Skip to main content

Drivers ‘need reassurance on safety, cybercrime and terrorism if truck platoons are to deliver’

Commenting on the UK Department of Transport announcement regarding trialling of platoons of self-driving lorries on England's motorways, independent road safety charity is advising there must be more reassurances on issues such as cyber attacks as well as basic road safety needs such as telling other drivers which trucks are in the platoon. The trial, due for 2018, will see up to three lorries travel in automated convoys which will be controlled by a driver in the lead vehicle in a bid to cut congestion an
August 29, 2017 Read time: 2 mins

Commenting on the UK Department of Transport announcement regarding trialling of platoons of self-driving lorries on England's motorways, independent road safety charity is advising there must be more reassurances on issues such as cyber attacks as well as basic road safety needs such as telling other drivers which trucks are in the platoon.

The trial, due for 2018, will see up to three lorries travel in automated convoys which will be controlled by a driver in the lead vehicle in a bid to cut congestion and emissions.

Cybercrime was the top concern in a 2016 IAM RoadSmart member poll pm driverless vehicles.

Neil Greig, IAM RoadSmart director of policy and research, said motorways are the safest roads and that record must not be jeopardised by any rush towards autonomous technology. The pilot study may answer these questions but car and motorbike users will need a lot of reassurance that the systems will not block the inside lane with an extra-long ‘wall’ of trucks.

He added: “The technology exists to implement platooning but in the real world it must deliver real economic benefits to outweigh our safety worries. How will other drivers know which trucks are in a platoon? Will the sight of tailgating trucks be a distraction? Can we still use slip roads and view important roadside signs clearly?

“The public quite rightly also have real concerns in the light of current terrorist attacks and the rise in cybercrime generally. These are all genuine questions in people’s minds that need to be answered by the trial.”

Related Content

  • November 23, 2017
    Autumn budget: EV charging infrastructure fund and higher tax rates for diesel vehicles
    Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond has announced a £400m ($532m) charging infrastructure fund for electric vehicles (EVs), an extra £100m ($133m) investment in Plug-In-Car Grant, and a £40m ($53m) in charging R&D in the UK’s Autumn Budget 2017. He added that laws need to be clarified so that motorists who charge their EVs at work will not face a benefit-in-kind charge from next year.
  • March 29, 2017
    Technology solution needed to counter mobile phone menace
    With the UK set to increase the penalties for using mobile phones while driving, the RAC Foundation’s Steve Gooding considers what else can be done to combat this deadly distraction. The first mobile phone call was made in 1973, by an engineer working for Motorola. Today 4.7 billion people across the globe subscribe to a mobile service.
  • March 5, 2021
    Scotland pledges 'no road deaths by 2050'
    Scottish Government's Road Safety Framework unveils interim safety targets to 2030
  • February 25, 2016
    Technology targets Red-X transgressors
    Currently deployed technology is being used to detect motorists ignoring the ‘red-X’ signs that indicate the lane is closed, as Colin Sowman hears. With an increasing network of ‘Smart Motorways’ - all-lane running or the opening of hard shoulders during times of congestion - Highways England (HE) has identified a growing problem with ‘red-X’ compliance. The ‘red-X’ sign signifies a closed lane or lanes and used to provide a safer area for stranded motorists, emergency workers or road maintenance crews and