Autonomous driving tech is increasingly present in new vehicles, and if you haven’t already now is the time to consider how the technology can be used safely in your fleet, as well as how infrastructure could be created or adapted to make adoption as safe and seamless as it can be.
It’s critical to road safety that drivers don’t allow semi-autonomous vehicles to ‘drive for them’, dangerously handing over too much control to a vehicle that cannot ensure the safety of its occupants – drivers must be trained to be totally aware of how to use autonomous technology safely.
Neil Greig, IAM RoadSmart’s director of Policy and Research, called for a sense of urgency about ensuring drivers are appropriately trained to use autonomous vehicles: “it is becoming increasingly clear that training will be needed to ensure the maximum safety benefits of driver assistance systems. Learning by trial and error simply isn’t good enough for fleets when a company’s image and bottom line are at stake!”
Paul Hollick, chair at The Association of Fleet Professionals (AFP), said that while it was becoming clear that “the promise of entirely self-driving cars was unlikely to materialise in the near future”, new assisted-driver technology was very much on its way.
“General agreement seems to be emerging across the autonomous tech field that the target of full ‘level five’ autonomous driving is still some years away, if indeed its inherent problems can ever be solved. This is perhaps disappointing given the hype but fleets potentially have a lot to gain by looking beyond that setback. There is much that can be done with the related technology that is readily available and fleets should be both looking at its possibilities and also thinking about infrastructure to ensure its safe use.
“The UK appears to be more liberal than some other countries in terms of allowing this technology to be used on public roads, so there is a chance that we may effectively be asked to become early adopters – with both the risks and rewards that brings.”
Paul said that some fleets already operated vehicles with level 2 autonomy such as lane changing and self-parking systems and level 3, that allowed fully automatic driving on some roads such as motorways as long as the driver was ready to take control if needed, was not far away from production models.
“Our view is very much that fleets need to be thinking about how they view these levels of assistance. Essentially, they rely on the driver intervening if the technology fails but it is all too easy to envisage situations where this handover does not happen. There needs to be serious examination of the risk management and Duty of Care implications.
“Especially because these driving modes may be soon available on cars that are entering production, there is a chance they may arrive on your fleet almost by stealth. You need to know if vehicles with these levels of autonomy are being used in your fleet and ensure that drivers are familiar with the technology and how it works. There are very clear risks.
“The UK appears to be more liberal than some other countries in terms of allowing this technology to be used on public roads, so there is a chance that we may effectively be asked to become early adopters – with both the risks and rewards that brings.”
“These assisted forms of driving could prove to be valuable in terms of the benefits they bring. They just need to be properly managed within a framework where drivers understand the limitations and their responsibilities as an employee and road user.”
At IAM RoadSmart our position is clear – high-quality driver training is absolutely crucial for the safe adoption of new technology. Fleets are in an excellent position to lift the general level of safety by rolling out education and training to their drivers en masse. With the right training, drivers can use emerging autonomous driving tech to enhance their driving experience. Drivers using the tech without proper training could be heading towards disaster.
To find out how IAM RoadSmart can help your fleet stay ahead of emerging technology and boost skills and safety in general, get in touch.
