Skip to main content

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.”

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Webinar: BigDataEurope for Transport
    September 10, 2015
    The first BigDataEurope at 1000 CET on 21 September will look at the societal challenge of Smart, Green and Integrated Transport. The webinar sets out to introduce the BigDataEurope project in general as well as the various stakeholders and applications for Big Data in the Transport domain in particular, followed by a question and answer session. More information on the agenda and speakers will be available shortly. Register for the seminar here.
  • FastGo to bring ride-hailing service to Indonesia and Myanmar
    October 11, 2018
    Vietnamese ride-hailing company FastGo intends to expand its service to Indonesia and Myanmar by the end of the year. In a report from Việt Nam News, Nguyễn Hữu Tuất, FastGo’s CEO, says the company expects to occupy a 30% market share in Indonesia and take second place after Grab in Myanmar. The company aims to raise US$50 million in a new round of funding to help accelerate regional expansion, Tuất adds. According to Tuất: “We chose Myanmar and Indonesia as we have relevant strategies for them in place.
  • MaaS Markets conference leads delegates from concept to delivery
    December 5, 2016
    MaaS Market is ITS International’s first conference and will provide delegates with the information they need to move from concept to delivery.
  • Transdev and Ericsson team up on AV cybersecurity project in France
    March 8, 2019
    Transport operator Transdev and telecoms firm Ericsson have teamed up in France on an autonomous vehicle (AV) cybersecurity project. The companies have deployed high-speed private network LTE data communications to demonstrate secure mobility operations with AVs. The Rouen Normandy Autonomous Lab (RNAL) project is an on-demand shared and autonomous mobility service operating on open roads with four Renault ZOEs and, soon, with an i- Cristal Transdev Lohr shuttle. Franck Bouetard, head of Ericsson Franc