BCS - Self Driving Vehicles or Sleep Driving Vehicles

There are a range of self driving devices, from cars to drones and smaller devices. Many large companies with an interest in automated personalised transport from Tesla to taxi companies such as Uber, have invested heavily in self driving vehicles. What are their visions and are they achievable? Most of the policy decisions taken by the Government have not been publicly debated and their consequences are only now appearing.

The UK is however way ahead of the European Union in providing a framework within which self-driving vehicles can operate.

At the moment self-driving cars are imperfect. Automated reading of traffic restriction signs is not error-free.

However, the government has already set the legal standards for automated vehicles, or as the legislation calls them “autonomous vehicles”, as equivalent to or higher than that of “careful and competent” drivers.

The precise rules under the Automated Vehicles legislation as to what happens when automated cars are involved in an accident are more complex. Who picks up the tab? The driver, the car manufacturer, an insurer? Why in practice, is it the consumer who will pick up the tab? Also, there is currently little in the way of standardisation between the devices themselves. However, in order for the Government’s vision of convoys of self-driving lorries to be on motorways, significant standardisation will be required, at least in inter vehicle communication. But how safe will those communications be?

Dai Davis will attempt to answer address all of these issues in this presentation.