GIVE US A STEER
When will self-driving cars come to the UK?
SELF-DRIVING cars are set to be the future of domestic transport, as the UK plans to replace combustion engines with electric-powered motors.
Manufacturers such as Tesla are leading the charge for driverless technology, with futuristic technology no longer the stuff of sci-fi movies.
2
When will driverless cars come to the UK?
Automated Lane Keeping System (ALKS) Regulation was endorsed by the government in 2020.
It would allow cars to take over control from the driver.
Secretary of State for Transport Grant Shapps announced on April 28, 2021, that vehicles with new technology enabling them to stay in their lanes automatically could be legal within months.
Consultation on the technology was due to end on May 28, 2021.
ALKS would allow drivers to take their hands off the wheel, check phones and watch films.
The ALKS technology controls the position and speed of a car in a single lane but only up to speeds of 37mph (60km/h).
They will not be able to change lanes but can slow down automatically.
MOST READ IN MOTORS
Following a consultation in 2020, the government has now said that vehicles with ALKS technology can be legally defined as self-driving, “as long as they receive GB type approval and that there is no evidence to challenge the vehicle’s ability to self-drive”.
The government confirmed that drivers will not be required to monitor the road or keep their hands on the wheel when the vehicle is driving itself.
But the driver will need to stay alert and be able to take over when requested by the system within 10 seconds.
2
If a driver fails to respond, the vehicle will automatically put on its hazard lights to warn nearby vehicles and slow down.
The Highway Code is now consulting on what rules will be put into new laws to make sure the technology is safely used.
Someone behind the wheel of a self-driving car should not be legally responsible if it is involved in a crash, according to new proposals announced on January 26, 2022.
A joint report by legal review bodies recommended that a clear distinction is made between features which just assist drivers, such as adaptive cruise control, and those that are self-driving.
The Law Commission of England and Wales and the Scottish Law Commission called for legal reforms that mean the person in the driving seat of a self-driving car would be immune from prosecution "if anything goes wrong", such as speeding or running a red light.
Under the plan, the company or body that obtained authorisation for the technology - the authorised self-driving entity - would instead face sanctions.
Whoever is in the driving seat would remain responsible for other duties such as obtaining insurance, checking loads and ensuring child passengers wear seat belts.
How do self-driving cars work?
Different brands ranging from Google to Ford are planning to make driverless cars, and so there is bound to be some variation in the vehicles that eventually roll onto the market.
In a nutshell, self-driving cars have technology fitted that allows them to navigate and be aware of their environment without the need for a human driver.
This means each vehicle is fitted with a GPS unit, an internal navigation system and sensors including a laser rangefinder, radar, and video.
Sensor data allows them to create a 3D image of their environment.
The majority of self-driving cars have "deliberate architecture" installed - meaning they are capable of making intelligent decisions, even working out the best route to their destination.
Once the decision is made the journey is dissected into commands which are fed into devices called actuators.
These actuators control the steering, braking and throttle.
The car's internal map will include the current and predicted static locations of buildings, traffic lights and stop signs.
It will also be able to identify moving objects such as other cars and pedestrians.
What problems have driverless cars faced?
Manufacturers have made huge progress in making fully automated cars a reality on our roads - but they are still facing technological barriers.
GPS can be unreliable and vision systems are limited when it comes to understanding certain situations on our roads.
Changing weather can also affect the ability of cars to identify or track moving objects.
Problems around manufacturing could also be encountered, with it warned that there will not be enough engineers to keep up with the demand.
On April 18, 2021, it was revealed that self-driving vehicles may “struggle to recognise dark-skinned faces in the dark” according to the Law Commission, which is drawing up a legal framework on the futuristic technology.
There are fears that facial recognition software may be less accurate at detecting “non-white and non-male faces”.
Edmund King, of the AA, said: “More needs to be done to test these systems.”
How safe are self-driving cars?
In April 2021, two men died after a Tesla "on auto-pilot with no one driving" crashed into a tree in Spring, Texas.
But Elon Musk has blasted claims that the crash took place while the auto-pilot was engaged.
In March 2018, a woman was knocked down crossing the street in Arizona in what is believed to be the first pedestrian in the world killed by a driverless car.
Tesla test driver Joshua Brown became the first person to die in a self-driving car in 2016.
He was driving a Tesla on autopilot when, in bright sunshine, its sensors failed to detect a large 18-wheel truck and trailer on a highway.
Tesla said the car was in its "public beta phase" meaning the software was being stress-tested by members of the public so that bugs could be flushed out.
Examples of self-driving car safety issues include:
- Roadworks: In April 2015 the manufacturers Delphi sent an autonomous car on a 3,400 mile trip across the US. Engineers had to take control of the car for 50 miles because of unmarked lanes and roadworks.
- Sandbags: In February 2016 one of Google's self-driving cars smashed into a bus as it tried to navigate sandbags. The car had predicted the bus but anticipated it would yield.
- Hacking: As cars become more hi-tech they will become more vulnerable to hacking. With driverless vehicles, the extra computers, internet connectivity and sensors increase the possible vulnerabilities. One effect of this is that cars could be fooled into detecting objects that aren't there and may stop and slow down for no reason.
- Weather: Adverse weather can create visibility problems that reduce the range and accuracy of sensors.
When did a self-driving Uber vehicle kill a pedestrian?
Safety concerns were raised after an Uber self-driving car hit and killed a woman in the United States on March 18, 2018.
The accident involving the US technology firm's car in Arizona marked the first fatality linked to an autonomous vehicle and a potential blow to the technology expected to transform transportation.
Uber immediately suspended all road-testing of such autos in the Phoenix area, Pittsburgh, San Francisco and Toronto.
The testing has been going on for months as automakers and technology companies like the ride-hailing service compete to be the first with cars that operate on their own.
According to company insiders, the fatal collision was due to a software fault that chose to dismiss the detection.
The Volvo was in self-driving mode with a human backup driver at the wheel when it hit 49-year-old Elaine Herzberg as she was walking a bicycle outside the lines of a crosswalk, police said.
She died at a hospital.
Topics