Autonomous driving could prevent up to 95 per cent of traffic accidents

A report published by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers has suggested that adopting autonomous vehicles could prevent up to 95 per cent of traffic accidents, save countless lives and generate billions of pounds for the UK economy.

The report, entitled ‘Autonomous and Driverless Cars’, makes three key recommendations. It recommends that: the Transport Systems Catapult conduct a public consultation, bringing together a working group that includes industry, legislators, regulators and members of the general public; all car dealerships and garages must work with vehicle manufacturers to ensure that they can provide adequate information, and give the required training, to any new purchaser of a vehicle; the Department for Transport (DfT) needs to address the safety issues of mixed road use, looking at how autonomous vehicles can be integrated onto our road network with appropriate road signage and markings in place or updated.

Philippa Oldham, head of transport at the Institution of the Mechanical Engineers and author of the report, called upon the government to encourage the rollout of autonomous or driverless vehicles.

She said: “The benefits to this sort of technology are huge, with estimates that the overall UK economic benefit could be as much as £51 billion a year due to fewer accidents, improved productivity and increased trade. Currently 95 per cent of all crashes happen due to driver error, so it makes sense for the government, industry and academia to redouble efforts to look at how we phase out human involvement in driving vehicles.

“There needs to be much more action from government to help integrate driverless vehicles into the current UK transport network. This will include updates and standardisation to road signage and road markings to enable these driverless vehicles to operate in the safest way possible.

“There is also a role for the car dealerships and vehicle manufacturers as they will need to clarify how they will provide the greater level of after-sales care, technical updates and upgrades that will be required to ensure the safe introduction of these vehicles on our roads.”

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