Autonomous vehicle developers ‘must counter terrorist potential’

Vehicle developers will have to introduce measures to counter the potential use of autonomous vehicle by terrorists, according to Iain Forbes, head of the UK Government’s Centre for Connected and Autonomous Vehicles. Replying to a question from ITS International during a panel session at the Driverless Technology Conference in London, Forbes said: “Security questions will be an important part of the debate about autonomous vehicles. I think that it would be amiss of any government to enable something tha
December 1, 2015 Read time: 2 mins
Vehicle developers will have to introduce measures to counter the potential use of autonomous vehicle by terrorists, according to Iain Forbes, head of the UK Government’s Centre for Connected and Autonomous Vehicles.

Replying to a question from 1846 ITS International during a panel session at the Driverless Technology Conference in London, Forbes said: “Security questions will be an important part of the debate about autonomous vehicles. I think that it would be amiss of any government to enable something that might introduce new risks to society.”

Speaking so soon after the attacks in Paris he said the question was very relevant: “It is something that will have to be resolved.” However he added that he did not think it was an insurmountable problem: “We identify potential risks and find ways to deal with them.”

Joost Vantomme from FEBiAC (which represents the Belgian car industry) observed that the question applied equally to drones: “The need for regulation of drones is a topic of discussion in the European Commission and European Parliament,” he said.

Location Based Systems

Related Content

  • April 1, 2019
    C-ITS in the EU: ‘A little tribal’
    As the C-ITS Delegated Act begins its journey through the European policy maze, Adam Hill looks at who is expecting what from this proposed framework for connected vehicles – and why some people are insisting that the lawmakers are already getting things wrong here are furrowed brows in Brussels and Strasbourg as European Union legislators begin to consider the rules which will underpin future services such as connected vehicles. The idea is to create a regulatory framework to harmonise cooperative ITS
    Read More
  • April 1, 2019
    C-ITS in the EU: ‘A little tribal’
    As the C-ITS Delegated Act begins its journey through the European policy maze, Adam Hill looks at who is expecting what from this proposed framework for connected vehicles – and why some people are insisting that the lawmakers are already getting things wrong here are furrowed brows in Brussels and Strasbourg as European Union legislators begin to consider the rules which will underpin future services such as connected vehicles. The idea is to create a regulatory framework to harmonise cooperative ITS
    Read More
  • March 24, 2014
    ITS needs to talk the talk as well as walk the walk
    The US automated enforcement market is in rude health as the number of systems and applications continues to grow and broaden. Jason Barnes reports. Blessed and cursed – arguably, in equal measure – with a constitution which stresses the right to self-expression and determination, the US has had a harder journey than most to the more widespread use of automated traffic enforcement systems. In some cases, opposition to the concept has been extreme – including the murder of a roadside civil enforcement offici
    Read More
  • January 23, 2012
    ANPR - cost-efficient traffic management, enforcement and more
    Geoff Collins of Vysionics Intelligent Traffic Solutions talks about the near-term prospects of ANPR. The continued absence of a champion for its cause is preventing digital enforcement technology from delivering the true levels of cost-effectiveness of which it is capable, according to Geoff Collins, sales and marketing director of ANPR specialist Vysionics Intelligent Traffic Solutions.
    Read More

Highlighted Content