BABY YOU CAN DRIVE MY CAR

IAM RoadSmart, the road safety charity, are asking the government to make more driver training a priority for drivers of self driving cars - ok - who knew? Apparently driverless cars won't reduce the incidence of crashes unless the drivers have further training themselves. The IAM claims that otherwise the lack of real on-road testing and an over reliance on technology could actually make driving less, rather than more safe.

The government have  announced that self driving cars are likely to be on the roads as soon as 2025 and are creating the Road Safety Investigation Branch (RSIB) to help understand the effect of self driving cars on roads and drivers. IAM RoadSmart have joined the debate with their evidence presented to the House of Commons Transport Committee Inquiry on this important change, and are requesting that drivers are fully trained before taking to the roads in self driving cars. Cars with some self driving features will be gracing our roads as soon as 2023 so IAM think that full driver training on these new features is imperative.

Over to you chief
At the present time most UK drivers have absolutely no experience of driving an autonomous vehicle and research by Southampton University shows that drivers may rely on self driving tech too much when they actually get behind the wheel of one of these vehicles. The University research however shows that drivers can become much safer once they have completed some training in how to operate an autonomous vehicle so that their expectations are then in line with what might actually happen out on the roads. Currently they may have unrealistic expectations of self driving tech, particularly when switching between manual and self drive and the IAM wants the government to educate drivers so that they understand what they are dealing with when they get behind the wheel of one of these new vehicles. The main areas of concern are that the driver may not remain frosty or pay attention when the car is driving autonomously and could drift off, having an over reliance on the car to take the strain. This is particularly important with regard to how the vehicle reacts to cyclists, pedestrians, motorcyclists and other road users.

IAM Road Smart's Policy and Research Director Neil Grieg said:
"We support the government's intention to make the UK a world leader in driverless technology, but there is a critical need to train drivers in the new skills they will need to safely control increasingly autonomous cars. Research shows clearly that drivers who know what to expect if an autonomous car suddenly hands back control to them, are better able to deal with the situation calmly and safely. It is vital that the government works with the DVSA and training providers, such as IAM RoadSmart, to develop new resources to educate drivers.
"Thankfully, people are moving away from the assumption that self-driving cars will remove 90% of collisions allegedly caused by human error. With further research we can understand all the factors that may play a part in future collisions."

Pulling it all together
Hopefully the newly created Road Safety Investigation Branch (RSIB) will examine these concerns thoroughly and assess the actual safety performance of autonomous vehicles on the road. They will do this by assimilating information from collisions and autonomous tech, evaluating safety measures and investigating the whole picture as it emerges, thus ensuring that road safety policy is actually appropriate for new vehicle technology.

Further to his comments, Neil Grieg of IAM added:
"We welcome the establishment of the RSIB and its intent to monitor the impact of automation on road safety. It will be best placed to provide strategic insights, but investigations must be fully funded to ensure the right expertise is recruited and key findings can be shared."

So it looks as though some checks and balances are in place on new autonomous tech, hopefully the roll out will be completed safely. Do you have any thoughts about it all? Let us know at [email protected] or drop us a message on Facebook.