EastLink trials hands-free driving through its tunnels

EastLink (EL) has conducted a hands-free driving demonstration through its freeway tunnels using Honda Civic VTi-LX’s lane keep assist function. The trial, closed to traffic, aimed to help Victorian motorists understand the technology and other driver assistance functions after the Annual Victorian Self-Driving Survey revealed more than half of the 15,000 of the respondents had very little or no awareness of self-driving cars.
December 4, 2017 Read time: 2 mins
EastLink (EL) has conducted a hands-free driving demonstration through its freeway tunnels using 1683 Honda Civic 5230 VTi-LX’s lane keep assist function. The trial, closed to traffic, aimed to help Victorian motorists understand the technology and other driver assistance functions after the Annual Victorian Self-Driving Survey revealed more than half of the 15,000 respondents had very little or no awareness of self-driving cars.

EL chose the Honda following recent trials in which it tested automated vehicle technologies alongside partners 4728 VicRoads, the Australian Road Research Board, La Trobe University and RACV.

The Honda Civic VTi-LX is available for less than $40,000 (£29,000) and includes the Honda Sensing package. It has a range of driver assistance functions such as lane keep assist, adaptive cruise control with low-speed follow, collision mitigation braking, forward collision warning, lane departure warning and road departure mitigation.

The demonstration will be broadcast in a television news report by 7 News Melbourne at 6pm on Monday 4 December.
Doug Spencer-Roy, EL, corporate affairs and marketing manager, said: “The Honda Civic steered itself using lane keep assist mode along EastLink and through the EastLink tunnels at speeds up to 80km/h, while the driver was not holding the steering wheel.


The Honda Civic lane keep assist function was not affected by changing light conditions during the demonstration, such as the transitions into and out of each tunnel portal.”

“The demonstration showed that driver assistance functions in cars are rapidly increasing in quality and availability, which is paving the way for motorists to experience hands-free driving on freeways in the coming years (subject to legislative changes),” Roy added.

Location Based Systems

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Truck platooning trials take to the highways
    July 24, 2017
    There is rising enthusiasm in America and beyond for the concept of truck platooning with trials being planned in several US states, as David Crawford reports. Growing numbers of US states are considering or implementing plans for trials of electronically-linked truck platooning on public road networks. This is in response to the interest being shown by the US$70bn a year road freight industry, where fuel represents 41% of the operating costs making the prospect of improving fuel economy by trucks travellin
    Read More
  • RedSpeed offers schools automated no-cost stop arm enforcement
    March 28, 2014
    School authorities in the US are turning to automated school bus stop arm enforcement to curb an astonishing number of violations. It is estimated that every year nearly 17,000 American children are sent to emergency rooms as a result of school bus related crashes. And when surveyed, 99% of school bus drivers reported that the most dangerous behaviour they encounter is drivers passing a school bus with its stop sign arm extended. Every day these drivers who violate the extended stop arm signs put at risk
    Read More
  • New system to prevent Hazchem and over-height vehicles entering tunnel
    August 20, 2015
    An impending move to free-flow charging prompted a search for automated dangerous goods identification and over-height detection systems at the Thames Crossing to the east of London. Manned toll booths are increasingly being consigned to history by the onslaught of all-electronic charging. However, a secondary function of the traditional manned plazas has been to prevent non-compliant vehicles using the facility or to tell a driver that that they need to use a specific lane or wait for an escort. Automating
    Read More
  • AVs in the Netherlands? Don't forget the bikes
    June 11, 2019
    The Netherlands’ famous love of bicycles could be a problem when it comes to the deployment of autonomous vehicles there. And there might be other obstacles, finds Ben Spencer Of all the countries on the planet, the Netherlands is most ready to start deploying autonomous vehicles (AVs), according to a survey by KPMG earlier this year. On the face of it, this is good news: coming first out of 25 countries listed in the Autonomous Vehicles Readiness Index (AVRI) for the second consecutive year puts the Du
    Read More

Highlighted Content