IAM RoadSmart welcomes US study on benefits of humans and new vehicles working together

UK independent road safety charity IAM RoadSmart has welcomed a new white paper which it says supports its statement that we will not gain the full safety benefits of self-driving cars until every car on the road is connected to each other. Until then, IAM RoadSmart believes that the human mind holds the edge, until such point that connected cars actually ‘talk’ to each other and predict what is happening over the horizon. According to the white paper, Sensor Fusion: A Comparison of Sensing Capabilities of
August 17, 2017 Read time: 3 mins

UK independent road safety charity IAM RoadSmart has welcomed a new white paper which it says supports its statement that we will not gain the full safety benefits of self-driving cars until every car on the road is connected to each other. Until then, IAM RoadSmart believes that the human mind holds the edge, until such point that connected cars actually ‘talk’ to each other and predict what is happening over the horizon.

According to the white paper, Sensor Fusion: A Comparison of Sensing Capabilities of Human Drivers and Highly Automated Vehicles, written by Brandon Schottle of the 5594 University of Michigan, machines/computers are generally well suited to perform tasks like driving, especially in regard to reaction time (speed), power output and control, consistency, and multichannel information processing. Human drivers still generally maintain an advantage in terms of reasoning, perception, and sensing when driving.

He added: “While no single sensor completely equals human sensing capabilities, some offer capabilities not possible for a human driver.

“In the short to medium term AV [autonomous vehicle] sensing systems will still be critical for detection of any road user or roadway obstacle that is not detected and shared by connected vehicles which is where the human brain comes in.”

Schottle pointed out a number of circumstances in which both human capability and a connected vehicle’s perception can be compromised – thus increasing the need for each party to work together – such as extreme weather, excessive dirt or physical obstructions, darkness or low illumination, large physical obstructions and dense traffic.

The report also pointed out where the human brain wins out over a vehicle’s ‘brain’; it said in the areas of memory, reasoning, sensing and perception, human involvement is both desirable and advantageous.

Neil Greig, IAM RoadSmart director of policy and research, said: “The ultimate win-win situation is a place where information from each vehicle is shared with the vehicles around it; add that to human experience born from a lifetime of ‘trial and error’ and you have the ideal double-act to spot crashes before they happen.”

Back in March, IAM RoadSmart warned that cars with growing levels of autonomy could make motorists lazy and over reliant on gadgets – with far reaching implications for the potential reduction of people killed and seriously injured on the roads.

Greig said at the time: “When it comes to driverless cars, IAM RoadSmart members are not keen to give up full control. The implications for future driver competence and training as we become more reliant on technology are still far from clear.”

The House of Lords Science and Technology Committee report Connected and Autonomous Vehicles: The future? echoed this view, stating: “Autonomous cars could have negative implications for drivers' competence, making drivers complacent and overly reliant on technology. This is of particular concern in emergency situations, where a driver may react slowly to taking back control of a vehicle.”

Location Based Systems

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Making all vehicles autonomous could reduce traffic accidents, says report
    February 16, 2016
    The widespread adoption of autonomous vehicles could bring billions of pounds to the UK economy and save hundreds of lives, according to a new report by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, which is calling for urgent Government and industry action to encourage the greater use of autonomous and driverless vehicles. It also calls for urgent resolution of legislative, technological and insurance issues to help encourage the rollout of autonomous or driverless vehicles. Philippa Oldham, head of transpor
    Read More
  • Growing ITS capability, a way to increase infrastructure capacity
    February 2, 2012
    Iteris's Greg McKhann makes the case for policymakers to look more seriously at the use of ITS as a means of increasing existing infrastructure capacity
    Read More
  • Cost benefit goes under the microscope
    August 21, 2017
    Conventional cost benefit analysis (CBA) of plans for urban smart mobility initiatives needs serious rethinking, according to a recently-completed European study. The three-year Evidence Project (the Project) emerged in response to concerns about the availability and quality of documented research – including CBA – required to prove that investment in sustainable urban mobility plans (SUMPs) can be economically beneficial. Covering 22 sectors ranging from electric vehicles to shared spaces, the Project clai
    Read More
  • When caring about sharing is good business for US automakers
    October 28, 2015
    Although car-sharing and ride-sharing could drastically reduce car sales, David Crawford finds some US automakers are keen to participate in the sharing economy. Growing consumer interest in car- and ride-sharing, as opposed to outright ownership, and ride-sharer Uber’s recently stated intention to make its brand competitive with ownership on cost, are making the major US automotive manufacturers think seriously about their future sales prospects. Some have already begun exploring ways of entering the field
    Read More

Highlighted Content