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

  • Uber suspends Barcelona service after new regulations introduced
    February 5, 2019
    Taxi-hailing giant Uber is suspending its service in the Spanish city of Barcelona. The move comes after new regulations were passed by local authorities, according to Reuters. The company started its UberX service in the city last year. But from now on, passengers using ride-hailing services will have to wait at least 15 minutes after booking a ride before they can be picked up – thus negating one of the key selling points of companies such as Uber. Speed and convenience – as well as cost – are w
    Read More
  • Lyft recalls 3,000 e-bikes across US
    April 17, 2019
    Ride-hailing company Lyft has recalled 3,000 electric bikes from cities in the US because of concerns over their braking systems. The brands affected are Citi Bike in New York, Capital Bikeshare in Washington, DC, and the Bay Area’s Ford GoBike. A similar statement on each company’s website says: “We recently received a small number of reports from riders who experienced stronger than expected braking force on the front wheel. Out of an abundance of caution, we are proactively removing the pedal-assi
    Read More
  • Lime launches free-floating car-share service in Seattle
    November 22, 2018
    Bike-share and electric scooter company Lime has launched a ‘free-floating’ car-share service in Seattle and intends to make 1,500 vehicles available in early 2019. Bloomberg says the company has deployed 50 Lime-branded vehicles and intends to increase this number to 500 by the end of the year. Users can unlock a LimePod vehicle, a customised two-door Fiat 500, via the company’s app for $1 and are charged 40 cents per minute while driving. Toby Sun, Lime’s chief executive officer, says the company is a
    Read More
  • Most pedestrian detection systems ‘hit pedestrians at 30mph’
    October 14, 2019
    In-car automatic emergency braking systems with pedestrian detection mostly fail to avoid hitting pedestrians - and are “completely ineffective at night”, according to new research. In shocking findings, the American Automobile Association (AAA) revealed that most systems hit a simulated pedestrian target at 30mph. A collision also occurred 89% of the time when a vehicle operating at 20mph encountered a child darting between two cars. In tests, all vehicles collided with an adult pedestrian immediately fo
    Read More

Highlighted Content