Falling asleep in an AV… but what happens next?

Sleeping while a driverless car speeds you to your destination has long been touted as the dream of the new technology – and something of a nightmare for safety campaigners. A new video from the BBC shows exactly what happens if a driver falls asleep in an autonomous vehicle (AV). In the filmed test, the AV prompts the driver to resume control when approaching roadworks on a motorway. When the driver fails to act, the vehicle comes to a halt and automatically parks in a lay-by. Motor industry research
September 18, 2019 Read time: 2 mins

Sleeping while a driverless car speeds you to your destination has long been touted as the dream of the new technology – and something of a nightmare for safety campaigners.

A new %$Linker: 2 External <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-16"?><dictionary /> 0 0 0 link-external video false https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/business-49652566/what-happens-if-you-fall-asleep-in-a-self-driving-car false false%> from the 4967 BBC shows exactly what happens if a driver falls asleep in an autonomous vehicle (AV).

In the filmed test, the AV prompts the driver to resume control when approaching roadworks on a motorway. When the driver fails to act, the vehicle comes to a halt and automatically parks in a lay-by.

Motor industry research organisation Thatcham Research wants this capability to be mandatory in autonomous systems.

Thatcham’s Matthew Avery says: “Vehicle manufacturers are advocating that its fine for the vehicle to stop in lane. We simply don’t think that’s safe. We say that vehicle manufacturers mustn’t leave a vehicle in the middle of the lane. If the driver doesn’t respond, pull the vehicle over, out of the running traffic.”

Urban Traffic Control

For more information on companies in this article

BBC

Related Content

  • Maven expands peer-to-peer car-share service
    October 30, 2018
    General Motors’ subsidiary Maven is expanding its peer-to-peer car-share option to more US cities. The service – which sees owners renting out their vehicles - is currently available in four urban areas: Ann Arbor, Chicago, Denver and Detroit. But GM says it will now be rolled out in Baltimore, Boston, Jersey City, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Washington, DC by the end of the year. Owners can rent out their GM car, so long as it is registered in 2015 or later, with Maven taking 40% of each rental. Despi
    Read More
  • InDriver launches ride-hailing service in South Africa
    May 30, 2019
    InDriver has launched its ride-hailing service in Johannesburg, South Africa, which allows the driver and rider to negotiate lower fares. A report by IT News Africa says drivers can use the InDriver app to accept or ignore offers as well as negotiate for a higher price. Rifqa Carr, InDriver spokesperson says: “Drivers have the freedom to choose whichever ride request they like, without any risk of being penalised. They’re also able to see the full fare, from point A to point B, and can then decide
    Read More
  • Driven consortium aims to trial AVs in London before Christmas
    November 28, 2018
    The Driven consortium, led by software provider Oxbotica, hopes to trial a fleet of autonomous vehicles (AV) in London before Christmas following successful ongoing tests in Oxford. The vehicles will map streets in the London Borough of Hounslow as part of the consortium’s plans to run a fully autonomous fleet between both cities in 2019. Oxbotica has equipped the vehicles with its autonomous software, radar, lidar sensors and onboard computers and cameras. The fleet will gather data on the contents of
    Read More
  • Lyft to offer AV service for blind riders
    July 23, 2019
    Lyft has joined forces with Aptiv and the National Federation of the Blind (NFB) to bring self-driving technology to its blind and low-vision riders in Las Vegas. The deal extends an agreement last year, in which Aptiv launched 30 autonomous vehicles (AVs) to pick up riders using Lyft’s app. NFB president Mark Riccobono says: “This demonstration will allow future blind drivers to experience and begin providing feedback about this technology, paving the way for the development of a non-visual user in
    Read More

Highlighted Content