Skip to main content

FTA says consultation on driverless vehicle regulations is a positive step

The Freight Transport Association (FTA) says this week’s announcement by the Department for Transport (DfT) of a consultation on driverless cars is a positive step. As well as setting out regulatory changes to better facilitate the use of driverless vehicles in the future, the document also restates the potential positives from HGV platooning. The document notes that platooning should allow HGVs ‘to benefit from reduced aerodynamic drag and therefore increased fuel efficiency. Platooning could also free
July 13, 2016 Read time: 2 mins
The 6983 Freight Transport Association (FTA) says this week’s announcement by the 1837 Department for Transport (DfT) of a consultation on driverless cars is a positive step.

As well as setting out regulatory changes to better facilitate the use of driverless vehicles in the future, the document also restates the potential positives from HGV platooning.  The document notes that platooning should allow HGVs ‘to benefit from reduced aerodynamic drag and therefore increased fuel efficiency. Platooning could also free more road space and improve traffic flow’.

FTA head of National and Regional Policy Christopher Snelling commented: “Driver aids and moves towards fuller automation are the most promising routes we have for a step-change in road safety.  The emissions and road use efficiency benefits are also potentially substantial, so updating regulations to enable all these technologies to be developed as quickly as possible is a good move.

“There are challenges in making effective use of platooning in the UK.  And all these concepts and technologies need to be thoroughly tested and their real world impacts measured before they are taken up on a wide scale basis.  We also need to see similar innovation in other modes like rail and water freight to maximise their use too.  But the reality is that over 80 per cent of the goods the UK needs to function each day are moved by road, and we need to work to maximise the efficiency of its performance if we are to reduce emissions and improve transport safety as much as possible, and as quickly as possible.”

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Measuring vehicle lengths with a single loop - promising results
    July 27, 2012
    District 7 of Caltrans has been conducting trials to see whether the use of a single inductive loop to measure vehicle lengths and so identify heavy trucks is feasible. So far, the results have been very promising, according to Lead Transportation Engineer Steve Malkson. Between them, the adjoining ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, the US's two biggest, cover some 10,700 acres (43km2) and 68 miles (109km) of waterfront.
  • APA supports automated work zone speed enforcement
    July 17, 2015
    A trade association representing the highway construction industry strongly supports automated enforcement of speed limits in work zones and Maryland's experience with a similarly designed program has had very good results, the association head has told a joint Pennsylvania House and Senate committee. According to PennDOT, 24 people were killed in work-zone crashes in 2014, eight more than in 2013. Additionally, there were 1,841 crashes in work zones last year, a slight decrease from the 1,851 crashes
  • What does 2023 have in store for ITS?
    December 30, 2022
    From VRUs to EVs, from customer experience to connected vehicles, here are some thoughts...
  • Fluor: here's how to fix US infrastructure
    June 14, 2018
    US president Donald Trump’s comments about the country’s ‘crumbling infrastructure’ led many in the ITS sector to spot an opportunity to help with other solutions. David Seaton of Fluor ponders the scale of what’s required and considers some projects which have boosted mobility We can no longer wait for future generations to address this nation’s crumbling infrastructure. We need to act now. The problem is substantial, to say the least. The American Society of Civil Engineers predicts that failing to clo