睡眠障碍据说是车祸、空难因素
The US government should start screening truck and bus drivers, commercial pilots, train engineers and merchant sailors for sleep apnea, a disorder that is cropping up in transportation accidents, federal safety investigators said Tuesday.
联邦安全调查人员二十日说，美国政府应该开始检查货车及巴士司机、商业飞行员、火车工程师和商船水手是否有睡眠呼吸暂停症这种出现在交通意外中的障碍。
The National Transportation Safety Board sent letters to the federal agency that regulates bus and truck safety and the US Coast Guard citing accidents in which sleep apnea was a factor. The disorder causes pauses in breathing, which can interrupt sleep and increase fatigue.
国家运输安全委员会致函联邦监管公共汽车和卡车安全以及美国海岸防卫队的机构，指出在交通意外中，睡眠呼吸暂停是一个因素。 这种病症导致呼吸暂停，可中断睡眠，增加疲劳。
The letters recommend the Coast Guard and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration require screening of ship pilots and bus and truck drivers for sleep apnea during medical exams and to develop programs to identify the disorder.
函件建议海岸防卫队和联邦汽车运输安全管理局，要求体检时检查船舶驾驶员、公共汽车和卡车司机是否有睡眠呼吸暂停障碍，并制定计划确认这种病症。
Sleep apnea has been found to be a factor in incidents involving every transportation mode, NTSB Chairman Deborah Hersman said in the letters. Earlier this year, the board sent similar recommendations to the Federal Aviation Administration and to local transit agencies across the country.
国家运输安全委员会主席赫斯曼在函中说，睡眠呼吸暂停已发现是涉及每一种运输方式的意外的一个因素。 今年稍早，该委员会曾向美国联邦航空管理局和全国地方公交公司发出类似建议。
Among the incidents cited in the letters: _ In January 2008, a motorcoach with passengers returning from a weekend ski trip went too fast around a curve on a rural Utah highway. The bus went careening down a mountainside, killing nine people and injuring 43 others. The driver suffered from sleep apnea and had trouble using a device to regulate his breathing while sleeping in the days before the accident.
函中提到的事件包括：2008年1月，一辆载客大巴从周末滑雪旅程返回时，在犹他州的农村公路转弯时开太快，结果巴士倾倒冲下山坡，造成九人死亡，四十三人受伤。 司机患有睡眠呼吸暂停症，事故发生前几天睡觉时，使用调整他呼吸的设备，还有困难。
A trolley train that crashed into another train in May 2008 in Newton, Massachusetts. Investigators said the driver likely fell asleep because she suffered from sleep apnea, but it could not be proved because she died.
一列电车2008年5月在麻萨诸塞州牛顿撞到另一列火车。 调查人员说，司机可能因患有睡眠呼吸暂停症而睡着了，但无法证明，因为她死了。
A 2002 study that found 7 percent of adults have at least a moderate form of the disorder, but people often don't know they have it.
2002年的一项研究发现，百分之七的成年人至少有一些睡眠呼吸暂停的症状，但人们往往不知道。
The motor carrier administration is already considering a rule to tighten its standards for medical certification of commercial drivers. The FAA is also in the process of drafting new rules to broadly address pilot fatigue and will consider the board's recommendations.
汽车运输安全管理局已在考虑将商业驾驶的医师证明标准规定得更紧。 美国联邦航空局也在起草新的规定，以广泛地处理飞行员疲劳问题，并将考虑采纳委员会的建议。
