touch with them.

当车子被警察碰触时,这款贴纸就可以立即向车主发送短信,车主便有机会向警察发送回复并迅速移车。

The TowStop sticker sends a text message to a driver when touched by a traffic warden, to allow motorists to send a reply and give them time to move their car promptly.

这款设计可以节约车主的时间和金钱,给他们一个机会把车挪走,而不是被警察拖走,但这也有赖于警察的好心肠。

It’s designed to save drivers time and money by giving them a chance to move their car instead of having it towed away but relies on the good will of traffic wardens.

德国法兰克福市一名IT咨询师丹尼尔·卡利奥皮(Daniel Kalliontzis)设计出了这款贴纸,他正在众筹网站Indiegogo上募集资金,期望将这款贴纸批量生产,售价定为54欧元(约418元)。

Frankfurt-based IT consultant, Daniel Kalliontzis, came up with the idea and is raising funds on Indiego go to put his €54 (£43) sticker into production.

车主可以将此款贴纸贴在挡风玻璃上,上面可以写上一些重要信息,比如车主的手机号。

Car owners can buy the sticker and place it inside their car’s windscreen, having set it up with vital information, such as their phone number.

贴纸内置了传感器,警察只要一触碰贴纸,贴纸就会自动发送一条信息至车主手机,提醒车主车子即将要罚款,立刻将车移开。

The slim design will include a sensor that when touched by a traffic warden, will send a text message warning a driver about an imminent fine. The message will ask them to move their car immediately.

继而,车主可以用智能手机回复此条消息告知警察,警察可以在贴纸上看到车主回复的信息。

The driver could then type a reply for the warden using their smartphone, which will appear on the sticker’s screen.

有些车主为了避免开罚单,会回复类似“2分钟之后就到”。

They may choose to write something along the lines of ‘back in two minutes’ in a bid to avoid a fine.

这款贴纸的推行不仅依赖协管员的好心肠,严格意义上来说,它倚赖德国的法律。

The smart sticker system will rely on the good will of traffic wardens and critically, a German law.

德国法律明文规定:警察应该选择最高效而又廉价的方式让车主移车。

The law states: ‘An officer has to choose the most efficient and inexpensive way for the car owner to remove the vehicle.’

很明显,通知车主比直接拖走车更省钱。

It could be cheaper for the authorities to contact the driver than to tow his car.

《每日邮报》询问了英国交通部是否可以推行这种智能贴纸。交通部发言人回应称,“英国并没有明文规定在开罚单前需警告车主,不过,当地警察有宽大处理或者警告车主的自由。”

Mail Online asked the Department of Transport whether the sticker could be used in the UK in a similar way.A spokes man said:’In England there is no legal obligation to warn the motorist before issuing the ticket. However, a local authority does have the discretion not to issue a ticket if they believethe situation deserves some leniency or want to issue a warning.

“如果政府要求议会决定在开罚单前警告车主,那么我们不得不重新修改法律。”

‘If the government wanted to force councils to warn motorists before issuing tickets we would need to change the law.’

到目前为止,卡利奥皮在Indiegogo上募集的资金已经超过3000欧元(约2.32万元)。如果他能成功募集到5万欧元(约38.7万元),那么贴纸将在2015年6月开始正式生产。不过,这款贴纸还有明显的不足,因为任何人都可以触摸贴纸,车主可能会收到许多不必要消息的骚扰。

At the time of writing, Mr Kalliontzis has raised just over €3,000 (£2,362) of his €50,000 (£39,381) goal on Indiegogo.If he manages to raise the money, the stickers will be shipped in June 2015. It appears that car owners using the smart system could get some unnecessary warning messages, because anyone could touch the smart sticker.

来源:英语点津 https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/language_tips/news/2014-10/30/content_18830772.htm